4 Reasons WHY Our Bodies Matter to God
Sources: Ed Young’s Message “Bodyology” 1999 from Fellowship Church Grapevine, TX www.fellowshipchurch.com , and the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn 2004 Tyndale Publishing.

1) Our bodies were created in God’s Image….Psalm 139:13-16 Msg“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God---you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.

Gen 1---God spoke All of creation into existence and it was good; Light (separated light from dark to create day and night), Sky, Water and Land, Earth—green up with a variety of seed bearing plants/ fruit bearing trees, Lights to govern the day and night; Sun and Moon, Fish and Sea life/ Birds of the air, Earth generate life of every sort of animal--cattle/ reptiles/ and wild animals; Except the creation of man and women (Adam and Eve), the pinnacle of creation was very good. God rolled up His sleeves and really got involved as read in Gen 1:26-28 Msg; “God spoke, Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of the Earth. God created human beings; He created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take Charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds of the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of the Earth. God looked at everything He had made; it was so good, so very good!

Gen 2:7 “The Lord God formed the Man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive, a “living being” (Hebrew word for living being is nephesh—often translated soul)! The point at which Adam became nephesh/ living being/ soul is when God joined his body (dust) and spirit (breath) together. Adam was not a living human being until he had both material (physical) and immaterial (spiritual) components. Thus, the essence of humanity is not just spirit, but spirit joined with the body. –Taken from the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn.

Gen 2:18 Msg God said,”It’s not good for the Man to be alone; I’ll make him a helper, a companion.”vs 21-25 God put Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man (Adam) to make the Woman (Eve) and presented her to the Man. The man said, “Finally, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh! Name her woman for she was made from man.” Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh.

2) Jesus wore flesh (a human body) and became human. He was born in a manger to a virgin Mary, Was tempted in every way as we are, however was without sin and Lived 33 years on earth. John 1:14 Msg—The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-king glory, life Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.

3) Your Body is a TEMPLE of the Holy Spirit….God lives in YOU. 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 Amplified “Do you not know that your body is a temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit who lives within you, Whom you have received (as a gift) from God? You are not your own, You were bought with a price (purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own). So then, honor God and bring Glory to Him in your body.” Romans 12:1-2 NIV “Therefore, I urge you brothers, to offer your bodies as “Living Sacrifices”, holy and pleasing to God for this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is; His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Your daily choices in regards to your bodies health, wellness and self care is seen as a spiritual act of worship to God (Work, Play and Rest)!!

4) Our Bodies will be Resurrected!! Our resurrection bodies will be free of the curse of sin, redeemed, and restored to their original beauty and purpose that goes back to Eden. The physical resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of redemption (the empty tomb)—both for mankind and for the earth. Indeed, without Christ’s resurrection and what it means—an eternal future for fully restored human beings dwelling on a fully restored Earth—there is no Christianity. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins…(and) we are to be pitied more than all men” 1 Corinth 15:17,19.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinth 5:17 When you’re on the New Earth, for the first time you’ll be the person God originally intended you to be, without any of the “bent” of sin.

All of Creation hopes for, even anticipates the resurrection;

Romans 8:19-23 “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

What does it mean that creation waits for God’s children to be revealed? Our Creator, the Master Artist, will put us on display to a wide-eyed universe. Our revelation will be an unveiling, and we will be seen as what we are, as what we were intended to be---God image-bearers. We will glorify him by ruling over the physical universe with creativity and in community, showing respect and honor for all we rule. We will be revealed at our resurrection, when our adoption will be finalized and our bodies redeemed and resurrected. We will be fully human with righteous spirits and incorruptible bodies. (From the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn pg 121 Chapter 11 “Why does all creation await our resurrection?”)