Christ and Theology of the Body

From the beginnings of sacred scripture, we read many prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. This first gospel announcement can be seen as early as Genesis 3:15. After much anticipation the Savior is born of a virgin and walked among us. In our fallen state he revealed himself as the “image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15 NRSV). Adam sinned in the garden, but Christ is perfect in every way and comes among us as the new Adam. As the new Adam he shows each of the human person as it was intended in the beginning.

This is an important concept when it comes to the Theology of the Body. The body is the mystery of God revealed in human flesh, and this is one factor that makes Christianity logical (Ostrowski 201). The human body is a study of God as it is His creation, and He created us out of love. He wants us to share that love, and as such the marital act of spouses is the created version of His love, making visible the invisible reality of His mystery.

From the beginning God wanted his plan to be plainly visible. Regarding this Christopher West writes, “God wanted this great marital plan of union and eternal life to be so plain to the world that He impressed an image of it right in our bodies by creating us male and female” (Ostrowski 202). Therefore, the model for human sexuality is that which was present before the fall of our first parents. Though we have fallen we have redemption in Christ who showed us the way as the new Adam. We are made for union, and we long for union, but we must only be in union with our spouse. Until then we must be celibate and rely on the grace of Christ to overcome our lustful desires.