Romans 8:1-11
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
Reflection
Don't get this wrong, I'm not against taking care of yourself and your body. God created something wonderful in the human body. In fact, at least for me, all that God created brings a curiosity and an expression of awe and wonder. I look at creation and am highly entertained by exploring all the details involved. I see how things work and apply those processes to my daily living. I'm amazed at what we as humans have done with what God, as the Creator, has given to us to enjoy. Think of all of the engineering and all of the medical advances and all of the discoveries we have made of this world and this universe. And yes, even pause and think of all the times we have come to discover that we misunderstood something and that we were in error with our understandings.
As all of this applies to the flesh we should take care of the flesh. But when we focus solely on these things alone, we fail to see another aspect of God that is hidden to our scientific eyes. Not only did God gift us with creation and our fleshly bodies, God gifted us with his Spirit. We too are like God in spirit. And we too have been given the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
When we focus on the flesh alone, we realize either quickly or throughout a lifetime that we are in decay. We live in a fallen world to sin and a fallen world to the decay of our bodies. We are not what God intended for us to be because, long ago we as humans chose to become independent from God. And that just doesn't work. We are dependent on God. We are God's dependents after all. We are created to be like God and God did not want us to become God but rather to be in his likeness.
With this in mind our fleshly bodies decay. No matter how many boob jobs we have or how many tummy tucks we get or how many gyms we join to keep our bodies fit and proper, we decay. We age and become sick and ill and we die. But that's not the end of it for those God chose as his dependents and for those who have either ran after God or followed God and place all of their hope in God. For all of those...
"But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you."
What an assurance we have from this decaying and sickly flesh we live in! What a hope we have in the Spirit that God places and dwells within us! What a victory God gave to all of us through the fleshly body of God himself in Jesus who overcame death, the devil, the grave and hell to save us from sin! I am free to live in this fleshly body, this body of decay, knowing that the Spirit of God has saved me in and through the life of Jesus fleshly existence on this world in which, I too, walk and live and breathe. I am free from the worry of death and full of the hope of life in this body of mine today and in a body which God will make like new in the Spirit of life through Jesus. I am free to live life knowing that either in flesh or in spirit, God loves me so much that he saved me, not by my own actions but by God's own actions in Jesus.
With this Spirit that dwells in us, we are "in" Christ Jesus. Yes, we are saved and held in Jesus. We are believers but more than that we are "in" Christ Jesus and God's Spirit dwells "in" us. We are in community with God and we are dependents of God "in" Christ Jesus. What a unity to have, either in the flesh or in the spirit or in both. We are "in" God as God's Church and as God's dependents.
Now that's true life and true freedom... Thanks be to God!
Hymn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNRyGGSOQLQ
Prayer
Lord, guide me in taking care of myself. Guide me to doctors that use the gifts you have provided to heal and give medicines that extend my life in this place in order that I may sing your praise to all you give to me. Lord, guide me here and now and into eternity through the saving grace of the Word made flesh in Jesus and the Holy Spirit that dwells within me from you... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen
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