The Bible opens with the story of
God intentionally planting humanity in a garden, Genesis 2:8 declares, “And the
Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the many whom
he had formed.” The man formed by God wasn’t left to wander about aimlessly but
was given a place and a responsibility, verse 15 reports, “The Lord God took
the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” This passage
in Scripture introduces the idea of a “Sacred Place” a place that was set aside
by God as a meeting place, where the creature and the creator could interact.
The place of Divine fellowship was
a space of privilege, but these sacred places weren’t without requirements. The
man was instructed by God to “…work it and keep it.” When sin entered the world
the entrance to this garden was shut off by God, but not without a promise of
redemption. God promised that a redeemer would come through the seed of the
woman; we understand that the seed was Christ.
In Christ the idea of a sacred
place was restored, but unlike Genesis, it was no longer confined to a
geographical location. Paul writes these words in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do
you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom
you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So
glorify God in your body.” For those who are in Christ the sacred place has now
become our body, which in reality means that everywhere we go we bring into
that space the Holy Spirit that inhabits us. So for the Christian there is no
such thing as a sacred/secular divide, but that everything we do and everywhere
we go is transformed by the Holiness of God.
What are the practical implications
of this? We should understand that
we have a responsibility to the body that God has given us. Some have
mistakenly concluded that Christianity only concerns itself with the soul. But
the New Testament is clear that just as Christ had a resurrected and glorified
body that we will have one as well. So then how we care for the body is
important to God, remember that the man was ordered to “work and keep” the
garden which served as the divine space of interaction, so now we should also
“work and keep” the body God has filled with His Spirit.
Consider Paul’s instruction in 1
Timothy 4:7-8 “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train
yourself for godliness; for while bodily exercise is of some value, godliness
is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for
the life to come.” According to the Apostle Paul it is important what we allow
to fill our “Sacred Place” and that just as the body benefits from the value of
exercise, our whole person benefits from godliness. This transformation that
has started in us will be fully experienced when Christ returns restoring the
sacred place designation to all of creation. As Romans chapter eight points
out, “…the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the
glory that is to be reveled to us, for the creation waits with eager longing
for the revealing of the sons of God.”
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