“Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.” (Philippians 3:21 KJV)
When we first place our faith and trust in Jesus, there are things with which we wrestle, many that pertain to our body. If you think about it, we are “prisoners” of our body as long as we’re residents of this world. That’s why Paul said in Romans 12:1: “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.”
Loving and serving Jesus, as in loving and serving anyone, isn’t only a matter of our heart. The commandment instructs us to love God and others with our whole being – with everything that is within us. Where is the “everything” within us? While on planet earth, our bodies are a critical part of who we are, how we function, what we’re capable of doing or not doing. Our bodies are critical in our service of God, because they house our soul.
Our bodies can also be the key contributors to our waywardness from God, not only keeping us from coming to God, but also from serving Him effectively once we’re God’s child. And, on the other hand, while we’re to care for our bodies, we’re not to obsess over them to the point of giving them priority over the care of our heart, mind, and soul.
Philippians 3:21 (above) speaks to the much-needed change of our “vile” body, with the clear implication that we have little or no ability to make those changes ourselves. The term speaks to our abasement, lowliness, humility, essentially a willingness to submit the rulership of our bodies to the Lord. Similarly as pilots control an airplane, God can give guidance and direction to our bodies and lives.
If I were to ask you: “What was/is the biggest hindrance , as you think of those things that cause you the most problems in coming to Christ or your service to Christ?” Would you agree that the top of our lists will be filled with those things we do habitually? We do them without thinking or we crave them without provocation. Thus, they’re the hardest things for us to “subdue” or control.
Specifically, this verse is speaking to what God will do in changing our bodies from earthly bodies to heavenly bodies when the Lord returns or when we die. But the clear implication is that one day He will bring everything under His control. But, because God is God, He has the ability and desire to enable us to bring everything in our lives, including our weak mortal bodies, under His divine supervision and control.
Think about the power of Jesus’ voice. He spoke and the winds and waves obeyed; demons had no choice but to obey; the dead returned to life; the lame walked; blind eyes were enabled to see; lepers’ skin was healed; sin was forgiven; dignity restored; the courses of people’s lives were changed; and the eternal addresses of billions have been changed from hell to heaven.
You, personally, may never have been addicted to alcohol, drugs, sex, or other addictive behaviors common to so many today. But I can guarantee that without exception we’ve all been addicted to the vile and degrading effects of sin in and on our lives. God has broken the chains of sin in the lives of each of us who have placed our trust and given our allegiance to Jesus. It may not have been in a moment, but over time, Satan’s grip on us has lessoned and the only thing that now matters is loving and serving Jesus and others to His honor, glory, and praise.
He is able to free you from anything and everything that hangs you up or holds you back! He’s God, He can do anything we ask of Him in faith for Him to do that will result in greater measures of praise and honor for His Father! Submit your addictions, your sins of choice, any habit that is dishonoring to Jesus or harmful to you or others. He will bring it under His control. He IS able!
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 