Chapter 23

If there is a topic that Christians tend to avoid, it is the human body. Not the human body in the abstract, of course, but the human body in the concrete – the real flesh-and-blood human body. Western culture—its idolatry and excesses and abuses—has come to dominate our thinking on this subject so thoroughly that a Christian view of the body has been almost entirely eclipsed. God created us with a body. It’s true that not every human body works well. It is also true that every human body will eventually fail. Disease and death are the fate of us all—such is the consequence of the fall. But God came as Jesus Christ, fully human as well as fully divine, to redeem us, and redeem every part of us. In the end God will not discard the body as if it were trash but recreate it. How then should we view embodiment? How should we steward the body? How can we worship and serve God in and with the body?  What do you learn about God’s plan for the human body in creation and redemption? Read Psalm 8; Genesis 1 and 2. What happened in the Fall? Read Genesis 3. How does God view the human body, even in its fallen condition, and plan to redeem it?

Mark 5:21-34; I Corinthians 15:25-58; Romans 8:18-25; Revelation 21:1-5

The human body is a gift. The proper response to receiving a gift is “thank you.” How often do you thank God for the gift of your body? First, over the next week or two try to spend a few moments every day thinking about the marvel of your body and thanking God for it. Perhaps concentrate on something different every day: your liver one day, your sense of smell the next. Second, consider how you can steward the gift of your body. Try practicing a few simple disciplines for the next week or two. Don’t make them too lofty and grandiose. Take simple steps of action. For example, do you need to reduce or eliminate consumption of sugar? Walk 20 minutes every day? Spend less time in front of the mirror? Put on less makeup? Shop more wisely and dress more modestly? Finally, ponder how you can change the way you think about other bodies. Consider how you view homely people, or beautiful people, or persons with disabilities, or people from other racial and ethnic groups, or people with an obvious “flaw.” How do you respond to their bodies? Do you recoil from them? Judge them? Lust after them? Envy them? Avoid them? Refuse to touch them? God wants us to love the bodies of other people, though obviously in a holy way. Identify a person or two in your life that might require a change of perspective on your part. What will that mean for you?

What did you learn about a Christian view of embodiment from the chapter, the Bible passages, and the spiritual exercise? Did you learn anything new? Did your perspective change? Your behavior

Psalm 139:13-18