Our other two studies - "Every Word Matters" and "The Giver of Knowledge" revolved around the importance of getting into every word scripture has to offer and allowing the Father, by His Spirit, to give us knowledge and understanding as our flesh gets out of the way. This study will serve as a reminder of how to get our flesh out of the way as we move from an earthly mindset to a spiritual one. Only then can we truly understand the deeper truths the Father wants us to know.
1 Corinthians 15:30-49
30 Why are we also in danger every hour? 31 I affirm, brothers and sisters, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, that I die daily (This is the death of his carnal/sinful nature. More on this below). 32 If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what good is it to me? If the dead are not raised, let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 34 Sober up morally and stop sinning, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame (This is a heart, or experiential knowledge born from obedience, the keeps us from the practice of sin. Psalm 37:30-31 ~ 30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice. 31 The Law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip.; I john 2:3-4 ~ 3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;5 but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:6 the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked.). 35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised (Let’s move forward with an understanding that this is both an eternal resurrection as well as a spiritual one here on earth. Remember, Paul told us he dies daily.)? And with what kind of body do they come?” 36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies (We do not and cannot experience a resurrection like Christ’s unless our sinful flesh dies first. Philippians 3:10-11 ~ 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;11 if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead; John 12:25 ~ 25 The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life.); 37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of mankind, another flesh of animals, another flesh of birds, and another of fish. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown (Then dies per verse 36) a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So also it is written: “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” The last Adam was a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. 47 The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. 48 As is the earthy one, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly one, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
Here we see the idea of the first Adam vs. the last Adam. This whole idea wraps itself around us being born of flesh - worldly and carnal in nature, always looking to feed our flesh and partake in the lusts and pleasures of life. This is the first Adam, the perishable, dishonored, and weakness in us that must be put to death daily. The last Adam is Christ - our spiritual life. This is the imperishable, the glorious, the powerful us that the Father is looking to bring to fruition. The only stipulation is that our flesh must be "sown" or die first. To do so, we must continue to devour the Word, which is the sword the Spirit uses to prune and cut the dead parts of us off. Through understanding the Word at an experiential heart level we move from fleshly to spiritual - from death to life. The Spirit will always lead us into our spiritual death so let us take hold of the promise of the spiritual life that follows (Romans 6:1-14) so we would not be afraid of spiritual death and be kept in bondage to our sin (Hebrews 2:14-15).
Romans 6:1-14
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism (A representation of the old man - the first Adam - being submerged into the water, which is the Word of God, and rising out of it anew as the second Adam - Christ) into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for the one who has died is freed from sin (John 8:34-35 ~ 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits ["commits" continual is an ever present tense defining a practice of sin] sin is a slave of sin.35 Now the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.). 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all time; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. (1 John 2:6 the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked.) 11 So you too, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore sin is not to reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the parts of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your body’s parts as instruments of righteousness for God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, (Matthew 6: 24 ~ 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other...) for you are not under the Law but under grace (For more on the power of Grace, or the promises, to free us from the fear of death and the consequential enslavement to sin, read Titus 2:11-14, 2 Peter 1:4, 2 Corinthians 7:1).
Ultimately, our enslavement to sin boils down to our fear of the crucified life and death to our old, carnally natured, selves.
Hebrews 2:14-15
14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives (That is, enslaved by sin out of fear of the spiritual death of the old self/the first Adam).
May we continue to take off the old self (the first Adam of flesh and carnality) and put on the new self (the second Adam of Christ) in a continual process of death and renewal. By this, our flesh gets out of the way and we can know the Father at greater depths (1 Corinthians 2:10-16).
Ephesians 4:17-32
17 So I say this, and affirm in the Lord, that you are to no longer walk just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their minds, 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves up to indecent behavior for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds (Romans 12:1-2 ~ 1 Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect; 2 Corinthians 4:16 ~ 16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day.), 24 and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 25 Therefore, ridding yourselves of falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, because we are parts of one another. 26 Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 The one who steals must no longer steal; but rather he must labor, producing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. 29 Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for edification according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
My prayer is that we would continue to prioritize the death of our old selves so we would find an increase in knowledge, wisdom, and revelation into the true heart of the Father and His incredible love. By that, let us be filled with the fullness of Him.
Ephesians 3:16-19
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner [n]self, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.
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