GOD'S REGARD FOR MAN'S PHYSICAL NATURE.
By S. N. Haskell
It is, and ever has been, Satan's plan to sever every truth from its relation to other truth, so that the blessings of obedience promised may not be received. The blessings of health, both physical and spiritual, are closely united in the gospel. It was God's design, and it is the Holy Spirit's desire, that every individual prosper and be in health even as his soul prospers. “I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers.” 3 John 2. “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.” Ps. 103: 3. When Adam bore the image of God, both physically and morally, before sin had marred the soul, before any pain had been felt in the physical frame, God gave special direction concerning the diet and physical exercise of the man He had created. “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” Gen. 1: 29. “The Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” Gen. 2: 15. The eating after God's direction, according to the original bill of fare, would not have given him eternal life; for that life was in the “tree of life.” The diet and exercise placed him in a physical condition most favorable for eating of the tree of life. This was God's arrangement for unfallen beings. After man had sinned, God was no less particular in regard to these two conditions which relate to health and happiness. “Thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground.” Gen. 3: 18, 19. The compulsory labor after the fall of man was of a character that revealed the plan of salvation. Every weed destroyed taught him the lesson of removing sin from his own heart. Every seed planted was, in its growth and harvest, an object lesson, setting forth the kingdom he had lost, and how to regain it. Mark 4: 26–29. When Christ, the true seed, came and entered upon His ministry, His first temptation was on the point of appetite, which was the only avenue that Satan had to man while in the garden of Eden. If this door was closed, his heart was barricaded. In this condition the soul of man was more easily kept under the control of the Spirit of God. So, as man prospered healthwise, he would prosper spiritually. It was for Satan's interest, therefore, to break this connection, and to a great extent he has succeeded. Mankind do not realize how much diet and exercise have to do with a sound Christian experience. There is religion in a loaf of bread, in fresh air, and in the healthy action of every organ in the body.