Man is a tripartite being, that is, he is a spirit with a soul that lives in a body. Man’s makeup serves a purpose and was created by God to fulfill that purpose for which it was created. You are a spirit, which possesses a soul and lives or housed in a body made from the earth. With your spirit, you make contact with the spiritual realm, with your soul you make contact with the soul realm, and with your body, you make contact with the physical realm.

Your spirit which holds the source of your existence on earth doesn’t die. It was created to live eternally. That’s why even when this body drops dead the spirit returns to its place of judgement. Your spirit is where the new creation realities as a result of your union with Christ take place.

Salvation doesn’t begin from the soul or body but the spirit. It is your spirit that gets recreated in Christ. It is your spirit that gets clothed with Christ. It is your spirit that becomes righteous, justified, and holy. It is because of this that the believer need not to be afraid of his/her eternal status. God has taken residence in your spirit. He has tabernacled in your spirit.

With your soul, you touch the various compartment of the soul – will, mind, and emotion. The soul doesn’t get born again or recreated at conversion but we have been given the mandate to have our mind renewed by God’s word, thereby causing the realities of Christ that are in our spirit to have a great impact on our souls.

There are a lot of believers who walk around like unbelievers, you can’t even tell if they are born again or not, it is because they are walking with an unrenewed mind. The soul has not yet been held captive by the Word in their life. They have not brought their mind, will, and emotion to the place where it is subjected to the workings and dealings of the Spirit of God.

The focus of this article is to look at the usefulness of the body in the eternal plan and purpose of God. This earth was created for humans to inhabit, spirits cannot exist here on earth, for that to happen they will need a body, human body.

This body is a link between the spiritual realm and the earth realm. It is in this body that we fulfill all of God’s plans and purpose for our lives. Looking at the usefulness of the body in fulfilling God’s plan and purpose, I will take a cue from the life of Jesus.

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire, but a body you prepare for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings, you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am, it is written about me in the scroll – I have come to do your will, O God.'”

Hebrews 10:5-7 (NIV, EA)

God wasn’t pleased with the burnt offerings and sin offerings, those things were only a type and shadow. They couldn’t take away the sins of man not the consciousness of sin. Sacrificing bulls and goats as stipulated under the law couldn’t solve the problem either.

It was a man who committed the sin and it would take the sacrifice of a sinless man to pay for it. It could have only been God. So, God incarnate in the Man Christ Jesus knew that the primary purpose of that body was to die for the sins of man. That’s why the epistles were all about His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. In the gospels, Jesus spoke time and after His death and resurrection.

Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Matt 20: 28 (NIV)

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days”… but the temple he had spoken of was his body.

John 2:19&21 (NIV)

The Word became incarnate as a man to give His life as a ransom for man. Jesus understood that with the body He was given, He was to lay down His life as a propitiation for the sins of man. This singular act of obedience was what produce salvation for man.

The apostle Paul revealed, “since we have now been justified by his blood… ” (Romans 5:9). So, Christ fulfilled the law and the prophets by living out in the body the things that were spoken and written of Him.

So, what are you doing with your body? The Scripture record in 2Cor 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad”.

Many have reduced their body to fun and pleasure, living by the senses. It is as if the mind has been wired to control in that direction only. But the greatest achievement in the body is to live in God’s plan and purpose. It’s to live in the realities of God’s word. This body has been designed to fulfill one thing – God’s plan.

Jesus knew why He was giving a body and He lived every day in that consciousness. Likewise, we can only fulfill the ministry that was given to us in the body. Like I said earlier, our bodies were given to us to fulfill God’s plan, but after the fall of man, the natural response of the body became self-centered, always wanting to go against God’s will and plan.

That’s why the apostle Paul in 1Cor 9:27 said “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection… ” He learned how to discipline the body. The discipline of the body begins from the mind. Many are lazy to pray, study the word, or evangelize. It is because they have allowed their minds to wander out of these zones into other matters of life.

If we don’t allow God’s word to renew our minds that we are brought to the place where we see the necessity of these things, our body will not fall in agreement with the word. Because we have allowed our minds to be messed up with the activities of this world, our bodies are following suit.

That’s why the battle of the mind but for the body, but to get the body, the mind needs to first be captured. The battle is for the body! I recommend you read my article on UNDERSTANDING THE PURPOSE OF FREEWILL. A mind that has been captured by the lies of the devil will always fight against God’s will.

That’s why we need to guide our hearts daily with the word so much that we live the word in the body even in an unconscious state. There are Christians today who still lie, steal, even fornicate, and commit adultery. Does that stop them from being saved? No! They are living against God’s will in the body because of a mind that is not renewed with the word!

I was bodily shy because I was mindly shy. I was bodily timid because I was mindly timid (I hope “mindly” drives home the point. Smiles), but when I allowed God’s word to lay hold of my mind, He tore down these traits! I’m a product of a transformed mind and I’m not satisfied yet! Your body is as important to God as your soul and spirit. That’s why in His eternal plan He made provisions for your bodies as well.

Do you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.

1Cor 6:19-20 (NIV)

There is something called living a life of honour to God in your body! To honour God is to be obedient to His word. To honour God is to be obedient to the leading of His Spirit indwelling in you.

When Joseph was tempted to have sex with his master’s wife, he refused and said “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (See Gen 39). He considered fornication as a wicked thing and a sin against God and not even his master – Potiphar.

This is a life of honour to God in the body. We live in a society were fornication, rape, and adultery have taken a toll on the minds of young people and the elderly alike. But we mustn’t succumb to such a lifestyle. We are those who honour God with our bodies, not only in these areas but in every aspect of our living.

I pray that you live a life of honour to God in our bodies.