Eternally Indebted

September 25

The Word of God has a view of the human body that goes beyond its components or its functionality. That is not to suggest God is disinterested in the proper function of the body. Isaiah 53:5 tells us that it is “…by His stripes we are healed.” Jesus bore the cruel Roman ‘Cat of Nine Tails’ on His sinless back; there was a reason He did so.

The Lord desires to supply the entire salvation package to those who believe in His name. That package includes not only salvation, deliverance from sin and death and the grave, but health and wholeness while we traverse this Vale of Tears in our frail tabernacle of flesh that succumbs so readily to the ravages of disease.

Yet, there is more. In I Corinthians 6:19, 20 Paul tells us an amazing fact about the flesh within which we live. Here he says, “You should know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit who is in you. You have received the Holy Spirit from God, so you do not belong to yourselves. Because you were bought with a price, you should honor God with your bodies.” This is a remarkable concept, particularly to western man.

Western man sees himself as a free entity who owes no man anything. Perhaps he owes no man of his substance or of his soul, but he owes the Lord all of himself. Jesus paid an enormous price to set mankind free from sin. Apart from His sacrifice at Calvary, no one can satisfy God’s holy standard. For this, man is eternally indebted to the One who claimed him and paid the price to own him.