(Christ Suffered Death According to the Flesh)

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the subject of sin being condemned in the flesh of Christ. The Scriptures call this truth “the great mystery of godliness,” and those who partake in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings find it a great comfort. However, you cannot expect to understand such truths with your intellect, regardless of how intelligent you are. Christ must be “believed on in the world,” and by this faith we understand and experience His sufferings, death and subsequent glory.

It is the word of faith that we preach. Not many people understand it now because not everyone has faith. It is by the Holy Spirit that these truths are revealed to us, and we receive the Spirit by faith. We believe; therefore we speak. The fact that some people do not believe does not lessen our faith. This faith overcomes the world, and it will also overcome the difficulties that arise within the church because of unbelief.

Death no longer has dominion over Jesus. Rom. 6:9. Does that not tell us that death once did have dominion over Him?

Christ suffered death in the flesh but was made alive in the Spirit. 1 Pet. 3:18. How could Jesus suffer death in the flesh if He had not appropriated in His flesh the first Adam, on account of whom death had begun to rule? As it is written, “As in Adam all die . . . .” 1 Cor. 15:22. Consequently, Christ had to be revealed in flesh in order to destroy him who had the power of death in the flesh, that is, the devil.

There are two kinds of death. The death of Christ is accomplished through the Holy Spirit. The death Christ suffered in the flesh is an ongoing death. It always rules over all flesh, which by that same Spirit is subject to the Father of spirits. This death is the destruction of the flesh.

There is another death, a death that was brought forth by the will of the devil in the first Adam. By the death of Christ, this death is destroyed in the second Adam so that life and immortality are brought to light. Jesus had to fulfill this blessed work in the flesh as the Son of Man, through the power of an eternal Spirit; for it was the seed of the woman that crushed the serpent’s head.

If you are obedient to the Spirit of God, these truths, which the natural man will never understand, will be revealed to you in the Spirit. When you personally experience the sufferings that come from being broken down according to the flesh and discover in the Spirit that these are the sufferings of Christ, then it becomes quite easy to understand that He was also broken down and had to suffer in just the same way so that the will of the Father could be fulfilled in Him.

However, if you live as a natural man, even if your life is a very respectable life, these truths will forever remain hidden for you. If you received the forgiveness of sins at one time but after that did not live according to the will of God, you will never grasp it. Your protestations simply reveal your own ignorance, disobedience and unbelief.

“‘A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’

This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Eph. 5:31-32.

It is a great mystery that Christ and the church will become one flesh. Have you discovered what your own flesh is like? If so, you should know that He who became one flesh with you had the same flesh. If that were not the case, we would read about other kinds of flesh.

The Scriptures call this a great mystery. If you in your unbelief have not partaken of this mystery, does that mean you can invalidate the mystery of faith and godliness? Just try! Your own wretchedness will be thoroughly exposed when you fight against these eternal truths. These same truths will emerge from the darkness to overwhelm you with their unconquerable, life-giving powers to break down your pride and stop you from kicking against the goads.

You say you want to understand it if only you could, but that unfortunately all your efforts to apprehend these truths have been in vain.

Yes, they have been in vain and will continue to be in vain as long as you continue to try to understand them by using your human intellect to search the Scriptures.

How could it be a great mystery of godliness if clever minds could figure it out without godliness?

We have plenty of examples of people who are very uneducated by human standards and yet are rich in the wisdom of God. They possess a spiritual intelligence and can easily grasp spiritual truths. This is something that can only be given from above, through the Spirit. We also know people who consider themselves quite intelligent and well educated in this world, yet who commit the most hair-raising, spiritual blunders. They are slow to comprehend and are poorly equipped according to the Spirit. Why is that? Is God a respecter of persons? No, God does not show partiality to anyone, but people determine for themselves how God treats them. The more worldly wisdom a person thinks he has, the more difficult it is for him to let go of it to gain the wisdom of God. However, a person who is poor in spirit and has nothing is glad to receive something. This is why the last often become the first, and the first, last.

Whose fault is that? Search your own heart.