City Life Starter

The WORD:

1 Corinthians 6:12-14

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be under the power of any. Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.”

By Heather Mattingly

So far in Chapter 6 of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, Paul has been discussing how we as believers of the Lord Jesus Christ comport ourselves amidst disputes within our own Body, the Church. Today’s verses take a turn back to our physical bodies and deal with two of, if not the two, most intimate and strong-feeling physical desires human beings have: the desires for food and sex. Jesus cares very much how you handle your physical desires. Yes, how you treat others reflects Jesus, but how you treat yourself reflects Him even more. Loving others starts with loving yourself (“Love your neighbor as you love yourself” Matt 22:39). And loving yourself is not the same thing as selfishness. Loving yourself is agreeing with Jesus that you are precious and valuable and are worthy to be made holy and are holy.  For “His desire is for your sanctification…” (1 Thess 4:3). Let’s dive into these precious words together today to hear what our Lord is saying:

“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful…” (verse 12)

At first glance, these words seem quite agreeable to our flesh: “All things lawful? I can do whatever I want? Huzzah! No rules! No consequences!” But any parent will tell you that giving a child no rules and no consequences is not love, it is selfishness and neglect on behalf of the parent. As followers of Jesus, technically you can do whatever you want, but for what purpose will you do whatever you want? To further your own kingdom or His? Paul’s next words are, “not all things are helpful.” “Helpful” here is the Greek word “symphero” (where we get the English word “symphony”) and means “to bring or bear together, to carry with others, to contribute in order to help.” Not only did Jesus establish Kingdom-liberty for us, but He showed us how to use it. In Matthew 12:9-14, Jesus “broke the rules” by healing on the Sabbath. He didn’t break the rules of the Sabbath to indulge Himself in selfish desires; He used this liberty to serve others – His sheep whom He loves so much. Do you do the same thing when you “break the rules?” Holy Spirit, please help us use Your freedom to serve others and not ourselves – the same as our Lord did.

“…All things are lawful for me, but I will not be under the power of any.” (verse 13)

Paul cuts right to the chase here by addressing our natural instinct to take advantage of this new freedom to do whatever we want. He knows that whatever desire we feed, that same desire we will crave. And that desire will rule over us (otherwise known as addiction). The word “power” here is the Greek word “exousiazo,” which more appropriately means “to have authority over, to be master of anyone, to be master of the body, to hold the body subject to one’s will.” It’s important to remember that Satan is the “ruler of this world” (John 12:31). As such, when you give in to a desire selfishly for your own purposes (because you are free and you can) you are actually giving Satan a foothold to use against you, a foothold that He will exploit. So, what does fighting against this peril look like, practically? Well….

“Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them….”(verse 13)

God cares about what you eat and what you put into your body. And food can be just as much of an addictive substance as alcohol, sex, or recreational drugs can. In fact, food is known in many circles as “the Christian drug.” Alcohol, sex, and drugs have a shameful connotation in our culture as addictive substances, but not so much with food. And yet, food was the physical substance that Satan chose to use to cause The Fall of man (Gen. 3:6). When physical food (or any physical substance or desire) is abused, it is actually being used to fill a spiritual emptiness – a Jesus-sized hole in the human heart. A hole that only Jesus Himself can fill. And He wants to! Jesus also changes our perception of physical food to what it truly is: fuel for our bodies (His temple) to function healthily. And not only that, He Himself feeds us because He is our True Food! His “flesh is true food and [His] blood is true drink.” (John 6:55). Paul explains this to the Corinthian church, and also puts food and our physical stomachs in Kingdom perspective: they are both temporal, and God will destroy them both because “the world is passing away along with its desires….” (1 John 2:17).

“….Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” (verse 13)

Your body is not your own; you have been bought with a price! (1 Cor 6:19-20).  Glorious Promise! Your body is not your own to do what you want with it; it is custom-made for the Lord. It is His chosen tool, His “earth suit” that He is using to reach His lost kids when you allow Him to, and also the tool that He is using to sanctify you. Your physical body is His; it is not for you to use as your sexual plaything. You are worth so much more than that. Something interesting about the simple word “body” in this verse: the Greek word for “body” is “soma” which means “the body both of men or animals…a dead body or corpse….that which casts a shadow as distinguished from the shadow itself.” But the root of this word is actually “sozo” which is the Greek word for “salvation!” Full salvation – meaning, “to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue or deliver from danger or destruction…to make well, heal, restore to health….salvation in the biblical sense.” God wants to save your physical body even more than you do – He wants to see you walk in freedom and healed and whole in body, soul, and spirit. He doesn’t just care about your spirit-man and then leave you alone to figure out how to manage your physical body with its desires and your soul (your will and your emotions) all on your own. No, just as Satan will stop at nothing to steal, kill, and destroy you (John 10:10), our Father God will also stop at nothing to save, deliver, and heal you in your body, soul and spirit! “…you shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save (“sozo”) His people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21). And the Good News is: He has already won. Take heart, Christian soldier; He’s not finished with you yet.

“And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.” (verse 14)

“Raise up.” Another glorious promise. And this word means just what it says: the Greek word “egeiro” means “to arouse, cause to rise…to rouse from sleep…to arouse from the sleep of death, to recall the dead to life…..to cause to be born.” Jesus said this word “egeiro” often: “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house” (Matt 9:6); “And He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘arise.’” (Mark 3:3); “And He took the girl by the hand, and said to her, ‘talitha cumi,’ which means, being translated, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.’” (Mark 5:41); “And He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “young man, I say to you, arise.” (Luke 7:14); and many more…..(*Today’s Challenge: in your free time, go research for yourself and see how and when Jesus used this word. And what happened when He spoke it!). The most heart-pounding word in this verse is both. BOTH! God BOTH raised up our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and will raise us up. This is a guarantee, because it is written! The phrase “will also raise us up” is a verb in the present and future tenses, which means He is working out your salvation and He will work out your salvation to completion, by His power. It is written, so it is His Promise. Hallelujah! Christian soldier, continue to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil 2:12-13).

Prayer:

“Father, thank you for my physical body. You made it for Your good purpose and You choose to not live in a house made with human hands (Acts 17:24), but inside my very own physical body (1 Cor 6:19). It is miraculous! Help me to glorify you in and with my body today and give you everything, especially and including my desires for food and sex. Father, I want to give you all of my physical desires, so that I am free from bondage to my own desires, thereby also free to hold nothing back from You. But I don’t know how to do this in and of myself; Holy Spirit, will You please show me? Please place in me Your will, and give me Your power and Your will to carry it out. My heart is Yours; please help me to make the rest of me, all of me, Yours, too. Amen.”