Study Guide

God is Manifest in Flesh

2,056 words, about 10 min read

Summary Scripture:

1 Timothy 3:16

16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

I was speaking with a couple of my friends one day and the Lord began to speak to my spirit. He said, “You have not discerned the role of the flesh in My salvation plan. Every aspect of salvation is deliberate. All things were made by Me and for Me – including the flesh.” When the Lord spoke these words to me, it was as a light had shed abroad in my heart, causing me to see truly just who the new creature is. Let us revisit salvation to see what the Father is saying to the Church.

1 Timothy 3:16

The scripture above has been greatly misunderstood by many who study and teach the Bible. They have limited the scripture to only refer to Jesus. However, Jesus did not preach to the Gentiles. The mystery of God is even as the mystery of Christ – God is in us and He is the hope of Glory. Yes, God has manifested Himself in our natural bodies. This is the true perspective of our salvation.

Ephesians 3:9

9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

This mystery was hidden in God since the beginning. The mystery is His great plan of salvation, which He devised in His own heart. God cannot make mistakes. All aspects of our salvation are a fulfillment of His infallible plan and absolute desire. However, many theologians would have an issue with a statement as such. The issue usually comes in when the flesh comes into the picture. The (false) doctrine of dual nature has butchered the flesh in our minds, leaving it as the reason we never maintain a life of holiness. However, this is erroneous.

The flesh was not something that God had to settle for; rather it was necessary for His plan. He desired it. This is a direct contradiction to what we have heard in a majority of our churches. Let us return to the mind of God in the matter. …God was manifest in the flesh! This is what many have not seen – the joining of God’s Spirit to our bodies. He has been manifested or revealed in our bodies. Those that minister that the sons of God live in defiled bodies have failed to discern the operation of God, how that at salvation, by the circumcision of Christ, God cut away the sinful nature from our bodies. Moreover, God entered the flesh, taking it as His own temple. Hence, John’s testimony of the flesh is that it cannot sin, because it is born of God, and His seed (Spirit) remains in it. Seeing that the flesh has been so villainized, it would be needful for us to look deeply into God’s involvement with flesh.

Romans 12:1

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Notice here that the Father is desirous of flesh. He wants us to keep our bodies holy unto Him because He wants to accept them. The obvious question that follows is, "What does God need with our bodies?" He desires to use them to manifest Himself through them and to prove the mystery of Christ: that the God of Heaven and earth is living daily in flesh. Allow the Spirit to open your eyes. Many will attest that God indeed dwells within them. He is manifest in our flesh. However, how do you see that manifestation? Or rather, how do you see ownership?

1 Corinthians 6:20

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

The scripture clearly teaches that our bodies belong to God; or, rather, they are owned by God. However, this is where we are limited in our perception. When the scripture says we are bought with a price, we compare it to buying a purse or some other thing in a store. When you purchase something, it falls under your ownership, however, this does not mean it has anything to do with the person you are. God, on the other hand, purchased us so that He could recreate us and make Himself the essential part of everything we are. He is now what we are made of – we are new creatures and all things are of God – this includes the flesh.

Glorify God in your body … which is God’s. Your body belongs to God, or rather it is God’s body. Though we all are accustomed to grooming and caring for our bodies, they are actually not ours – but God’s. I am speaking more than the ownership that comes through purchasing or creating a thing but speaking about ownership through use. God is manifested in our flesh to use it, even as we do! Listen to how the scripture teaches this. The body you have is actually a body of God.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20

18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

19 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?

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

This is a scripture that we have visited many times, but the Lord is faithful to reveal the truth. Often in Paul’s writings, He would address the issues that were presented to Him. In his letters, he would at times rewrite questions that were written to him and then address them. For example, the elders had written verse 18 to him: 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. They had written saying that the sin of fornication was a sin against one’s own body. However, Paul (having discerned a mindset), took it even further by responding: 19 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? Paul is letting them know that fornication is far worse than they had made it. Fornication is not simply a sin against one’s own body but against the temple of the Holy Ghost. He followed this by saying, “ye are not your own” which means that your body and spirit no longer belong to you. They are no longer for your expression, but for God’s. Therefore, when you sin, you use the body of God (members of Christ) to do so.

Paul takes us even further, revealing just exactly what it means for God to be manifest in flesh.

Ephesians 5:29-30

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

30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

The Church is the members of the flesh and bones of God. God has flesh and God has bones. This is not to say that He is no longer a Spirit, but it speaks to the mystery of godliness – His Spirit is now being manifested in flesh. In other words, God now has a form in which He dwells on the earth. He has a physical image and it is the body you call yours. They are His hands, His feet, His flesh and His bones. This is what Paul was teaching when He said that the body we have is “of God”. This simply means that God has made us stewards of His flesh. We have been joined to the Lord and have become one Spirit that dwells within His flesh. We live, breathe and have our being in God while He dwells in flesh. Our bodies are the image of God.

The Works of God

For centuries, the Church has been striving to perform the greater works ministry that Jesus spoke about while on earth. The Church has been taught the doctrine of belief, which causes us to apply unwavering focus to the things that we would have God perform. These things require such great belief because our requests need nothing short of a miracle. However, has our focus been on the wrong things? Consider the following scripture.

John 14:7-9

7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Consider the great revelation in the scripture above. Phillip, having heard Jesus’ words desired to see God, with his natural eyes. He felt that He could believe that Jesus was the Christ if He could have God show up in their midst. However, note Jesus’ response, "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Listen to Jesus as He continues.

John 14:10

10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Listen to Jesus teach. Here, He is trying to convince Phillip that God Almighty was right there among them – living in His body. He explained that He (His soul) was actually hidden in God, but it was actually God manifested in the flesh and was dwelling among them. His body belonged to God because God was in it. Why then should Phillip desire to see the Father when the Father is in His fleshy form right in front of Him? Jesus takes this further by explaining that the words He speaks, He speaks by the Spirit of God, with the mouth of the Father. The miracles that they had seen, were done by the Father via the Father’s flesh. When Phillip beheld the face of Jesus, He beheld the face of God. Jesus always identified God with His body. It was the Father’s temple, the Father’s house, even the Father’s fingers.

Luke 11:18-20

18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.

19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.

20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

Notice here Jesus’ words. He said if He, by the finger of God cast out devils... Thus, illustrating that He used God’s finger to cast a spirit out. In other, words He pointed at the devil. Peter took on this same mindset, saying.

Acts 5:1-3

1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,

2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land?

Peter understood that God had filled His entire flesh. He had purchased it. Therefore, a lie spoken to his body is a lie spoken to the Holy Ghost.