“‘Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food,’ and God will do away with both of them. However, the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” (I Corinthians 6:13 CSB)
What a way to start a statement; quoting “Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food”. When this is read, it should alert the reader that Paul is going somewhere. He’s setting up for the spike, as it were. Quoting something that would be familiar to the original audience permits all that goes along with that short phrase to be loaded in their minds. Albert Barnes comments that this quotation appears to be a well known saying of the people stating that, “Its meaning is plain. ‘God has made us with appetites for food; and he has made food adapted to such appetites, and it is right, therefore, to indulge in luxurious living.’” In 10 words Paul brought to mind all the background, application, and even personal experiences that the original audience would have with that; yet does so without devoting too much time to write it out as he moves on by saying “God will do away with both of them” as if to say, hold on to that and let’s move on to the point at hand - “HOWEVER…”
Having just pitched the idea of what food is for the stomach, Paul uses a flow of argument that Those who took SAT test in the 90’s are most likely familiar with, analogy statements. We would get questions that were structured like “A:B :: C:D”. It reads like this, “A is to B as C is to D”. An question might go like this:
Paltry:Significance ::
A. redundant : discussion
B. austere : landscape
C. opulent : wealth
D. oblique : familiarity
E. banal : originality
(the correct answer is E)
Paul does this very thing in making his argument. The first half of the analogy, he fills in for us:
Food:Stomach :: Body:__________.
Paul doesn’t leave it to multiple choice, however. He knows how the Corinthians would naturally populate that blank space so he addresses the wrong answer and then provides the correct one.
“The body is NOT for sexual immorality…” Paul attacks this head on. The logic he originally stated, and the mindset of society (then and now) was, “if something such as food is so perfectly fitted for the stomach, and brings such pleasure and fulfillment, why not indulge to my heart’s content?!” The logic applied is: how could something that feels so right be so wrong? For us it sounds like Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Wrong Feels So Right” when she sings, “I think this could be the one night I give into this fight… this could be the night, wrong feels so right.” or Barbra Mandrell’s lyrics “How can this be wrong when it feels so right?” It doesn’t matter who sings/says it or in what generation, the justification for sexual immorality is the same. It even takes on slightly different phrases, “I was born this way.”, “I can’t help what/who I love.”, “If it’s wrong, why would God have given me these desires?” They’re all a repackaged “Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food” excuse.
While Paul’s structure is like an old SAT test question, he doesn’t leave us to try to fill in the blank for ourselves. He provides us the correct answer: “The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the LORD, and the LORD for the body.” So now we can complete our analogy statement:
Food:Stomach :: the Body:the LORD
Now we can examine this truth statement to see how it applies. This requires us to ask some questions to draw out the meaning.
How does food relate to the stomach?
It is made fit to be consumed by the stomach.
Its purpose is to be consumed by the stomach.
How does the stomach relate to food?
It uses food for its purposes.
Food not consumed is wasted.
There’s more, I’m sure, but these two things alone are helpful in leading us to practical application. My body, with all its desires, was not made to be given over to those desires. While God-given desires to have their place, even in enjoying those there is a greater purpose at hand. My body is made to be utilized by the LORD for His purposes. God tells us in His Word that He made man in his image. We are to be his image bearers and as such we are to ““Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) We are to rule over God’s creation as vice-regents. Sin entered and mankind failed to do so. As a redeemed people, we are made new and by His Spirit enabled to begin to fulfill our original task. Not only was I created for this, and shaped to perform this task, but even as fallen humanity, we still will find no true fulfillment in another activity than service in the purposes of God. This is what we were created for. Not only are we designed for it, it’s our God-given purpose. As our Creator, God has every right to demand of us whatever He will. And having been designed by Him to fulfill a purpose, anyone who does not fulfill that purpose is analogous to wasted food. Jesus tells us “If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” (John 15:10-11 CSB) Our joy is directly correlated to obedience to the LORD.
The body is not made for sexual immorality, that will lead to emptiness and a wasted life. Rather the body is for the LORD, this will lead to joy and life everlasting!
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