Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
—1 Corinthians 6:13
There is reciprocity in God’s relationship with man. What God has been for me, I should, in turn, be for Him. And what I am for Him, He desires to be for me. If, in His love, He gives Himself fully to me, it is in order that I may lovingly give myself fully to Him.
In saying, “The body is…for the Lord,” we express the desire to regard our bodies as wholly consecrated, offered in sacrifice to the Lord, and sanctified by Him. In saying, “The Lord for the body,” we express the precious certainty that our offering has been accepted. We show we believe that the Lord will impart to our bodies His own strength and holiness, and that He will strengthen and keep us.
But it is especially in divine healing that we see the truth of these words, “The Lord for the body.” Yes, Jesus, the sovereign and merciful Healer, is always ready to save and cure.
In Switzerland some years ago, there was a young girl near death from tuberculosis. The doctor had advised a milder climate, but she was too weak to take the journey. She learned that Jesus is the Healer of the sick and believed the good news. One night, it seemed to her that the body of the Lord drew near to her, and that she ought to take these words literally, “His body for our body.” From this moment, she began to improve. Some time after, she became a zealous worker for the Lord among women. She had learned to understand that the Lord is for the body.
Dear sick one, the Lord has shown you, by sickness, what power sin has over the body. By your healing, He would like to show you the power of redemption of the body. He calls to show you what you have not understood until now, that “the body is for the Lord.” Give Him your body. Give it to Him with your sickness and your sin, the original source of sickness. Always believe that the Lord has taken charge of this body, and will manifest with power that He is the Lord. The Lord sends us His divine strength from heaven, where He is now clothed in His glorified body. He is willing thus to manifest His power in our bodies.