CHRISTIAN LITERATURE TODAY

GOD DID SOMETHING ORIGINAL:
A CHALLENGE TO CREATIVE WRITERS

Pastor Harold Brokke

1. GOD DID SOMETHING ORIGINAL

God did something original ... and different when He created man. Before that, He made the angels and animals. Angels are spirits with out physical bodies. Animals have bodies without immortal spirits. But God made man as a spirit joined to a human body.

2. ... AND DIFFERENT!

Man's soul is distinct in that it combines the spiritual and physical in one person. Man was made to reflect the image of God in the material world. So God made man of the same material as He made the rest of the creation. Because man was made in God's image with His life, His light, and His love.

God gave man power and dominion over the whole physical world. It was not given to angels because they do not have physical bodies. It was given to man because man, as a spiritual being, could express God’s will in a material body.

As a creative writer of Christian literature, you are called upon to search your own thinking and writing as to how you are faithful to the Word, not just in historical and semantic terms, but in day-to-day life of your characters and your own life. Should you be pre-occupied even for a short moment in your literary work about the ugly side of the use of the body just to develop your story? What is the limit that you would set for yourself in dealing with these matters?

3. THE CREATION OF THE WORLD IS NOT EVIL

If the creation of the world ... and mankind had been evil in its essence, then God would not have called it "very good." But because of man's sin and disobedience, great defilement and disorder invaded the world. The familiar verse John 3:16 teaches that God loved the world. This word, 'world' is the 'cosmos'. It means that not only man, but also the whole created order of God has been cursed. God wants to redeem our minds, our bodies, and this earth ... everything!!

4. NO DISRESPECT FOR OUR BODIES

God doesn't look on our bodies with disrespect…, and consign them to endless destruction. Redemption is His purpose. His object now is to redeem our souls from sin. Later He intends to resurrect our bodies and bring us back to our original function and glory throughout eternity. God's plan is not only for the future. Our bodies are eagerly claimed by God the day we are converted. The importance of the body in the eyes of God is a clear doctrine of the Bible.

For example, when the Apostle Paul talked to the Christians in Corinth about their Christian lives, he said that they should not yield to sexual promiscuity. In Paul's day as in ours, prostitutes and perverts were everywhere. The Apostle Paul makes it clear that “The body was not made for fornication but it was made for the Lord and the Lord for the body.”

5. PAUL'S VIEW ABOUT THE BODY

Paul shared with the church... one of the most revolutionary statements about the human body; “Have you realized the almost incredible fact that your bodies are an integral part of Christ Himself?" This is translated in the King James Version as “Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 6:15)

6. WHAT ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIP?

What about the fellowship ... between husband and wife? Those who are married in the Lord know this is a constant need; but one of the most spiritual things that can ever happen between a husband and wife is that year after year, under the blessing of God's Spirit, they express physical love toward each other in the context of true faithfulness in marriage.

Whatever other ideas we have about marriage, we must remember that marriage is a physical experience. God says nothing about spirits marrying spirits or about angels marrying angels. Angels are not male and female. Marriage is God's arrangement for human beings...spirit, soul and body. When Paul speaks about a man's love for his wife he says, “He that loves his wife loves himself, for no man yet hated his own flesh', but nourishes and cherishes it even as the Lord the church.” (Eph. 5:29)

7. A LIFETIME OF LASTING LOVE

A lifetime of lasting love ... between husband and wife is a very spiritual affair. A Christian marriage offers the fullest personal fellowship possible on earth. It means commitment to the teachings of the Holy Scriptures. Obedience to the ethics of marriage demands the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When men turn away from the biblical foundations of marriage, they lose the only way marriage can be protected. Without God's incentives, limitations and blessings, the meaning of marriage will diminish and open the way to the sins of unfaithfulness. Paul does not say that Christ is joined only to our spirits, but He also says this, “We are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones” (Ephesians 5:32). These verses teach that He owns and sanctifies our bodies.

8. THE CONCLUSIONS WE COME TO

These are the conclusions we come to... Our bodies are designed for God and His glory. Our usefulness is never greater than when we are in harmony with the Spirit of God. Christ sent His Spirit to actualize His Lordship in our bodies. He is the Lord of our eyes, ears, mouth, heart, lungs, hands. legs, will, feelings, reason, and brain...everything!! This all adds up to the need of total surrender, or as Paul says in Romans 12:1, “With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice unto God which is your reasonable service.”

Let’s ask some questions ... about our lives; and “How are we doing?” And what values do you wish to portray and emphasize in your writings? What values do you seek in your reading?

1. Are you living in impurity, fornication, adultery or homosexuality?
2. Are you hooked on drugs, wine, liquor, or pornography?
3. Are you in control of both your weight and menu or does the menu control you?
4. Do you diet or fast as the need arises?
5. Are you in charge of your body's sleeping habits? Do these habits crowd out your time to pray and serve the Lord?

9. WHAT ABOUT GOD'S HEALING?

What about God’s healing... for the body? Let us fully believe what the Word of God says about Jesus’ healing power. Christ is our Healer and has authority over all diseases. "He himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses" (Matt. 8:17). The Scripture tells us to pray for the sick and leave the results with Him. Let us trust the Holy Spirit to ignite a great healing movement in His Church and throughout the world.

10. A CHALLENGE TO THE CHRISTIAN WRITER AND READER

These are all important issues… that we need to consider and answer in the light of Scripture. How many blessings and possibilities are contained in this single sentence found in 1 Corinthians 6:15, "Don’t you know that your bodies are the members of Christ?"

“...The resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raise in glory. It is sown in weakness it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” 1 Corinthians 15:42.

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