Biblical Foundations: Physical Beings

The first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” God spoke our universe into existence with the power of his Word. That universe is both spiritual and physical—heavens and earth—and both aspects are good in the eyes of God.

Humans are both spiritual and physical beings as well. Many Christians needlessly feel a sense of ambivalence, guilt, or inadequacy when they think about their physical bodies. The reality is that we are physical beings by God’s perfect design.

Genesis 2:7 says, “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” Living creature literally means “soul,” so this verse means that when God breathed life into the earthly body of Adam, the whole person of Adam, including his body, became a soul. Adam’s body was an indispensable and good part of who he was. We do not just have bodies; we are bodies. Our physical being is good and worth celebrating.

The Creation account is not the only Christian doctrine that supports positive attitudes about our bodies. The doctrine of the Incarnation—that Christ, the perfect Son of God, became flesh—supports it (see Hebrews 2:14; John 1:14). Further, the doctrine of our future bodily resurrection teaches that we will live forever as perfected bodies (1 Corinthians 15:35-44, 53-54; Philippians 3:20-21). Bodies must be good things because we will be perfected embodied beings in life everlasting!

Some content taken from HOW AND WHEN TO TELL YOUR KIDS ABOUT SEX, by Stan and Brenna Jones. Copyright © 1993, 2007, 2019. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. To purchase books in the GOD’S DESIGN FOR SEX book series, go to www.navpress.com.