THE TRINITY OF MAN
(Part Two of the Christ in You Series)
Recently we have been looking at ways of overcoming the devil and living a victorious life in Christ. Last week we found that Christ wants us to "destroy the works of the devil". That is important.
This may surprise some of you, but equally as important is our to willingness to submit ourselves completely and unconditionally to the "works (and ways) of the Lord".
The devil can bring grief and trouble from time to time. But how many of you know that sometimes the devil isn’t really causing our problems as much as we are (causing our problems)?
Sometimes the devil may not be getting his way in your life, but then there are also times that God isn’t necessarily getting His way, either.
I see some puzzled looks on some faces. What do I mean?
Last week we learned how to "destroy the works of the devil".
But today we are going to be looking at how we can "destroy the works of our flesh".
I want to look at overcoming one of our greatest problems we will ever have to overcome. That is, ourselves.
I don’t expect to see anyone running the aisles shouting amens/hallelujahs. But I want us to open our hearts to what the Word of God has to say.
Prayer:
We will be looking at several verses today, but let me first read to you again the passage (we opened the service with) from Revelation 3:20-21
20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
21 "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
In order for us to deal with our selves today, we need to consider man’s position with God.
We know from what is written in the book of Genesis that we all have been born into this world separated from God. But the Good News this morning is that Jesus Christ has given us a plan -
• To bring us back to God.
• To establish a Holy Communion between ourselves and our Father.
It is apparent to me (in Revelation 3) that there is a door between ourselves and Christ. This door that Jesus referred to is often closed.
This door is closed as a result of:
• deadbolt of disbelief - no desire to possess the things of God
• disobedience - nailed shut with wrong desires & opposing God
• key of ignorance - we don’t understand the importance of Christ in us
Revelation 3 tells us of the desire on God’s part for each of us to experience the physical presence of Jesus living in us, through us, and for us.
Having the Life of Christ in you can make the difference.
You can wait and hope for Christ to force His way into your life and maybe change you on the outside into what you think you ought to be.
The result should be that you would start acting a different way.
I would propose to you - this is not the answer.
God is not wanting to change you on the outside, rather He is wanting to
change you on the inside.
Let me illustrate it this way. Let’s all go back a few years to our childhood.
How many of us can remember returning glass soda pop bottles to the store and getting a deposit for them?
When I was a kid, we wanted to redeem the old bottle for money.
This exchange meant 2 cents for the 16 oz., and 10 cents for the quart size?
As a child, the kids in my neighborhood would scrounge around in the ditches (on the roadsides) looking for these dirty/nasty bottles.
This meant money. We would take the money and buy a new (ice cold) bottle of pop. It was a fair exchange for a hot and sweaty ten year old boy.
You see, I didn’t want that old dirty pop bottle. What I really wanted was to be refreshed. I wanted a new clean pop bottle that was filled with ice cold Coca-Cola. The Real Thing!
Likewise, I want you to know that my Jesus wants you to have the Real Jesus. Living on the inside. He has paid the price to redeem you and even refresh you.
Many times our way of thinking can become so complicated when we think of what our relationship with Christ should be. And yet Jesus has made it so easy for us. He just wants to redeem you, renew you, and to live inside of you. My friend, Jesus Christ is the only Real Thing you will ever need!
Most of us want to spend an eternity with Christ, and we want to be near Him there in heaven.
But do we understand that Jesus -
• Desires to be with you also?
• Actually wants to be near you for all eternity?
• Doesn’t want to have to wait until we get to heaven?
Some of us are living in guilt and condemnation. We think that Jesus is going to see us come through heaven’s gates, and He is going to say:
1. Well done thou good & faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord.
2. I’m glad you could make it. You made it by the skin of your teeth.
That isn’t what I read in Revelations 3.
"To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne."
We are studying some important scriptures that will help us to better understand why we do some of the things we do. We are talking specifically about our carnal nature, as it relates to our soul and our spirit.
Some have called it our sinful nature, or the "nature of the flesh".
Text: John 3:1 through 6
Many Bible scholars have tried to speculate what the motives were for this Pharisee man named Nicodemus. Why did he come to Jesus at night?
I won’t get into that this morning, but I do believe Nicodemus must have been a very reasonable man. I believe this because Jesus did not rebuke Nicodemus like He did the other Pharisees.
Rather Jesus tried to reason with Nicodemus.
In these verses I see Jesus explaining to Nicodemus what has commonly referred to as the Trinity of Man. When we look at the third chapter of John, most of us think of the plan of salvation for man. And for good reasons.
But what people often overlook in this passage is that Jesus identifies for us what man is made up of. Certainly Jesus makes reference to saving our souls in John 3:1& 17. That is very clear. But Jesus also identifies the other two parts of man. Man’s spirit and man’s flesh.
It is believed that Nicodemus was a very well educated man and had an important position with all of the Jewish priests at the synagogue ther in Jerusalem. Jesus had an opportunity to reach many of the spiritual leaders through Nicodemus. And I believe that He did impact many of the priests with Nicodemus after His death and resurrection.
My prayer is that this teaching will impact us, as well.
What did Jesus mean when He spoke the word "FLESH"? The Greek word Jesus used was "sarx" that means:
• The extension of the body (as opposed to the soul [or spirit];
• Symbolizes what is external; or, the human nature (with its frailties [physically or morally] and passions);
• A human being that is carnal; or, carnally minded
There are many scriptures throughout the Bible referring to the subject of flesh.
Old Testament - primarily the downfalls of the FLESH.
New Testament - encouragement/instruction in dealing with the FLESH.
Luke 3:6
"And all FLESH shall see the salvation of God."
Matt 26:41
41 "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the FLESH is weak."
John 1:12-14
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the FLESH, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became FLESH and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
This Greek word "Sarx", or FLESH, is used through out the New Testament. God’s Word tells us that we are born with FLESH, a carnal/sinful nature.
I am aware that there are many people (nowadays) that would argue that thought with me. They would say things like,
"I’m a good person, and most people are good. Man is still evolving into better human beings. Man just needs to look to his own self conscience for guidance, etc., etc...." (Self-reliance)
That is Humanism. Humanism states that man is capable of eventually solving his own problems. That is not what God’s Word tells us.
God’s Word tells us that we all have a sinful nature that we have inherited from the fall of man.
The story of Genesis tells us we are a result of Adam and Eve trying to live in Humanism. Church, Humanism failed miserably in the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve tried to rely on themselves.
That is why Jesus told us in John 3:6 -
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
The choice is ours. We can remain born of the flesh with this sinful nature. Or, we can be born of the Spirit. You would think this is an easy choice.
Salvation of the soul is easy. We confess our sins to the Lord, He forgives us, and saves our soul from the everlasting fire.
Then we must make the decision to walk not after the desires of the FLESH,
and to walk (or, pursue) the Spirit of Christ to possess us and dwell with us.
If this were easy, we wouldn’t be studying the sinful nature of man.
Rather, we would be studying subjects that are less confrontational for us.
This teaching series will have challenges for us all. Challenges for us to change some of the ways we are living. Studying the FLESH/sinful nature of man will cause us all to evaluate some of the things we are doing.
The Lord is very interested in changing you this very moment. God intended/wanted us to rely on His judgement. And not our own.
The Good News is that -
• We won’t have to wait until we evolve into better human beings.
• You may have been born in the form of flesh, but you can be born of His Spirit this very day, and actually live in His image.
Think about this for a moment:
According to God’s Word, the Lord wanted so much for us to be in His image, that He sent us His Son, Jesus, to convince us. We know that to be true.
We must remember, Jesus came to man in the form of FLESH - "sarx".
Again, that is why we have John 1:14,
"And the Word was made FLESH, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
There was a distinction when people saw Jesus. He was more than the man from Nazareth.
Man was able to see God’s glory (in Jesus) even though He was FLESH.
I want people to see something distinctive in us. I want people to talk about us:
• "That person is different. That person has the Spirit of Christ living in them. That person is full of God’s Grace and God’s Truth."
We may have to deal with living in the FLESH, but the Good News we should know is - Even Jesus experienced a life of FLESH just for us.
Think about it this way, this really is one of God’s greatest wonders.
What I mean is, God loved us so much that He reduced His only begotten Son from His glorious design, majesty and the perfection (of God’s image) to FLESH, the mere image of an imperfect man.
This was a great effort on God’s part.
Why would God do this for us?
The answer is this. God wanted to purify man from the control that FLESH had (and still has) over him. Listen carefully to this verse:
Rom 8:3
"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the FLESH, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful FLESH, and for sin, condemned sin in the FLESH:"
We can have real victory over the devil, as well as, victory over our own FLESH.
What amazes me is Jesus took on the form of our flesh knowing that His body of flesh would eventually have to suffer/experience death.
But Jesus had good reason for this great sacrifice of His.
He was talking to some Jews one day about Who He was. These people knew Him. They had seen Him grew into a man, but now were perplexed.
They had asked themselves,
"Isn’t this man Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary...?"
We find in John 6 the response from Jesus. He said,
"I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my FLESH, which I will give for the life of the world."
The Jews responded, "How can we eat of His FLESH?"
He told them,
"Except ye eat the FLESH of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you."
This is why it is so important for you to participate in communion.
