Musings on divine health

1 Corinthians 6: 15-20 :

“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! ¹⁶ Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,”He says, “shall become one flesh.”^[ 17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

¹⁸ Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

I would like to list some key points from this passage for your edification –

1. vs 15 – Our physical bodies are members of Christ. Our physical bodies are plugged in to the spiritual body of Jesus. Therefore his life must flow into our physical bodies. What is the implication of this fact? Should we expect to be in divine health because of the fact that the life of Jesus saturates our physical bodies?
2. vs 17 – He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Upon salvation, we are joined to the Lord and become one spirit with Him. My spirit is “dissolved” in Christ’s spirit and we are indistinguishably, inseparably united. John Sandford says that our spirit fills the body as water does a sponge not as water fills a glass container. Therefore, should I expect to live in divine health because the sprit of Jesus fills my body as water does a sponge?
3. vs 19 – Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. In the light of the explanation in point number 2 above, our bodies are saturated with the Holy Spirit, every fibre, organ, muscle, ligament, tissue and cell is saturated with the Holy Spirit. Should I expect to be healed of every sickness and live in divine health as a result?
4. vs 20 – For you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. Our bodies were bought with a price, the blood of Jesus. It is not just our spirits that were bought with the blood of Jesus, our bodies were too. Jesus’ life was given up so that our bodies could be purchased by God, that God might own our bodies and make them His dwelling place. Should’nt every cell come alive as a result? The Word asks me to glorify God with my body. Was’nt it the healing of the blind man in John 9 and not his blindness that glorified God? Would a sick body glorify God? Certainly not. It is only an undefiled body and a  sickness free body that will glorify God. Hence, should’nt I expect to live in divine health?

Look at God’s purpose for our bodies – he bought them at the price of the blood of Jesus, made them His dwelling place, saturated them with His Holy Spirit, made them part of Christs’ body and desires that our bodies glorify Him through holy living and sickness free living.

Think about it.

Use the name of Jesus to repeatedly command healing to the members of your body that “did’nt get the message” of Christ’s salvation.

 

Healing

How could it ever be that Jesus Christ left the glory of heaven and came down to earth only to save man’s spirit?
Would he have gone to such a great length just to save the spirit and not the soul and body?
I believe that he came to earth, lived, died, was buried, resurrected and ascended to heaven to provide salvation for man’s spirit, soul and body. Salvation for the body here primarily refers to healing of sicknesses and living in divine health.
Yet some would say – if he did provide salvation for the body, how is it that good Christian people struggle with sicknesses?
Well, I look at it this way –
Jesus did come to save us from our sins and to free us from the power of sin. Do people still sin? Yes.
Galatians 2:17 says that if while we seek to be declared righteous by Christ, it becomes apparent that we are sinners, does that make Christ a minister of sin? Certainly not!
Similarly, if while we seek to live in divine health in Christ, it becomes apparent that some struggle with sicknesses, does it mean that Christ’s sacrifice did not provide for bodily healing? Certainly not!
What is more difficult? Saying “Your sins are forgiven” or “Arise, take up your mat”? Obviously it is more difficult to say “Arise, take up your mat”. Jesus did say that and healed the paralytic.
If Jesus could leave heaven to provide salvation for mankind, would he have stopped short of providing for salvation of the body? Certainly not!
Jesus Christ is the Savior of man’s spirit, soul and body.
So, take heart, those of you who are struggling with sickness. The Savior, Jesus, is the Savior of the body as well as of the spirit and soul. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.