Designer Principle #1: Living Under God's Design
God provides us wisdom for living in His Word
Living Under God’s Design
As we discuss the following health principles, we need to be guided in our thinking regarding man’s proper place in the overall scheme of God’s creation.
The Design
God has designed a world and the creatures in it to live under absolute, fixed boundaries and laws. It is a world based upon the pure, excellent wisdom of God. It is a world of harmony in all its facets. Each part of God’s creation works in harmony with another part. Man in the center of His creation needs to understand his place and how he best functions in God’s world.
Read Psalms 104 for an amazing picture of God's hand over His creation and how He has established an order for its proper function. Here are a few highlights taken from the passage:
Bless the Lord oh my soul...You are very great!
Stretching out heaven like a curtain
He established the earth upon its foundations
The mountains rose...to the place You established for them.
He sends forth springs in the valleys...they give drink to every beast of the field.
He waters the mountains...The earth is satisfied with the fruits of His works.
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man,
so that he may bring forth food from the earth
and wine which makes man's heart glad
and food which sustains man's heart
He made the moon for its seasons
The sun knows the place of its setting.
You appoint darkness and it becomes night
When the sun rises...man goes forth to his work and to his labor until evening
There is so much wisdom for living in this passage. I highly recommend reading it in its entirety. Click Here to read it now. Though we are not going to dissect this passage at the moment, we are presenting an idea: the idea that God does have a perfect plan for living, a plan that was designed at creation, updated at the flood, and manifest through the whole of Scripture. It is this design that we are going to explore on this site.
Psalm 145:17 – The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy (gracious) in all His works.
The Living
Once we discover this perfect plan for living, we must appropriate and apply what we know to be true, i.e. live it. In this way alone can true harmony with the wisdom that God has established for creation exist, so as not to violate His natural and physical laws, lessening or eliminating the associated diseases and illnesses. This will take the spiritual fruit of self-control (and faith - Proverbs 3:5-8).
Prov. 25:28 – Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit.
Consider this illustration titled Walls [1]:
The dictionary provides several definitions for discipline. The first is punishment, but the dictionary's second definition is richer: Training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character.
Discipline and Godliness
Discipline, in other words, is training in virtue and self-control. If we say that someone is a disciplined person, we mean he is self-controlled. How important is self-control? Proverbs 25:28 says: Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control (NIV).
A strong, safe, well-guarded city in biblical times had high, thick walls to thwart invaders. Enemies had to camp in the vulnerable open and send troops rushing toward the gates with battering rams. The city's defensive forces could shoot well-aimed arrows and repulse the enemy. The population felt safe, because the walls were unassailable.
But if the walls collapsed like those of Jericho, the enemy could waltz right in, rape the women, loot the stores, kill the men, massacre the children, and burn the town.
Proverbs 25 says that a person's self-discipline is his defense in life. The devil can't touch a self-controlled, well-disciplined person. But if we're undisciplined, prone to indulge our appetites, doing what we feel like doing, exercising little self-control, then Satan doesn't even have to fire a shot. He can stroll into our lives and do whatever he wishes. That's why Peter wrote: Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.
Galatians 5:22, 23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
How do we walk by the Spirit?
Galatians 5:24,25: Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Only through the strength of our resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ.
What to take away from this post:
God has a perfect design for living
We must apply His design to our life through self-control and the power of Christ
And inferred are the rewards of improved health
Next: Principle #2: Simplicity Under God's Design
Return To: Biblical Health Study
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