THE THEOLOGY OF THE BODY

It’s really very simple, this theology of the body. Without a redeemed viewpoint of the human body, and what it meant for God to create us “in his image,” and “after his likeness,” we have no other options but to head down the self-destructive path humanity has taken thus far, as it relates to the naked human body, human sexuality, sex and the masculine and feminine genders. Redeeming the body and restoring it to its original condition is one of the benefits of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

In his book, “The Sexuality of Christ in Early Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion,” Leo Steinberg writes, “Before their transgression, Adam and Even, though naked, were unembarrassed; and were abashed only in consequence of their lapse. And is it not the whole merit of Christ, the New Adam, to have regained for man his prelapsarian condition? How then could he who restores human nature to sinlessness be shamed by the sexual factor in his humanity? And is not this reason enough to render Christ’s genitalia, even like the stigmata, an object of ostentatio? In the incarnate Word - ‘whom sin could not defile nor death retain’ (St. Leo) - flesh did not war against spirit, no bodily member suffered the incurred punishment of disobedience. For, in the words of Pope Honorius I, writing in 634 to the Patriarch of Constantinople: ‘our nature, not our guilt, was assumed by the Godhead.’ Therefore, no shame.”

Examining the historicity of Christ’s incarnation, and, thus, his sexuality, has given rise to many heresies. These heresies aside, it should be said that Jesus Christ, being the Bridegroom, and we, the Church, being the Bride, are both being prepared for one another, for that wonderful Wedding Day. He has loved his Bride from before time began. When God created us in his image, his Bride was who he saw, when he pulled Eve from Adam’s side. Since Jesus Christ is without sin, and he is the perfect gentleman, he has been saving himself for his Bride all these long centuries.

As a comparison, in the Song of Songs, we see, on the surface, a relationship developing between a man and a maiden. They fall in love and their relationship is fraught with the maiden’s self-deprecating thoughts, statements, and actions, her disturbing refusal to give in to her Lover’s sexual advances, and her abuse at the hands of the watchmen who guard the city walls. Below the surface, though, if you have eyes to see, is a wonderful revelation of Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, and his Maiden, the Church. This entire book is a picture of the history of the Church, whom Gene Edwards calls “the most beautiful girl in the world.” This wonderful love story in the pages of the Song of Songs reveals things about our bodies and our sexuality that many do not want to face up to.

Our bodies are the threshold between the physical realm and the spiritual realm. It is in the body that these two realms embrace... or collide. When we believe that the body and our sexuality are nothing more than necessary evils, we insult the creative hand of God and, in the midst of this collision, we do our bodies a great injustice. The very fact that Jesus Christ took on the form of sinful man by embracing a human body exactly like ours, speaks volumes concerning his longing to redeem our bodies back into right relationship with our Triune God. It also represents the extreme measures he would go to in order that our bodies might be, once again, “naked and unashamed,” and “very good” in the eyes of our loving Creator.

My interpretation of the theology of the body is this:

1 Corinthians 12:18-26 states, “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where would be the body? But now there are many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, ‘I have no need of thee,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary. And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow super-abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no division in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.”

The very fact that Paul uses the human body as the basis for his description of the body of Christ isn’t coincidental, nor accidental. His use of certain parts of the body as an analogy for the different members of the body of Christ is VERY intentional. Let’s imply, for instance, that Paul thought of the sexual organs as a necessary evil. If this were so, for what reason would he use these organs, which he calls “less honorable,” to describe any human being in the body of Christ? It is obvious, for those who have eyes to see, that the sex organs are what Paul is speaking of in this passage. Paul is using what the Hebraic teachings had been celebrating for centuries: that the sexual organs, the very members many of us would consider “less honorable,” were to be treated with “super-abundant honor.” These less-than-honorable parts are sacred. Even the ancients named the triangular shaped bone that supports these wonderful organs the “sacrum.”

And the converse is true as well. Paul is comparing these members of the body to human beings in the body of Christ. The treatment of other brethren in the body of Christ with anything less than “super-abundant honor” is to treat Christ himself in the same manner. Even Jesus stated, “Inasmuch as ye have done it to the least of these my brethren, you’ve done it unto me.” This includes discrimination of ANY kind, including sexism (treating one gender as inferior to the other), racism and bigotry (treating persons of a different skin tone or social status as inferior), social, cultural or class distinctions, and even simple condescension.

I must, as a professed believer in Jesus Christ, maintain a relationship with other men and women who claim to believe in Jesus Christ, based on the premise that they are parts of the same body as I am a part of. I cannot say to an African-American brother in Christ, “I don’t need you! Because you are black, I cannot fellowship with you!” This is hypocrisy at its worst.

I had a profound change occur to me, in the fall of 2003, shortly after my face-to-face encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ in the living room of my home here in Colorado. I was standing at a local restaurant, with my lovely wife and a sister in Christ whom we had invited to dinner. As I was standing there, all of a sudden everyone in the restaurant became a familiar face! It was the freakiest thing that has ever occurred to me. I asked the Lord what was going on, and he said to me, “Michael! They look familiar because they are ALL part of your family! I love them, and I want you to love them as well!” A man got up out of his seat, walked towards me, went around the side of his booth, and headed past the front door. The Lord spoke again and said, “Do you see that man? I love him, and I want him to know me as you know me. I have a calling for his life. Pray for him!”

At that moment, a God kind of love for the man whom he had pointed out to me took over my whole being. Tears welled up in my eyes and, choking back those tears, I headed for the restroom, ran into one of the stalls, locked the door, sat down on the toilet seat and began sobbing uncontrollably. From that day forward, with few exceptions, my outlook on my fellow human beings was totally altered. The occasional angst over difficult situations makes this outlook a bit strained, but, having felt the very love of God for my fellow man, I have chosen to treat others, no matter of what persuasion they might be, as equals to myself.

This type of transformation is something we all should seek after. If there is anything standing in the way of our being able to treat others as equals, a transformation of the deepest order is drastically needed. It doesn’t matter whether a person is male or female, Catholic or Protestant, Muslim or Hindu, rich or poor, black, brown, yellow or white, disabled or not - each and every one of our fellow human beings was created in the image of God, and after his likeness. And this loving Creator called every single one of us “very good.” He hasn’t changed his mind. Why have we?