Jan 14:23

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Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh – part 1

Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh – part 1

 

COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IN THE FLESH.

            I’d like us to open the Epistle to the Hebrews 2,5-18. We will read the words that can be a blessing to us if we allow them to do with what God sends them to us.

“For He did not subject to angels the world to come, about which we are speaking. But someone has testified somewhere, saying, “What is man, that You think of him? Or a son of man, that You are concerned about him? You have made him for a little while lower than angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor; You have put everything in subjection under his feet.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of His suffering death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect theoriginator of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for this reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying, “I will proclaim Your name to My brothers, In the midst of the assembly I will sing Your praise.” And again, “I will put My trust in Him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.” Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For clearly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendants of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brothers so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”

            I’d like us to look at our Lord Jesus Christ. I wish that what I’m going to talk about would direct our eyes even more to our Lord. I’d like our hearts to love Him even more, that our hearts would open even more to Him, that our hearts could give thanks to Him that He, our Lord Jesus Christ, wanted to do it for us. Here, we read about Him that He has been made lower than angels, but He has been crowned with glory and honor for the suffering of His death.

What did our Lord have to do and accept to redeem us? This is exactly what I’d like us to tell about and I’d like to show it. What people don’t want to accept, what they don’t even want to hear and close their hearts against it, it’s the truth that our Lord was here in the flesh like ours. While being in the same flesh like ours, he felt pain and everything what we feel.

Is it very important to us or maybe it isn’t of any value to us? How do we perceive it? This is a today’s problem; did Christ come in the flesh or not? Yes, it is said that Christ came in the flesh, but in what flesh? Did He take the flesh like ours or maybe He took the flesh that was different? The flesh without sin; the flesh in which He could go and win because He had no problem with it. How do we see it? We know that this problem isn’t only the problem of today. It has already begun at the time of the apostles. They write that this problem has appeared back then and people refused to accept that Christ came in the same flesh.

Why doesn’t man want to accept it and let it into his heart? This is a blessing for a man, a great blessing. Why does the devil fight so that man doesn’t take into his heart that Christ came in the flesh? Why doesn’t he want to let it happen? He knows that it means freedom for man. If the man takes it into his heart, if he truly believes in it, what then happens in such a man? His life and his behavior begin to change. When man sees that Christ, being in the same flesh, overcame, defeated the devil and death, overcame sin, he gives himself up to Christ. He gives himself up and says: “Lord, take my flesh and do with my body what you did with yours, do it, my Lord.”

In Colossians, we can read that God triumphed. The devil wants to hide the triumph. He doesn’t want to let it continuously shine before his eyes that Christ, being in such flesh, overcame him, defeated him, didn’t give Himself up to him in anything and didn’t accept anything from him. He doesn’t want to let it happen. He knows that he has failed completely. The devil has failed. Somebody defeated him, Somebody finally beat him. The whole world wasn’t able to do it. Before our Lord Jesus Christ, no one was able to overcome him. They were trying, but no one succeeded.

As we can observe, even John the Baptist doubted. He sent the disciples and said: “Go and ask if Jesus is the Christ.” Earlier, John had said, giving his witness of our Lord Jesus Christ: “Behold, the Lamb of God”. But when he was in prison, he was put to the test and he didn’t pass it. Doubt was sown in his heart. John himself needed the redeemer. There was no one on earth who didn’t need the redeemer and who could say: “I will deal with it myself in this flesh of sin and death, I will defeat the devil. Everybody needed the redeemer, each of us needed Him.

Currently, people don’t accept this truth because of two things: because of their unbelief and because they cherish sin. They cherish sin, they like live in their sins and don’t want to accept it. When they are told that now, being in this flesh, they don’t have to sin anymore, they don’t want to accept it and even hear about it: “I’m like that and I will be like that forever. Christ gave me salvation, so I’m already saved.” Is it really so? Our Lord Jesus Christ gave us salvation and He did everything that was necessary so that we might get to the end in this salvation. However, since man sometimes wants to sin, he refuses to accept that Christ came in the flesh. He lets the spirit of the antichrist rule over him. John wrote about it.

We can observe that it’s not the problem of the present world – it was at the very beginning. Even then, people had the problem of whether Christ had won because He had the same flesh or had won because He had different flesh and it was easy and simple for Him. If it were so, our Lord couldn’t have endured suffering. If it were so, our Lord couldn’t have died if He had had the flesh in which sin couldn’t have lived. Sin lived there, but this sin was dead all the time. Our Lord Jesus Christ never allowed it to come to life.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said to his disciples: “You are those who persevered in all my temptations.” He was tempted in the desert. Did the devil walk out on Him later on? He said: “No, I won’t defeat Him. I’m going away.” No, we read that he went away only for a while, but then he came back. He came back and began to tempt again. Thus, we read that our Lord was tempted, but He won. This is very important to us because this victory is also our victory.

Just as we were talking about baptism today. We were immersed in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ and when we rose from the dead, we were given a new life. We were given a new nature in which there is no longer any place for reflection as in the nature of the old man: “May I not sin, may I not do this or that”. A person who thinks like that already sins because he isn’t in the state of grace. Man in the state of grace doesn’t sin because he obtained a different nature, the one given by God. We obtained it. We can thank our Lord Jesus Christ that He decided to cheapen Himself so much, that He wanted to take such flesh and that He wanted to descend to such a level.

We can see that in today’s world it’s difficult for a man to humiliate himself to another man. It’s also difficult to forgive somebody. It’s very difficult for a man, but let’s see what our Lord decided to do for us: He took the flesh like ours. Did He have to? He didn’t have to. He didn’t have to do anything. Thanks to that we can see how big the love of our Lord Jesus Christ is. How much we ought to be grateful to Him that He wanted to do it for us – to take such flesh. The flesh in which He felt pain and suffered for us. That’s why He suffered – because He suffered for us and because He took such flesh.

In the Epistle to the Philippians we can read that although He was in the form of God, He didn’t persist to be equal with God. However, He humiliated Himself and became a man by having a human appearance. He took the flesh like ours and became like other humans by having a human appearance. And He was obedient to God to the point of death, death on a cross. We are so excited about these words, but let’s see what a great blessing these words contain for us if only we accept them. Because, as I said before, when we accept them, we gladly give our flesh to our Lord Jesus Christ so that what He has done He could also do with us. And so that He would take our flesh and He would prevail over the devil and over sin in this flesh every day. If we don’t believe in it, we don’t give our flesh to Him. And we are still the ones who stick by their sins. And we still let anger, hatred and the lack of forgiveness dwell in our hearts. However, when we believe and when we give our flesh, we let our Lord Jesus Christ guide our steps. As it’s written in the Epistle to the Romans, we give Him the parts of our body as instruments of righteousness. We no longer give our body’s parts as instruments of sin and injustice, but we give them to our Lord Jesus Christ. We know how big the problem with it is today. How much the man fights against it, but he fights against himself if he doesn’t accept these God’s truths and the triumph of God over the devil – He sent His Son and gave Him the flesh like ours so that He would defeat him in this flesh and so that a victory would be in us in this.

Do we want our hearts to be wide open to our Lord Jesus Christ and these divine truths to dwell in us? Do we want this truth to dwell there and so that we wouldn’t allow it to be stolen – the truth that our Lord Jesus Christ overcame in this flesh and He lets us walk in this victory?

May says: “I sin because I have to do it. I sin because that’s who I am.” But what about Christ? “Christ didn’t have such flesh. He cannot understand me, but He will have to take me.” He won’t have to do anything. Our Lord Jesus Christ did everything that was necessary and He won’t have to take anyone. He will take only those who truly trusted Him. He will take those who, as the Apostle Paul wrote in the Epistle to the Romans, gave Him their flesh as a living and holy sacrifice. They trusted Him, they believed and still believe. That’s why they gave their body’s parts. They no longer want to guide this flesh themselves, but they gladly give it because they believe that our Lord Jesus Christ has the power to do it in each of us.

We don’t have to sin. John says that if we sin, it’s because we don’t believe. If we sin, it may be because of the fact that we are the children of the devil. This is what we can read in 1 John, but this is very difficult for a man to accept it. The man says: “I have no more sin”, but John says that whoever claims that he or she doesn’t have sin, such a person lies. Sin is also in our flesh and we know it. But because of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, this sin is dead. It can no longer give birth, it’s fruitless. But this makes the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ righteous. That’s why, we gladly give ourselves, we give ourselves as a sacrifice to God so that He could use this flesh, just as He used the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ. He gave Himself completely to God. He kept nothing for Himself.

Man would like to decide for God saying: “Take it, God, but I can deal myself with that one.” But God says: “I want all of you. I don’t want you in parts so that you could give some parts as instruments of sin and some as instruments for Me.” God wants all of man just as He accepted all of our Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself completely and who suffered everything. We read how our Lord Jesus Christ suffered because of us.

And in 1 John 4, we read from the 1st verse:

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now it is already in the world.”

Let’s see how John give us a warning. How many years was it after Jesus ascended into heaven? It wasn’t many years, it wasn’t a long period but we can observe that even then people stopped believing in it. At that point, they stopped putting confidence in it and pinning their hopes on it. That’s why, John had to write to them about sin. He had to show them what they lost. He also had to show them that if the man sins, he or she is the devil’s child because they made sin might come back to life in them. How does sin come back to life? It revives through unbelief, through the fact that man doesn’t believe and doesn’t accept divine truth that Christ came in the flesh – in the flesh just like ours. We could say – what does it give us? It gives us a lot. We could show it with an example that someone is a driver and this person goes into a skid on the road. But if we have never driven a car, if we don’t know anything about it, we don’t understand his experience. We may wonder: “How is it possible to go into a skid? It’s so easy to drive.” But that person would say: “You don’t understand my experience.”

And now, let’s see, if Jesus Christ didn’t come in the flesh, He wouldn’t be able to understand our experiences. He wouldn’t be able to understand you and why you suffer now. He couldn’t help you with this experience. Someone would experience hunger and would steal something because of it. Jesus Christ can understand this man, but up to the point that he starves. Why? Because our Lord Jesus Christ also starved. He went through the experiences we are going through now.

Now we can see that if Jesus Christ wasn’t in such flesh, He wouldn’t be able to understand us and He wouldn’t be able to help us in our experiences. And we could fault God for being forced to do it because there was no one to help us and to understand us. Luckily, we can thank God. (...)