The Battle for the Body

The Lord Jesus Christ is not coming to bring His Church to Heaven but to enforce God’s will in the earth—and we shall be with Him! This is the Gospel of the Kingdom!

It may be true that we do not understand the importance of our body in the plan of redemption. You know, Satan has no body, nor do the fallen angels or demons. This is why these evil forces seek to inhabit and control human beings. The righteous angels do not seek to inhabit or control human beings. Although they do not possess a body, they are content with their state.

(10/24/2010) Our physical body does not really belong to us. Our body is the temple of the Spirit of God. This is a profound mystery. If I am not mistaken, the new Jerusalem is the assemblage of the glorified bodies of the saints.

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple. (I Corinthians 3:16,17)

Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. (I Corinthians 6:13)

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! (II Corinthians 6:15)

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:21,22) This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? (Isaiah 66:1)

However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be?" (Acts 7:48,49)

I may be incorrect in saying this, but I think the idea of God making us a dwelling place for Himself is not emphasized sufficiently in today's teaching and preaching. Our focus today is getting people to Heaven. But is that God's focus? Or is God more interested in getting Heaven into us?

The mystery of the Gospel is not Christ with us, as important as that is. It is Christ in us, the hope of Glory.

I think it is time now, in the twenty-first century, to begin to think about what is involved in the fact that Christ desires both to be formed in us and also to dwell with the Father in that which is being formed in us. Obviously this is a much different issue than that of going to Heaven, of Christ merely being with us.

Christ must be formed in us before He and the Father can dwell in us. God will not dwell permanently in the adamic nature. If we truly desire to be the dwelling place of God we must be born again, that is, a new creation must be formed in us as our first personality is brought down to the death of the cross.

This was Paul's prayer for the saints in Ephesus, wasn't it, that they would be strengthened in their inner nature so they might be filled with the fullness of God.

and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19)

But is there anything we are to do if we desire to be the dwelling place of God? Yes, there is. We must keep the commands of Christ. The popular gospel of today is that if we believe in Christ, "grace" insures us that we do not actually have to obey the commands of Christ and of His Apostles. But this is a false doctrine.

Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:23)

But what if we do not obey Christ's teaching or that of His Apostles? The Father will not love us, and the Father and the Son will not make Their home with us. The tragedy of the "grace" teaching is that we need only believe in Christ, whether or not we obey His commands. As I said, it is a false doctrine. Eventually the current "grace" teaching will be seen as a major error in Christian thinking.

It is God's desire to dwell in our inward nature today, even though our body is dead spiritually because of the sinful nature that resides in our flesh. The Apostle Paul spoke of the sinful nature dwelling in the members of his body. Paul was looking forward to the redemption of his body when Jesus appears, that is, the entire removal of the sinful nature and the clothing of his mortal body with his body from Heaven. Paul's body from Heaven, as is true of ours also, was fashioned as the Spirit of God enabled him to overcome his numerous afflictions.

Here is the point at which the current "grace" teaching robs us. Because we are placing belief ahead of obedience, no Spirit-filled house from Heaven is being formed for us. When Christ appears, instead of being clothed with a supremely glorious robe fashioned by the Spirit of God, we will be clothed with the corruption we have created as we have yielded to our sinful nature.

The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:8)

This is what Daniel meant when he said some would be raised to shame and everlasting contempt.

The goal of the Apostle Paul was to attain to the resurrection to immortality and eternal life, the making alive of his corrupt body. Paul counted all else as garbage that he might lay hold on the prize, the redemption of his body. Paul said that we ought to have the same viewpoint.

I do not like to be redundant, but can you see how Paul's attitude toward the Christian experience is so profoundly different from what is being preached today?

God wants to have a physical body so He can dwell on the earth among His beloved creatures. It is not possible to dwell on the earth unless one has a body. This is why the evil creatures of the heavens seek to inhabit the bodies of human beings.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone and Headstone of the eternal habitation of God. You and I are living stones in this great temple. We endure many frustrations and pains as we submit to the rebirth and renewal of our personality. But it will be worth it all, as the old hymn, when we see Jesus.

So our goal is not to got to a mansion in Heaven, it is to let God have His wonderful way with us until we are filled with all the fullness of God. Then we always will be at home, whether on earth or in Heaven. The battle is for the body, isn't it? We are tested, tested, and tested while we are in a flesh and blood body to see if we are worthy of the Kingdom of God, which is Christ formed in us and dwelling in us. How our first personality battles against the working of the Lord!

But we must, we absolutely must, work out our salvation with fear and trembling. When we fall, we are to confess our failure to Christ, and then, with His assistance, receive our forgiveness, get back up on our feet, and press forward toward the goal of being clothed with a body like His glorious body.

We can do it, you know, every one of us, if we will keep looking to the Lord Jesus and battling forward in Him. If we have an honest and good heart, the Divine Seed in us will grow until it is an oak of righteousness.

We have all of eternity to rejoice over our victory in Christ, to be rested up from the pain of our cross and to dance with Christ on the mountains of spices.

However, if we neglect to make the effort to conquer with Christ, we have all of eternity to endure the torment of the memory of opportunities thrown away; of people who would have reached maturity in Christ had we been faithful; of having betrayed loved ones who looked to us for guidance and help.

There are rooms in the spirit world that contain people with tormented consciences. Let's you and I keep those rooms in mind and make certain that we are going to hear "Well done, good and faithful servant." Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:23)

The Lord bless you and your loved ones richly.

Pastor Thompson