Sunday, November 9, 2003
Sunday, November 9, 2003
So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
(Genesis 1.27
NRSV)
Scientists have discovered that there is constant feedback going on back and forth between our brains and every cell in our body. Our minds and bodies have a unity that we are only now appreciating. You may not be aware of it, but that fits in beautifully with Christian theology.
It was the Greeks who contended there is a division between mind, soul and body. The Jews, however, knew that wasn't true. When the Jew spoke of the soul, he was referring to the total person--including mind and body. That is why in the Apostles' creed we say we believe in the resurrection of the body. Not the same physical body that we've inhabited all these years--for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom--but a new spiritual body which God will grant us.
The body as part of our total being gives new emphasis to Paul's writing in I Corinthians 6 that we are not to be joined to a prostitute. Why? Because our bodies are joined with our spirits which are joined to Christ. Joining our body to immorality is desecration of the temple of the living God. Thus it is ignorant to say, "It is my body, I'll do with it as I please." We are God's creation, God's temple.
Loving God, you have created me in your image. May I live honorably in that image. Amen.
