THE FLESH IS HOLY

Sons Training July 31, 2017

How to Study and Teach the Bible Lesson 23

It is a peculiar thing that the Lord has chosen flesh as His habitation. He is a God of such majesty and glory, yet He has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. Even in the days of old this was God’s doing. There are constant types and shadows throughout the Old Testament that give us insight into the spiritual plan of God.

Exodus 3:4-5

4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

Consider the verses above. God, for a short moment, took a burning bush for a throne. This caused an adjustment to everything that surrounded the bush – all things became holy. We know that the ground of itself has no holy quality to it; but the mere presence of the Lord caused it to adjust from natural to holy. This is a great shadow of the mystery of Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

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.

Even as God took the Mount for a throne, He has taken our bodies for a temple. He has joined our souls to Himself, creating one Spirit. This is the creation of a son of God. Right here is a good reminder that a son of God carries the nature of God. A son is a god being a true offspring of God. This being possesses the qualities of God. He is a light and a spirit even as His Father is. The splendor of the glory of this being is immediate. It is right now, however, it is veiled in flesh. Consider the following.

Matthew 17:1-2

1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

At the mount of transfiguration, Jesus was changed right before the eyes of His disciples. The transfiguration was a revealing of the new creature, which dwelt within Him all along. Jesus was clothed in the light of God. However, this is the same light that we have become.

2 Corinthians 4:6

6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Now, God is shining in our hearts. However, this great splendor is veiled in flesh. Nevertheless, the flesh must respond. The flesh must adjust to the God in it. It must in some way reveal its oneness with the Spirit. Hence, the best way the flesh can do so is by having a light and joyous countenance. Similarly, the Lord is a quickening Spirit, and the best way the flesh can reveal this is in the shaking of the quickening power of the Holy Ghost. Truly, the flesh, in the best way it can, will reveal the God in it.

Luke 8:43-46

43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,

44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.

45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.

At this point, Jesus was anointed to heal the sick. However, a woman with an issue of blood touched His clothing and was healed. Jesus testified that virtue left Him. Virtue here refers to the power of anointing to perform the works of God. The touch from the woman, caused a pulling of the anointing from Him to her, and it was evident by what He felt in the flesh. Often, ministers will experience weakness after ministering. This is a manifestation of virtue leaving. However, why is there such a weakness? It is because while the anointing was upon them the flesh was bearing the presence of God. It was at its optimum, and best effort. Therefore, when the anointing lifts, it is revealed that the flesh cannot fully express the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

THE FLESH IS FOR GOD

The Lord said to me once that the presence of the soul in Him does not downgrade Him. However, He is taking us deeper. He is also saying that the flesh He is in cannot lessen His Being either, the flesh too must adjust to what He is. God is in no way subject to the laws of nature, and neither is the flesh He is in. I know that statement caused millions of questions to enter your mind. However, how is it natural for a bush to be burning yet not consumed? Please hear what the Holy Spirit is saying. He is letting us know that when the new creature enters the flesh, the body is now holy. There is an adjustment that changes the body from being a lump of clay into being the vessel and temple of the Holy Spirit. They become His hands, His feet, His mouth – they are the members of God. Prior to now, we operated as if God was limited by flesh. However, let us not forget that He made it. He is God. There is never a time that He does not have absolute and total power over the flesh. The flesh is simply for His use. However, it is His will to subject Himself to it, and to the laws of nature. Nevertheless, He will often manifest His presence in flesh by defying nature.

Acts 8:39-40

39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

40 But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

I believe this scripture takes us right to the jugular. How is it possible for the flesh to be teleported from one place to another? When we look at nature this is impossible. However, with God it is very possible. God chose to manifest Himself by instantly translating Phillip from one geographical location to another. This means His body was also translated. This is because God is not limited to the laws of nature, and neither is His flesh. He simply willingly submits to the nature to fulfill His purpose of suffering.

Acts 5:14-15

14 And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.

15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.

Acts 19:11-12

11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:

12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

Above are two more examples that prove a change in nature of the flesh. The body is now anointed with the Holy Spirit, not just on the inside but on the outside as well. By the presence of the Lord in the flesh, the immediate surroundings of the flesh are because of it being holy. Therefore, the very shadow that sunrays created when it touched the flesh of Peter, was also holy. We know that a shadow in itself, has no healing ability, but this was no ordinary shadow, it was the shadow of a god. Likewise, the clothing that touched Paul’s body was used for healing. Even his skin was anointed. This is the anointing of the presence of God. All things must adjust to come to the standard of who God is! What is the explanation for all this?

2 Corinthians 12:7-9

7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Though Christ is within us, He can also rest upon us. The resting of Christ upon us, is the power and anointing to do mighty works. Righteous suffering is the key to such resting of the Spirit. When we submit to the path of the word in our life, the Lord will glorify Himself through us.