The Disciple's Body

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In Christ  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  49:25
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Introduction

We’ve been in a series looking at what it means to be “In Christ” or He “In Us”.
We’ve seen that Jesus is in us for “them” and for us to continue the work he began while he was on Earth.
As we allow Jesus to transform us he does in several areas.
Mind Romans 12:1-2
Last week we saw how Jesus transforms our emotions or our cravings.
Today, I want to see how our bodies are transformed by Jesus.
The foundational truth for today is:

Your Body Is Not Your Property

The prevailing philosophy in our day is that we are simply products of DNA.
This is the way we are made up.
We are given a body and we do whatever we want with our body.
School protest over uniforms, little had sign that read, “It’s My Body!”
Which is just part our problem, the idea today is whatever pleases us the most is our right.
That mindset is at the center of nearly every hot button issue in our society.
Think about it:
Marriage
Homosexuality
Free speech
Pornography
Reproductive rights, etc.
Many of these issues deal with the body and many of them are dominated y this philosophy that each of has a body for us to do with it whatever we desire, and this philosophy is alive and well in the church.
But, what if it’s not true?
First of all: what if our bodies are not just products of our DNA and it’s just the way we are?
What if our bodies are not ours to do with whatever we want?
What if they actually don’t belong to us at all?
As a follower of Jesus Christ, your body is not your property.
In the NT, we see that our bodies are at the core of our spiritual lives.
Often we try to separate our spiritual life from our physical life.
Disconnect them
But Christ is not intended to be left over here in the spiritual realm and have no effect on the physical realm.
Sometimes we think, our bodies are just a barrier of doing God’s will for our lives.
It’s a barrier to spiritual growth
We engage in things that we know don’t honor God so we think of the body as this picture of evil.
Paul says, “In my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members” (Rom. 7:22–23).
Then he says, “What a wretched man I am,” and we’re just wretched for having read through this and thinking through this.
Christ came to not just save our mind and emotions, but he can transform our bodies as well.
Today let’s look at 1 Corinthians 6
The Corinthians had separated their faith and their spiritual lives.
So for them, it didn’t matter what you did with your body
Corinth was know for rampant immorality, particularly sexual immorality.
So in this passage Paul has to deal with the fact that our bodies are part of our spiritual lives and not separate for us to do whatever we want.
Le’ts read 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Your Body Was Created By God

The first great truth is your body was created by God.
Food for the stomach and the stomach for food was a common phrase used by the Corinthians.
Basically, they were saying, “My stomach was and for food and food was made for my stomach” so automatically you put them together and there’s no problem.
The implication was that’s how they looked at sexuality.
“My body was for sex and sex was made for the body so they go together.”
Paul was countering that idea
The Body is meant for the Lord and the Lord for the body.
This is a key phrase here
We’ve been going back to Genesis the couple of week and let’s do it again this morning.
In Geneses 1 and 2, it talks about how God created man, gave man bodies and gave them responsibility to use their bodies to accomplish.
Then he said, “It was very good.” Not “good”.
Like last week, God designed the body so that we would look to him for everything we need in the body.
We had very little control over our development
That was God’s design from birth to adulthood.
To be honest, there is really not anything significant when it deals with our bodies that we can take credit for.
God created us by His design.

Our Bodies Are Invaluable to Him

Remember the Corinthians separated the physical from the spiritual thinking God didn’t care about the physical
They needed to realize that God is very concerned about their bodies.
He is concerned about what we do in the physical realm
There’s a dangerous tendency for us to think that I can grow spiritually and it doesn’t matter what I do with my physical body.
We then begin to compartmentalize our behavior and that is a dangerous road to follow.
God is very concerned about your body. a
In 1 Corinthians 6 we discover the beauty that our bodies are precious to God; therefore, honor God with your body
Your body is precious to God; it is a valuable treasure.

He Has Made An Eternal Investment In Our Bodies

Verse 14, says he will raise us also
The Corinthians thought My soul is okay, it doesn’t matter about my body
God says, “It mattered for Jesus’ body. He didn’t just raise a soul. He raised a body”
If you go to Chapter 15 you’ll find a passage describing how that some of us will not die, but be transformed in a twinkling of an eye to and those that have died will be raised and we’ll all have a resurrection body like Christ did/does.
That means that God did not just come to resurrect, to save my soul, to redeem my soul.
He came to redeem my body.
So the picture you get in 1 Corinthians 6 and 15 is the fact that God in His power raised Jesus from the dead and that same power is going to raise our bodies.
We are going to reign with Him, bodily reign with Him.
You see God is making an eternal investment in your body
Not just for the here and now
But for the there and then.
Now before we move into the sexual and bodily sin, let me just remind you, that no matter what you’ve done in the past that might have dishonored God
God still says your body is very valuable to Him
He’s made an eternal investment in you
If you are in Christ, you’re forgiven and cleaned up.
The adversary will tell you are dirty, too dirty to be used by God and that is just a lie.
The same goes for those with a disease or illness.
You’re body is valuable to God and one day He will your body up completely whole.
You are created by God and is precious to God, so honor God with it.

Your Body Was Purchased By Christ

The second great truth: Because your body is not only created by God, your body was purchased by Christ.
Look at verses 19-20
Christ bought you at a price

Christ United Us With Himself

When we trust in Christ, our bodies are united with Him.
This goes back to the very essence of who Christ is.
The whole picture of Christianity revolves around the incarnation
God in human flesh
How?
First of all, Christ took on a body like us.
Second, Chris gave His body for us.
His holy, sin free body that never one time do anything that would dishonor God.
Then He took the weight of our sin on cross
That’s why in 1 Peter 1:18-19 it says, “Don’t forget, you were not redeemed with perishable things, like silver or gold. You were redeemed, you were purchased, by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.”
He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven
Now, third, Christ displays His body through us.
You see His hands, feet, eyes, ears, smiles through the hearts of His people.
So, when Paul asks, “Shall I then take members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute?” in verse 15
His answer, NO Never.
It is unthinkable that you would ever give your life, give your body in relationship to someone else that is outside of God’s design for you body.
You are uniting the very nature of Jesus and you are indulging Him in your sin.
We are surrounded by sexual temptation we need to remember that we carry around the body of Jesus Christ.

Paul goes on to point out that Christ has set us free from the very thing He died to save you from?

Back to verse 12, the Corinthians asked “What do you mean Christ sets us free?”
“Everything is permissible for me, but everything is not beneficial?”
Everything is permissible was a common phrase used in Corinth.
But Paul is saying that it may permissible, but it not beneficial for me.
What did He die to set us free from?
Bodily sin that harms so deeply
This goes beyond just sexual sin and is better thought as bodily sin that harms so deeply
He says, Is this beneficial? It’s beneficial to you.
Is this an advantage for the Church? Does it bring people to Christ? No
The implication then is sin never helps, it always harms and harms deeply.
Sin was harming the church in Corinth and sin, sexual sin, bodily sin is harming deeply the church today.
As an example, pornography is rampant in the church.
One survey said 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women are addicted to pornography.
One out every two men and one out of every five women. (in this room)
We live in a culture where nearly half in one recent survey said that it is no problem to have a sexual relationship with someone of the opposite sex other than their spouse.
Sin harms deeply and this is sin’s great deception.
Because it promises that it will help.
It promises satisfaction.
Sin promises great reward, but it never delivers.
Maybe for a moment but it never ever delivers on what it promises.
Sin always harms, always harms.
Paul then says next, “Not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me —but I will not be mastered by anything.”
That’s the way sin works
It gets in our minds and our emotions and our bodies and it controls.
It so fills, especially sexual sin, it so fills and defiles every facet of our lives.
That’s why in verse 18 he says flee, avoid it, run from it.
You’ve got a decision to make: do it or run. RUN
You can’t handle it by yourself, Christ is the only one who’s good enough, so run to Him.

He has set us free from Bodily Sin that Devastates so painfully.

Verses 16 - 17
Again going back to Adam and Eve the two will become one flesh
He says don’t you know that when you unite yourself to someone this is deeper than just a fleshly activity, a physical activity; this is the uniting of your whole self with somebody he says.
He who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.
He who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her, one with him.
Verse 18
Sexual sin is extremely painful.
It is devastating
It breaks up marriages
Undercuts trust
Destroys lives
It leads to lying, stealing, cheating, gossip.
It just doesn’t go alone
That’s why Paul tells them in Verse 9-10 that sexual sinners will not inherit the kingdom of God.
We say, “Well are you saying God won’t forgive me now?”
No, look at what it says, “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11).
Therefore stop and give yourself to Him.
You were washed from that.
You were set free from that.
My goal this morning in this text, the goal of this text is not just to make us feel guilty.
My goal is not for any person to walk out of here this morning overwhelmed with guilt, but my goal is to say loud and clear it harms deeply, and it controls quickly and it devastates painfully.

He has set us free to enjoy His great purpose for our bodies.

In Romans 7:4 it says, “So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead” (Rom. 7:4).
You belong to the one who has conquered sin.
So we are free to enjoy His great purpose for our bodies.
Do we trust God’s great purpose for our bodies?
Singles, teenagers, ladies. Who will you trust?
Husband, wives, Who will you trust?
We are created to enjoy God’s purpose with our bodies, so trust Him, he knows whats best for your body.

We are to exalt His great glory in our bodies.

Don’t forget, it’s not just about us.
It’s not just about what is beneficial to me.
This is the self-centered nature of sin.
“What can I get? What can I get? What do I need to do?”
And we don’t even begin to think about the consequences of sin on all those around us.
All those around us who we, we are given the body of Christ to exalt the glory of God through our bodies and when we are free from those things, we’re free to show His glory, to encourage others, to lead others to Christ by the way we live in our bodies.
Your body is created by God and it is purchased by Christ and

Your Body Is Filled By The Spirit

Look at verse 19-20
The temple in the OT was two things for the people of Israel
One it was the place where God’s presence dwells among His people.
It was “the place”. Jerusalem
The temple. The Holy of Holies
God’s glory dwelled among His people
Second the temple is the place where God’s holiness draws nations to Himself.
In the New Testament, Jesus Christ says, “I’m the temple. I’m the place where you meet the glory of God. You want to see the presence of God? Here, I’m drawing the nations to myself.”
He goes to a cross, He dies, He rises from the grave, He ascends into heaven, He sends His Holy Spirit and now, you and I, just as the temple in the Old Testament housed the presence of the living God, you and I house the presence of the Spirit of God in our bodies.
Our bodies — We possess His presence as the church.
The Holy Spirit is the only One who has power to help you overcome sin, to help you conquer sin
He’s living in you so you’re not going out fighting the body alone.
You’ve got the Holy Spirit of God in you for that purpose.
We also display His holiness to the nations.
In John 16 Jesus tells us the Spirit will come to us, will be in us to give glory to Christ
That our bodies, the Spirit dwelling in us then, are what draws the nations to Jesus.
We draw people who don’t know Christ to Him through the way we live in our bodies.
And here’s the truth, every single person in this room, can either be used as an instrument of wickedness or an instrument of righteousness.
Those are the two choices.
The Spirit is in us to transform us.
And God is very passionate about us displaying His holiness through our lives.
What part of your body is not bringing great glory to God?
Not just sexual part, what about the tongue
What about temper, what we’re looking at, what we’re taking in, what we watch, what we see.
What in our body needs to be purified this morning?
And I want you to get a picture of God who loves you deeply and wants to purify you deeply.
So consider, just ask yourself the question what in my body needs to be purified for the glory of God?
Pray
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