There is a quote by Herman Bavnick that I’ve been meditating on recently that says, “The body is not a prison but a marvelous work of art from the hand of God Almighty and just as constitutive for the essence of humanity as the soul.”
Over the course of this semester, I have had frequent conversations with others about our relationships with our bodies and our in-class discussions in Doctrine I with Madueme about Humanity in God’s Image. This echoed many of the things I have been resonating with. I often struggle with my relationship with my body; its scars and signs of age ask me to doubt the Lord’s goodness in the creation of my body. It’s easy to be insecure about something when it seems that everywhere you look, there are constant reminders of not only what you’re not but also what the world deems you should be.
The mind-boggling reality is that we have all been created in the image of God. We have human dignity, not by anything that we have done, but only because we reflect a clear picture of the Triune God.
Genesis 1:26-27 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him.” Even though I know this to be true, I still struggle with my body. Its scars reflect many of my deepest fears. But who better to know our souls and deepest insecurities than the one who crafted us in his own likeness?
While our bodies may be broken, they were made good and we need to constantly remind ourselves of the salvation we have in Christ and the hope that one day our bodies will be made new.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Our souls, along with our bodies, have been redeemed through the ultimate sacrifice as Christ’s body was ripped apart on the cross for our sins. The holes in his hands and sides should act as reminders of the salvation we are granted in life well lived with Christ.
So, as our bodies go through many changes and challenges, (especially being a woman) the stretch marks, wrinkles, scars, cuts and bruises, are not ugly marks but beautiful reminders of how the Lord is redeeming us day by day. And one day, when our bodies have withered away, we will face our Creator and he will turn our bruises into our salvation.
How I will dance for joy on the day when my body is made perfectly new in His light. As Job 11:15 states, “I will one day lift my face without blemish and be secure and without fear.” But as I await that day, I will face myself each morning in the mirror and remind myself that my body is not a prison, but it is a marvelous gift of art from God Almighty that deserves the dignity as being an image bearer of Christ. I will not look at my scars as insecurities or imperfections as the world tells me that they should be but as reminders of how I am one day closer to being fully restored, body and soul.