“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” -Revelation 22:21

Amen. It’s the very last word in the Holy Bible, and it’s said after just about every prayer. The apostle Paul used it at the end of nearly all his epistles.

So just what does this short word mean, exactly?

To start off, the word is Hebrew, and is taken from the Bible. So in order to define this word, it would make sense to use examples from the Bible itself.

The Lord do so

Perhaps the best verse in the Bible that I have found to define the word is this:

“Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the LORD do so: the LORD perform thy words which thou hast prophesied. . .” -Jeremiah 28:6

The phrase immediately proceeding Amen gives a very good definition of the word itself: “the Lord do so,” or in other words, “the Lord perform your words.”

In essence, to say “amen” to something—especially a prayer—is to give consent and affirmation that you agree, and that you wish that God would fulfill the words as you have heard them. It is like saying: “let it be done!”

This is most certainly true

But on another level, in some instances in Scripture, amen also means truth. In some instances, especially in the New Testament, amen is used to confirm that a saying or writing is true. It is as if the writer was telling of the goodness of God, and followed it with an amen, as if to say: “this is most certainly true!” Here’s one example:

“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” -John 21:25

The person of Jesus Christ

Taking the definition that amen means truth one step further, we see one last interesting definition for amen. It comes in the book of Revelation, and is the very personification of truth: the Lord Jesus Christ; He is called The Amen.

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;” -Revelation 3:14

“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without [outside of] the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”-1 Corinthians 6:18

The two seem to go hand-in-hand: sexual immorality, and a disrespect for one’s body; yet why is this the case?

An example: the eye

©iStockphoto.com/AdamG1975
How much are your eyes worth to you?

Suppose in a hypothetical situation, someone offered you a billion dollars for your eyes. You would have them painlessly removed, and hand them over to the other person, and you’d collect $1,000,000,000. Would you do it? Unless you were very poor or very desperate (or blind), I don’t think that any reasonable person would sell their eyes for money.

Yet, do you not sell the worth of your entire body in exchange for a short moment of pleasure, when you commit sexual immorality?

But let me comment on a small side-note that I mentioned above: suppose that you were blind, and someone made the same offer to you. I’d venture a guess that a lot more people would be inclined to sell their eyes if they were blind. And why is this? Because to the blind, the value of their eyes is almost zero. They don’t have much to lose, and so the deal for them seems much more sensible.

The devil is in the business of making people think that they are blind. He is in the business of making people think that their bodies are worthless, and that they have nothing to lose by engaging in self-destructive behavior. If we can’t see the value that our body has, then it becomes much easier to sell it for temporary thrills, or for what we think and hope might be “love.”

Yet true love, as God intended it between a man and woman, is only found in marriage: that is, God intended for two partners to make a vow to each other, and to the rest of the world (through a wedding ceremony) that they promise to remain faithful and true to each other for their entire lives.

“Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” -Hebrews 13:4

To make such a promise usually takes at least a little bit of planning and thinking ahead. It certainly is not done in a surge of passion or impulse on any given night. To sell one’s body for only a temporary “love” that may or may not remain in the morning, is to commit fornication, and bring much sorrow and heartache. Just as if a person had sold his/her eyes, (and for far less than the one billion dollars mentioned above), regret at the enormity of value that has been lost in giving up one’s body brings much regret in the long run.

Your body: far too valuable to sell

The Bible says that God created us in His own image. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). This means that we are of exceptional value to God: for who else is created in His very own image? Not the earth. Not the plants. No bird, fish, or any animal is ever mentioned in the Bible as being made in the image of God.

“For thou hast made him [man] a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.” -Psalm 8:5

Yet though we are created in the image of God: being crowned with glory and honor, there is a downside to all of this. The downside is that there is a powerful adversary—the devil—who hates God and wars against him with hellish passion.

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, . . . And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” -Revelation 12:7, 9

Because of this great struggle which Satan wages against God, (which we see from the verses above that the devil ultimately loses), we are caught in the middle of this battle. And since the devil is powerless against God himself, he instead directs his anger at us.

As was mentioned before, one of the chief ways that the devil directs his attacks against us is by cheapening and devaluing our bodies. Yet so much of this attack is merely psychological: we are made to think that our bodies are of no value, and that it is pointless to try and hold out or keep them in high esteem.

Already bought with a price

Yet God values our bodies so much, that when we are born again, God chooses to live within us. The apostle Paul reasons with the believers at Corinth that they ought to keep and maintain their bodies in all purity and righteousness:

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.“ -1 Corinthians 6:19-20

In essence, Paul reasons that beyond the value and respect that you ought to show to your own self by keeping your body pure from immorality, you also ought to keep it pure because it is really the property of God. The Bible says that we have been redeemed:

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” -1 Peter 1:18-19

What does it mean exactly to be redeemed? Basically, it means to buy something that was being held for ransom. So when we were held captive by sin, Jesus Christ came and shed His very own blood to purchase us and deliver us from the inevitable fate of hell.

Since we have been bought by God, we have no right to “sell” ourselves to anyone or anything that God does not condone. And in this context, God only intends for us to be united with another believer in marriage, and only according to God’s will. We are not to use our bodies in a way that is disapproved by God; both for our own sake, and for Christ’s.

“Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.” -1 Corinthians 6:15

“For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:” -Ephesians 5:29

In times of frustration or trouble, it can be easy to forget the verse above, but God intends for us to respect our bodies. Scripture also says that a man’s natural inclination is to take care of himself: so if we are doing something harmful to our bodies, such urges may not even be from our own hearts.

Take one instance in the Bible, of a man that was possessed by an evil spirit, and note one of the characteristics of him:

“And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, . . . And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.” -Mark 5:2, 5

The man in the verses above had a curious habit: he would cut himself with stones. Yet after the unclean spirit was cast out of him, the Bible said that he was in his right mind, and didn’t do the things that he did before.

Notice a second instance in the Bible, this time with the prophets of Baal (a false god).

“And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.” -1 Kings 18:28

Clearly these people, who served the false idol Baal, were not in their right minds. Perhaps, like the man that dwelt in the tombs whom Jesus cured, they were under a demonic influence.

Spiritual problems have spiritual solutions

Yet regardless of how a person does damage to his/her body—whether it be through smoking, drinking, drug abuse, cutting, eating disorders, or sexual immorality—it ought to be seen that there is one thing in common: it is of the devil’s mind to bring about destruction in our bodies; and it is of his own wicked influences that he twists and bends our thoughts to a self-destructive slant. We ought to understand that we can’t overcome our personal demons alone.

You’ve probably heard the phrase: “grab the bull by the horns.” In essence, it means to take matters into your own hands and try to overcome an obstacle on your own.

Have you ever seen a bull’s horns?

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Grabbing a bull by the horns: NOT RECOMMENDED

If you’ve ever been to either a bullfight or a rodeo, you know that grabbing a bull by his horns is not a strategy that is used very often, if ever. And it certainly is not a good piece of advice if you ever wanted to overcome such an enormous obstacle. Would we be so foolish as to think that we are stronger than the bull?

God’s Word says that in dealing with Satan we are to: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Now, this may seem at first glance as though we are to try and “take the bull by the horns,” so to speak: but if we are attempting to take on a foe that is much stronger than us, why would he ever flee? If our enemy is stronger than us, why would Satan flee when we resist him? He would laugh at our efforts, and our own resistance would be futile. Yet a closer look at Scripture reveals God’s true plan:

“God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” -James 4:6b-8

It is my belief that God truly does want us to face down our problems head on, but not alone.  Think of the analogy of grabbing the horns of a bull: what is wrong with this picture? We are bare-handed, and trying to solve the problem in our own strength.

God indeed does intend for us to play an active and involved role in overcoming our sins and bad habits, but it is in a much different way than futile bare-handed combat:

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” -Ephesians 6:10-12

The Bible says that we are to put on the whole armor of God. Two pieces of which are the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Quite far from being bare-handed, we are to avail ourselves of every piece of armor and every weapon that God has given us to fight against the enemy.

Leaving off the physical parts of each armor, the spiritual characteristics that Paul mentions in Ephesians 4:14-18 are these:

Truth—When we know the truth of how God created us in His own image, we realize that we ought to respect our bodies. If we have these foundational truths formed in our minds, it helps keep us straight. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

Righteousness—Not that we are in and of ourselves righteous, but through the righteousness that is in Christ Jesus, we too can be made righteous in God’s eyes. And if we know that we have our sins forgiven by God, then God will hear our prayers for deliverance. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).

Preparation of the Gospel of peace —In Scripture, the preparation of the gospel of peace is listed as shoes, or as a protection for the bottoms of our feet. The idea is perhaps that as we are walking in God’s will, and sharing the gospel with others, that God will send a provision for the soles of our feet, and deliver us from any evil that may be put on our path. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” (Isaiah 52:7).

Faith—The Bible calls faith a shield, and the apostle Paul says that above all, we ought to have this shield of faith when dealing with the enemy. And what is this faith? It is a faith that God truly is there for us, and that He will reward us and answer our prayers if we are diligent to cling to Him in the midst of our trials. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Salvation—When we are assured that we have been born again, and are the children of God, we are encouraged that God will take care of us, and take us to heaven someday. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13).

Word of God—This is the only offensive weapon that we have. By it, when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan, (see Luke chapter 4), Jesus rebuked him and overcame him with the saying, “it is written…” When we study the Bible, and know the truths that it teaches, we can not only detect lies and perversion much more easily, but we also have a firm ground of truth to stand upon when the enemy whispers abominations into our ears. Of which, if we exercise this sword properly, shall utterly deflate and defeat all the advances of the enemy. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Prayer—This is the means through which all our warfare and struggles are waged. It is the doorway into the spiritual realm, where the most important battles are fought, and where all the most important victories lie. To begin to pray is to take the first step away from defeat. To pray is to step into the arena, and enter the contest of faith. To pray is to take all the spiritual armor and resources that God has given us, and to fight.

“Pray without ceasing.” -1 Thessalonians 5:17

“There is but a step between a proud man’s glory and his disgrace.” -Publilius Syrus

Here we see, both from the saying above, and also supported by Scripture, that a proud man has two distinct characteristics:

1.) That he, being lifted up with pride, is likely to fall.

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” -Proverbs 16:18

2.) That his fall can be very sudden.

“Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.” -Psalm 73:18-19

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” -Jeremiah 17:9

Here’s a foundational truth taught throughout Scripture, and it is one that is either side-stepped or explained away by nearly every other religion. It is the truth that man is inherently wicked, and if left to himself, he will spiral into lower and lower immorality and lawlessness.

The Psalmist states it clearly: that all men have good aside and turned their backs on God, and on that which is good.

“The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” -Psalm 14:2-3

And not only are all men lost without God, but they are, in God’s eyes, bad. That is, when we try to do a good work, if it’s not done to honor the very One who has made us and given us life: if we do things that we see as good deeds, (but they are done without a gratitude or recognition to the very one who has created all things), then we are at best, bad, and at worst, desperately wicked.

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” -Isaiah 64:6

And it is upon this truth: that man is fundamentally lost, and in need of a Savior, that Christianity is based. If man is not lost—if he can work things out by himself, and achieve peace on earth—then what would he really need God for at all? Religion then would simply become a life-enhancement, and an add-on.

But foundational to Christianity is the teaching that man is wicked at heart, and in need of a Savior: both for his moral uprightness upon this earth, and also for his everlasting redemption in the afterlife.

“For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” -1 Corinthians 15:21-22

It is in this spirit of humility and dependence on God that the Bible shows is the only way to true repentance and salvation. If man is not fallen— if we could’ve made it on our own—then what do we owe God at all? Why did Christ did on the cross?

Yet Jesus Christ died for our sins, and redeemed our souls from hell. And it is from this truth that a tremendous sense of gratitude and debt arises toward God. If God has saved us from the consequences of sin and death, then we owe Him our very lives and souls, and ought to serve Him with our whole hearts. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” -Colossians 3:2-4

“There can be no alliance between Love and Fear.” -Publilius Syrus

I find it so reaffirming and interesting to see Biblical truths reflected throughout secular writings. The one seen above, also appears in the Bible, (though in a slightly different form), in one of John’s epistles:

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” -1 John 4:18

“For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” -1 Timothy 4:8

Here we see the apostle Paul guiding Timothy in a very balanced and healthy view of physical exercise. He says that it profits a little, but that godliness, as an exercise of the soul, is much more beneficial, both now in this life, and also in the life to come.

Realize three things from this verse:

1.) Bodily exercise is good, and profits a person. Even though it is only a “little,” exercise still increases the health of the body, and does have a purpose. Since our bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost, we ought to take care of them and not completely abuse or neglect them altogether.

2.) Spiritual exercise is superior, and ought to be preferred over physical exercise. The apostle Paul clearly states in Scripture that being godly benefits a man both in this life, and also in the life that is to come. We are doubly blessed by the benefits of godliness.

3.) Spiritual exercise gives us a benefit that will not pass away, while our body’s exercise is fleeting. It is a bit discouraging to find that all of the work that we put toward our bodies is only for this present life, and at the end of life, the fitness that we’ve achieved in this life will be for (almost) nothing. It may add a few years of health to our lives, which is a good thing, but in the end, it will depart with the life of our body. Yet godliness is not so, and the virtue and good deeds that we’ve accumulated in our spiritual life will follow us to the life hereafter.

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.” -1 Corinthians 3:11-14