HEALTHY HERITAGE (3)
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. God's design and our responsibility
a) God said that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
i) 16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. 18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. (1 Corinthians 3:16-18 NIV)
b) 1 Corinthians 3:17 warns us, "17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple." (1 Corinthians 3:17 NIV)
c) 1 Corinthians 6:20 further states that, "20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." (1 Corinthians 6:20 NIV)
d) God wants a clean, holy and healthy temple where his Spirit can dwell. God lay upon each one of us the responsibility to take good care of this temple. This responsibility for personal health care calls for our consistent and ongoing investment.
i) 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. (Galatians 6:7 NIV)
e) What causes God's people to be just as sick as pre-believers or why spiritual Christians are just as sick as those less spiritual? Must Christians experience heart attacks, strokes, cancer, senility, diabetes, arthritis etc.?
f) From God's promises in the Scripture, we shouldn't be plagued with the sicknesses of the world, but in reality we are experiencing almost all the diseases of the world.
g) This is mainly due to our disobedience to God's law by conforming our lifestyle to that of the world's. God wants us to present our lives as a living sacrifice unto him, it is to be a holy sacrifice and which must also be a healthy sacrifice.
i) Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. (Romans 12:1-3 NIV)
h) Holy "hagios" suggests being set apart for God's purpose, with the idea of separation, consecration, devotion to God and sharing in God's purity. To do this we must not be conformed to this world. Holiness is seen in that we are different from the world but to become like Christ. We must be different in our lifestyle, music, speech, culture, morality, dressing, business ethics, and even in our eating habits. We must not be like those whose belly becomes their god (Philippians 3:19). Becoming like the world in all these areas will invite the curses of the world instead of the blessings of Christ.
#1) 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. (Philippians 3:19 NIV)
i) It is possible too that we Christians have failed to understand God's purpose, design and working of our human bodies. Just as Hosea said, "6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children." (Hosea 4:6 NIV)
j) It is possible that with so much advancement in technology and medical science that we still miss God's way of taking care of our bodies?
k) It is possible because God's way is not our ways, his thoughts are different too. Therefore we endeavor to seek God to find God's way to our ultimate health.
2. Prayer focus
a) Pray that we respond to God's calling and purposes in our lives.
b) Pray that we take care of the temple of God's Spirit, which is our body, so that we can respond to his call to study, to pray and seek God's way to ultimate health.
The End ...
1. God's design and our responsibilitya) God said that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
i) 16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. 18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. (1 Corinthians 3:16-18 NIV)
b) 1 Corinthians 3:17 warns us, "17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple." (1 Corinthians 3:17 NIV)
c) 1 Corinthians 6:20 further states that, "20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." (1 Corinthians 6:20 NIV)
d) God wants a clean, holy and healthy temple where his Spirit can dwell. God lay upon each one of us the responsibility to take good care of this temple. This responsibility for personal health care calls for our consistent and ongoing investment.
i) 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. (Galatians 6:7 NIV)
e) What causes God's people to be just as sick as pre-believers or why spiritual Christians are just as sick as those less spiritual? Must Christians experience heart attacks, strokes, cancer, senility, diabetes, arthritis etc.?
f) From God's promises in the Scripture, we shouldn't be plagued with the sicknesses of the world, but in reality we are experiencing almost all the diseases of the world.
g) This is mainly due to our disobedience to God's law by conforming our lifestyle to that of the world's. God wants us to present our lives as a living sacrifice unto him, it is to be a holy sacrifice and which must also be a healthy sacrifice.
i) Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. (Romans 12:1-3 NIV)
h) Holy "hagios" suggests being set apart for God's purpose, with the idea of separation, consecration, devotion to God and sharing in God's purity. To do this we must not be conformed to this world. Holiness is seen in that we are different from the world but to become like Christ. We must be different in our lifestyle, music, speech, culture, morality, dressing, business ethics, and even in our eating habits. We must not be like those whose belly becomes their god (Philippians 3:19). Becoming like the world in all these areas will invite the curses of the world instead of the blessings of Christ.
#1) 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. (Philippians 3:19 NIV)
i) It is possible too that we Christians have failed to understand God's purpose, design and working of our human bodies. Just as Hosea said, "6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children." (Hosea 4:6 NIV)
j) It is possible that with so much advancement in technology and medical science that we still miss God's way of taking care of our bodies?
k) It is possible because God's way is not our ways, his thoughts are different too. Therefore we endeavor to seek God to find God's way to our ultimate health.
2. Prayer focus
a) Pray that we respond to God's calling and purposes in our lives.
b) Pray that we take care of the temple of God's Spirit, which is our body, so that we can respond to his call to study, to pray and seek God's way to ultimate health.
Comments
Post a Comment