BODY IMAGE-“MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE” (Cindy M. Selke)

From the moment we were conceived, we have existed.

Who are you?  What identifies you as uniquely “you”?

When Connie first contacted me about possibly speaking and sharing in music for today, she had this idea for a topic that would touch women.  And I felt a little intimidated to speak about this particular subject. I don’t feel like much of an “expert” on BODY IMAGE but I knew it was from the Lord because within a short time, I was challenged about my own self-image and especially how my physical reality has affected how I view myself.

Our bodies are a significant part of who we are, how we identify ourselves.  We recognize each other by sight, by our appearance.  We do spend a lot of time taking care of our bodies because they need basic things like food, water, clothing, exercise, etc…

And if God says He loves me, then He means ALL of me, right?  Including my physical body.

So, what are some other names or terms we use to describe our bodies?

*Flesh, physical, tent, temple, figure, physique…

1.  Creation –

Genesis 1:26, 27 & 31 tell that God made the first human beings.  It was the 6^th day, and God had already taken 5 days to create the heavens and the earth.  He had water, land and vegetation all set in place.  God placed various living creatures to inhabit the land and sea.  And then we come to these verses in Genesis Chapter 1:

Maybe you have already read or heard this before, but what I find fascinating is that God, who is invisible and a Spirit, created us in His image, which included a body.  We are a reflection of Him, who is perfect, and somehow our physical image reflects Him.

And remember in verse 31, the Word of God says He saw all that He had made and it was very good.  Let’s hang on to that truth as we continue on…

Genesis 2:7  gives another description of how our Creator formed Adam, with a bit more detail.  Both the physical creation (dirt) and the spiritual (God’s breath of life) were combined to form the first man. 

Genesis 2:20-23 gives the details of Eve’s creation.  Why did God choose to create us in this way?  Why not just make a couple of mud pies, one male and one female, and breathe into our souls His life?  Many scholars have speculated on this but I won’t for today!

What we can learn from this account is that God made us unique as women. 

And to finish the creation account, verse 25 states, “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”  Adam and Eve were created perfectly as the Father desired.  Their forms were beautiful; they were a reflection of the image of God.  That is powerful!

2.  The Fall -

I hate to go on to Genesis Chapter 3 but we must.  This will explain  why we are the way we are today!  Why do we struggle with our body image?  Especially as women?

Genesis 3 tells us of how the serpent (the devil) deceived Eve (and Adam) and they disobeyed the Lord, their God.  Once they ate of the forbidden fruit, “the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked…”

Because we ALL are sinners, since sin entered the world through Adam & Eve’s disobedience, now we ALL have our eyes opened to our nakedness, our shame.  And just like Adam & Eve, we try to cover up our shame with “fig leaves”, which don’t really cover us at all!  Our minds, our understanding have been twisted by sin and we don’t see anything the way God sees!

Later in this chapter, the consequences for their sin are pronounced and both Adam & Eve have curses on them.  Adam’s consequences are to have to work so hard to support himself and his family and life as a man would be hard!  For Eve, her difficulty in childbearing would be painful and she would struggle against her husband (or men or authority).  Men and women would never live together in that perfect harmony of the Garden of Eden. 

Wow!  How depressing!  Cindy, sit down already!  We’re all completely discouraged now with our lot in life!  But wait-Genesis 3:21 gives us the hope we need!

This provision of animal skin garments points us to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, to take away our sins!  Hebrews 9:22 confirms this:  that “ without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin”.  That is why the fig leaves were not adequate to clothe Adam and Eve-it was their own attempt to hide/cover their shame.  God has a better way!