OUR BODIES BELONG TO GOD
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE:
1 CORINTHIANS 6 : 12-20
Key Verse
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”
1 Corinthians 6: 19
INTRODUCTION
The city of Corinth was an immensely rich city for it controlled a trade route between east and west between Europe and Asia. But the people in the city of Corinth had a very bad reputation. They were regarded as the biggest drunkards and the most sexually immoral people. Their reputation was bad. The apostle Paul was sent by God to this bad city and he spent 18 months there preaching and teaching the people. Many people came to know Christ and accepted the Gospel. They were saved. They were given many gifts of the Holy Spirit as a result.
You can imagine how they behaved. Most of them were poor and uneducated. Some were even slaves. But now they received these supernatural gifts they began to think highly of themselves and created groups, some liking Paul, some liking a eloquent preacher named Apollos, some liking the Apostle Peter, some liking other ministers, and some even said they preferred Jesus Christ. The divisions among them, their fighting and arguing, taking others to the law courts when they had disagreement, getting drunk at the Lord’s Supper and eating too much, and ignoring the needs of the other brethren less fortunate than they, showed that they were still living like the rest of the world, behaving as carnal people who lived according to their own desires and the preferences of their needs of the flesh.
That was bad business. The Apostles Paul had to straighten them out. He made them understand their bodies were valuable and important. God made them in the image and likeness of God. God had a purpose for doing that. Their bodies were important and they should live holy lives and be a great example of good and moral living. God intended to change their bodies one day in the resurrection and their bodies which they would continue to have would be changed and become glorious.
They should never do anything to shame their bodies. God had redeemed them and Jesus had paid the price on the Cross to purchase them from bondage to sin and sinful and destructive living. They belonged to Jesus and they had a great destiny. Therefore they should live lives according to the commandments of God now that they were holy. They had left the unrighteous and immoral lifestyle they had been accustomed to living and should give up the nonsensical behaviour followed by the unrighteous, canal minded, flesh desired people in the world.
Their bodies were created by God for a purpose. Their bodies were the temple of God and the Holy Spirit lived in their bodies, teaching them, changing them, and transforming them into the image of Jesus. They were now born again spiritually and became new people in Christ. Both their minds and their bodies belonged to God and they should show the beauty, the love, the kindness, the caring, and the mercy of God.
That advice to the brethren in the city of Corinth applies to us. We are the temple of God, and the Temple must be kept holy and righteous in everything we do. We represent God to the world. So no immoral living, bad behaviour can be done. We have great rewards ahead of us for God will take us to live with Him throughout all eternity. He will show us the riches of His gracious person. Do not miss out on that.