PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

The Need of a Vision

Although we must educate our children concerning their living as proper human beings, especially in regard to their relationship with the opposite sex, we must not lose sight of the economy of God. We are not simply trying to keep our children from becoming sinful in their behavior. We are training them to become valuable members of the Body of Christ in God's economy. For this reason we parents must have a clear vision of God's economy, particularly as it relates to our organic joining to the Lord. The Bible tells us that our bodies are members of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:15). It is crucial that our children have this vision infused into them from a very young age.

"But the body is not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body" (1 Corinthians 6:13b). This is an astounding statement. Our bodies are for the Lord! Dating does not prepare our young people for marriage. Rather, it trains them how to have fun without commitment. Then they learn how to break up after the "fun" is over. Dating promotes sexual looseness without the least thought of personal responsibility for one's actions. In other words, it promotes fornication. Yet, our goal is not merely to restrain our children from dating or even from fornication. Our goal is that they be captured for the Lord's great purpose for humanity—the union and mingling of divinity with humanity in a universal divine-human incorporation. To produce such a result, we must infuse them with a clear vision of God's economy.

The Bible says, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication"—1 Thessalonians 4:3. We might have expected sanctification to be contrasted with worldliness or perhaps with ungodliness. But here the Bible contrasts the practice of fornication to our sanctification. The explanation for this emphasis is found in First Corinthians 6: "Flee fornication" (v. 18); "…you have been bought with a price. So then glorify God in your body" (v. 20). Our children need to realize that, in God's economy, our bodies are members of Christ; we must maintain a strict control over our body (1 Corinthians 9:27). This is not a doctrine for our mental appreciation. It is a divine fact for our experience. Lord, grant us this precious, controlling vision!

In First Corinthians chapter six, verses 15, 17, and 19 there are three crucial matters: first, that our bodies are members of Christ; second, that we are one spirit with the Lord; and third, that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit….

MEMBERS OF CHRIST

Verse 15 says, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?" Because we are organically united with Christ (v. 17), and because Christ dwells in our spirit (2 Timothy 4:22) and makes His home in our heart (Ephesians 3:17), our entire being, including our purified body, becomes a member of Him. Hence, to practice such membership we need to offer our body to Him (Romans 12:1, 4-5).

ONE SPIRIT WITH THE LORD

In verse 17 Paul says, "But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit." The word joined in this verse refers to the believers' organic union with the Lord through believing into Him (John 3:15-16). This union is illustrated by that of the branches with the vine (John 15:4-5). It is a matter not only of life, but also in life, the divine life. Such a union with the resurrected Lord can only be in our spirit.

The expression "one spirit" indicates the mingling of the Lord as the Spirit with our spirit. Our spirit has been regenerated by the Spirit of God (John 3:6), who is now in us (1 Corinthians 6:19) and is one with our spirit (Romans 8:16). This is the realization of the Lord who became the life-giving Spirit through resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:45; 2 Corinthians 3:17), and who is now with our spirit (2 Timothy 4:22). This mingled spirit is often referred to in Paul's Epistles, as in Romans 8:4-6.

A TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

In verse 19 Paul says, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, Who is in you, Whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" The Holy Spirit is in our spirit (Romans 8:16), and our spirit is within our body. Hence, our body becomes a temple, a dwelling place, of the Holy Spirit.

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