"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power...For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." 1 Corinthians 6:12-14 & 20
You and I were made in God's image, and God created us with a physical body for a purpose: to glorify Him!
Look at the verses above, and consider what God is saying through it.
"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything." Notice that the first phrase is repeated? Paul is reminding us that the Law doesn't have power over believers anymore and we are free. But that freedom does not mean we should or can do whatever we want. Not everything we are able to do is good or beneficial, and we can be mastered by those things. Remember Cain was mastered by sin (Genesis 4) and the outcome? We are no longer condemned by our sin if we have trusted in Christ as our Savior, but we can still be mastered by our sin if we are not continually fighting against falling to temptation and denying sin in our lives.
"Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will do away with both of them." Yikes! Does this say what I think it says?! Paul follows His resolve to not be mastered by anything with mentioning food - it is sinful to be mastered by food! He's saying food is necessary and it has been made for your body, but that's it. Food was not made for your comfort, that's the Holy Spirit's job! But when we look to food to make us feel better (I do it too!), we are replacing God with food, and that makes food an idol. And that idol will not last or satisfy.
"Yet the body is not for immorality, but for The Lord, and The Lord is for the body." Immorality simply means sin. Your body and my body were not made for sin and it's effects! Our bodies were made to serve The Lord, to delight in Him and bring Him glory. When we seek ease, comfort and an escape from work, our bodies are living immorally or sinfully. Look back at Genesis 1, when God made humanity in His image, He gave mankind the job of taking care of His creation, all of it! In Genesis 3 we see that when sin entered, this work became much more difficult, but the call to work existed before sin. We were not made to sit around, but to live every moment for The Lord! (see also Romans 12:1).
"Now God has not only raised The Lord, but will also raise us up through His power...For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." Could Paul be any clearer? God may do away with our current broken bodies, but in His power He will raise us up with the same power that He also raised Christ from the dead! What an incredible promise! Our bodies will then be what He always meant for them to be! So what are we to do while we are waiting here on this earth? Glorify God in your body! This means not being mastered by unfulfilling idols like food, comfort, ease and escape, but instead taking care of all that God has entrusted us with: our own bodies and the world around us.
Lord, You are so good, thank You for promising to raise us with the same power You raised Christ. Thank You for sacrificing Your Son so that the payment for our sin is paid in full. Help me glorify You with my body. Help me examine my life and show me where I am not glorifying You but instead serving other idols. I want to serve You with all of my life. Amen.
You and I were made in God's image, and God created us with a physical body for a purpose: to glorify Him!
Look at the verses above, and consider what God is saying through it.
"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything." Notice that the first phrase is repeated? Paul is reminding us that the Law doesn't have power over believers anymore and we are free. But that freedom does not mean we should or can do whatever we want. Not everything we are able to do is good or beneficial, and we can be mastered by those things. Remember Cain was mastered by sin (Genesis 4) and the outcome? We are no longer condemned by our sin if we have trusted in Christ as our Savior, but we can still be mastered by our sin if we are not continually fighting against falling to temptation and denying sin in our lives.
"Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will do away with both of them." Yikes! Does this say what I think it says?! Paul follows His resolve to not be mastered by anything with mentioning food - it is sinful to be mastered by food! He's saying food is necessary and it has been made for your body, but that's it. Food was not made for your comfort, that's the Holy Spirit's job! But when we look to food to make us feel better (I do it too!), we are replacing God with food, and that makes food an idol. And that idol will not last or satisfy.
"Yet the body is not for immorality, but for The Lord, and The Lord is for the body." Immorality simply means sin. Your body and my body were not made for sin and it's effects! Our bodies were made to serve The Lord, to delight in Him and bring Him glory. When we seek ease, comfort and an escape from work, our bodies are living immorally or sinfully. Look back at Genesis 1, when God made humanity in His image, He gave mankind the job of taking care of His creation, all of it! In Genesis 3 we see that when sin entered, this work became much more difficult, but the call to work existed before sin. We were not made to sit around, but to live every moment for The Lord! (see also Romans 12:1).
"Now God has not only raised The Lord, but will also raise us up through His power...For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." Could Paul be any clearer? God may do away with our current broken bodies, but in His power He will raise us up with the same power that He also raised Christ from the dead! What an incredible promise! Our bodies will then be what He always meant for them to be! So what are we to do while we are waiting here on this earth? Glorify God in your body! This means not being mastered by unfulfilling idols like food, comfort, ease and escape, but instead taking care of all that God has entrusted us with: our own bodies and the world around us.
Lord, You are so good, thank You for promising to raise us with the same power You raised Christ. Thank You for sacrificing Your Son so that the payment for our sin is paid in full. Help me glorify You with my body. Help me examine my life and show me where I am not glorifying You but instead serving other idols. I want to serve You with all of my life. Amen.
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