ABOUT THE FLESH

Matthew chapter twenty-three is lengthy about the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees. Clearly, those who obey the outward laws, but not the inward ones are in mortal danger, as Jesus indicated.

Everyone, before they are born again, have a problem with the flesh — the outward man. Even those who call themselves ‘Christians,’ cherish the flesh, according to Paul, “No man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it” (Ephes 5;29).

With that said, even Christians have loved their own flesh, but since rebirth changes the inward person, Christians are to crucify their flesh. “They that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom 8:8).

“They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God” (Rom 9:8).

There is a century of passages about the flesh in the New Testament alone. Cutting off the flesh of the foreskin (circumcision) is not even a good start; the true circumcision is of the heart, to wit: “Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Rom 2:29).

I have had a problem understanding nakedness in the beginning, “They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Gen 2:25). Nakedness implies in the flesh. Both Adam and Eve were literally bare before they sinned. They were transparent and no sin was in them. Perhaps they were without what we think of as flesh which of course would conceal the innermost person.

It could be that the two did have flesh, but with ‘bright eyes’ the flesh did not conceal what was inside. (The concept of Adam and Eve with bright natures and bright eyes comes from the Books of Adam and Eve.)

Just as the resurrected Christian shall be glorified, perhaps within the Garden Paradise, Adam and Eve were glorified. They had flesh but it was not stained by sin. They could see the inward part — the soul — as if the flesh was not even there!

Sin stained their glorious flesh. It hid the inward man and woman. After sinning, Adam and Eve did the next best thing to circumcision, “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons” (Gen 3:7).

They saw things differently. No longer was their flesh transparent, but opaque. The Serpent did something to their flesh which changed it drastically!

Another meaning of ‘naked’ from the Hebrew is cunning, or subtilty. Before sin, the glorious flesh of Adam and Eve was transparent, but after sin, their nakedness was just like the Serpent’s (Gen 3:1).

Nahas, the name translated ‘Serpent,’ has a second meaning as well. It is literally an ‘image.’ If God did provide for them a transparent Image like His own (Selem in the Hebrew), the Wicked One, Lucifer, altered the glorious Image and made it like His own — inglorious, or crafty. David called that stained flesh ‘iniquity’, or depravity (Psalm 51:5).

Not to hurt your precious self-esteem, but you are not to be esteemed for you have been made crafty by your ancestral sin. It is in your kind to be crafty, and the flesh reveals that you are more brutish than godly.

Just as Cain is of the Wicked One (1 John 3;12). Your father, if you have not been reborn, is the Devil, Lucifer, “You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do” (John 8:44).

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world (1 John 2:16). Since Satan is the ‘Prince of the Power of the Air’ (Ephes 2:2), his Spirit works in you.

Like Lucifer, “The Bringer of Light,’ outwardly we see ourselves as beautiful and lustrous, but that is a façade; we are depraved inside.

Am I building up your self-esteem? Yes, you do love your own flesh and that is the problem with man. We are not even Adam’s kind (adamah in the Hebrew), but ‘is (pronounced eesh) — another existence, not of God.

Lust is a desire to appease the flesh. In a sense, that makes our flesh the ‘god’ that must be appeased. We see that everyday and take it for granted. The world is all about exalting the flesh.

Witness the cosmetic commercials and fashion trends. Clothes are no longer to cover the flesh, except against the elements, but to accent the flesh. Clothing is now more for concealing our flaws than for comfort. Fashionable clothing even disguises the brutishness within us!

A nudist colony resembles a pig pen. As much as people like pig hams, they lust after women’s butt twerking. What the world sees as beautiful, look more intensely; those women that we lust after have skins like the animals that are for enduring the world. Look closely and you can see twerking women as dangling, non-kosher hams.

God adapted mankind. The flesh that Satan stained with his genetics would not last in the world, so by grace, God made for Adam and Eve “coats of skin” (Gen 3:21). Perhaps that is the naked body that we see so much of today. The flesh was meant to protect our kind from the fiery darts of the Wicked One, but rather than for our comfort in the world, the flesh became our glory!

People even parade around in their flesh as if they are peacocks. The phallus has become the symbol of man, and it is erected like steeples above our own churches.

The woman’s pubic mound — the mons Venus — represents the worship of idols in high places… no wonder false religions worship on mountain tops.

By the time of Noah, the gods of the world had become phalluses and pubic mounds as the new kinds coupled with impunity (Gen 6:4), and even with children, according to sacred literature!

So many regard the flesh so highly that exotic clothing is not enough. They decorate the flesh with all sorts of perfumes, rouges, and ointments. Death does not become the Eve’s of the world, and they will do about anything to appear more alive than they really are; the same goes for many men.

Those hoodies that men wear in the summer heat; they are not for comfort but to project an image. So, it is with pants down to the floor. The image projected is I don’t care, I will do whatever I want to do.

Truth is not in vogue. If you want to make someone angry, point out something about their flesh. Just tell someone that their brightly colored hair or their coiffure is extravagant, and anger will ensue. Just tell them that God’s will is that they not to cut nor stain their fleshes, and their innermost existence will show itself. (We now have a new Crown Law enacted that forbids discrimination due to hair-do’s. How silly is that!)

Some things should not be used to judge the person, but they remain the will of God regardless. Paul wrote about adornment of Christians: 

Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. (1 Pet 3:3-4)

 So much for the Crown Law!

Certainly, well-manicured hair will not condemn the wearer to Hell, but modesty of hair and apparel remains the will of God. The outward person reveals the inward spirit.

God issued many commands for the good of mankind. He commanded, “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord” (Lev 19:28). Again, cuttings, piercings, and tattoos will not condemn you, but that command remains the very will of God.

What do styles and fads have to do with Christianity? They copy the world and not God!

In effect, styles and fads decorate our fleshes as if they are gods.

Men are as trees walking, so said the blind man (Mark 8:24). We decorate our bodies as if we are trees walking. Those who decorate themselves to the extreme are much like decorated Christmas Trees that are neither ‘trees of Christ’ but for us.

Seldom does any preacher criticize the fleshes of the members of the congregation. Perhaps it is because we hang onto the things of the flesh, making the flesh more precious than the will of God.

Our fleshes are our enemies, but noble Christians are, “they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal 5:24).

Things that make you look good or feel good that are contrary to scripture identifies to whom you really belong. Becoming a Christian does not take away desires of the flesh, but the Word is the shield that removes the temptations of the flesh. Self-restraint belongs to you, but when people fail to demonstrate restraint, then their spirits are exposed to whom they really belong.

The reader may consider this commentary an attack on them. God forbid that the things of the world are attacked, even though they belong to Satan.

I have dressed like a penguin, and at times, even as gawdy as a parrot. I even attempted to tattoo myself when I was seventeen. I am not immune to the desires of the flesh. I have even looked at the fleshes of women with lust in my heart, but the things that I have done are not of God. This commentary is an attack upon myself as I too have come short of the glory of God.

Glory was perhaps translucent flesh so that my soul could be seen by those in the Garden of God; by the angels, other beings and kinds, and God Himself.

With that said, God is Almighty; our flesh is transparent to Him, and it is the soul that He sees. He looks beyond the flesh if we are reborn and examines only the soul within. That is grace, and the ‘coats of skin’ that we wear are grace upon us that is essentially God’s grace (Gen 6:8). God sees beyond the flesh but that is still not a ticket to expose or exalt the flesh.

Now that you know that the flesh is the enemy of us, that you can control it better, as if it is a wild animal roaming the world, just looking for carnal things to do!

picture credit: vectorstock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.