Flesh and Blood

Nov. 30

Read: Ephesians 6:10-20, John 3:1-21, 1 Cor. 15:45-49

Flesh and Blood

“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God…” (1 Cor. 15:50)

Flesh and blood cannot take hold of the Kingdom of God. Beware of a theology… a church… a “mentor” or “leader”… who makes too much of our “flesh and blood”. Watch out for the trap that is living your life in Christ primarily from your own “flesh and blood”. From the moment we are born, we have ample opportunity to develop the use of our “flesh and blood”. It is our default starting point. Think of Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in John 3:

““Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God… unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:3-6)

We start out our lives “born of water”… that is born into our “flesh and blood”. We begin our journey in this world inherently linked to the “first Adam” - the “man of dust”:

“But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man (Jesus) is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (1 Cor. 15:45-49)

Our journey in Christ is a journey of being made into “the image of the man of heaven”. In this sense, it is a journey of becoming less governed, driven, manipulated, or swayed by the things of this world and increasingly led by the things of heaven… in relationship with the “man from heaven” that is Jesus Christ. But because we begin our journey as “flesh and blood” individuals “born of the water” and “in the image of the man of dust” when we come to Christ we have the tendency to approach our spiritual journey in those “flesh and blood” terms. The ironic part is that our journey in Christ - while it may seem as though it began with our “flesh and blood”- actually the began as a work of the Spirit. It is thew beginning of our life IN THE SPIRIT.

“Flesh and blood” cannot reveal to us who Jesus truly is. Jesus says so himself. Speaking to Peter’s rightly identifying him as Christ, Jesus says:

“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Matt 16:17)

You see, flesh and blood will never open our eyes to Christ; it is only the Father in heaven through the work of the Spirit. (See again John 3) Flesh and blood on its own will never lead us into knowing Christ fully, deeply, or correctly. Flesh and blood is limited in what it can “reveal” to us.

When you think about all the time each and every day that you rely on your “flesh and blood” you realize how much practice is really needed to embrace and begin to live out of your “life in Christ”… you “Spirit-birthed” life… your “life in the Kingdom”. Jesus is not just bringing heaven to earth, he has made a way for us to grow beyond our “flesh and blood” into a fullness of life in HIM. To live righty in a world that is “heaven and earth” merged together we must learn how to live out of the Spirit. It takes time and practice to learn to live “spiritually” as much as we do the “natural” way of living which we have practiced so much more. And let’s face it… it is more comfortable to live in a way that is familiar to us. This is why the church / people of God often drift into living lives that are primarily “worldly” in their content and purpose. Simply put, it is more comfortable to live that way. This is why so much of the C/church functions as if the supernatural / spiritual realm simply does not exist. This is why the people of God more often than not seek to solve their problems and the problems of this world in good ‘ol, familiar, flesh and blood terms.

It makes sense why we are tempted to think that our primary battle in this world is against “flesh and blood”. We think that other people - other “flesh and blood” - are our “enemies”. All of our problems get framed in “flesh and blood” terms. As a result, we think that the majority of our solutions will come as “flesh and blood” solutions. Here is the biblical truth:

“…we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:10-12)

You see? We “do not wrestle against flesh and blood”. What if the deepest challenges we face are not actually “flesh and blood challenges? What if the reason our “normal solutions” are not working is because we are trying to use “flesh and blood” solutions to cure spiritual problems. What if our life is supposed to be equal parts “flesh and blood” and the “heavenly realms?

Jesus is merging heaven and earth… he is ushering in the Kingdom of God. The Father, Son, and Spirit have brought us to LIFE… they have made us both physically and spiritually ALIVE. In the same way that the physical realm and the spiritual realm are being brought together, we have spiritual “eyes and ears” that are being merged with physical “eyes and ears”. It is not that our “flesh and blood” has no part to play, BUT our life in Christ is one that is to be shaped and led by the SPIRIT. Each day we are facing both material world hurdles as well as spiritual realm realities. Bundled up within each and every Christ-follower is this same reality - Jesus merging together “heaven and earth” in US. When we lose site of this, we refer back to… we drift back into… we default to our familiar, old, most practiced self… our “flesh and blood” self.

This should scare us because our “flesh and blood” cannot inherit the kingdom, cannot reveal to us who Christ is, and is not what we are actually supposed to use to wrestling against our true enemies in this world. Ask the Lord to make room in your heart and mind to “park” this idea. Spend time in prayer today asking him to open your spiritual eyes and tune your spiritual ears to his voice. Write out the biggest “problems” you feel you are facing today and then ask the Lord to show you the SPIRITUAL TRUTH as to the genuine root of them… what is it that you are actually “wrestling against”. You are no longer rooted in the “man of dust” but are being made into the image of the “man of heaven” …that is JESUS! If you don’t practice this “heaven and earth” sort of living you will simply become trapped in your “flesh and blood”. Love you guys! - JDP