Earlier this week I wrote a post called Funerals, Full House, & Vanity. If you haven't yet, read it first. This post is a continuation of that discussion. Today's truth "I am not defined by my body" was threaded throughout that post and today I want to briefly look at some Scripture to anchor this truth.
"I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
1 Corinthians 15:50-54
Things that end, die, perish will do just that...they will end, die, and perish. Nothing on this earth will last forever. One day it will die. So, how can it be that I will experience everlasting life? How can this body of mine last an eternity if it is perishable? It can't. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." Can't be done. IMPOSSIBLE. That's why we have cemeteries and crematories and tombstones and caskets. That's why we stand in lines and say goodbye to dead people in open caskets. Their bodies are gone. Papa's thin, disease afflicted, bald headed, wrinkled, lifeless body is buried in the ground and seen no more.
So again I ask - how is it that I believe I'll live eternally? Because my body will be made new. My body today has been made to endure an earthly life. It has limitations, it has weaknesses, it has imperfections. No matter how much I work to perfect it - whether it be lose weight, gain muscle, whiten my teeth, dress it in stylish clothes, dye my hair, etc. - it will one day perish and be no more. It will never be perfect enough to endure a heavenly life...only an earthly one. Therefore - my body, my appearance can't be what defines who I am. It is perishable. I'll leave it behind in the ground one day. I cannot depend on my body for anything. I can't find satisfaction and fulfillment in a trimmer waistline. Only in Christ can I experience satisfaction and fulfillment. Only by my character, my attributes, my adoption by Christ can I be defined. Meredith, follower and lover of Christ, will inherit the kingdom of God.
In Funerals, Full House, and Vanity, I ended by asking how I can live in a way that I'm not focused on my appearance, in which I believe I'm not define by my appearance. I said what I need is my mind to be transformed. I need to think differently. I need to stop conforming to the world's way. I need to be transformed by a renewed mind. A mind that thinks kingdom thoughts. A mind that focuses on Christ's love for me and who I am. A mind that hopes for a new body. A mind that believes I am defined by adoption in Christ and not the scale and my jeans size. With a transformed mind - How then would I live my day? How then would I serve others? How then would I love my husband?
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