Love the Body
Genesis 2:18
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”
Solitary confinement is one of the worst punishments our criminal justice system has invented. Prisoners are kept isolated in their cells for 22.5 hours a day or more. They get almost no social contact. Their freedom of movement is restricted to a tiny room. It’s not good. 25% of people who have spent more than 30 days in isolation develop anxiety, depression, even psychosis.
We have been practicing isolation for nearly a year now. Though some of us have practiced it more strictly than others, we all have seen less of those we love. Perhaps you, too, have noticed your mental health straining under the circumstances.
God himself said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” He created the man first, breathing into his nostrils the breath of life. He did this after 5 previous days of creation, ending each day by looking around at what he made and seeing that it was good. But when he created the man, something was missing. Something was incomplete. Something was not good. The man was alone.
God took it into his own hands to make it good. He put the man into a deep sleep. He took a rib from his side. He made the woman. The man was no longer alone. When God finished his creation on the sixth day, he looked at what he made and saw that it was very good.
God created us to be social creatures. Because of sin, Covid-19 has entered the world. And if the damage to the world’s physical health wasn’t enough, what damage it has done to its mental health as well. Some are fortunate enough not to be isolating completely alone at home. Others have had to spend much more time with themselves. We all are missing those connections. Even the little social contact we get seems rushed and distanced. It is not good.
What will God do to take this into his own hands? First, he will surely deliver us from this disease. Second, he has already provided. Read these words from Ephesians 5:29-32, “29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.” The verse Paul quotes in verse 31 comes from Genesis 2:24. Originally, it talked about the marriage of the first husband and the first wife. But what a mystery! In this verse we see Christ and his Church! Christ has united himself with his Church by giving himself up for her “to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word” (Ephesians 5:25,26). We are the body of Christ! Each of us has been washed in his blood for the forgiveness of our sins and presented to him without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish. “He will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).
And as the body of Christ, we love one another. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” He’s been talking about the various spiritual gifts people had in that congregation. Prophesying. Healing. Miracles. But then he says, “Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31). What is the most excellent way? Love. “4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. … 13 Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8,13). If you’ve been following the chapter-and-verse references, you’ll notice this is all part of the Holy Spirit’s continuing thought.
Love the body. Christ has wed you and many others as his Church. Out of love for Christ who died to make you his, love those who are his. If you feel alone, reach out to be loved. If you haven’t seen someone in a while, reach out to them. It is not good for us to be alone. We don’t have to be. God has united us with Christ. Let us lean on each other, depend on each other, encourage each other to hold firm to our Bridegroom until he comes to bring us to his great wedding feast.