Embodied Suffering // January 28, 2024

Read Romans 8:16-23; 2 Corinthians 4:7-5:8

We have set the foundation for this series by reaffirming the importance of the body as a good gift of God in creation. This positive, biblical view can reorient us to the wonder of the whole human person, one made as body and soul. If the body is so good and wonderful, what about the suffering we experience in the body? The reality is that many of us, or those we know, are beset with bodily diseases, disabilities, or deteriorations of some kind. On the surface, it may seem like having a different body would solve all our problems, but God’s Word takes us much deeper to help us see how He relates with us and offers lasting hope in our bodily suffering.

1. Consider Rightly

Our passage begins with Paul transitioning in Rom 8:18, “for I consider,” which should give us pause. It gives us pause because it gives him pause. The depth of the context moves from transformation and change to suffering and glory, and these are not merely vague and spiritual for Paul but real and present. To handle suffering well, we have to consider it rightly. We have to think about it, gather our thoughts, and reckon with it. We cannot avoid it. Paul knows we wish to hear that God will lead us to glory around or over suffering. But instead, he tells us the truth: Through suffering, we become full, true selves in glory, like Jesus.

These are not things we like to consider. In our culture, by and large, we avoid considering suffering, especially bodily suffering. Suffering is something for hospitals and other facilities that stay out of the way. We value fit, healthy, and young bodies. We are experts at avoiding and ignoring pain and suffering. Scripture tells us something different. An essential part of Christian discipleship is considering our present, embodied suffering. When it comes, it threatens to engulf everything in our lives until it is the only story. But there is a greater story, one that is real but elusive to our embattled hearts and minds. Only when we “consider” this can we face embodied suffering with hope.

2. Compare Accurately

One of the ways we wrongly consider our suffering is by comparing. We are tempted to compare our suffering with others and desire what life would be like in “that” body. But just like body image can create anxiety and worry with comparison, our issues with comparing bodily suffering follow suit. Paul doesn’t tell us not to compare, but he tells us to compare accurately. Instead of comparing your body with others, compare your body with the “glory that is going to be revealed to us” (Rom 8:18) or the “absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor 4:17). 

Your bodily suffering is not a sign God has abandoned you, that you are less useful, or that you are in the wrong body. Your bodily suffering is a sign that God is not done with you yet as you continue your journey to become glorious like Jesus. Paul urges you to compare your broken, ailing, and hurting body, not with others or some prior version of yourself, but to the glorious body you will receive by faith.

3. Groan Confidently

Paul introduces us to the reality of groaning, not just “out there” in creation, but inwardly, within each of us. He describes two instances of groaning in Romans 8 and 2 Corinthians 5, both of which indicate its dual nature of suffering with pain and yearning with confidence. An analogy he makes is the groaning that comes with the labor pains. The pain of labor is real, but the glory of labor is just as real. It produces the most glorious thing, a brand new person made in the image of God. Groaning is the only thing that holds this tension together, and Paul is preparing us for the reality that groaning will become one of our spiritual disciplines in this life. We groan, knowing that God hears us and even groans with us (Rom 8:26).

We groan confidently, not because we are promised compensation for our suffering. It is much more profound than that. Our suffering results in glory by “producing” it in us (2 Cor 4:17). Our suffering imparts something real to our person because we are “with him.” So our glory is also “with him” (Rom 8:17). The Gospel reminds us that Jesus groaned in despair, “My God, My God why have you abandoned me,” so that we can groan with confidence. His groan guarantees we can be saved from the greatest suffering of all and that our suffering will ultimately be turned into glory.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. Why is it important to “consider” our suffering? Shouldn’t we just ignore it and get past it? What does it look like to consider it “rightly” without allowing it to take over our lives?

3. What are some ways that our culture avoids pain and suffering to an unhealthy degree? What about prioritizing comfort? How have you done either of these in your own life?

4. Have you ever wrestled with comparing yourself to others related to body image or bodily suffering? How did you overcome this and learn to make healthier comparisons (ex. “compare accurately”)? What advice would you give to someone younger about this process?

5. Read Romans 8:22-23, 26, and 2 Corinthians 5:1-4. What do you notice about “groaning”? Who does it in these passages? What do these passages tell you about the reality of “groaning” in your life?

6. Do you know someone else who is currently suffering? How might you “groan” with them in their suffering? How could this lead to both of you learning to “groan confidently”? See graphic below for visual.

7. If suffering brings us closer to God and helps us grow in our relationship with Him, then how should we approach praying for healing? How does the Gospel message speak to this tension?

Bonus: Groaning with Confidence

• How have you seen these quadrants at work in your life?

• How have you seen each in the church’s approach to suffering?

• How does the gospel offer a unique resource on “faithful suffering” with confidence AND groaning?

Embodied Church // January 21, 2024

Read: 1 Cor 12:4-13; 26-31

In our culture, we are tempted to be more “disembodied” than ever, but we must never forget that God is embodied and created us to be embodied. This beautiful truth is not only for us individually but corporately as the church, or the body of Christ. Why are we called the body of Christ? The Bible uses the human body as a metaphor to describe the church, but more than a metaphor, it is a declaration of identity. We see this identity explained in the broader context of 1 Corinthians when Paul describes the body as God’s Temple (1 Cor 3:16), a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19), and the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27). The more we understand the relationship between these three statements, the more we can fill out our understanding of how we have become the body of Christ.

1. The Body of Jesus is the True Temple

God’s relationship with humanity always requires a temple because He is not like you and me. In the Old Testament, God revealed the temple as a sacred space, like Abraham’s altar at Bethel, the tabernacle at Mount Sinai, and Solomon’s temple at Mount Zion. God is Holy, and the stark contrast between our sinful nature and his holiness would lead to our destruction if brought into his presence unmediated (Ex 33:5-6). Jesus changes everything because Scripture tells us that “the Word became flesh and dwelt (lit. “made his tabernacle”) among us (Jn 1:14). Jesus is now the location of sacred space, and his body is the temple of God. The only way we can be in a relationship with a holy God is through the temple, which doesn’t change between the Old and New Testaments. What changes is that the person of Jesus Christ is revealed as the true temple. 

2. We are “In” Christ 

The phrase “in Christ” occurs more than 130 times in the New Testament. It is one of the most basic ways of explaining our relationship with God. Where does it come from? In the Old Testament, God’s presence that “dwells with” or “among” Israel often takes the dative and plural form of “you,” meaning “in you (all).” Paul writes in this same style that “God’s Spirit dwells in you” (1 Cor 3:16). This is temple language, and we represent the temple not individually but corporately. Nor do we represent the temple in our own merit. Only because we are “in Christ” can God’s Spirit be “in us.” So we are the body of Christ because Christ is now the temple, and God forgives us, adopts us, dwells in us, and loves us forever.

3. The True Temple is a Family

You won’t go far in the New Testament without seeing another metaphor used to describe the church, and it is “family.” The two: “body” and “family,” are not only integral to the biblical concept of church but are intimately related. The rituals are now a relationship because the temple is now a person. Worship becomes simultaneously sacred and familiar. The holy temple is a loving home. The Bible merges what many before have kept separate: the temple of God and the family of God. Now, to be in the temple is simultaneously to be a son or daughter in his house (2 Cor 6:16-18). 

What it means to be in Christ is not fully understood when we think of ourselves as autonomous individuals. You, alone, are not the body of Christ because you are a part of the body of Christ, and the part, though special and unique, does not fully represent the whole. We must never stop gathering together because it is together that we are the body of Christ, in submission to Christ, who is the head. Just like in our own homes, we are truly ourselves in the home of the church. Let’s reclaim Sunday worship as the centering point of our identity, from which we receive grace, affirm our union to the body of Christ, and go out into the world with the power of the Holy Spirit. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. What do you know about the concept of “temple” in the Old Testament worship of God? What changes now that Jesus’ body is the temple? What stays the same? How does this impact you as an individual Christian in America today?

3. If the church is understood as a “body,” what does that say about how we should participate in the church? Is there a minimum level of participation? How do we navigate the increasing use of technology in churches?

4. How do you understand passages in 1 Corinthians that refer to your own body as a temple of the Holy Spirit? Does it have any bearing on how we treat our physical bodies? Why should this teaching draw us toward a gathering of believers rather than away from it?

5. What does it mean to be “in Christ”? How should this reality encourage us when we feel apart from Christ? What are some areas in your life where you need to be continually reminded of this declaration of identity?

6. What analogies can you think of that explain the intimate relationship between temple and family? Temple and home? How does this relationship challenge or encourage your prevailing views about the local church? 

7. How does the reality that we are not the body of Christ in ourselves point us to the Gospel? What does it reveal to us about the importance of gathering together? Worshipping together? Listening to preaching together? Partaking in holy communion together? Which one sticks out to you the most and why?

Embodied Persons/ January 14, 2024

Read Gen 1:26-28, 31; 2:7, 18-25

Our bodies are often in the background when we think about our spiritual lives, but contrary to how many think, the Bible puts our bodies in the foreground of our spirituality and humanity. The Bible is not alone, as many wrestle with serious questions about the importance of the body in our cultural climate. When we are tempted to be more “disembodied” than ever, we will turn our attention to the beautiful mystery that our God is embodied and created us to be embodied. 

1. Your Body is Wonderfully Made

Something so obvious that we often move past it quickly is that God created the human body. Genesis reveals that He is the master craftsman, designer, and artist. Every time God creates physical and material things, He calls them “good,” but after creating humanity, He surveys all of his creation and calls it “very good.” Another unique feature of humanity in the text is that the combination of body and soul is attributed to His “image.” As embodied persons made in the image of God, we are made to be a visible manifestation of God’s invisible glory, beauty, and goodness. 

The body is not incidental to who we are, as if it were some kind of shell for our soul. Genesis 2 zooms in to reveal that the body is formed first before the breath of life (soul or spirit) animates the body. So, who are you? You are an embodied person created in the image of God. You are an unrepeatable wonder, what Bavinck calls a “marvelous piece of art,” designed to reveal something special about God.

2. Your Body is Tragically Broken

If my body is wonderfully made, then why does it hurt? Why does my image often feel more like a burden than a gift? The Bible reminds us that we don’t only experience the curse of sin relationally or spiritually, but bodily. In the beginning, Adam and Eve were “naked and unashamed,” that is, they had complete acceptance of their bodies. After the Fall, we see that they hid in shame from God and themselves. They no longer felt they were wonderful, pleasing, and holy reflections of God. Our bodies also break down as we move toward death, and our work involves sweat and toil. 

We live with the tension in our bodies that we are wonderfully made but tragically broken. We could call this body incongruence. Instead of wholeness and unity between our body and soul, we feel at odds with ourselves. This explains why we often struggle with body image and produce all kinds of coverings to make ourselves more acceptable and pleasing to ourselves and others. We are looking for something (or someone) to affirm that we are acceptable, pleasing, or good.

3. Your Body Will Be Even More Wonderfully Remade

There is no way to redeem our bodies from their broken state in our own power. We must look to Jesus, who bears our brokenness and paves the way for bodily redemption. According to the Bible, Jesus had the most perfect body because He perfectly reflected the image of the Father in visible, physical form as a man. Though he perfectly reflected God on earth, Jesus’ body was tragically broken when he endured the Cross because of our sins. Yet, He rose from the dead in the same body that was broken, died, and scarred forever. Though we are not fully home in our bodies on earth, they will be made glorious like His body.

The good news about the body, according to the gospel, is that, by faith, your body is united to His, and you are wholly acceptable, pleasing, and holy by His merit. He offered his body for us so that we might die to trying to make it acceptable or pleasing on our own. In loving obedience, we might reflect him as his image: “Thank you, God. You have made me a wonder. I offer my body to you!” Indeed, we might still struggle to look at our own “selfies,”  but God sees a body made in His image, pleasing and acceptable to Him. He gave it to us and redeemed it from its brokenness through Christ. How could we not offer it back to Him?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. Do you see your embodied nature as a wonder? Does it resonate with you that God made your body “very good” and unrepeatable? How might this encourage you when you are wrestling with your image or comparing yourself with others?

3. What is something you notice about yourself when you take a selfie? Do you gravitate toward the “very good” or the “broken”? How does this relate to what you notice about others?

4. What are some typical ways that people hide or cover feelings of body incongruence: feeling at odds with yourself in your body? Are you tempted toward any of those yourself?

5. How is the tragically broken body of Jesus the answer to our tragically broken bodies? How do you need to receive his body “broken for you” today? (Look at Hebrews 10:5-25 for reference)

6. Read Philippians 3:20-21. How does this passage encourage you to look to Jesus and trust him for the transformation of your body into something wonderfully remade? How does this hope differ from what our culture tries to promise us apart from him?

7. Why does God want us to offer our bodies back to Him? How does sin tempt us to use our bodies for ourselves? What would it look like to offer your body to God, and how does this lead to a holistic and flourishing life in the body? 

Embodied God // January 7, 2024

Read Col 2:1-10

Our bodies are often in the background when we think about our spiritual lives, but contrary to how many think, the Bible puts our bodies in the foreground of our spirituality and humanity. The Bible is not alone, as many wrestle with serious questions about the importance of the body in our cultural climate. When we are tempted to be more “disembodied” than ever, we will turn our attention to the beautiful mystery that our God is embodied and created us to be embodied. 

1. God Fully Values Our Bodies

When Paul wrote Colossians, most philosophies and belief systems did not value the body. Many of these philosophies, some continuing to this day, portray salvation or enlightenment as a kind of escape from the body because the body is limited and weak, akin to a “prison” for our souls. Of all the world’s religions, belief systems, and worldviews, only the Bible provides a solid basis for believing in the value and worth of our bodies. Even secular materialism, which is popular today, can’t provide any basis for valuing the human collection of atoms from that of other animals or even inanimate objects.

The incarnation provides us with a basis for the value and worth of our bodies - “the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ” (Col 2:9). The present tense, “dwells,” connotes a permanent rather than temporary situation. God values our bodies so much that he chose to dwell in one forever. At this very moment, our God is embodied, just like us, which should impact how we value our bodies and the bodies of others.

2. God Fully Understands Our Bodies

We know that Jesus now dwells bodily in heaven, but how did he get there? The beauty of the incarnation reminds us that Jesus lived through all our bodily experiences from womb to tomb. God could have simply commanded us to understand Him and obey with our bodies.. After all, He is the Lord our God, who made us and deserves our full attention, devotion, and obedience. Instead, He took on a body and fully experienced physical pain, suffering, and trauma so that he could fully understand us and bring us back to Him. 

In his fully divine nature, Jesus knows everything. But here, we are taught that Jesus’ understanding of our bodies goes to an even deeper, more personal level. His understanding of the human body in a fallen world is not only truly divine from the outside, but truly human from the inside. He was like us “in every way” (Heb 2:17), yet without sin. Therefore, when we turn to Him in His Word, we approach not a distant deity but a God who understands us more than we understand ourselves.

3. God Is The Full Authority On Our Bodies

Living with a body in a broken, sinful world will come with challenges, temptations, and difficulties. We will all need to look to something to interpret all these things, make sense of them, and guide us. Will it be our feelings? Will it be the current cultural consensus? Will it be a reaction to the current cultural consensus? As our embodied God, Jesus is the expert and the authority on the human body. He is not only powerful but personal. Our authority on the body is not a “book” but a person who values and understands us. No one else fully knows what bodies are for, how they are to be used, healed, and made whole. This is foundational for appreciating the Bible’s specific teachings on the body. It can help us with practical issues concerning sexuality, gender, technology, health, and appearance.

4. God Is Fully Invested In The Total Redemption Of Our Bodies

What brings everything together in this text is that we are told  Jesus is fully invested in the redemption of all of us. His work won’t be done until we are made whole - body and soul. We all will have experiences with our bodies that remind us of their brokenness, frailty, and alienation from God. The Bible teaches us that the reason we often feel alienated from our bodies is because we are alienated from and hostile to God through sin (Col 1:21). The gospel tells us what God has done about this alienation. 

The beauty of the Gospel embedded in verse 10 is that there is nothing else we need to be “filled” (complete or whole) that is found apart from Him. The wholeness of Jesus as the God-man makes all the difference as his eternal embodiedness is our guarantee that we will become whole persons just like him. Jesus did not leave the glory of heaven, become fully embodied only to be alone forever in a glorified and whole human body! He came to where we are, to bring us where he now is. We will one day be as he is - whole - in both body and soul. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. Why is it important we affirm that God fully values the body? How might this challenge some teaching that separates soul and body or gives higher value to spiritual (ie non material things) than physical, bodily things? 

3. What might it look like to value your own body as God does? What about the bodies of others (all types and kinds of bodies)? What are some things that keep us from valuing our body and others?

4. Where is it hardest to believe that God understands us (bodily) in “every way”? What difference would it make if we truly believed this for our bodily needs, temptations and struggles? 

5. How does God’s example to take up our human nature in order to understand us “from the inside” motivate us to do that for others? What might this like especially for those who have different kinds of bodily struggles, pains or needs?

6. What are some ways that we struggle with God’s full authority on our bodies, and which ones are prevalent in our culture? How can we trust that His authority is loving and good? 

7. Discuss how this gospel assures and promises us that God is fully invested (100%) in the full (100%) redemption of our bodies. How does knowing this help with the biggest issues we have with our bodies? (examples - our appearance, our aging, our bodily pain, our bodily illness, fear of death, sexuality, not feeling at home in our bodies)

BONUS REFLECTION

REFLECT: Colossians 1:15-22. Refer to this text for full description of how invested God is in the reconciling all things (physical, bodily).

REFLECT: Is there something about your experience in the body that you have not thought mattered to God or repressed out of fear that God or others wouldn’t understand? Whether or not you share this aloud, take time to pray about this, confess your need for help, and receive God’s love toward you in Christ.

Faith and The Ultimate Test // November 19, 2023

READ Gen 22:1-19

In our series, we have learned how Abraham became the father of all who have faith, an example referenced in all of Scripture. The answer is through many tests, but what we have in this passage is not just any test but his final, cumulative exam. As one scholar noted, “No other story in the Bible can match such haunting beauty and theological depth.” God wants us to be shocked by this story to better understand that true and living faith has less to do with us and more with Him. 

1. The Shocking Test

Abraham has been through a lot, and “after all these things” (v1), he finally received all that he had hoped for, an heir in his son Isaac. In Isaac are Abraham’s life, meaning, and hope for the future of the promise. Then God tests him in an almost incomprehensible way: to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering (v2). Why? How? As difficult as this is to grasp, we must first step back to why God tests. Just as an academic test reveals what is true in our minds, a spiritual test reveals what is true in our souls. A test is meant to reveal and refine our faith so that we might become more mature. 

It seems cruel, barbaric, and even terrible of God to put Abraham through a test like this. Yet, the shocking reality is that if the object of our faith really does matter and everything else will one day be taken from us, then there is nothing more loving and good for God to do than to ensure our faith is in Him. God will not allow his gifts to become our gods. No matter how shocking it is, God asks us to offer up and let go of those things we cling to so much and trust in to give us the future we want. 

2. The Shocking Response

We don’t know what Abraham was thinking right away because he woke up early without delay in setting out to obey God (v.3). The following verses move much slower as they capture his journey with Isaac, moment by moment, up until he is right about to slaughter his son. Abraham trusted God and obeyed, but it was not blind faith, grit, or duty as if “God says it, and that settles it!” 

What was in Abraham’s heart? How did he do it? During the journey, Abraham tells others that “we’ll” come back, referring to Isaac (v. 5). Hebrews 12:19 also reveals that he “considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead.” Abraham “considered” that the promise of God would not contradict the command of God, even if that meant raising the dead. He had genuine faith that God would provide, no matter what (v.8). This is the difference between dead and living faith. Empty faith says, “I believe,” but never offers anything up. Living faith says, “If it dies, God will raise up something better.

3. The Shocking Result

The shocking result is that God never wanted Isaac to be offered up. He wanted to show Abraham Isaac that he would provide the offering. The main point of this passage is not about what “Isaac” you need to give up; it is about God becoming for us “the Lord will provide.” This promise should dwell in the deepest part of our soul, as it surely did for Abraham, who displayed genuine faith in a trial. No matter how shocking the situation, God will see that his promise is fulfilled to those who place their faith in Him.

For the blessing to be received and come to all the nations, there had to be an offering to cover sin and unbelief that stood in the way. The Gospel is founded upon the God who promises: “I will provide.” God gave up his beloved Son, who was offered up in our place. He was called the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. He carried the wood of his own suffering up the mountain and silently obeyed his father. If God has done this, do we have any reason not to trust him? Romans 8:32 reminds us of a beautiful promise: “He who did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all,  How will he not also with him grant us everything?”

QUESTIONS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. Why does God test us? Have you wrestled with this in your life? How does testing our faith bring maturity? What do tests reveal about us? about God?

3. What are some examples of things people place their trust in and won’t let go of? Is there something in your life of which you say to God - “no not that, I can’t give that up!”

4. Have you experienced the tension between God’s promise (of life, grace, strength, abundance” and God’s command (that seems to lead to death, emptiness, weakness and suffering)? How does Hebrews 11:19 help us see how Abraham trusted God in this situation? 

5. What have you given up and allowed to die as a result of your trust in Jesus? If it’s hard to think of something - what do you think God is calling you now to give up and allow to die as result of trusting obedience to Jesus? 

6. Why is it so difficult to believe that God will provide? How does the gospel assure us - even against all odds - he will?

Meditate on Romans 8:32 and pray together about what areas in your life you may still resist to believe the promise in this verse. What is holding you back from trusting that “God will provide?” Why?