Healthy Living
I Thess 5:23-24, I Tim 2:4, I Cor 6:19-20,
Rom 12:1,I Tim 4:7-8 05/28/06
Why are we at Vineyard Community Church committed to a health and fitness ministry? I Thess 5:23-24
1.Most people think a pastor is not supposed to talk about losing weight, exercise, or motorcycles, or hunting or fishing from the pulpit on Sunday. They think that kind of stuff does not belong in church. Some people think that all we are supposed to talk about on Sunday is getting ready for heaven. Obviously they have not read the Bible. Since the Bible talks about all sorts of stuff; like criminal justice, welfare, civil disobedience, inflation, how to go on vacations. It talks about tort law and caps on civil judgments, private property rights, and about health issues. Some people actually think that talking about healthy living in a church sermon is unspiritual. They think if they want to learn about health they will go to their doctor. Although most doctors would tell you that the majority of office visits are not only physical but emotional and spiritual. Many people don’t see the connection between their spirit and their health. It is interesting that God in the OT clearly made the connection between healthy living and your spirit. Who do you think were the doctors in the OT? The priest, when someone was sick they went to the priest for healing and instructing on living healthy.
2.Paul in the NT saw the connection between our spirit and our body. Turn to I Thess 5:23-24. “May God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
3.We need to see the connection between the body/soul and the spirit. We are triune beings, that means we are comprised of three parts, all three being equal. Most Christians think that their spirit is most important, and the body and the soul are secondary. This is simply not true, it is never taught in the Bible. God is very concerned for your body and you soul as much as He is concerned about your spirit. When we die and go to heaven we will be spirit and soul but there will be a resurrection of our bodies and we will live forever with God as body, soul, and spirit. We are not going to just be spirits floating around in heaven we are going to have bodies!
4.Our spirit is our eternal life that is within us, given to us by God. Our soul is our personal identity, personality, our intellect and our emotions. Our body is our flesh.
What does this mean “sanctify you completely?”
1.“Sanctify you completely” means that God wants to bless you spiritually, physically and mentally. Sanctify actually means to be set apart for special use to make holy. But we have come to think that holy only refers to our spirits. Holiness refers to our spirits, our bodies and our soul. Holiness refers to wholeness. God is not just interested in blessing you spiritually. He wants us to be blessed in all areas of our lives. Paul is not praying that just our spirits be conformed to God but he is praying that our whole man, every aspect of our lives would be conformed to God’s will.
2. What this is saying is that you can’t separate your spirit from your body or your soul. Many today try to compartmentalize their lives. They think that what they do with their bodies does not affect their spirit or their minds, or some think that it does not matter what goes on in their minds, it does not affect their spirit or their bodies. This is just not true, we are the total of spirit, soul and body. They can’t be separated. We are integrated beings, we can’t really separate our souls or our spirits from our bodies.
3. Some of you are sitting there thinking, “Pastor Dave I am having enough trouble just trying to keep my spiritual life on target and now you are telling me that God wants my physical life and my mental thoughts in line with His ways. Wow I don’t know if I can do that.” You are right, YOU can’t do it, but don’t get discouraged, read verse 24, “He who calls you is faithful and also will do it.” God is faithful and will do it, all we need to do is stay close to Him and obey His Holy Spirit. He will do it in us, we just need to listen to Him. We need to believe that He wants to sanctify our bodies and minds. If we don’t think it matters to Him we will make no effort. We know that God is concerned about our spirits and therefore we make an effort to keep our spirits right with Him by repenting when we sin. We need to have the same view about our bodies and out minds. We need to work with God to allow Him to sanctify our bodies and our soul.
4. It is important to notice the order here that God sanctifies us. It is always the spirit first, then the body then the soul. We tend to say it wrong. We usually say, body, soul and spirit. But it is really spirit, soul and body. Until we are right with God in our spirits nothing else in our lives lines up. We need to get our sins forgiven and receive the presence and power of the Holy Spirit if we are ever going to get our bodies and our thoughts in line with God’s word. We can’t do it on our own, but with God’s Spirit in our lives we can become all that God desires us to become.
How can we sanctify our body? Recognize ownership I Cor 6:19-20
1.I Cor. 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore glorify/honor God with your body.”
2.Scripture is clear. If you are in Christ then you belong to Christ. Your body belongs to Christ. All of us should recognize ownership. Most of us are like toddlers when it comes to ownership.
3.Here are the property laws of a toddler.
If I like it, it’s mine.
If it’s in my hand, it’s mine.
If I can take it from you, it’s mine.
If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine.
If it’s mine, it must never appear to be yours in
any way.
If I’m doing or building something, all the
pieces are mine.
If it looks just like mine, it’s mine.
If I saw it first, it’s mine.
If you are playing with something and you put it
down, it automatically becomes mine.
If it’s broken, it’s yours.
4.These are not just the property laws of a toddler. These are also the laws that some of us as adults have carried into our lives! We think if something is in our possession, it’s ours. Including our bodies. “This is my body I can do with it whatever I want.” Not according to God’s Word. “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
5. We are to treat our bodies as though we have it on loan. Recognize that we don’t own our bodies. If I loaned you my car to use for a few weeks, would I be wrong to assume that you would take care of it? Would you go four wheeling in the woods with it? Wouldn’t you be real careful with it and make sure you return it back to me in good condition? Why? Because you know you don’t own the car. Well it is the same with your body, you don’t own it. It belongs to God so we need to take care of it.
6. We need to make it a point to “glorify” God with our bodies. This is not only referring to staying away from sinful behavior it is also talking about how we care for out bodies. The way we take care of our bodies and the things we do with our bodies is the way we can “glorify” God with our bodies. Some people think that their body needs to be denied and look at it as a burden. They see it as something to be overcome so that they can become spiritual (monks) Some people think the body needs to be worshipped and given its every desire. They think that their purpose is to have as much fun as possible to experience as much pleasure as possible. These are both wrong. Christianity teaches that the body and the spirit are a package deal, they can’t be separated. The body is part of who we are and we need to commit our body to God to bring Him glory.
7. I took an online test the other day on www.realage.com It asked me about 100 questions, what I weigh, my blood pressure, what I eat, how many miles I drive each day, do I wear a seat belt, what kind of stress I handle, if I sun tan, how much do I exercise, what kind of exercise do I do, any vitamins or medicines I take, etc. Then it calculates it all up and tells me my “real age.” My calendar age is 52, but according to this test I am 45 years old! Yeah!
8. Just because you are getting older does not mean that you have to let your body fall apart. Now there is no way we can stop the aging process, but we don’t have to give up! Unless Jesus returns I am going to get old and die, but my plan is to die as healthy as I can! Try to figure that one out!!! How does a person do that? By living each day with the realization that “I am not my own, my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, treat it as though it is on loan.”
9. We can see in verse 14 that Paul mentions that our bodies are so important that God will be raising them again from the dead to be resurrected. Our bodies are important to God.
Summary
1.My body belongs to the Lord and the Lord is for my body. My body is a holy temple in which God’s Holy Spirit dwells.
2.Our body and the way we take care of it is important to God. He wants us to be made completely whole, body, soul and spirit.
