WEBVTT 00:00:03.640 --> 00:00:06.799 Hey all, Pastor John here. Thanks for tuning 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:09.980 in to the weekly sermon podcast. We pray this 00:00:09.980 --> 00:00:12.740 message encourages you, strengthens your faith, 00:00:12.900 --> 00:00:15.359 and helps you to take your next step with Jesus. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:18.359 If this content blesses you and you'd like to 00:00:18.359 --> 00:00:20.500 be a part of helping us continue to bring the 00:00:20.500 --> 00:00:22.960 gospel to life, we'd love for you to consider 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:26.079 supporting the ministry of village. Your generosity 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:28.579 makes it possible for us to keep creating and 00:00:28.579 --> 00:00:31.670 sharing resources like this podcast. You can 00:00:31.670 --> 00:00:35.770 give safely and easily by visiting sacvillage 00:00:35.770 --> 00:00:39.390 .org slash give, or by heading to our website 00:00:39.390 --> 00:00:43.350 at sacvillage .org. Thanks again for listening. 00:00:43.929 --> 00:00:54.369 Now let's dive into this week's message. We are 00:00:54.369 --> 00:00:56.710 in a series called True and Better, a Gospel 00:00:56.710 --> 00:01:00.520 Identity. And today we're moving into the topic 00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:06.599 embodied, not just emotional. Embodied, not just 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:11.540 emotional. We live in a moment of deep confusion 00:01:11.540 --> 00:01:17.200 about the human body. Many believe that who we 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:20.739 really are lives somewhere deep inside of us, 00:01:21.700 --> 00:01:26.060 in our feelings, in our desires. The body is 00:01:26.060 --> 00:01:29.299 nothing more than raw material to be shaped or 00:01:29.299 --> 00:01:35.040 edited or deleted or ignored altogether. Most 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:39.060 striking is possibly the idea that when the body 00:01:39.060 --> 00:01:44.859 conflicts with desire, well, desire wins. But 00:01:44.859 --> 00:01:48.260 scripture does not share this disconnect of flesh 00:01:48.260 --> 00:01:52.060 and feelings or body and soul. Scripture begins 00:01:52.060 --> 00:01:56.379 with God. who creates human beings as embodied 00:01:56.379 --> 00:02:01.640 creatures and calls that creation good. From 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:04.519 the very beginning, the Bible refuses to separate 00:02:04.519 --> 00:02:10.400 who we are from our physical lives. See, if the 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:13.879 body is incidental, then what we do with it is 00:02:13.879 --> 00:02:19.400 morally insignificant. But if the body is God's 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:23.400 creation, then what we do with it is either an 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:29.699 act of worship or an act of rebellion. And that's 00:02:29.699 --> 00:02:32.039 why the modern confusion about the body isn't 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:36.039 just a cultural issue, it is a theological one 00:02:36.039 --> 00:02:40.979 as well. The Christian faith does not teach that 00:02:40.979 --> 00:02:44.960 we are souls trapped in bodies. It teaches that 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:50.259 we are integrated embodied beings created fallen, 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:54.419 redeemed in Christ, and destined for resurrection. 00:02:56.180 --> 00:02:59.340 And until we recover the truth, we will remain 00:02:59.340 --> 00:03:03.620 confused about sin, about holiness, about freedom, 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:06.919 about sexuality, about self -control, and even 00:03:06.919 --> 00:03:11.699 worship itself. And so today, we're gonna begin 00:03:11.699 --> 00:03:15.520 where Scripture begins, not with how we feel 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:20.659 or what we want, but with what God has made. 00:03:22.740 --> 00:03:25.979 You are not merely, or you don't merely have 00:03:25.979 --> 00:03:30.479 a body, you are an embodied creature created 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:35.080 to worship God with your whole self. If you're 00:03:35.080 --> 00:03:36.819 taking notes, the first point I'll have you write 00:03:36.819 --> 00:03:43.370 down is integrated embodied beings. And so to 00:03:43.370 --> 00:03:45.169 understand what the Bible says about the body, 00:03:45.430 --> 00:03:47.949 we have to begin again, as we have almost every 00:03:47.949 --> 00:03:50.669 week, I think, with the creation story back in 00:03:50.669 --> 00:03:54.270 Genesis chapter two. Scripture describes the 00:03:54.270 --> 00:03:57.250 first human beings in Genesis two, seven. It 00:03:57.250 --> 00:04:00.629 says, then the Lord God formed the man out of 00:04:00.629 --> 00:04:03.889 the dust from the ground and breathed the breath 00:04:03.889 --> 00:04:08.009 of life into his nostrils and the man became 00:04:08.009 --> 00:04:15.759 a living being. And so God, like a skilled craftsman, 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:19.879 forms a body from the dust. God and God alone 00:04:19.879 --> 00:04:26.360 creates mankind. And God breathes life into that 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:31.339 body. God alone is the source of life, directly 00:04:31.339 --> 00:04:37.379 placed in mankind by God. And the result is not 00:04:37.379 --> 00:04:41.740 just a soul inside a body. The text says the 00:04:41.740 --> 00:04:47.259 man became a living creature. In other words, 00:04:47.420 --> 00:04:52.639 the union of body and breath is the human being. 00:04:55.459 --> 00:04:59.079 Scripture does not describe Adam as a soul that 00:04:59.079 --> 00:05:03.360 receives a body. It describes him as dust animated 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:08.189 by God's breath. From the very beginning, the 00:05:08.189 --> 00:05:11.569 Bible presents human beings as integrated, not 00:05:11.569 --> 00:05:17.509 divided, physical, rational, spiritual beings. 00:05:19.449 --> 00:05:21.949 And this goes on to be reinforced throughout 00:05:21.949 --> 00:05:24.490 scripture. In the Old Testament, the word that's 00:05:24.490 --> 00:05:30.110 often translated, soul, does not mean a detachable, 00:05:30.269 --> 00:05:33.990 invisible part of us. It has come to mean that, 00:05:34.050 --> 00:05:35.790 and most of the time when we say it, it's this 00:05:35.790 --> 00:05:38.610 kind of invisible, ethereal, out there part of 00:05:38.610 --> 00:05:41.689 us that we don't see. But in the Old Testament 00:05:41.689 --> 00:05:44.550 though, the word translated soul, it usually 00:05:44.550 --> 00:05:50.949 means the living person, the whole thing. When 00:05:50.949 --> 00:05:55.329 scripture speaks of a soul thirsting or rejoicing 00:05:55.329 --> 00:05:58.430 or sinning or dying, it is speaking about the 00:05:58.430 --> 00:06:04.449 whole embodied life. You listen to Psalm 63 .1 00:06:04.449 --> 00:06:06.709 in the English Standard Version. It says, oh 00:06:06.709 --> 00:06:10.069 God, you are my God. Earnestly, I seek you. My 00:06:10.069 --> 00:06:13.529 soul thirsts for you. My flesh faints for you 00:06:13.529 --> 00:06:16.850 as in a dry and weary land where there is no 00:06:16.850 --> 00:06:20.110 water. You notice how scripture speaks there. 00:06:20.350 --> 00:06:25.350 The soul thirsts and the flesh faints. But these 00:06:25.350 --> 00:06:28.290 are not two separate selves competing with one 00:06:28.290 --> 00:06:31.699 another. They are two ways of describing the 00:06:31.699 --> 00:06:36.199 same person in relation to God. The version we 00:06:36.199 --> 00:06:39.040 use here at Village usually is the Christian 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:41.899 Standard Bible, and it kind of clarifies it in 00:06:41.899 --> 00:06:43.699 the translation. It says, God, you are my God, 00:06:43.800 --> 00:06:45.759 I earnestly seek you. Instead of saying, my soul 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:52.579 thirsts, it says, I thirst for you. The scripture 00:06:52.579 --> 00:06:55.379 presses a little further in Psalm 139 when it 00:06:55.379 --> 00:06:59.180 says, for it was you who created my inward parts. 00:07:00.459 --> 00:07:03.019 You knit me together in my mother's womb. I will 00:07:03.019 --> 00:07:06.100 praise you because I have been remarkably and 00:07:06.100 --> 00:07:08.579 wondrously made. Your works are wondrous and 00:07:08.579 --> 00:07:14.399 I know this very well. You notice the psalmist 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:17.759 does not thank God merely for thoughts and feelings, 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:23.699 right? He praises God for embodied existence, 00:07:24.759 --> 00:07:27.360 formed and knit together, intentionally made, 00:07:27.639 --> 00:07:31.779 which means your body is not an accident of biology. 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:38.000 It is not a temporary shell, not morally irrelevant. 00:07:38.139 --> 00:07:41.139 It is part of God's intentional creation of you. 00:07:43.850 --> 00:07:46.670 And this directly confronts the modern story. 00:07:46.709 --> 00:07:48.990 We are often told that the body is something 00:07:48.990 --> 00:07:52.129 we own. It's something we control in order to 00:07:52.129 --> 00:07:58.129 express who we really are inside. The scripture 00:07:58.129 --> 00:08:01.529 says the opposite. To be human is not to use 00:08:01.529 --> 00:08:08.550 a body, but to be embodied. Your body is not 00:08:08.550 --> 00:08:13.189 a tool for expressing identity. It is the concrete 00:08:13.189 --> 00:08:18.750 form that your identity takes. You do not merely 00:08:18.750 --> 00:08:23.230 have a body, you are a body animated by God's 00:08:23.230 --> 00:08:28.209 breath. And so if God created us as embodied 00:08:28.209 --> 00:08:32.129 beings, then our physical lives are the arena 00:08:32.129 --> 00:08:36.149 in which faithfulness is lived. What does it 00:08:36.149 --> 00:08:38.009 mean to be faithful? What does it mean to obey? 00:08:38.269 --> 00:08:40.629 What does it mean to worship God? Well, it must 00:08:40.629 --> 00:08:43.289 mean that it's in the embodied existence with 00:08:43.289 --> 00:08:48.950 which God made us But we also know that sin is 00:08:48.950 --> 00:08:54.730 embodied too, isn't it? There is no such thing 00:08:54.730 --> 00:09:00.720 as a disembodied spiritual life To follow God 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:04.259 as a human has always meant to follow him with 00:09:04.259 --> 00:09:09.059 our whole selves, our minds, our desires, our 00:09:09.059 --> 00:09:12.279 actions, and our bodies. And this is why what 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:19.419 we do with our bodies matters to God. Number 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:25.879 two, embodied rebellion. Once scripture establishes 00:09:25.879 --> 00:09:28.519 that we are integrated in body and beings, it 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:31.720 becomes impossible to treat sin as merely internal. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:38.220 Sin is not only something we think or feel, it 00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:43.000 is something we do even with our bodies. This 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.559 is why the New Testament speaks frequently and 00:09:45.559 --> 00:09:49.019 directly about bodily sin. Listen to what the 00:09:49.019 --> 00:09:51.419 Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6, we'll kind 00:09:51.419 --> 00:09:54.220 of be in that chapter for a little bit. 1 Corinthians 00:09:54.220 --> 00:09:58.860 chapter 6, verse 12 and 13, Paul says, everything 00:09:58.860 --> 00:10:03.500 is permissible to me, or for me. And notice as 00:10:03.500 --> 00:10:06.539 I'm reading that, the quotes around it. Everything 00:10:06.539 --> 00:10:09.299 is permissible for me, but not everything is 00:10:09.299 --> 00:10:12.690 beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, 00:10:12.750 --> 00:10:15.070 but I will not be mastered by anything. Food 00:10:15.070 --> 00:10:17.289 is for the stomach and the stomach for food, 00:10:17.549 --> 00:10:20.129 and God will do away with both of them. However, 00:10:20.250 --> 00:10:23.269 the body is not for sexual immorality, but for 00:10:23.269 --> 00:10:28.850 the Lord and the Lord for the body. You see those 00:10:28.850 --> 00:10:32.350 quotes there, Paul is quoting a slogan of his 00:10:32.350 --> 00:10:37.019 day that people would say. He's saying, oh, everything 00:10:37.019 --> 00:10:39.059 is permissible to me. And that slogan sounds 00:10:39.059 --> 00:10:43.799 very modern, doesn't it? If it feels natural, 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:49.299 it must be permissible. If it's physical, well, 00:10:49.340 --> 00:10:51.980 does it really matter? It's just my body, like 00:10:51.980 --> 00:10:56.279 the real me is inside. What I do with my body 00:10:56.279 --> 00:11:05.340 is morally neutral. But Paul says, um, no. The 00:11:05.340 --> 00:11:08.399 body is not incidental. It's not a long for the 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:12.039 ride, not a major part of the life. No, the body 00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:15.899 is not an accessory of personal, psychological 00:11:15.899 --> 00:11:23.019 expression. The body is for the Lord. And Paul 00:11:23.019 --> 00:11:25.240 kind of presses the issue even further in 1 Corinthians 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:31.129 18. flees sexual immorality. Every other sin 00:11:31.129 --> 00:11:33.990 a person commits is outside the body, but the 00:11:33.990 --> 00:11:36.649 person who is sexually immoral sins against his 00:11:36.649 --> 00:11:44.190 own body. Now Paul's not isolating sexual sin 00:11:44.190 --> 00:11:46.610 as the only sin that involves the body. There 00:11:46.610 --> 00:11:50.269 are many other sins that involve the body. But 00:11:50.269 --> 00:11:52.429 why is he highlighting sexual sin in the way 00:11:52.429 --> 00:11:55.870 that he does? Because sexual sin is distinct 00:11:55.870 --> 00:12:01.909 from other kinds of sin in the body. How? Well, 00:12:01.909 --> 00:12:06.309 because it uniquely touches the meaning of embodied 00:12:06.309 --> 00:12:12.029 personhood itself. See, in sexual union, the 00:12:12.029 --> 00:12:16.000 body is not merely an instrument of desire. as 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:19.620 our culture and many of us would think. The body 00:12:19.620 --> 00:12:22.100 is just an instrument of desire. I use it wherever 00:12:22.100 --> 00:12:25.379 I want to fulfill desire. But in sexual union, 00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:27.480 the body is not merely that in God's design. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:31.440 It is the means by which a person gives themselves 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:38.679 to another person. And so sexual sin fractures 00:12:38.679 --> 00:12:42.200 the God -given unity between body and soul and 00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:44.980 the covenantal purposes of giving one yourself. 00:12:46.740 --> 00:12:50.860 In scripture, sex is never treated as merely 00:12:50.860 --> 00:12:56.980 a physical act. It is the bodily expression of 00:12:56.980 --> 00:13:00.379 complete and total self -giving union within 00:13:00.379 --> 00:13:03.320 the covenant of marriage between one man and 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:06.340 one woman. Sexual sin on the other hand, tears 00:13:06.340 --> 00:13:10.799 those things apart. It uses the body to enact 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:15.070 a kind of union with another person. while at 00:13:15.070 --> 00:13:18.269 the same time denying the complete and total 00:13:18.269 --> 00:13:21.169 lifelong mutual self -giving and covenantal commitment 00:13:21.169 --> 00:13:29.470 that God baked into sex. And in doing so, it 00:13:29.470 --> 00:13:33.129 separates what God designed to be held together, 00:13:35.110 --> 00:13:40.009 our body and soul, commitment, covenant, and 00:13:40.009 --> 00:13:43.269 it leaves a person divided rather than whole. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:49.639 It is not just a spiritual failure that happens 00:13:49.639 --> 00:13:53.879 to use the body, but it is a sort of rebellion 00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:56.779 enacted at the level of who we are as embodied 00:13:56.779 --> 00:14:02.480 beings. It distorts the way our bodies were created 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:06.779 to communicate belonging and fidelity and self 00:14:06.779 --> 00:14:10.019 -giving. in God's good design. But scripture 00:14:10.019 --> 00:14:13.039 does not limit, obviously, bodily sin to sexuality. 00:14:13.139 --> 00:14:16.320 If you read in Romans chapter six, Paul also 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:18.679 says, therefore, do not let sin reign in your 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:23.279 mortal body so that you obey its desires. And 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:27.019 do not offer any part of it to sin as weapons 00:14:27.019 --> 00:14:31.360 for unrighteousness. Guys, you should like this 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:32.820 scripture. We're talking about weapons today, 00:14:32.940 --> 00:14:37.639 right? Here we go, weapons. Weapons for unrighteousness, 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:41.080 weapons for righteousness. Do not offer any part 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:45.000 of your body to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. 00:14:45.320 --> 00:14:48.519 But as those who are alive from the dead, offer 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:51.580 yourself to God, all the parts of yourself to 00:14:51.580 --> 00:14:57.179 God as weapons for righteousness. You notice 00:14:57.179 --> 00:15:00.500 Paul's language, sin reigning in body and our 00:15:00.500 --> 00:15:03.480 body parts, the parts of our body can become 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:06.620 instruments or weapons of righteousness or weapons 00:15:06.620 --> 00:15:09.820 of unrighteousness in this world. How we yield 00:15:09.820 --> 00:15:12.840 them in the embodied life that we live will determine. 00:15:13.220 --> 00:15:16.019 And that means that sin is lived through our 00:15:16.019 --> 00:15:19.019 embodied existence, sexual immorality, drunkenness, 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:23.919 gluttony, violence. sloth, slander, self -harm, 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:27.100 neglect of responsibility, gossip, we could go 00:15:27.100 --> 00:15:31.600 on and on and on. Weapons of unrighteousness. 00:15:33.820 --> 00:15:39.779 These are not merely mistakes of emotion. I just 00:15:39.779 --> 00:15:42.700 was feeling it so strong, I had to, my body had 00:15:42.700 --> 00:15:49.480 to obey. These are embodied sins. I had to be 00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:51.860 true to what I was feeling, so I said what I 00:15:51.860 --> 00:15:59.299 had to say. They're embodied acts of sin. And 00:15:59.299 --> 00:16:02.899 scripture refuses to reduce sin merely to intention 00:16:02.899 --> 00:16:05.360 alone, because sin is not merely what we mean 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:07.580 in our hearts, but what we actually do with our 00:16:07.580 --> 00:16:10.080 bodies in this world. We are integrated beings. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:15.159 And the Bible treats the body as the place where 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:23.610 obedience is either practiced, or refused. Sin 00:16:23.610 --> 00:16:26.570 always takes shape in real lives, in real bodies 00:16:26.570 --> 00:16:30.750 with real consequences. It doesn't stay merely 00:16:30.750 --> 00:16:35.429 internal. And if we misunderstand the body, then 00:16:35.429 --> 00:16:37.509 we misunderstand sin, and if we misunderstand 00:16:37.509 --> 00:16:40.409 sin, then we will certainly misunderstand grace. 00:16:42.149 --> 00:16:44.370 So if you're taking notes, number three, redeemed 00:16:44.370 --> 00:16:50.690 and claimed. After naming embodied rebellion, 00:16:51.070 --> 00:16:55.370 Paul grounds obedience, embodied obedience in 00:16:55.370 --> 00:17:00.009 redemption, not shame. You listen again to 1 00:17:00.009 --> 00:17:02.769 Corinthians 6, 19 through 20. Don't you know 00:17:02.769 --> 00:17:05.829 that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit 00:17:05.829 --> 00:17:09.589 who is in you, whom you have from God? You are 00:17:09.589 --> 00:17:13.009 not your own. You were bought at a price. So 00:17:13.009 --> 00:17:20.440 glorify God with your body. Why does the body 00:17:20.440 --> 00:17:24.220 matter? Well, the body matters because it belongs 00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:30.059 to God. Your body is a temple, not because you 00:17:30.059 --> 00:17:32.359 hit the gym 10 times a day and it looks sweet, 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:35.960 right? Your body is a temple because God has 00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:40.720 chosen to dwell there. You are not your own. 00:17:41.220 --> 00:17:44.079 And that sentence cuts directly against the modern 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:48.039 story of our time. We're told, my body, my choice. 00:17:48.269 --> 00:17:54.269 You don't owe anyone anything. Do what feels 00:17:54.269 --> 00:17:59.230 right to you. But scripture says you are not 00:17:59.230 --> 00:18:04.750 your own, because you have been redeemed in Christ. 00:18:05.829 --> 00:18:08.529 You were bought with a price, and that price 00:18:08.529 --> 00:18:11.170 was not paid only for your inner thoughts and 00:18:11.170 --> 00:18:14.069 your inner life, but Christ shed his blood for 00:18:14.069 --> 00:18:33.599 embodied people. Amen? Golf clap. Redemption 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:36.220 does not rescue us from our bodies. It claims 00:18:36.220 --> 00:18:41.259 us as embodied people. And scripture presses 00:18:41.259 --> 00:18:43.500 again this hope even further in 1 Corinthians 00:18:43.500 --> 00:18:47.500 15. 42. So it is with the resurrection of the 00:18:47.500 --> 00:18:50.220 dead, sown in corruption and raised in gain corruption, 00:18:50.700 --> 00:18:53.680 sown in dishonor, raised in glory, sown in weakness, 00:18:53.859 --> 00:18:57.059 raised in power, sown a natural body, raised 00:18:57.059 --> 00:18:59.759 a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, 00:18:59.779 --> 00:19:05.319 there is also a spiritual body. But don't hear 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:08.859 when I say, when Paul says spiritual body, he 00:19:08.859 --> 00:19:13.799 does not mean a non -physical one. When Paul 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:16.099 says he raised a spiritual body does not mean 00:19:16.099 --> 00:19:19.579 a non -physical one it means a body that is fully 00:19:19.579 --> 00:19:23.619 restored fully healed and fully ordered by the 00:19:23.619 --> 00:19:28.140 spirit a Spiritual body is one that is restored 00:19:28.140 --> 00:19:34.099 and reordered according to the spirit If God 00:19:34.099 --> 00:19:37.160 intended to discard bodies resurrection doesn't 00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:42.390 make any sense does it Jesus was raised bodily. 00:19:43.509 --> 00:19:46.910 It's a tenant of the faith. He ate, he spoke 00:19:46.910 --> 00:19:49.490 to his disciples, he showed them the scars, they 00:19:49.490 --> 00:19:56.430 touched his body. His spiritual body, his glorified 00:19:56.430 --> 00:20:01.789 body. And scripture tells us Jesus is not the 00:20:01.789 --> 00:20:05.490 exception. Jesus is the first fruits of all who 00:20:05.490 --> 00:20:08.309 will come after him. Everyone who will experience 00:20:08.309 --> 00:20:10.769 the resurrection of life will experience the 00:20:10.769 --> 00:20:12.789 same thing. Jesus is just the first fruits. He's 00:20:12.789 --> 00:20:16.950 the picture. He's the prototype. In other words, 00:20:16.950 --> 00:20:19.710 it's our future. The body is not disposable. 00:20:19.849 --> 00:20:22.430 It is destined for glory. And so when Paul says, 00:20:22.470 --> 00:20:26.069 glorify God in your body, he's declaring a truth. 00:20:26.369 --> 00:20:29.509 Your body is claimed by God if you are in Christ. 00:20:30.250 --> 00:20:33.339 And God claims it by sending his spirit. Indwelt 00:20:33.339 --> 00:20:35.960 by the spirit he claims it because of the redemption 00:20:35.960 --> 00:20:39.279 of Christ Christ claims your embodied existence 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:43.900 and promises you resurrection Resurrection he 00:20:43.900 --> 00:20:48.079 will make your body restored healed and whole 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:53.460 And this is why embodied obedience is responsive 00:20:55.369 --> 00:20:58.589 It's not something we do to earn favor, it's 00:20:58.589 --> 00:21:02.109 responsive. He's already given himself to us 00:21:02.109 --> 00:21:07.170 if we're in Christ. And so that leads to number 00:21:07.170 --> 00:21:13.250 four, embodied worship. If our bodies are created 00:21:13.250 --> 00:21:18.150 by God and corrupted by sin, but redeemed by 00:21:18.150 --> 00:21:22.809 Christ, then worship can never be merely internal. 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:28.940 Scripture consistently defines worship as something 00:21:28.940 --> 00:21:35.380 we do with our bodies. Listen to Romans 12. Therefore, 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:38.059 brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies 00:21:38.059 --> 00:21:41.519 of God, I urge you to present your bodies as 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:44.960 a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:51.079 This is your true worship. Present your bodies. 00:21:51.789 --> 00:21:55.569 Worship according to scripture is embodied obedience. 00:21:57.730 --> 00:21:59.789 And again, Paul anchors this command in grace. 00:22:00.089 --> 00:22:02.690 It's not do this in order to earn God's favor. 00:22:02.890 --> 00:22:06.009 It's in view of God's mercy and view of God's 00:22:06.009 --> 00:22:08.930 favor. This is how you should respond by offering 00:22:08.930 --> 00:22:13.250 your whole embodied self as worship. Obedience 00:22:13.250 --> 00:22:15.769 is not the path to mercy, it is in response to 00:22:15.769 --> 00:22:18.609 mercy, and that's why scripture can command things 00:22:18.609 --> 00:22:21.450 of believers that sometimes feel impossible at 00:22:21.450 --> 00:22:25.289 first. Scripture can command us as believers 00:22:25.289 --> 00:22:30.109 to forgive. You ever been under the command of 00:22:30.109 --> 00:22:33.630 scripture to forgive and went, no thanks, right? 00:22:34.589 --> 00:22:40.450 No thanks. Or the, The scripture can say, exercise 00:22:40.450 --> 00:22:42.509 self -control over your bodies, and you go, oh 00:22:42.509 --> 00:22:49.309 my gosh. Or the scripture can say, be faithful, 00:22:51.170 --> 00:22:54.369 and our hearts are prone to wonder. Or it can 00:22:54.369 --> 00:22:58.589 say, endure hardship. We can go, man, I want 00:22:58.589 --> 00:23:03.609 out of this. Forgiveness, self -control, faithfulness, 00:23:03.690 --> 00:23:07.230 endurance, these are not mere emotional achievements. 00:23:10.250 --> 00:23:14.049 Every one of those are embodied acts of trust. 00:23:16.549 --> 00:23:20.690 Jesus himself ties love to obedience in John 00:23:20.690 --> 00:23:24.970 chapter 14. He says, if you love me, you will 00:23:24.970 --> 00:23:31.789 what? If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 00:23:34.109 --> 00:23:37.509 See, love is not measured by intensity of feeling. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:44.720 It is measured by embodied faithfulness. If we 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:46.299 have any married folks out there, you guys know 00:23:46.299 --> 00:23:49.559 that already. I can tell my wife, tell him, hey 00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:53.900 baby, I love you. I can say it passionately, 00:23:54.500 --> 00:24:01.380 I love you so much. But if my embodied reality 00:24:01.380 --> 00:24:05.420 is anything but faithful, do you think that that 00:24:05.420 --> 00:24:10.259 is love? If I go run off to do this or to hook 00:24:10.259 --> 00:24:13.160 up with so -and -so, do you think that is love? 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:18.200 No, because love is not the intensity of feeling 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:24.599 or emotion. Love is measured by faithfulness. 00:24:27.559 --> 00:24:31.019 We're told that authenticity in this life means 00:24:31.019 --> 00:24:34.819 acting in line with whatever we feel most strongly 00:24:34.819 --> 00:24:40.480 in the moment. But scripture tells us that faithfulness 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:44.920 often means acting in line with God's will before 00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:50.160 our emotions catch up. Say that again. Scripture 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:53.440 tells us that faithfulness often means acting 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:57.240 in line with God's will, and God's will is God's 00:24:57.240 --> 00:24:59.960 commands, and God's commands, we can know them 00:24:59.960 --> 00:25:05.210 in his word. Acting in line with God's will before 00:25:05.210 --> 00:25:08.569 our feelings, our emotions, our inner life catch 00:25:08.569 --> 00:25:17.849 up. And this is expressed bodily all the time. 00:25:19.609 --> 00:25:24.769 Taking a forgiving posture even as you struggle 00:25:24.769 --> 00:25:31.329 internally with the pain that lingers. restraining 00:25:31.329 --> 00:25:36.029 desire when temptation comes strong. Showing 00:25:36.029 --> 00:25:39.049 up physically even when withdrawal and hiding 00:25:39.049 --> 00:25:44.349 feels a whole lot easier. Choosing patience when 00:25:44.349 --> 00:25:50.029 anger feels justified. These are all acts of 00:25:50.029 --> 00:25:54.009 worship. And they're costly, but they are also 00:25:54.009 --> 00:25:58.569 how God forms us. Because the body is the arena 00:25:58.829 --> 00:26:03.250 in which allegiance to God is actually practiced. 00:26:05.490 --> 00:26:09.099 Number five. promised resurrection. So after 00:26:09.099 --> 00:26:10.779 everything scripture has told us about the body, 00:26:11.259 --> 00:26:13.640 creation, the corruption of the body, redemption 00:26:13.640 --> 00:26:16.059 in Christ, the final question remains, what is 00:26:16.059 --> 00:26:18.119 God's ultimate purpose for our bodies? And really 00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:20.019 quickly, just so that we have some scripture 00:26:20.019 --> 00:26:22.799 here, the answers that scripture gives is not 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:25.160 that we escape, it's resurrection of the body. 00:26:25.259 --> 00:26:27.940 The Christian hope is not that we are finally 00:26:27.940 --> 00:26:31.119 free from our bodies, we float off into space 00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:34.640 as disembodied souls that can float around the 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:37.539 universe for the rest of our existence. That's 00:26:37.539 --> 00:26:41.299 not the Christian hope. That's some weird Greek 00:26:41.299 --> 00:26:45.420 Roman thing from back in the day. The Christian 00:26:45.420 --> 00:26:49.339 hope is that God will raise our bodies by his 00:26:49.339 --> 00:26:54.480 power. That eternity will be an embodied existence, 00:26:55.480 --> 00:26:57.680 just as Christ demonstrated in his resurrection. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:00.240 The New Testament is clear, resurrection is not 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:02.859 something we achieve, it's something that God 00:27:02.859 --> 00:27:07.819 does to us. And in Philippians chapter three, 00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:12.359 20 and 21, Paul says that Christ will return 00:27:12.359 --> 00:27:16.500 and when he does, he will transform our lowly 00:27:16.500 --> 00:27:21.720 bodies to be like his glorious body by his power, 00:27:22.299 --> 00:27:26.859 not by our effort. The resurrection body is a 00:27:26.859 --> 00:27:30.089 gift. And yet, at the same time, Scripture also 00:27:30.089 --> 00:27:32.849 insists that the body God raises is not irrelevant 00:27:32.849 --> 00:27:35.049 to how we live now. In other words, we can't 00:27:35.049 --> 00:27:37.630 go, well, I can just abuse this body and do anything 00:27:37.630 --> 00:27:40.509 I want with it and to it while I wait for my 00:27:40.509 --> 00:27:44.369 great, glorious, resurrected body. Woo -hoo. 00:27:47.919 --> 00:27:50.160 We laugh at it, but there's like whole movements 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:52.720 that say that's the way it is, right? Even some 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:55.740 of the early church heresies or errors had to 00:27:55.740 --> 00:27:57.680 be fought against the idea like, do whatever 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:00.319 you want with your body. There's a new one coming, 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:07.460 right? Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, we read it already. 00:28:07.559 --> 00:28:14.420 He said, what is sown will then be raised. Why 00:28:14.420 --> 00:28:16.720 does Paul say that? Why doesn't he just say, 00:28:16.839 --> 00:28:21.059 what is will be wiped out and what will be is 00:28:21.059 --> 00:28:25.140 new, because Paul is trying to affirm some sort 00:28:25.140 --> 00:28:29.660 of continuity between our bodies now and the 00:28:29.660 --> 00:28:32.859 body we will receive then. We can kind of see 00:28:32.859 --> 00:28:34.900 that in a picture. It doesn't tell us a whole 00:28:34.900 --> 00:28:37.240 lot about what that means, but you can see that 00:28:37.240 --> 00:28:41.240 in Christ. He was resurrected with his scars, 00:28:42.619 --> 00:28:45.319 resurrected with the marks of his redemption. 00:28:45.660 --> 00:28:50.400 all over his body, and yet he was not the same. 00:28:51.740 --> 00:28:54.339 People eventually could recognize him, but after 00:28:54.339 --> 00:28:58.460 first not recognizing him, there's a mystery 00:28:58.460 --> 00:29:00.480 about the resurrected body, but whatever it is, 00:29:00.579 --> 00:29:03.160 Paul wants us to know there's some sort of continuity 00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:08.519 to what is planted and what is grown, in the 00:29:08.519 --> 00:29:10.440 same way that a seed does not look like the plant 00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:12.940 that comes up, and yet there's some sort of continuity 00:29:12.940 --> 00:29:17.250 there. The body that is raised is the body that 00:29:17.250 --> 00:29:20.029 God redeems. And so what we do with our bodies 00:29:20.029 --> 00:29:23.869 honors the body God intends to raise. A lot of 00:29:23.869 --> 00:29:26.809 our Christian life is about living out of what 00:29:26.809 --> 00:29:30.029 is true of us already, but what we don't see. 00:29:31.769 --> 00:29:35.769 And so we honor the body that God intends to 00:29:35.769 --> 00:29:40.440 raise by the way we live now. In fact, John, 00:29:40.440 --> 00:29:42.480 in First John, John talks about this when he 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:45.220 says, he's like, everyone who hopes in the resurrection, 00:29:45.339 --> 00:29:48.140 anyone hope in the resurrection? Woo -hoo. No 00:29:48.140 --> 00:29:52.539 more joint pain, no more back pain. Jumping around 00:29:52.539 --> 00:29:56.720 like gazelles. Get off there, Becky, get down 00:29:56.720 --> 00:30:02.960 here. Right? Woo -hoo, anyone who hopes in the 00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:04.799 resurrection, what does John say in First John? 00:30:05.140 --> 00:30:07.920 What do they do now, if you hope in the resurrection? 00:30:08.329 --> 00:30:11.430 First John says, anyone who hopes in the resurrection 00:30:11.430 --> 00:30:16.750 purifies himself now. Anyone who hopes in the 00:30:16.750 --> 00:30:21.109 resurrection gets himself ready by beginning 00:30:21.109 --> 00:30:24.549 to walk in obedience, embodied obedience now. 00:30:27.509 --> 00:30:31.960 Not to earn it, but because it's coming. and 00:30:31.960 --> 00:30:34.099 I wanna get ready. So embodied obedience is about 00:30:34.099 --> 00:30:36.380 living faithfully as the people that God has 00:30:36.380 --> 00:30:39.200 already claimed. We resist sin with our bodies. 00:30:39.339 --> 00:30:41.579 We practice faithfulness with our bodies. We 00:30:41.579 --> 00:30:44.039 worship with our bodies, not because resurrection 00:30:44.039 --> 00:30:47.039 depends on it, but because resurrection is certain. 00:30:47.400 --> 00:30:50.119 The Christian hope is not that we become less 00:30:50.119 --> 00:30:53.180 human, a sort of disembodied eternal state of 00:30:53.180 --> 00:30:55.259 existence. The hope of the Christian is that 00:30:55.259 --> 00:30:58.500 we become fully human, raised and made whole 00:30:58.500 --> 00:31:02.839 by the power of God. from the very beginning, 00:31:03.019 --> 00:31:05.359 scripture has told us the same story, we are 00:31:05.359 --> 00:31:08.359 not souls trapped in bodies, we are embodied 00:31:08.359 --> 00:31:11.880 creatures. We are created by God, we are corrupted 00:31:11.880 --> 00:31:14.640 by sin, we are redeemed by Christ, and we are 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:18.519 destined for resurrection. Which means the body 00:31:18.519 --> 00:31:21.660 is not incidental to the Christian life, it is 00:31:21.660 --> 00:31:26.220 the place where faith is lived. And what does 00:31:26.220 --> 00:31:28.259 that mean practically? Well I'll give you three. 00:31:28.569 --> 00:31:31.450 points really quickly. I won't expound on them. 00:31:31.589 --> 00:31:34.190 If they hit you, as soon as I say it, it was 00:31:34.190 --> 00:31:43.589 for you. Don't worship your body, be it through 00:31:43.589 --> 00:31:50.769 beauty or fitness. Don't worship your body. Don't 00:31:50.769 --> 00:31:56.710 neglect your body as if it's disposable and it 00:31:56.710 --> 00:32:01.970 doesn't mean anything. Instead, steward your 00:32:01.970 --> 00:32:06.789 body. Remember that it belongs to God, and a 00:32:06.789 --> 00:32:10.890 stewardship is it's not mine. I received it. 00:32:12.150 --> 00:32:15.329 You guys ever borrow someone's car? Just crank 00:32:15.329 --> 00:32:18.769 it up to 150, right? Trash it, throw the fries 00:32:18.769 --> 00:32:20.230 everywhere and then give it back? You ever done 00:32:20.230 --> 00:32:30.000 that? Can I borrow your car later? No. You would 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.180 never, would you? I would never, how dare you 00:32:34.180 --> 00:32:41.640 say no. Here we are. Here we are. Borrowed bodies. 00:32:43.099 --> 00:32:46.240 Stewards of what God has given. Here we are. 00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:49.039 We trashing it, we taking it for a joy ride. 00:32:50.299 --> 00:32:55.509 Or we leaning in to listen. not elevating the 00:32:55.509 --> 00:32:59.329 body as if it's an object of worship, not neglecting 00:32:59.329 --> 00:33:01.849 the body as if it doesn't matter at all in the 00:33:01.849 --> 00:33:04.049 end, but stewarding the body because it belongs 00:33:04.049 --> 00:33:07.069 to God and it is for his glory and for others 00:33:07.069 --> 00:33:13.349 good. Remember, Jesus gave his body for you and 00:33:13.349 --> 00:33:17.509 you now can offer your body to him, not to earn 00:33:17.509 --> 00:33:25.140 love, but because you're already loved. And so, 00:33:25.559 --> 00:33:29.440 I think the word to end on is, let our bodies 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:34.660 become an area of discipleship. This has been 00:33:34.660 --> 00:33:38.880 a journey for me. On December 6th, after a conversation 00:33:38.880 --> 00:33:42.759 with my brother over here, there was a decision 00:33:42.759 --> 00:33:45.279 made about being a better steward of this thing. 00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:50.589 This thing. And saying, hey, I... I can't live 00:33:50.589 --> 00:33:54.549 in nihilism as if it doesn't matter at all. Or 00:33:54.549 --> 00:33:56.869 like, God, I'm gonna just be reckless and just 00:33:56.869 --> 00:33:58.589 squeeze every little bit out of it, but sorry 00:33:58.589 --> 00:34:03.890 if I die at 46. I'm 46 right now. But I need 00:34:03.890 --> 00:34:07.849 to care for it, yet not idolize it. Because I've 00:34:07.849 --> 00:34:10.750 been there before in the past. It's like, perfectly 00:34:10.750 --> 00:34:13.170 sculpted and this and that, wanting that. I don't 00:34:13.170 --> 00:34:17.130 want that. I wanna be a steward of it. And so 00:34:17.130 --> 00:34:21.079 it began a journey. since December 6th till now 00:34:21.079 --> 00:34:25.639 of being more intentional about the stewardship 00:34:25.639 --> 00:34:29.340 of my body so that if God wants to use it, it's 00:34:29.340 --> 00:34:31.679 available. If he chooses to take it, that's his 00:34:31.679 --> 00:34:35.000 because it was always his. And I'm grateful for 00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:40.559 that process. It's been deeply impacting on discipleship. 00:34:41.300 --> 00:34:43.440 Like you think, oh, that's another compartment 00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:46.940 of life. That's something, no. If everything 00:34:46.940 --> 00:34:50.039 that I said so far is true, and the very theology 00:34:50.039 --> 00:34:53.639 of the body in light of the universe is how God 00:34:53.639 --> 00:34:56.400 created us as embodied creatures, it is part 00:34:56.400 --> 00:34:59.760 and parcel to our discipleship. It's not the 00:34:59.760 --> 00:35:04.119 only part. And it shouldn't be, again, an idolization 00:35:04.119 --> 00:35:08.300 of it. But I had to confront myself and say, 00:35:09.179 --> 00:35:14.340 how am I living? And make some changes. And by 00:35:14.340 --> 00:35:17.369 God's grace, those changes have affected the 00:35:17.369 --> 00:35:20.449 way I think, they've affected the energy that 00:35:20.449 --> 00:35:23.110 I have, the way that I feel, and by His grace, 00:35:23.130 --> 00:35:25.389 He can use that for His glory, or He can take 00:35:25.389 --> 00:35:27.789 me home tomorrow, that's not the point. See, 00:35:27.829 --> 00:35:30.309 I'm not trying to live forever. I actually don't 00:35:30.309 --> 00:35:31.730 want to live forever. Man, when you read enough 00:35:31.730 --> 00:35:33.190 of the Bible, you're like, woo -hoo, take me 00:35:33.190 --> 00:35:35.989 now! But then you're like, well, I can't live 00:35:35.989 --> 00:35:37.929 recklessly and then make Him take me now, can 00:35:37.929 --> 00:35:39.730 I? So it's like this weird place that you have 00:35:39.730 --> 00:35:46.000 to live in, right? How you eat, how you rest, 00:35:46.079 --> 00:35:48.539 how you sleep, how you work, how you use your 00:35:48.539 --> 00:35:51.880 God -assigned and God -given sexuality, how you 00:35:51.880 --> 00:35:55.260 handle stress, how you pursue health, all of 00:35:55.260 --> 00:35:58.920 it is discipleship, and all of it can be worship. 00:36:01.280 --> 00:36:04.360 The world tells us that freedom is being self 00:36:04.360 --> 00:36:06.400 -owned and self -defined, but scripture tells 00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:09.760 us that freedom is belonging to the one who made 00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:13.039 us, redeemed us. and has set good boundaries 00:36:13.039 --> 00:36:17.480 for our good. And so the Christian call is not 00:36:17.480 --> 00:36:21.199 to express ourselves without restraint, nor to 00:36:21.199 --> 00:36:24.400 despise our physical life or existence, but to 00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:28.179 offer all of it up as worship. We are invited 00:36:28.179 --> 00:36:31.599 to present our bodies as living sacrifices in 00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:35.460 grateful response to God's mercy. And this is 00:36:35.460 --> 00:36:40.079 the true and better vision of identity. Not divided, 00:36:41.199 --> 00:36:46.679 not disembodied, but whole, an embodied creature 00:36:46.679 --> 00:36:49.920 offered up to the glory of God. Will you join 00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:50.440 me in praying?