Spiritual Lessons from the Body

Spiritual Lessons from the Body We are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” The human body is one of God’s most glorious “word pictures.” Not only is it designed perfectly, not only does it function in amazingly intricate ways, it is also one of God’s unique teaching tools. As we survey the way God crafted the human body like a master artist or potter, we see in each aspect of His artwork lessons about life.

Because God has designed us, He knows best how we are to function, including the best way to communicate with us human beings. God designed the human brain to receive and transmit most effectively through word pictures. Because God wants everyone to know about Him and His principles for life, He chose to reveal Himself to us through various word pictures.

We will find, as we examine the spiritual lessons found in the various parts and systems of the human body, that God is telling us, through vivid images, truths about Himself, about spiritual realities, and about the Church of Jesus Christ . . . described by the apostle Paul as “the Body of Christ,” another great, vivid word picture.

As we look at each of seven parts of the human body, we will begin to understand the biblical language used and some of the nuances these words reveal. We will describe the physical reality of seven specific human body parts, how they are “fearfully and wonderfully” made, and how they operate. We will then learn how the Bible uses these body images to describe truths about God. For example, the human eye will help us to see what the Bible says about “the eyes” of God.

We will also look at the spiritual principles we can learn from the way our human body operates. We will discover how the various gifts and fruit of the Spirit function comparably in the Body of Christ. We will learn some of God’s rules about using each physical and spiritual body part. Finally, we will consider the practical results of following the precepts of God for using our human body properly and for properly being the Body of Christ to His glory.

The Eyes: The Physical Reality

The obvious purpose of the eye as God created it is to help us see physically. According to Matthew 6:22-23, the eyes let light into the body. When the eyes are not working properly, they are unhealthy and need to be healed. On many occasions, we read of the miraculous way Jesus healed the eyes of those who were blind. That brings to mind the familiar saying, “There are none so blind as those who will not see.”

The eyes are mentioned in the law called lex talionis, which we commonly refer to as “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” This was the law that lifted the Hebrews to a higher ethical plane than other cultures around them. Up until that time, the rule was, “this for that.” If someone injures you, injure him more. “If some one destroys your eye, kill him if you can.” God said, “No. That is too much.” God, instead, limited any retaliation to “this for this” (see Matthew 5:38, Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, and Deuteronomy 19:21). Jesus later shows us something even better than retaliation or lex talionis – “turning the other cheek” and “loving our enemies” (see Luke 6:27-29).

The Wonder of Physical Sight

The eye is one of the most complex structures in God’s marvelous design for the human body. There are 107,000,000 cells in each eye. 7,000,000 of these cells are called “cones.” They can distinguish more than 1,000 shades of color. Most of the cells in the eye, 100,000,000 of them, are called “rods.” They distinguish all the shades of light and darkness the eyes behold. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey, in their book In His Image, point out that an eye working in the best of conditions can detect a candle fifteen miles away.

In one second, the brain receives a billion messages from the multitude of cells in each eye. Even now, as you are reading these words, you see black print on a white sheet of paper. At the same time, you are aware of shapes and shades and colors of so much more all around you, beyond the book you hold in your hand or the computer on which you are reading these words. All of those sensory perceptions received in the brain are sorted and catalogued and labeled instantaneously upon receiving them. Sitting here at my computer, I see the beautiful shade of bright blue on my computer screen, the warm shades of brown running through the wood grain of my desk top, the seemingly endless green hues in the garden outside my office window, and so much more. All are perceived in a moment and are precisely understood. What a wonder the human eye is.

The Eyes: The Lord’s Way of Seeing There is a basic rule here. The one who creates is greater than what he created. Because God created the wondrous eye, we can conclude first of all that He is greater than the eyes He created. That truth becomes even more exciting when we realize that God created the entire universe; and He is greater than all He brought into being. Because God has given us the gift of vision, we understand that God can obviously see as well. The psalmist puts it this way:

He who planted the ear, does he not hear?

He who formed the eye, does he not see? (Psalm 94:9 – NASB)

Because God is greater than we are, His vision is infinitely better than our sight. He is the omniscient God who sees and knows all things. In Hebrews 4:13, we read that “all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (KJV). The apostle Peter, quoting Psalm 34, writes that “the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers” (I Peter 3:12 – KJV).

According to Psalm 139, God had us in His sight even before we were born. “My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret . . . Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect . . .” (KJV) The psalmist tells us that while we were being formed by God in our mother’s womb, He was already planning our days. The Lord is able to do that because He not only sees the present, but the future as well. In giving direction to the Hebrews on the way to the Promised Land, Moses describes the Lord’s involvement by saying, “It is a land the Lord your God cares for; for the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end” (Deuteronomy 11:12 – NIV). And, like a loving father, God continues to watch over His people. “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (II Chronicles 16:9 – NIV).

The eyes of the Lord symbolize God’s tender care for His children. In Deuteronomy 32:10, we see God caring for Jacob/Israel.

“In a desert land he found him,

in a barren and howling waste.

He shielded him and cared for him;

he guarded him as the apple of his eye.” (NIV)

Because of His love for us, we are aware that the Lord does not look only at our outward actions, but He looks deeper, into our very hearts (see I Samuel 16:7). God can do this because His eyes are not limited like our physical eyes. His eyes are spirit, not flesh (see Job 10:4).

This ability of the Lord to look into our hearts and see the motivation behind all we do should cause us to pause each time we make a decision. Christ is described in Revelation as having eyes “as a flame of fire” (1:14; see also 2:18 and 19:12). We sense the eyes of the Lord have a searing, penetrating, cleansing gaze. He sees right into the secret recesses of our hearts and minds. He reveals hidden sins and can cleanse them with fire.