Well, folks, it’s finally here. Today, we begin a 3-part worship series called ‘Bod 4 God’. And it’s all about honoring God with our bodies. Scripture says that we should honor God in all that we are and all that we do, so our bodies have to be included, don’t they? As we begin this series, I want you to know that this series is deeply personal to me. Some think that just because you’re a pastor, you somehow know everything there is to know about God, scripture, and life … and you just spend your time teaching others all you already know. But I’ve got news for you. None of us, as followers of Christ, should ever stop growing! And I’ve certainly been growing (with God’s help) in this area of my life over the past several years…
It was back in 2009 or so that I suddenly had a scare with diabetes. My doctor told me that it was ‘pre-diabetes’ and that if I did what he said, my life would change in good ways. (And then he told me very nicely that I should really change my ways, since others are looking to me as a pastor and a good life example.) I refer to this time of my life as ‘the diabetes scare’, because it was! Most of us don’t like to even admit we’re getting older, much less that our health is failing. And I was way too young to be dealing with this kind of thing yet. I wanted nothing to do with that, so much to his surprise … I listened to my doctor! I didn’t just hear him; I listened to him … and did what he told me to do, so that my life could change in good ways… ‘Long story short, I was pushing about 265 lbs. when all of this happened. Right now, I’m at about 218 lbs.—so roughly 50 lbs. lighter now (and still working at it). Since the doc had put me on Metformin when I was first diagnosed with high blood sugar, the weight loss took care of this, I got off the medicine and after another year of testing (roughly 3 years since diagnosis), I was declared a non-diabetic! Little did I know, at the time, that God was preparing me for even more…
In December of 2012 (about a year after being declared non-diabetic), my doctor had to help me through another health scare. I had chest pains, which led to quadruple bypass surgery in January 2013, and then to a very different lifestyle that I learned through cardiac rehab and other sources…
Do you see why this series might be personal for me? I am a pastor. I should have known better than to not discipline myself regarding my body and how I treated it. I really should have looked into how God felt about my body more, and how I could honor God not just with my pastoring and preaching, but also in my personal life and with my body. What do you think? Do you want to honor God with your whole life? If so, that includes this vessel God’s given us to live in while here on earth…
Now, my disclaimer today is this: The Bod 4 God series is more than just about weight loss, even though I’m sure there’re many of us who are ready to say, “I’d like to lose some weight for God! Sign me up….” It’s more than just another New Year resolution—something we’re even going to promise God. It’s more than just getting in shape. Bod 4 God is really about living the life that God created you to live! I’m sure most of us don’t want to miss out on anything God has for us in this life. Am I right? And if we don’t, we need to be paying attention to everything God has entrusted to us, including these Bods! Folks, contrary to popular belief, God doesn’t just care about the spiritual; God also cares about the physical. God wants us to be healthy in all areas of our lives…
Listen to Psalm 139 (13-14, NLT), as we get into the message for today:
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.”
So, if God made you so thoughtfully and wonderfully, don’t you think that what you do with your body matters to God? After all, he created you … and he knows you … inside and out! He knows you better than you know yourself … and God cares about every bit of you, including your body. With that being said, let me begin with some very important theological truths to think about today—scriptural truths about our bodies… Here they are: 3 TRUTHS ABOUT MY BODY.
First … My body was created by God and for God. You see, the Bible says something really interesting. It says that you and I are the greatest of God’s creation. Now, God loves all creation. That’s true. And we should take care of all of God’s creation. But God says that you and I are the greatest of all creation for one simple reason. You and I are made in the image of God (imago dei)! And scripture goes on to tell us that we were not just created for our own self-gratification, but we were also created for God’s glorification. God gives you this body so that his purposes might be fulfilled through you. Colossians 1:16 (NIV) speaks to this. Listen: “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” So, you were created by God and for God! And get this, if you’re a Christian, here’s theological truth #2…
As a Christian, my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. If you’re a Christian, there’s been a point in your life where you said ‘yes’ to Jesus, and then the Spirit of God took up residence in you! Yes, you heard me right: If you’re a Christian, God now lives in you and works through you…
And how would you treat a ‘temple’? Would you treat a temple badly … or leave it dirty … or a mess? No, you’d treat it with respect … and care … and thoughtfulness! And God says, ‘Treat your body that way as well!’ 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT) says,
“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 or God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
Well, that’s pretty clear, isn’t it … and who does your body belong to? Did you catch that (v. 19)? It doesn’t belong to you; it belongs to God—bought at a high price. The truth is … your body is on loan to you for 60, 70, 80, hopefully 110 years, and then we get a new one; did you know that? Here’s the final theological truth for today…
I will have a body in eternity. The good news is … it’ll be a new body—no more sickness, no more pain, no more tears … and I’m pretty excited about that!
Back in Jesus’ day, there was a group of people called the Gnostics (Gnosticism)—those with ‘gnosis’ or a secret knowledge that apparently no one else knew about. And their philosophy was that this ol’ body is just not that important; it’s just a container—a prison for your soul or spirit, but your body doesn’t really matter. And, unfortunately, some Christians even buy into that thinking today—that your body doesn’t really matter and you shouldn’t even worry about it. It’s just a container and one day it’s going to die…
And then there’s Narcissism, which says ‘it’s all about your body!’ That’s where you worship the body instead of the Creator of the body. And I think many in our world swing from one extreme (Gnosticism) to the other (Narcissism)…
But the Bible says that heaven is a physical place and that you’re going to have a physical body there. So, in some ways, this is practice for eternity! The Bible, folks, mentions the word ‘body’ 179 times, one third of which refers to our future bodies in the life to come. Paul speaks of this in 1 Corinthians 15:42b-43a (NLT):
“…Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever.
43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory….”
So, let’s not throw out the ‘theology of the body’, shall we? We need to know how important our bodies are to God! And, folks, know this ultimate truth:
WHAT I DO WITH MY BODY MATTERS TO GOD! When my doctor began (very nicely) to insinuate that I should know better than how I’d been treating my body … that ended up with diabetes and heart disease, that hit me like a proverbial ton of bricks! I had to make some changes to my physical body! But, do any of you know how hard that is? In this process, here’s something I discovered: before I could make physical changes in my body, I had to first make some spiritual decisions … and I’ll end with those today. Here’s how to begin to make changes to your body that you need to this year. You need to make … 3 DECISIONS TO HONOR GOD WITH MY BODY IN 2015.
First … Deliver my body from temptation. Now, our goal in this series is not for any of us to have a perfect body (whatever that might be); our goal in this series is to move toward having healthy bodies—bodies that honor God! And the first thing we need to do is remove temptation…
So, what is the biggest issue right now with your body? What is keeping you from honoring God with your body? Maybe it’s a sin, maybe it’s an addiction, and maybe it’s an indulgence… Whatever it is, I want you to bring it to mind right now…
What is the greatest temptation you are facing right now, when it comes to your body? Is it eating too much? Is it eating the wrong things? In my life, it was not eating too much. It was not eating the wrong things. But it was eating too much of the wrong things! That’s what it was for me. And so I want you to think about this. What is it for you? Maybe it’s staying up too late (not getting your rest); maybe it’s excess in some area of your life—some addiction that’s got its hold on you. And we need to ask God to deliver us from this. Matthew 26:41 (NLT) says,
“Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”
‘Anyone ever feel that way? So, to deliver my body from temptation usually means to ‘run’! RUN from those Cheetos! RUN from those M&Ms! RUN to your bedroom and get some sleep! RUN from sexual sin—whatever it is! Folks, to remove the temptation means to ‘run’ … and we need to get good at that!
But, when we ‘run’ or remove some temptation from our lives, we also need to ‘replace’ it. Remove, replace. Remove, replace. [Say it with me…] Remove, replace. If God is telling you to remove something negative from your life, you need to replace that with something positive! If your issue is not getting enough exercise, replace that habit with a phone call to a friend who will walk with you. If your issue is eating the wrong things, you have to learn to replace those things with healthier alternatives … all to the glory of God, of course. You remove, and you replace. That’s where it starts. So ‘deliver my body from temptation’ is where it starts (and the Lord’s Prayer will be your reminder)… Here’s decision #2:
Discipline my body to do what is best. Now, I know no one likes the ‘D’ word, but if we’re truly disciples of Jesus Christ, then we have to expect that discipline will be a part of the deal … and I will not shy away from the tough teachings of scripture! God’s way is to choose discipline … and, as my doctor would say, ‘good things always come from that’! Isn’t that what we want for our lives?
Folks, I just want to mention—briefly—that all of us fight the battle between instant gratification and delayed gratification. But the mark of a mature person is one who can discipline themselves now … for something better in the future! Don’t be the person who says ‘I want to lose 20 lbs. … in the future’, then goes to Culver’s for ice cream today!
Instant gratification can kill you, if you’re not careful! So, we need to be disciplined—to discipline our bodies to do what is best… 1 Corinthians 9:27 (NLT) reminds us of this when Paul says,
“I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
What I want you to see here, in this verse, is that … the physical discipline of your body affects your spiritual life … and the positive impact you can have on others! I think that’s what my doctor was trying nicely to tell me… Paul also says in Romans 6:12-13a (NLT),
“Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.”
And that leads me to decision #3, where we’ll end today … Dedicate my body to God. Give it all to God, folks … all of yourself, allowing God to be Lord of your life … and then you’ll have a life like you could never imagine! As I close today, let me ask you this: Is the way you are living right now the way you want to be living a year from now? Five years from now? Ten years from now? Paul says in Romans 12:1 (NLT),
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”
What does it mean to ‘give my body to God’? It means I listen to God’s voice before I make any decision—what I put in my body, whether I exercise or not, when I go to bed & get some sleep. “God, is this what you want for me?” should be our constant prayer…
The ultimate goal of ‘Bod 4 God’, folks, is what I want to call … losing to live. And it’s not just about weight (although that may be part of it). This series is really about … losing ourselves to God—submitting our wills to God. Jesus said (Matt. 10:39, NLT), “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” That’s the way it works in God’s world… Folks, I don’t care how old you are, or how long you’ve walked with God; we all need to dedicate (or re-dedicate) our entire lives to God, including our bodies. Won’t you join me in a prayer and dedicate ourselves—even our bodies—to God today?