Christ Manifested in the Flesh

“Great is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh....” 1 Timothy 3:16.

In order to deal decisively with sin, Christ had to be manifested in flesh. Are you able to believe that? Or do you believe that He was like the angels, or like Adam before the Fall? As far as I can ascertain, neither in Adam before the Fall nor in the angels was there any hostility to break down. For that matter, it is not angels He came to aid, but the seed of Abraham. (Hebrews 2:16.)

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage.” Hebrews 2:14-15.

With the Fall, the creation came under a curse. Since our body belongs to the creation, it too was cursed. “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” Sin and the body cannot be separated; they are firmly intertwined. Only the blood of Christ can put an end to sin in the flesh. But since the cross works in accordance with the will of God unto death, the effects of the death of Christ in our mortal body will always be accompanied by sufferings according to the flesh. When the death of Christ takes effect, judgment vanishes.

Even when children are quite young, we see much evidence of the fact that they have the root and germ of sin within them. This inherited sin is not to rule in our mortal flesh, so that we should obey its lusts. Rather, we are to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts and do the will of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. What God did when He sent His Son and condemned sin in the flesh was nothing less than a masterpiece. (Romans 8:3.) It was on account of sin that He sent His Son. What was impossible for the law is now possible, because the death of Christ has been secured for every single person. However, for it to work, God must have our will and our consent. If this were not so, it would not be according to the law of liberty that God saved us. “Sin is couching at the door; ... but you must master it.” Genesis 4:7.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same nature. A body was prepared for Him, and in the roll of the book it was written of Him that He had come to do God’s will. As a human being, Jesus had a self-will. In Luke 22:42 it is written, “Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” This human will of Jesus’ was denied and crucified in deference to the higher and stronger will of God.

The commandments and ordinances were given on account of transgressions, and transgressions came about as a result of the self-will. The fact that God’s will always prospered with Christ, who also had a self-will to conquer, was a greater honor for Him than if He had not had such a self-will. Remember that, those of you who think of Christ as being like Adam before the fall. The stronger an enemy is, the greater the honor in overcoming him. Jesus trod this winepress alone and thus consecrated for us a new and living way through the veil—His flesh. (Hebrews 10:20.) With the death of the self-will, the commandments “disappear”; and by the leading of the Spirit, the requirement of the law is fulfilled.

All reconciliation to God takes place in the body of Christ. There the enmity is abolished; there the blood purifies; there the life of Christ is manifested. Man’s will and man’s opinions get driven out and are replaced by God’s will and God’s opinions. We partake of God’s nature, for by this will we are consecrated by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, once for all.

By the will and sacrifice of Jesus Christ we are consecrated, but there is a difference between being consecrated and being holy. An unbelieving husband can be consecrated by his believing wife, but he is not holy. Correspondingly, the entire work of Christ has been done for us, even if only a fraction of it has been done in us. What is done for us consecrates us, whereas what is being done in us makes us holy. Some people twist the Scriptures and say that we have been “made holy” once for all by the one offering of Jesus Christ and thus no longer need to seek holiness.

It is not an easy thing for a person clothed in flesh and blood to live according to God’s will. People usually look for every conceivable means to get by as cheaply as possible. If one were to succeed in “adjusting” the doctrine a little bit and taking the edge off the sharp and penetrating Word, it would be easier to evade the will of God and still keep one’s conscience somewhat placated. That is why people choose teachers that suit them according to the flesh.

In the end, sound doctrine comes to be seen as a really dangerous doctrine, and those who preach it are regarded as harsh and judgmental. On the other hand, people think that those who preach peace, peace—in the midst of strife—are full of love, and that those who are good at whitewashing everything are patient and forbearing. Job rightly says, “No doubt, you are the right people, and wisdom will die with you.” Job 12:2.

Truly, the teachings about the cross of Christ and the fellowship of His sufferings are sound doctrine. They lead to godliness, but they also lead the old man to the cross. If someone wants nothing to do with the cross (because his feelings are hurt and he would rather let the enmity in the flesh live), this enmity will turn its full strength against everyone who is out to destroy it. Even today the word of the cross is an offense to “Jews” and folly to “Greeks.” Such enemies of the cross of Christ never come to the knowledge of Christ manifested in the flesh, because to admit that Christ suffered death according to the flesh by the sacrifice of His self-will for the sake of God’s will would mean that the God who did not spare His own Son’s will according to the flesh will not spare ours either.

And so, in order to get by as painlessly as possible, one wants to have another Jesus. A Jesus who was manifested in flesh and who opened up a new and living way through the veil of His flesh is much too troublesome and burdensome for such people to follow. They are more comfortable with the idea of another Jesus, one who didn’t have a self-will, a Jesus who was like Adam before the Fall or like one of the angels. This also presents a more pleasing picture for the human imagination, which is an “expert” at figuring out what is beautiful and noble. The idea of God condemning sin in the flesh of Jesus is considered harsh and merciless, something that demeans and slanders Jesus, who is holy and pure. Thus people reason in their human way without getting the slightest bit closer to the truth.

As long as sin in the flesh has not been condemned and crucified, it takes people captive, employing them in its service for the most horrible things. We see plenty of this in our day and age. Think, if all murderers were crucified with Christ! In much of the world there would be peace instantly.

By the crucifixion of the flesh with its lusts and desires, God made it possible for the righteous requirement of the law to be fulfilled. The sin that was outside the body was previously condemned by the light of the law. But the sin that is in the body was condemned and put to death by the work of Christ. “The man of God” is the result of condemning sin in the flesh, and the eternal inheritance that was promised to us follows thereafter. “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.” Hebrews 9:15.

The Mediator’s ministry only begins to work after we have received redemption, by the death of Christ, from the sins we committed under the first covenant. In the new covenant we receive the eternal inheritance that was promised to us—after the forgiveness of sins. Christ as Mediator goes on the attack against the old man and crucifies him, so that the body of sin may be destroyed.

The enmity becomes plainly evident when one does not take up one’s cross every day and follow Christ. It doesn’t help to preach, sing, or pray when the cross is gathering dust in a corner. If you want to have power with God and with man, the cross must be planted in the center of your heart and work outward from that point. All great men of God have become what they are by the cross, because by it the enmity is slain in our mortal flesh.

This is an old doctrine, yet new. Indeed, it is so new that it astounds people everywhere, especially those who speak about the cross—that cross which was outside the walls of Jerusalem more than 1900 years ago. The fact that a cross exists today is almost totally unknown; and where it is mentioned it causes great annoyance, since people have for the most part looked upon Christianity as a storehouse for milk and honey, as a sort of charitable institution where people turn a blind eye to all kinds of repulsive things. The flesh has many good thoughts about Christianity, but God thinks as well; what is more, He puts His thoughts into practice—much to the consternation of the flesh!

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” Romans 5:10. It’s amazing how much use we have for such little-used Scripture verses when we begin on these inner ways. Now, having been reconciled by His death, we are to be saved by His life.

What a burning issue this has been down through the ages! How “inconvenient” that a person cannot march right into life just as he is, that he has to die before he is saved by the life of Christ! If this were not so, just think of the vast array of ungodly people we would then be keeping company with! Thanks and praise to our exceedingly wise God that every single soul must, in fact, die to himself and to his own wickedness before he can begin on the new and living way. The more a person walks upon this way, the purer and more refined he becomes. What a blessed flock of “fellow-travelers”—an eternal inheritance!

The fact that the sufferings and death of Christ are active in us makes it quite plain that we are united with Christ in His earthly body, the body He bore on earth. Of course none of us believe that the death of Christ is working in His glorified body and that He is suffering in that body as well. No, when we are baptized by one Spirit into one body, it is His earthly body that is meant. Therefore, the process will be the same in our earthly body as it was in His.

For this very reason we can share in His reproach, His tribulations, and His sufferings because we have been grafted in as members of His earthly body in order that we might also become members of His resurrection body. In the resurrection not a single soul will share in His glorified body who in this life does not become grafted in with Him in His humiliation and reproach.

A sacrificial lamb is selected; the seed to be sown is set aside for that purpose. God also separates, by His Holy Spirit, those who are to die with Christ in His humiliation, in order that He might receive them again as an eternal possession in the resurrection, where they shall reign with Him.