THE ABUNDANT LIFE OF THE BODY

John 10:10: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

1Thess.5:23: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” still looking at our series on understanding the abundant life, today, we are going to be looking at the abundant life of the body. Like we observed at the beginning of this series, the abundant life is not restricted to the spirit of man. This is because the total man is spirit, soul and body. We have taken the time to look at abundant life as it relates to the spirit and soul. Today, we want to look at how it relates to the body. Why we are continuing with this series in this month of blessing is that the abundant life is what describes the blessed life.

When Jesus hung on the cross to take away our sin, he delivered a total package of the salvation of our spirits, souls and bodies to us. For our spirits, he achieved the new creation for us [2Cor.5:17; John 3:3-6, 16]. For our souls, he provided access to a fertile mentality for us [2Tim.1:7; Jas.1:21, Rom.12:2] and for our bodies, He provided health, wholeness and wellbeing [Isa.53:1-5, 1Pet.2:24]. There are many things involved in our wellbeing and they can be summed up in one word: “prosperity”! In 3John 1:2 we are told that God wishes above all things that we prosper and be in health even as our souls prosper. This implies that God’s will is for us to be whole spirit, soul and body. On our part however, there is what part we need to play to actualize our wellbeing.

Physically, we must:

1.     Eat right – Dan.1:8; 1Cor.6:12-13. The bulk of disease on earth today is tied to eating the wrong food. When we learn what the right food is and adjust accordingly, we would elongate our lives in good health.

2.     Exercise – 1Tim. 4:8; 2Tim.4:1-2. Bodily exercise carries profits as it protects your muscles from atrophy which is a state of the inability of your muscles to function because of lack of use. When you exercise, your body is built up and performs all the functions it is intended to perform properly.

3.     Rest – Exod.31:14-17; Heb.4:3-11. Rest refreshes you as it did God and prepares you for your next level. A lack of rest can lead to stress which is the foundation of many terminal illnesses and in some extreme cases, it can lead to sudden death.

4.     Submit your body to serve God’s purpose. Rom.12:1 – when you are busy serving God’s purpose, you are blessed with health and fruitfulness and protected from abortions! The Lord will fight your battles and give you victory all the way! Exod.23:25-29

Spiritually, we must walk in love and keep the body also known as the temple of God holy by living in purity.  Jn.13:34-35; Jn.15:12; 1Cor.6:15-20

Mentally, we must renew our minds. Rom.12:2; Ps.1:1-3; 1Tim.4:13-16.