In verse 14 Paul says, “And God has both raised up the Lord and will raise up us through His power.” God raised up the Lord bodily. Our body is destined to participate in the Lord’s glorious body in resurrection (Phil. 3:21) and to be raised incorruptible (1 Cor. 15:52). This will be the redemption of our body (Rom. 8:23). Even now the Spirit of the resurrected Christ, who dwells in us, gives life to our mortal body (Rom. 8:11), making it a member of Christ (1 Cor. 6:15) and a temple of God indwelt by His Holy Spirit (v. 19).
I am thankful not only that the Lord is for our body, but also that God will raise up our body, even as He raised up the body of the Lord Jesus. We all have some physical defects, and none of us is absolutely healthy. We become tired and sometimes we become ill. These weaknesses help us appreciate the Lord’s promises concerning our body. In verses 13 and 14 we have a dual promise: first, that the Lord is for the body; second, that God will raise up the body. We know from Romans 8:11 that even today our mortal body can receive the supply of resurrection life and be sustained by it. Sometimes He heals us. The first aspect of the dual promise concerning our body is that the Lord is for it and sustains it.
From experience I have learned that the Lord is for our body. In 1943 I became seriously ill with tuberculosis and I was charged to have a complete rest. For a long period of time I had to lie in bed. One day my firstborn child, who was thirteen years of age, came to visit me. As I looked at him, I came very close to weeping. I prayed, “Lord, will You grant me another fifteen years? Lord, look at my child, my firstborn. In fifteen years he will be twenty-eight. If you will give me another fifteen years, I shall be content and willing to die when these years are over.” I praise the Lord that more than thirty-eight years have passed since I prayed to the Lord in this way. My body fully recovered from that illness, and during all these years I have been able to work hard. The Lord truly is for our body.
Although the first aspect of the dual promise is for the present, the second aspect is for the future. The Lord is for our body today, but God will raise up our body in the future. This raising up of the body refers to its transfiguration. When our body is resurrected, it will be transfigured.
In verse 15 Paul goes on to say, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then, taking the members of Christ, make them members of a prostitute? Certainly not!” Here Paul says clearly that our bodies are members of Christ. This is not an illustration, a metaphor, or a parable. On the contrary, it is a statement of fact. Our bodies are actually members of Christ. How marvelous!
In verse 15 Paul says that our bodies are members of Christ, and in verse 17 he says that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. How can we reconcile these two matters? Are we one with the Lord physically or spiritually? If we say that we are not one with Him physically, then how can our bodies be His members? But if we claim that our oneness with the Lord is physical and not spiritual, we fall into serious error, even heresy. Our oneness with the Lord is both spiritual and physical. Although we may not realize much of this now, one day it will be fully manifested that we are actually one with the Lord in body, soul, and spirit. Then according to 1 John 3:2, we shall be fully like Him not only in spirit, but also in our body. First John 3:2 is a verse which emphasizes our likeness to the Lord in body. Philippians 3:21 has the same emphasis. This verse says that the body of our humiliation will become the same as the Lord’s glorious body. These verses indicate that we are one with the Lord both physically and spiritually. Our body will one day be absolutely like the Lord’s glorious body in resurrection.
Our physical body can be likened to a seed sown into the soil. According to 1 Corinthians 15, resurrection is actually the growth of a seed which has been sown into the ground. When a seed is sown, it is simply a seed. But when the seed grows and blossoms, it takes on a very different appearance. Today our body is a seed sown into Christ. But one day this seed will grow up through resurrection. When it grows in this way, it will change in appearance, although it will still be our body. When a grain of wheat is sown into the soil, it is wheat. When this seed grows up, it is still wheat even though it is very different in appearance. At present, our physical body does not have a good appearance. For this reason, we do not appreciate our body so much. However, because our body is a member of Christ, it is dear and precious. Eventually, in resurrection, this body will become exactly the same as Christ’s glorious resurrected body.
In verse 18 Paul says, “Flee fornication. Every sin which a man may do is outside the body, but he who commits fornication sins against his own body.” Fornication is a sin against our own body, which is a member of Christ. This is a serious warning not to abuse our body.