Has Christ Come in the Flesh?

“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God . . . .” 1 John 4:2. “For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” 2 John 7.

These days, it is very common even for people who call themselves believers to deny that Christ has come in the flesh. They say He had a flesh like an angel, like Adam before the fall, a divine flesh, etc. All of these assertions deny that Christ has come in the flesh.

“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Heb. 2:14-15.

If Christ’s flesh had been like that of Adam before the fall, the devil could not have been destroyed by death, because death and the devil were unknown to Adam before the fall. Neither did Adam fear death, so fear could not have kept him in bondage and in need of liberation.

Neither did Christ take upon Himself the nature of an angel. “For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” Heb. 2:16-18.

He had to be made like His brethren in all things. What are His brothers like? What kind of flesh do they have? Do they have the flesh of an angel? No, they have nothing other than sinful flesh. Did the angels need to be released from bondage because of a fear of death? No, but the seed of Abraham needed to be freed.

Why, then, do people not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh? There is one, and only one reason: They are enemies of the cross of Christ and enemies of being conformed to Him in His flesh and in His death. Phil. 3:10, 18.

Before the fall, did Adam suffer when he was tempted? No, he gave in to temptation. A person who sins does not suffer when they are tempted; because they would rather sin than suffer. Job 36:21. But Christ suffered when He was tempted, because He resisted the lusts in His own flesh. Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lusts and enticed. Jas. 1:14.

Some people say that Christ did not have a flesh with lusts that could draw and entice. If He did not have lusts, then He did not have a flesh and blood like ours either. And if He did not have flesh and blood like us, then He could not have been tempted like we are; neither could He be a High Priest for us who is familiar with our temptations and is able to sympathize with us.

This is precisely where the spirit of antichrist attacks. People do not confess that Christ has come in the flesh. As a result, they make the entire work of Christ of no effect—His sufferings, His death, and His high priestly ministry. This spirit is prevalent in our day and is powerfully at work, not least in the so-called free churches. Their so-called leaders are blind as a bat when it comes to these precious truths. Any opposer who has been fully defiled by this spirit of antichrist immediately seeks help and a better understanding from such leaders. No doubt these leaders have an outward appearance, but the help they give as counselors concerning inner matters having to do with godly fear is of no value at all.

“What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh . . . .” Rom. 8:3.

God condemned sin in the flesh. In whose flesh was sin condemned? Was it in Olsen’s, Hansen’s, or Pedersen’s flesh? No, it was in Christ’s flesh.

Christ reigned over sin in the flesh because He always subjected His will to the will of God. “Not My will, but Yours, be done.” In this way, He destroyed that which made the flesh powerless, the thing that made the law an impossibility.

What are people like according to the flesh? Do they rule over sin? No, sin rules over them. Who is the ruler: the one who rules, or the one who is ruled over? Of course, it is the one who rules. Christ has ruled over sin in the flesh, because God sent Him on account of sin. Rom. 8:3. That is precisely why He can set us free from death’s dominion and the power of the devil, so that even the requirement of the law can be fulfilled in us who walk according to the Spirit. Christ rules over sin in the flesh, over death, and over all the power of the devil. This is the fruit of Christ having come in the flesh. For us who believe, these mysteries of Christ are a rich source of comfort and release from everything that we were previously in bondage to.