Eat Food That Has Been Created to Be Enjoyed
God made food for more than one reason
We have been studying Living Under God's Design: 7 Biblical Principles. These principles pertain to health and wellness and present practical guidelines for living in the world that God created so we might obtain the optimal health He has designed for us.
The foundation of this study is Leviticus 17:11, which states that the life of the flesh in in the blood. So far we have seen
And now we will introduce Principle #6: Healthy Blood Through Real Food.
Principle #6 will identify what (according to God) is real food. Or said another way: we will identify what can rightfully be called food. This topic will be addressed carefully and thoroughly from a biblical perspective. We will also explore the relationship between food quality and blood quality, which ultimately pertains to health.
Foods Primary Purpose
As we have previously noted, the primary purpose for food is to nourish the body. You can read more about that here: Food Is Made to Energize the Body: 14 Bible Verses! God is the creator of food and He has designed it to taste good. Taste, however, should not be the primary driving force when making food selections. Just because a food tastes good -- does not mean that it is good. Read more here: Which Type of Eater Are You? Today we will see that not everything that passes through the lips can be called food. Let's begin in the New Testament.
Food Doesn't Save
We are instructed in I Timothy 4:1-5 to not reject any of the good food that God has created to be enjoyed.
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith...men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.
Here Paul is warning against false teachers who advocate a false sense of holiness by abstaining from certain worldly pleasures including marriage and specific foods. Let me take this opportunity to correct any false notions: diet does not make one holy. There is no special spiritual benefit from consuming ordinary food (with the exception of Holy Communion). There is no food that we can eat that can make us ceremonially "unclean" as it did in the Old Testament. There is no food that can add to our salvation or make us holy. There is no food that can save or condemn. This includes those things which might not be considered pure food.
Ordained Diet
None-the-less God has ordained a diet for the human race. There are foods that "God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth." And this diet does not consist of rocks, rubber, wood, poison, or any other non-food substance.
We serve the God who became flesh to give us abundant life. This same God has declared from the beginning what is to be food for man. And this revelation has been progressive.
It began when God planted a special garden for Adam and Eve to live. Food was not an afterthought. He didn't create our first parents and then strike His forehead with his palm in despair saying, "What shall I feed these creatures I have made?"
Diet Provided
On the contrary. Before He ever made man, God created a perfect environment for them to live, thrive, and populate. God knew He would command the humans to subdue the earth and multiply upon it. For this to happen, they needed healthy nourishment. So He gave all kinds of plants and trees bearing food for them to eat so they would grow strong and fertile. And God planted the best of all this food in a special garden. Then He placed Adam and Eve in the garden to tend and keep it.
And the food in that garden was abundant, beautiful, and pleasing:
The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:8-9
But the Lord did not give them carte blanche to eat whatever they wanted. In fact, the one command that they were to obey was a dietary law. God told them exactly what they could and could not eat.
Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:15-17
God had the right to tell the two new humans how to live in the world that He created — for He was the owner and sustainer.
First Vegetarians
At that time in history only plant food was permitted for human consumption. Our early ancestors were only permitted to eat vegetables. Vegetation was the only food that was pure. Adam and Eve were the first vegetarians.
Surely, animals could have been eaten at that time, but the humans did not have the right under God to eat them at that time. This is important to note. The fact that a substance can be digested by the human body does not make it food. God alone declares what is and is not food.
Human food is only that which is ordained by God to be consumed with thanksgiving. This is real food.
But the story of food continues. Two events change history forever and alter the food chain.
Stay tuned...
Next: The Evolution of Food in the Bible
Return to: Biblical Health Study