Flesh

Are we Americans too obsessed with our bodies? Maybe.

On the one hand, we Christians think too much attention is paid to physical beauty. But Paul notes in 1 Cor 15:40 that it their own way our earthly bodies are as splendid as the heavenly bodies. God made our bodies beautiful.

We also often wish for a different body. We think if we were taller, or more muscular, or had smaller feet, we'd be more beautiful. But Paul points out that God gives the body He thinks best; Paul talks about the way human and animal bodies are different, but I think the same principle applies between human body types.

Paul got onto this discussion of bodies as a tangent to his discussion of the resurrection of the dead. In answer to what he calls the foolish question of what kind of body we will have when raised, Paul points out first that God decides that and second, that the earthly body will serve as the seed of the heavenly body.

We don't know what the fully mature spiritual body will look like once it's grown from the seed, but Paul gives us a few hints (vv42-43): it will be imperishable, meaning it won't decay or age. It will be glorious - that could mean beauty, it could mean capability, probably it means both. It will be powerful, and it will be spiritual.

I think this means that I need to take my body seriously, but not too seriously. I need to take care of my physical self because it's one of the tools God gave me to do His work. My body isn't a genetic accident, it's been carefully designed to enable me to be who God wants me to be. That makes it an important part of who I am.

But I shouldn't take it too seriously because it's just temporary. Like a fat caterpillar who will one day be able to fly on gossamer wings, I'm going to live in this body for a short while and then it will be the seed for a new ageless, beautiful, powerful one.

God's plan for me, both here on earth and for eternity, is an amazing one, and I'm frequently awed at the detail He put into the planning. And I'm sobered by the reminders that He links the two; what I do in my earthly body has implications for what I'll do with my spiritual one.