Spiritual Healing:
Jesus Christ in the Flesh
by Jim Lynn
Does Jesus Christ live in heaven today in
the flesh as a man? And if so, how does His living in the flesh
relate to the physical reality of spiritual healing today?
Christians live in faith that Jesus Christ
is the Word that became a human being (John1:1,14). We
believe that just as death came through a man, the resurrection
of the dead also comes through a man (I Corinthians 15:21)
...Jesus Christ.
As the Son of God, Jesus many times referred
to himself as being "The son of man." We intellectually
understand Jesus as being both man and God, but do we really
grasp its full implication?
Jesus Christ Lives in the
Flesh:
II John 7 speaks of Jesus "as coming" in the
flesh. The word in Greek, erchomai (pronounced er'-khom-ahee),
is in the middle voice of a primary verb written in present
tense. I Timothy 2:5 speaks of Jesus as being "the man" who is
our mediator. The word in Greek, anthropos (pronounced
anth'-ro-pos), is written in present tense form.
When Jesus ascended into heaven, Angels told
those witnessing the event that this same Jesus will "come back
in the same way" they saw Him leave. How did they see Him
leave? As a man!
What all of these verses say is that Jesus
Christ, the Son of God and son of man, is alive in the flesh in
heaven as "the man" Paul tells us He is.
When we read John's Gospel account we learn
"The Word became flesh." (John 1:14).The original
language transliterated reads, "The Word flesh was made." The
Greek word for "was made," ginomai (pronounced ghin'-om-ahee),
is a prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb; to
cause to be or to become.
In other words, When God became man, it was
for eternity. He did not merely take on a human form as a
temporary act, but rather fused his being to human flesh
forever (Colossians 2:9) God incarnate!
Side Note: The Question of Flesh and
Blood
I Corinthians 15:51 states that "flesh and
blood" cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The term, "flesh and
blood" has caused many Christians to incorrectly interpret
"flesh and blood" as substance (man’s body) rather than a state
of being.
The term “flesh and blood” is used
frequently throughout Scripture. It is an old Jewish expression
that refers to man as he is now: weak, frail, and subject to
corruption, sin, decay, and death. Used in I Corinthians 15, it
is not the substance (the physical body) that Paul has in mind
but rather what “flesh and blood” represent.
A few biblical examples of "flesh and blood"
to illustrate what "flesh and blood represent are Matthew 16:17
and Galatians 1:15-16. The word "man" in both verses is
translated from the original term "flesh and blood." In other
words, it was not from the lips of corruptible flesh that
revealed this knowledge to the Apostles, Peter and Paul. Again,
the term was commonly used as an expression of man as he now
is.
Jesus Christ is continually in the flesh,
just as man's flesh will be in the resurrection. Our flesh will
be changed (not exchanged - I Corinthians 15:51) in the
resurrection, and our body will become as His flesh
is...glorified, incorruptible and immortal.
Paul says that this teaching is at the very
core of the Gospel (I Corinthians 15:1-4, 12) and basic to our
Christian faith.
By His Stripes We Are
Healed:
Many of our brethren in Christ say that God
no longer works healing miracles. They say that these things
passed away with the completion of God's Holy Word. But by
saying so many Christians unwittingly dismiss the suffering of
Jesus' body as meaningless. Why?
Isaiah tells us that He (Jesus) took up all
of man's sickness, disease and physical ailments (Isaiah 53:4)
and that by His wounds (in the flesh) we are healed (Isaiah
53:5) - Not just for a brief time in history, but from the
beginning of time for all eternity.
The Apostle Peter also tells us that by His
stripes we have been healed (I Peter 2:24). It wasn't just our
sins He carried on the Cross, His body bore all of man's
sickness and diseases. Our sins are forgiven through His shed
blood (Hebrews 9:22). Healing is made possible by His stripes
(Psalm 103:3; I Peter 2:24).
Peter tells us that God considers our
fleshly body vital to our existence as a human being. For man
cannot be a human being without his body, spirit and soul all
dwelling together (Genesis 2:7). Why else would God go through
all the agony He did? Do we not think that if there were
another less painful way for man's salvation (healing the whole
of man) that God would have chosen it?
That we do not heal in body when asked to be
healed should tell us that we are missing something, not that
divine healing no longer exists. David tells us it is sin in
our lives that keeps our body imprisoned with physical
suffering (Psalm 38:3-8). James tells us the same thing (James
5:14-16). And Paul tells us that we remain sick because we do
not rightly discern the body of Jesus Christ (I Corinthians
11:29-30).
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and
forever (Hebrews 13:8). He lives for your healing. Were He to
leave his body, there could be no healing of any kind (Romans
11:36; Colossians 1:15-18).
Our responsibility now is to purge our lives
as best we can of the sin which prevents our healing. Fear,
anxiety, anger, worry are all of Satan, not of God (I John
4:18). For God empowers us with the might of His powerful Word
to drive out fear.
May God be praised forever. End.
You have permission to reprint and/or
publish this article, provide you include the original
article as above and include the author's bio information
below.
Jim Lynn is the publisher of God's Healing
Word, a free newsletter, and author of the book, "The
Miracle of Healing in Your Church Today." Visit: http://godshealingword.org
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