Our bodies matter. God the Father created our bodies, God the Son redeemed them, and God the Holy Spirit indwells them. If God meant simply to express the idea that the Spirit lives within believers, He could just have used words such as “home,” or “house” But by choosing the word “temple” to describe the Spirit’s dwelling, He conveys the idea that our bodies are sacred places.
(1 Corinthians 6:19)
Sermon Outline
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” (1 Corinthians 6:19)
Temples
- Temple in Jerusalem
- Temple in Corinth
Bodies
- Significance in Judaism & Christianity
- Significance in Corinthian Belief
Christ’s Body
- Spiritual Sacrifice
- Physical Sacrifice
- Embodied Sacrifice
Bodies as Temples
- A dwelling place
- A revelation
- A responsibility
Discussion Questions
- What are ways that the you find yourself forgetting that you are an embodied whole person, both soul and body? What things do you ignore about your body or about your soul?
- Read 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, what is it about sexual immorality that is a sin against the body? How do “sins against the body” impact one’s own body?
- Paul is using sexual immorality to make a bigger point about caring for one’s own body, what are some other ways that we can sin against our own bodies?
- How does the sacrifice of Christ’s body for us impact the way that we understand the importance of how we treat ourselves?
- Think of some ways that caring for your body brings honor to the sacrifice of Christ?
- How does a good sense of health and healthy living further the Gospel?
- Spend time thinking of practical ways that you could use or care for your body in God honoring ways.
DIG DEEPER:
- Spend time reading through 1 Kings 5 & 6 as the Bible describes Solomon’s Temple. Notice the ways that the writer draws attention to various details and instructions on its construction. Use this list to reflect on how God’s creation in our bodies also point back to Him.
- Watch the Bible Project Video on the biblical theme of Temple
- Read: The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God by G.K. Beale