There is a theology of resurrection and attached to that a theology of our body. And it is in part in today’s daily reading. It is based on the death of Christ and his resurrection. Simply put, our bodies will be raised. Not as they are now, but in Christ. . For the resurrected body that Christ has is perfect, immortal, powerful — it does things we cannot do. And our myths long for this. It is better. It is body 2.0
We do not know what Adam could do before the fall. But we know that this body gives us problems. We get sick. We get injured — and even when we exercise we hurt. And we die, far too young, and get frail far too early.
31Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.6We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace
One of the modern errors within the church is very ancient. It is a form of gnosticism. It does not matter what we do with our bodies, because what matters is love. There are no rules because love covers everything. Grace covers everything. This is wrong. There are rules because of love. The rabbis said that if you loved God with all your heart, and loved your neighbours as yourself, you would keep the law, and that is correct. But in love we have rules, routines, encourage virtue, condemn vice, and teach truth not error.
The body matters. It matters because we are here to glorify God — not just with words and deeds, but with our bodies. For there is glory in the beauty of us when we are young, fit, and beautiful. It is like the wildflower in spring — a wonderful joy, that fades. There is a glory in athleticism, in fitness, and in the honour you give your spouse in the marital bed.
All these are bing destroyed. Instead of walking, we drive. Instead of fitness, we are obese, Instead of marrying and seeing God through the eyes of our beloved, we look outwards to stars and starlets. We have made the discipline of Christ something professionals do, as we have made sport something professionals do. Which is wrong. The disciplines of both are for the people.
At present, I am quietly enjoying the destruction of professional provincial rugby. I would rather we lost the next world cup, but all those who want to play are doing so, and the running packs are big again, the cyclists are ruling the roads, and that dance studios are full of people enjoying themselves. I would rather the lay people know the prayers and sit in the choirs than we have clergy do that job or worse, professional singers. Even though the laity are flat, and I can hear it). Here the rules of modesty and iron matter. We need to encourage each other to prayer and the gym.
Our body matters. And it will be raised — from Hades, by grace. And that is why we need to give God the glory.
Chris – over the years you have made many theological points but never, as far as I recall, heresy. Until this: “I would rather we lost the next world cup, but all those who want to play are doing so”. Shocking! BTW I agree completely.
Offending the Pubick religion of New Zealand — best seen in the last rugby world cup as a mixture of Maori mythology and a certain oval ball game — is our duty. God hates idolatry.