The body is our physical presence in a physical world. It derives sustenance from the physical world around it. Its faculties/members are purposefully created to work in a physical environment. This physical vessel houses the two other vessels, the soul and the personal spirit. Thus, each of us is a personal trinity.

God purposed the body to be our blueprint to study these other two vessels. The faculties of the body fall into two classes, senses and administrations. We’ll go into these classes in more detail later.

Senses of the Body

It may seem trivial right now, but let’s look into the individual senses of the body. We all know, quite well, the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, feeling, and smell. As we grow more mature we naturally learn how these senses operate and the optimal use of them. These senses are great gifts for interaction with the physical world. If one sense is compromised, the other senses compensate to support life.

Since the purpose of the body is a physical one, its substance is solely Earthly. There is nothing spiritual about the body. This physical body must comply with the laws governing the physical world. When God heals a body, He reaches from the spiritual realm into the physical realm to effect a physical change. Only when the spiritual realm bridges the span between physical and Heaven does the body temporarily operate via spiritual governance.

Since we are all knowledgeable about the body’s senses, let’s move on to the administrations of the body, where we will summarize some particulars.

Administrations of the Body

The administrations of the body are heart, mind, will and strength, for each of these exercises measured governance in the body.

The heart administers the life giving blood throughout the body. The mind (brain) consciously, and subconsciously, commands the body. The will (drives and desires) functions both voluntarily, and involuntarily, to move the body in its own (perceived) interests…more about this later. The strength of the body is in the blood. The digestive tract manages sustenance and cleansing.

Note: It is a sin against the body to overeat, eat unhealthful foods, drink risky liquids, breath unhealthful air, or not eat or drink. Thereby the body begins to fail. It is interesting to this author that so many people stand in prayer lines, asking for healing, but by not initiating a change in their lifestyles, continue to sin against the body.

We will continue our study in the next article called “The Soul, Part 1 (Our Holy Place)”