Wonderfully Made. Part 3 | Most of us have a fascinating story if anybody bothered to listen. At Christ In All Things we bother to listen.

“The triune God,” notes Dr. John Kleinig, “designed [the human body] for himself and for participation in his own eternal life . . . he designed it so that he could show himself bodily to other embodied people and give them bodily access to himself by his theophany, his physical appearance to them in Jesus. . . The human body was made to bridge two realms: the invisible, eternal realm of God and the visible, temporal real of this creation.” (John Kleinig, Wonderfully Made, 14) This view of the human body, that it is a “shrine,” contrasts sharply with the typically worldly view. In Part 3 of our discussion of the “Introduction” to Dr. Kleinig’s book, we explore this and some of the implications.

Though listeners do not have to have the book to benefit from the discussion, we encourage listeners to get their own copy of Wonderfully Made: A Protestant Theology of the Body by John Kleinig. We will quote from and discuss the hard cover version published in 2021 by Lexham Press.

Recorded 31 January, A.D. 2024

[00:00.000 --> 00:19.900] Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is chaste, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think of these things, that this is what we mean by light a candle. [00:30.000 --> 00:42.500] A conversation about meaning and purpose. It's based on a verse from the Bible, Colossians chapter 1 verse 17, which says, Christ is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [00:42.500 --> 00:50.000] Christ in all things is a listening ear into conversations about receiving and giving the love and hope of Christ. [00:50.000 --> 00:59.500] These conversations are an invitation, because as much as you'll hear, and as much as we enjoy having them, digital media operates from a distance. [00:59.500 --> 01:06.500] And that's not what's best for us, with God or with one another. So, thanks for listening. [01:06.500 --> 01:18.500] And if you're in the neighborhood, we invite you to participate in person, in the life that finds its epicenter at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 210 East Pleasant Street, in Oconwalk, Wisconsin. [01:18.500 --> 01:42.500] Hello listeners, and welcome back to Christ in all things. We are glad to have you join us again as we begin to discuss this book that we read called Wonderfully Made, [01:42.500 --> 01:50.500] written by John Kleineig, published by Lexim Press back in 2021. [01:50.500 --> 02:00.500] It is a wonderfully made a Protestant theology of the body. And I think these conversations, boy, they're not so simple. [02:00.500 --> 02:06.500] And this is part three, so if you're just picking up here, you might want to go back to the first to the earlier two. [02:06.500 --> 02:14.500] Absolutely, because these are engaging conversations for our days, and I think very relevant. [02:14.500 --> 02:18.500] As you will see in just a moment, let's start with the word of scripture. [02:18.500 --> 02:19.500] Absolutely. [02:19.500 --> 02:27.500] So, this is in the front of the book, but we're just going to repeat it. This is Psalm 119, 73, and 74. [02:27.500 --> 02:34.500] Your hands have made and fashioned me. Give me understanding that I may learn your commandments. [02:34.500 --> 02:41.500] Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word. [02:41.500 --> 02:54.500] And that's our prayer for us who here who are leading the discussion here, but also for you who listen, that you may hear God's word, because there's a powerful word for us today that is distinct from the world. [02:54.500 --> 02:55.500] Is it not? [02:55.500 --> 02:58.500] Indeed. [02:58.500 --> 03:04.500] And how distinct is it? It's almost the difference between night and day. [03:04.500 --> 03:08.500] You could say it's the difference between light and darkness. [03:08.500 --> 03:20.500] I wouldn't argue with that. We live in an age where the body is for all the attention that we pay to it. [03:20.500 --> 03:26.500] Really at the end of the day, isn't that what's really important is our thoughts and our mind. [03:26.500 --> 03:30.500] And our bodies are kind of viewed as after thoughts. [03:30.500 --> 03:37.500] Yeah, after thoughts. Or really, we treat our bodies like they're support systems for our minds. [03:37.500 --> 03:47.500] And much like, if I can use this analogy, the engine of the car is really what makes it go. [03:47.500 --> 03:51.500] And the shell, the body is just a shell. It could be anything. [03:51.500 --> 04:00.500] And if you want a different looking car, well, then just wrap it in different body parts and wrap it in different final wrap. [04:00.500 --> 04:04.500] And you got a whole new looking. [04:04.500 --> 04:09.500] And so you'll see this from the beginning of the book. [04:10.500 --> 04:19.500] As you listen today, this is again, just part of in many respects, the beginning of a larger discussion as we as we go through this. [04:19.500 --> 04:29.500] We encourage you to pick up Dr. Kleinek's book that this is one of many that have been or are being published on this topic. [04:29.500 --> 04:38.500] But the body in our world is often is often denigrated and or just thought little of or dispensable and you can do whatever you want with it. [04:39.500 --> 04:54.500] Or the other extreme where it's worshiped and people seem to think or seem to sink all of their effort into maintaining, man and improving their body. [04:54.500 --> 05:02.500] But even if they do, it just makes me think of a fairly recent conversation with one of a member of my extended family. [05:02.500 --> 05:10.500] And I didn't tell I didn't tell you about this, but it was it was interesting. This member of my extended family that I spoke with some time ago. [05:10.500 --> 05:17.500] So I'm where you know, basically I'm working really hard to take care of my body so that I still have my mind intact. [05:17.500 --> 05:23.500] But when my mind's not intact, I'm basically going off myself. [05:23.500 --> 05:29.500] Wow. Yeah. And I think that's a very, very, very common view. Yeah. [05:30.500 --> 05:38.500] And so let's let's let's dig in to this section on the Theophanic body. Yeah. [05:38.500 --> 05:46.500] Maybe before we get there. Yeah. Right. We that comment, right, really brings from your family member really brings to the fore. [05:46.500 --> 05:52.500] The idea of how our world conceives of the body, which you could go. [05:52.500 --> 06:10.500] Well, quite back to, I think, therefore I am. Right. How we think of ourselves is is in our world. Where our value, where our identity, where any view of the body begins. [06:11.500 --> 06:21.500] And that that means you have to rely on only yourself to define who and what you are. [06:21.500 --> 06:28.500] How do you do that in context with other people, though? [06:28.500 --> 06:38.500] And what we want to talk about here is, and we're Dr. Klein brilliantly and almost lyrically. [06:38.500 --> 06:55.500] God has the scriptures, the Bible presents a very different view of the body and it's worth reflecting on. And even if this is the first time you're coming across this stuff, this will be different. [06:55.500 --> 07:02.500] But my sense is, is if you really think about it, it's going to resonate with you. [07:02.500 --> 07:06.500] So let's dig in and look at read a little bit of this and talk about it. [07:06.500 --> 07:13.500] Sure. For reference, if you have a copy of the book, we're on page 14. This is the last full paragraph on the page. [07:13.500 --> 07:24.500] The human body was made to bridge two realms, the invisible eternal realm of God and the visible temporal realm of His creation. [07:25.500 --> 07:33.500] Created as they were in God's image, all human bodies were meant to be holy, even as God is holy. [07:33.500 --> 07:40.500] Thus human bodies do not just belong to this world, but also to the eternal world of God. [07:40.500 --> 07:53.500] They are meant to reflect the triune God bodily in their life and behavior, all in keeping with their own unique characteristics and according to their unique calling. [07:53.500 --> 08:00.500] Each person has been made to represent Him partially in their bodily life on earth. [08:00.500 --> 08:06.500] None of them represents God fully except Jesus. [08:06.500 --> 08:18.500] He is not just a man made in God's image, but He is God's image, the visible likeness of the invisible God. [08:18.500 --> 08:26.500] Calling to mind there are a couple passages, 2 Corinthians 4, 4, and Colossians chapter 1 verse 14, which I don't have in front of me, [08:26.500 --> 08:29.500] but He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. [08:29.500 --> 08:30.500] Yeah. [08:30.500 --> 08:31.500] Yeah. [08:31.500 --> 08:38.500] So as a result of human rebellion against God, people serve God poorly and badly. [08:38.500 --> 08:43.500] And that includes all of us, right? I'm not reading here. This is just observation. [08:43.500 --> 08:51.500] We all are in that camp where we have fallen from the glory of God. [08:51.500 --> 09:01.500] Klinek continues, like rooms with cracked and dirty windows, they do not let the light of God shine in them and out through them. [09:01.500 --> 09:10.500] Like a damage and mistuned musical instrument, they eke out of an off pitch or they eke out an off pitch tune. [09:10.500 --> 09:15.500] They are not as they should be, nor do they any longer function properly. [09:15.500 --> 09:20.500] They have lost their access to God and live corruptly apart from Him. [09:20.500 --> 09:34.500] Now I'm going to jump in here and say, our world says, well, but religion just binds you and it doesn't let you be free to be who you are. [09:34.500 --> 09:37.500] And so freedom is the ultimate goal. [09:37.500 --> 09:40.500] So I play guitar a little bit. [09:40.500 --> 09:46.500] If I take my guitar and say, well, in freedom, I can play it however I want. [09:46.500 --> 09:56.500] So I hold it so the strings are against my chest and my hand is strumming on the box, the back of the box of the guitar. [09:56.500 --> 10:01.500] My fingers on my left hand can't manipulate the strings on the fretboard. [10:02.500 --> 10:06.500] But I have the freedom to play it that way. [10:06.500 --> 10:10.500] Now I'm not going to make any music, but then I might pound on it and create a rhythm. [10:10.500 --> 10:13.500] But there's no melody, there's no chord. [10:13.500 --> 10:28.500] Likewise, even if I flip it over and say, well, in freedom, I'm going to play it however, and then just randomly pluck strings and move my fingers across the strings, that's not going to make beautiful music. [10:28.500 --> 10:32.500] If you could call it music at all, it'd probably just be noise. [10:32.500 --> 10:52.500] But in the structure of scales and chord shapes and tuning, the guitar is an instrument that can make beautiful music operating within its given design. [10:52.500 --> 11:04.500] And there is great freedom in the beauty of what it can be when it's used in the context of its created design. [11:04.500 --> 11:12.500] A little further into the next part of the chapter, we get at what a human being actually is. [11:12.500 --> 11:23.500] Because for a lot of people, we'll be revolutionary, what actually a human being is. [11:23.500 --> 11:36.500] Because again, the common thought, we're basically as moderns, our bodies are there to support our brains. [11:37.500 --> 11:40.500] And we either take good care of the body or we take bad care of the body. [11:40.500 --> 11:44.500] But regardless, it's not that we tend to think it's not that important. [11:44.500 --> 11:46.500] Because what's really important is that we can think. [11:46.500 --> 11:49.500] The scriptures present a different view. [11:49.500 --> 12:00.500] That's going to take us into the next paragraph and relates to what Jesus, the coming of Christ does. [12:01.500 --> 12:04.500] I'm going to read a part going down. [12:04.500 --> 12:08.500] We end up reading this whole book. [12:08.500 --> 12:15.500] Hopefully somebody will make an audio book out of this because people will enjoy that. [12:15.500 --> 12:16.500] Indeed. [12:16.500 --> 12:25.500] By our faith in Jesus and union with Him, our bodies share in His holiness by being filled with the Holy Spirit. [12:25.500 --> 12:29.500] They become temples of the Holy Spirit. [12:29.500 --> 12:31.500] That's 1 Corinthians 6, 19. [12:31.500 --> 12:41.500] As shrines where God resides, they share His hidden glory and display it by word, indeed, to the world. [12:41.500 --> 12:48.500] So through our bodily union with Jesus, we are filled with all the fullness of God. [12:48.500 --> 12:50.500] That's Ephesians 3, 19. [12:50.500 --> 12:54.500] We glorify God and honor Him with our bodies. [12:54.500 --> 12:56.500] 1 Corinthians 6, 20. [12:56.500 --> 13:04.500] Through Him, that is through Christ, our bodies once again become what they were meant to be. [13:04.500 --> 13:13.500] Agents of God and instruments by which He shows Himself and gives of Himself to other people on Earth. [13:13.500 --> 13:18.500] And I'd love for you to read the next sentence because this gets at the core difference. [13:18.500 --> 13:20.500] I was going to jump in anyway. [13:20.500 --> 13:28.500] By their union with Jesus, they, human beings, become theophanic. [13:28.500 --> 13:34.500] That is, they manifest God to people on Earth. [13:34.500 --> 13:44.500] As disciples of Jesus and recipients of His Spirit, we exhibit the grace of God and the Father bodily in the course of our earthly lives. [13:44.500 --> 13:58.500] So our bodies, as He says, elsewhere, our bodies are that we actually are, as body and soul beings, mobile shrines who take God out and about in the world. [13:58.500 --> 14:00.500] Yeah, we carry God around in our body. [14:00.500 --> 14:12.500] So you're not just a brain, a thinking thing with a support system, you are actually a means by which God reveals Himself in the world. [14:12.500 --> 14:13.500] Yeah. [14:13.500 --> 14:19.500] That's an astoundingly different view than the world presents of human beings. [14:19.500 --> 14:24.500] It is, and it impacts every aspect of our life, then. [14:24.500 --> 14:36.500] Every interaction, every relationship, every trip to the grocery store, every drive through the drive-through, every time somebody cuts you off and traffic and flips you off. [14:37.500 --> 14:43.500] And you, as a mobile shrine, choose how you're going to react. [14:43.500 --> 14:47.500] Or don't choose and just react. [14:47.500 --> 14:50.500] It's a huge thing. [14:50.500 --> 14:56.500] And again, I'm going to jump back to that analogy of playing the guitar. [14:56.500 --> 15:04.500] You are in union with Christ, meant for beautiful music. [15:05.500 --> 15:12.500] But how often in our quote-unquote freedom do we operate differently? [15:12.500 --> 15:22.500] You know, I find myself thinking at the moment about how women typically portray themselves in our portrayed in social media. [15:23.500 --> 15:42.500] And for all the talk of feminine liberation, a lot of what goes on in social media is basically women being used because of their bodies. [15:42.500 --> 15:51.500] You know, young men are taught to see what they can get out of a woman, just use her body and get in and get out and get away. [15:52.500 --> 15:59.500] And I mean, a common language, men and women, I've seen, you know, interviews. [15:59.500 --> 16:01.500] So what's your body count? [16:01.500 --> 16:05.500] And for those of you listeners who are a little bit older, don't have a clue what that means. [16:05.500 --> 16:08.500] It means how many people have you slept with? [16:08.500 --> 16:09.500] Yeah. [16:09.500 --> 16:12.500] You know, and I'm just doing this. [16:12.500 --> 16:15.500] Well, I mean, you can do that. [16:15.500 --> 16:19.500] And millions of people do. [16:20.500 --> 16:29.500] But it has massive consequences for body and for soul. [16:29.500 --> 16:35.500] Whether you're aware of it or not, we all become aware of it to some degree or another. [16:35.500 --> 16:36.500] We do. [16:36.500 --> 16:46.500] And when it's pointed out that this is potentially detrimental, [16:46.500 --> 16:49.500] I've seen people react in one of two ways. [16:49.500 --> 16:57.500] They either completely deny that idea or they don't have a response. [16:57.500 --> 17:10.500] They are just stymied because in part, I think our conscience bears witness to this truth. [17:10.500 --> 17:11.500] For sure. [17:11.500 --> 17:13.500] For sure. [17:13.500 --> 17:19.500] You know, it just strikes me because we, you know, here we are at St. Paul's in, you know, [17:19.500 --> 17:23.500] Conway and we have a K through eight school. [17:23.500 --> 17:28.500] And so we deal with elementary kids and middle schoolers. [17:28.500 --> 17:33.500] We have a, we have an affiliate Lutheran High School right down the road who we have. [17:33.500 --> 17:39.500] A relation, a relation, a good relationship with, but our day to day interaction is with middle [17:39.500 --> 17:43.500] schoolers and in elementary kids. [17:43.500 --> 17:49.500] And, you know, my goodness, we're, you know, we, our culture sexualizes these kids. [17:49.500 --> 17:55.500] We're, we're, they're told to experiment in all kinds of different ways. [17:55.500 --> 17:59.500] And, you know, and we did, we deal with the consequences of that stuff all the time. [17:59.500 --> 18:07.500] But, you know, boys, that young woman sitting next to you. [18:07.500 --> 18:09.500] Is a theophany. [18:09.500 --> 18:10.500] Yeah. [18:10.500 --> 18:12.500] She's God. [18:12.500 --> 18:13.500] Yeah. [18:13.500 --> 18:14.500] God's representative on earth. [18:14.500 --> 18:15.500] You. [18:15.500 --> 18:16.500] I shouldn't say she is God. [18:16.500 --> 18:17.500] She's not God. [18:17.500 --> 18:18.500] Right. [18:18.500 --> 18:22.500] But she is one whom God reveals himself through. [18:22.500 --> 18:24.500] And, and so are you. [18:24.500 --> 18:25.500] And so are you. [18:25.500 --> 18:26.500] Yeah. [18:26.500 --> 18:31.500] And she is one for whom Christ died. [18:31.500 --> 18:33.500] And so are you. [18:33.500 --> 18:35.500] One for whom Christ died. [18:35.500 --> 18:39.500] One whom Christ reconciled by his death and resurrection. [18:39.500 --> 18:45.500] One whom restored the image, the image of God to. [18:45.500 --> 18:49.500] One who has God's forgiveness and is the glory of God. [18:49.500 --> 18:51.500] You're getting all geared up about something. [18:51.500 --> 18:52.500] You're looking at something. [18:52.500 --> 18:53.500] I am. [18:53.500 --> 18:54.500] I am. [18:54.500 --> 18:55.500] What do you guys? [18:55.500 --> 19:02.500] Well, we're, what we're headed for here, folks, is we have in the history of the church been [19:02.500 --> 19:07.500] as nothing more than naysayers, fun police. [19:07.500 --> 19:08.500] Right? [19:08.500 --> 19:09.500] You. [19:09.500 --> 19:10.500] Especially since the sexual revolution. [19:10.500 --> 19:11.500] Oh, yeah. [19:11.500 --> 19:12.500] Right. [19:12.500 --> 19:17.500] The church is just there to control you, to tell you what you can and can't do with your body. [19:17.500 --> 19:23.500] And that's, that's all religion does is, is just condemn. [19:23.500 --> 19:26.500] It keeps you from being freely who you are. [19:26.500 --> 19:31.500] And boy, you and I are reading a book right now that, that has major, [19:31.500 --> 19:36.500] major, major information to dump in the middle of that conversation. [19:36.500 --> 19:38.500] We're not going to get into all of that right now. [19:38.500 --> 19:40.500] But since you raised it, we might as well tell people. [19:40.500 --> 19:43.500] We might as well recommend, we're going to recommend to you. [19:43.500 --> 19:45.500] It was published in 2020, actually. [19:45.500 --> 19:49.500] It's a, it's a year older than Dr. Klein's book by Dr. Carl Truman. [19:49.500 --> 19:52.500] That's T-R-U-A-M-A-N. [19:52.500 --> 20:00.500] And it's called the rise and triumph of the modern self, which traces the intellectual development [20:00.500 --> 20:04.500] that make the sexual revolution inevitable. [20:04.500 --> 20:06.500] But that's for another time. [20:06.500 --> 20:08.500] And what has fallen out because of it. [20:08.500 --> 20:09.500] Right. [20:09.500 --> 20:13.500] And I, I'm, I think in chapter four right now, it is fascinating. [20:13.500 --> 20:14.500] Yeah. [20:14.500 --> 20:20.500] I mean, just wildly revelatory of how do we get here, right? [20:20.500 --> 20:25.500] So what, what can we say? [20:25.500 --> 20:31.500] I mean, we've, we've said here already in this, in this discussion of this chapter, just a few pages, [20:31.500 --> 20:39.500] we've said some pretty amazing things about what it means to be a human being in this body [20:39.500 --> 20:43.500] as God is using us to reveal Himself. [20:43.500 --> 20:51.500] Luther would say, God wears us as a mask in service to our neighbor. [20:51.500 --> 20:52.500] Right. [20:52.500 --> 20:54.500] That's in our vocations. [20:55.500 --> 21:00.500] Kleine almost seems to be arguing it's far more than just your vocation. [21:00.500 --> 21:02.500] It's identity. [21:02.500 --> 21:14.500] It's, it's a relationship of body and soul that is revelatory of who God is and what He longs for us [21:14.500 --> 21:16.500] as we're created in these bodies. [21:16.500 --> 21:19.500] So what are these bodies created for? [21:20.500 --> 21:24.500] If, if the church just says, well, yeah, the church is just a fun police. [21:24.500 --> 21:26.500] It's not created for anything. [21:26.500 --> 21:27.500] Right. [21:27.500 --> 21:30.500] It's no. [21:30.500 --> 21:32.500] What page are you on? [21:32.500 --> 21:34.500] I'm coming up on page 16. [21:34.500 --> 21:35.500] Okay. [21:35.500 --> 21:41.500] This again is in Dr. John Kleinek's wonderfully made page 16. [21:41.500 --> 21:42.500] Right. [21:43.500 --> 21:49.500] He, he is talking about how a theologian that addressed the church in Australia talked about [21:49.500 --> 21:58.100] the body that the project has, in fact, proved to be rather counterproductive as we the church [21:58.100 --> 22:02.500] have tried to communicate what God's design and desire is for the body. [22:02.500 --> 22:03.500] Right. [22:03.500 --> 22:11.020] And I'll quote here, as it has led to counter legislation to sanction these measures as well [22:11.020 --> 22:16.780] as use of popular media to cast them in a positive light and depict Christians as angry [22:16.780 --> 22:18.780] self-righteous, killed joys. [22:18.780 --> 22:19.780] What page are you on? [22:19.780 --> 22:22.780] I'm on page 16 at the very bottom. [22:22.780 --> 22:27.540] Coming up on the, the, the, oh, this is under this, under the section in praise of the body. [22:27.540 --> 22:28.540] Yeah. [22:28.540 --> 22:29.540] Yeah. [22:29.540 --> 22:30.540] Yeah. [22:30.540 --> 22:37.620] So rather than the Christian church being seen as reinforcing an attempt at public morality [22:37.620 --> 22:44.740] and lobbying petitions to impose rules on abortion and euthanasia and same-sex intercourse [22:44.740 --> 22:48.340] and same-sex marriage, we've tried that. [22:48.340 --> 22:55.340] We've tried the culture war and it's proved insufficient and we shouldn't be surprised [22:55.340 --> 23:06.620] by that because we're trying to accomplish, we're trying to accomplish a spiritual thing [23:06.620 --> 23:14.100] that is a recognition of who we are as body and soul put together through worldly left [23:14.100 --> 23:17.460] physical means. [23:17.460 --> 23:19.940] What should we do instead? [23:19.940 --> 23:21.540] Let the light of God's word shine. [23:21.540 --> 23:22.540] Yeah. [23:22.540 --> 23:30.940] So instead, uh, Kleinek says, and I'll quote, it is better to light a candle than to curse [23:30.940 --> 23:32.780] the darkness. [23:32.780 --> 23:33.780] It is better. [23:33.780 --> 23:41.020] Say that again, it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. [23:41.020 --> 23:42.020] I like that. [23:42.020 --> 23:45.820] I like it a lot in the, in the, in the following sentence. [23:45.820 --> 23:48.620] So the, the negative somewhat distorted. [23:48.620 --> 23:49.620] So again, this is a quote. [23:49.620 --> 23:51.260] Now we're on page 17. [23:51.260 --> 23:52.260] Indeed. [23:52.260 --> 23:58.340] The negative somewhat distorted vision of the body needs to be countered by a positive, rightly [23:58.340 --> 24:05.180] ordered vision of, of it in its beauty, no matter how flawed our bodies may be. [24:05.180 --> 24:09.620] And then he quotes St. Paul and Philippians for verse eight. [24:09.620 --> 24:11.460] And I think that's a good place for you. [24:11.460 --> 24:12.460] Read that. [24:12.460 --> 24:13.620] And then let's talk about it for a moment. [24:13.620 --> 24:20.220] Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is chaste, whatever [24:20.220 --> 24:27.620] is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think [24:27.620 --> 24:34.380] of these things, that this is what we mean by, by the candle, right? [24:34.380 --> 24:41.020] To focus and dwell on those praise worthy things, those things that are commendable, the things [24:41.020 --> 24:46.220] that are excellent about how God made us as a body and soul put together, because we're [24:46.220 --> 24:50.900] not just a body and we're not just a soul. [24:50.900 --> 24:58.260] We are an embodied soul, or you could say a spiritual body. [24:58.260 --> 25:05.780] So the, the scriptures present a, a different reality than the world. [25:05.780 --> 25:11.620] The world's, the world's reality with regard to the, the decay of the body is that, well, [25:11.620 --> 25:16.940] we're just basically, I'm quoting here from dead poet society that we're just food for [25:16.940 --> 25:17.940] worms. [25:17.940 --> 25:18.940] Yeah. [25:18.940 --> 25:19.940] We're just, we're just going to. [25:19.940 --> 25:22.060] All right, we're just going to decay. [25:22.060 --> 25:29.220] And what the scriptures say is something very, very, very different indeed that though, though [25:29.220 --> 25:35.220] our outer, and this is Paul, first Corinthians, though our outer nature is wasting away, our [25:35.220 --> 25:38.260] inner nature in Christ is being renewed day by day. [25:38.260 --> 25:42.100] The Lord is preparing us for glory, right? [25:42.100 --> 25:47.500] We are, we are designed, we are theophanes and even though, even though these, these bodies [25:47.500 --> 25:55.140] of ours experience difficulty in, in decay and eventually die, Christ's resurrection [25:55.140 --> 26:03.180] promises us a glorified body, a body as it was created, as the scriptures say, at the, at [26:03.180 --> 26:11.180] the beginning, that, that without fail praises him and enjoys the fullness of the creation. [26:11.180 --> 26:13.260] That's what we're, that's what we're meant for. [26:13.260 --> 26:20.060] An eternity in a body as an embodied spirit in the presence of God. [26:20.060 --> 26:21.060] Yeah. [26:21.060 --> 26:22.500] That's not a killjoy. [26:22.500 --> 26:26.980] That's a, that's a joy and in that, and that's, that's God's call. [26:26.980 --> 26:27.980] That's Christ's call. [26:27.980 --> 26:33.580] God's call to us as, as we live on this earth, even, even as, even as we live in the midst [26:33.580 --> 26:40.820] of decay is to recognize that we are all created in male and female in the image and likeness [26:40.820 --> 26:46.260] of God, that we are, that we are theophanes to be honored and so that we honor our, our [26:46.260 --> 26:53.460] honor, our bodies and souls in whether, whether they're teenagers as we were talking about. [26:53.460 --> 26:54.460] Yeah. [26:54.460 --> 27:00.500] Or, grandma's, whether it's grandma or grandpa struggling with dementia. [27:00.500 --> 27:09.100] That is, that is a, a, a being, a human being made in God's image created for God's glory [27:09.100 --> 27:11.300] and to be treated with honor and respect. [27:11.300 --> 27:12.300] Yeah. [27:12.300 --> 27:13.300] Not to be disposed of. [27:13.300 --> 27:14.300] Right. [27:14.300 --> 27:18.500] When it no longer functions the way this west of society would want it to. [27:18.500 --> 27:21.700] So what, what's our aim here? [27:21.700 --> 27:30.100] We're trying to let the scriptures speak and to paint for us a picture that is an attractive [27:30.100 --> 27:41.740] picture of, of the potential and the actual beauty of what it means to be a human being, [27:41.740 --> 27:50.180] a body and soul put together, created as one to be a reflection of God's glory in it, [27:50.180 --> 27:53.500] and it's seldom evident, right? [27:53.500 --> 27:59.780] We don't, we don't look like we're glorious things, at least like a lot of things that [27:59.780 --> 28:04.860] call of, to call of God is to see this, see this through the eyes, through the eyes of [28:04.860 --> 28:05.860] faith. [28:05.860 --> 28:06.860] Yeah. [28:06.860 --> 28:15.460] And so when, when you, when you go out and about, remember that you in Christ are a [28:15.460 --> 28:19.260] mobile shrine who takes the Lord out and about in the world. [28:19.260 --> 28:20.260] Yeah. [28:20.260 --> 28:26.980] Remember, remember that when your McDonald's order doesn't come back just the way you wanted [28:26.980 --> 28:27.980] it. [28:27.980 --> 28:28.980] Yeah. [28:29.980 --> 28:30.980] Yeah. [28:30.980 --> 28:33.820] Remember that when you're at the stoplight. [28:33.820 --> 28:36.200] Remember that when you're in commuter traffic. [28:36.200 --> 28:40.780] Remember that when you're sitting at a restaurant and your server doesn't stop and ask if you [28:40.780 --> 28:43.220] need a refill. [28:43.220 --> 28:47.980] Remember that when you're at your kids basketball game, basketball game or sporting events sitting [28:47.980 --> 28:56.540] in the stands and the, the ref doesn't see things quite the way you do doesn't, doesn't seeing [28:56.540 --> 29:05.020] them as a theophany call us to perhaps disagree, but not utterly denigrate and destroy. [29:05.020 --> 29:06.020] Yeah. [29:06.020 --> 29:09.660] There's a, there's a lot to process there in there. [29:09.660 --> 29:10.660] Yeah. [29:10.660 --> 29:11.660] Yeah. [29:11.660 --> 29:17.780] Because again, our aim is to paint a picture that is beautiful. [29:17.780 --> 29:22.340] And what we recognize also here in this chapter, I'll just read this and then we'll probably [29:22.340 --> 29:23.340] wrap up. [29:23.740 --> 29:29.660] Clannick says, I am also convinced that abstract arguments and reasoned explanations, no matter [29:29.660 --> 29:35.220] how good they are, cannot inculcate a bright vision of its true beauty. [29:35.220 --> 29:43.780] I'm on page 18, by the way, God's spirit filled word alone can do that by enlightening our [29:43.780 --> 29:45.820] imagination. [29:45.820 --> 29:52.260] It alone has the power to heal our broken bodies and make us truly at home with ourselves. [29:52.660 --> 30:01.220] If God and with others in our bodies, and this is a lifelong process for we shall see our [30:01.220 --> 30:08.260] bodies in their true light only when we have become like him in every way and see him that [30:08.260 --> 30:11.260] is Jesus as he is. [30:11.260 --> 30:18.660] And then we, when we see him as he is, we shall see ourselves reflected fully in him. [30:18.660 --> 30:21.380] That's 1 John 3, 2. [30:21.380 --> 30:23.540] We're going to continue this conversation. [30:23.540 --> 30:26.380] Thanks for joining us at Christ in All Things. [30:37.380 --> 30:43.340] For show notes and other information about Christ in All Things, visit Christinallthings.org. [30:43.340 --> 30:47.340] Comments may be emailed to comments at Christinallthings.org. [30:47.340 --> 30:51.820] We're thankful to provide Christ in All Things to you as a gift, but it's not free [30:51.820 --> 30:53.780] to produce and distribute. 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