If we were asked, what and why we are in these bodies we call ourselves, do we have an answer to give? Why were we made of these physical bodies and what are we supposed to be doing in this life as an effort to accomplish this purpose? Before we begin to search for the answer, we should first have these facts right about existence. The fact that, life must come from life; that a non-living thing can’t bring fruitage to a living one. Two; the fact that every effect has a cause; So whatever we see, feel, hear or think about, all these are effects of some causes( Our message, “The only one true God” has details please). With this in mind, let’s now go back to point. This message is for those who know that there is a God in Heaven, and is the one we are dealing with, and listening to, here. God is the one, “…. Who created all things-Eph.3:9; Acts.17:24”. This is to say that the life from which life originated is God; meaning that all that we see in existence is an effect of God’s doing (He is the cause). Since then, all things include us human beings, what does God say, He created the physical human bodies for? Let’s follow please, and as the intention of the message is, let everyone of us examine him/herself and see whether we are living to the purpose, for God is talking to us, desiring to accomplish his will on us, if only we will heed to His voice. God is here confirming what we have just said, for He says, “ I made the Earth, and created man upon it….Isa.45:12”. What for?
IN SATAN’S WORLD
When God was creating man, Satan and His angels had already sinned (see our message, “who is Satan”, it has details please. You will find it in our web, www.endtimecog, org). God had withdrawn his kingdom from the Earth and left Satan to rule it, and has continued to rule it up to now-See Eph.2:2; Job.9:24; Eph.6:12-13. So, in His plan to restore his kingdom on Earth, “God created man in His (God’s) own image, to rule….upon the Earth-Gen.1:26-27”. We know that, flesh and blood can’t enter or inherit a spiritual kingdom- 1 Cor.15:50; John.3:3. How then, will man rule a spiritual kingdom, being in a physical nature? Friends, know and understand that we were created, free moral agents, and have a choice to make in everything we do. Based on that fact, it forces everyone to decide if he/she wants to be like God before God makes one a spirit being. For this choice to be possible, God allowed Satan to continue on Earth, for our sake, “…..that by him, He may test man, whether he will take care to walk in his ways or not- Judges.2:22; Deut.8:2; Mat.4:4,7,9(Jesus’s Example)”. Know and understand also that, it is for the same testing and choice making, which enables character development, that God created the physical bodies we are( for details, read our message, “the everlasting foundation” please, remember to get it from our web, www.endtimecog.org). How will the physical body help in choice making, and character development?
SATAN’S NATURE
What can we liken these physical bodies with? They are like a vaccine, which doctors eject in human bodies to prevent a certain disease. We know that, what the doctor ejects into the body is actually the bacteria of that disease. This prepares the body cells, and strengthens them so that, when the actual bacteria strikes, the body cells are already strong enough to fight back. We may not have known brethren, but this is the purpose of these physical bodies. It is impossible to prove to God that we want his way if there is no other alternative appealing, and opposive life. We know that, Satan is an opposer of everything that is God’s. For this reason, God created the physical human bodies with that opposive nature of Satan, for He tells us that, “…..it is a body of death-Rom.7:24; that,……….nothing good dwells in it-Rom.7:18; ……that it is hostile to God and can’t submit to his laws (his life)-Rom.8:7;……that whoever chooses to live the Godly spiritual way is always at a war with it- Eph.5:17”. But God made sure that Man understands it well, for after creating Adam, He allowed him to choose, placing the two lifestyles before Him (get details of this from our eye-opening message, “the two trees” please). He taught him the way of life (tree of life), and warned Him against the way of death (tree of knowledge of good and evil), saying, “… in the day that you eat (live that life) of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely die- Gen.2:17”. Even though the verse doesn’t clearly say that this body is created in that nature of the way of death, other verses clearly confirms it, for God further tells us, “ to set your minds in the flesh(body) is death; and again,…..it is impossible to please God by living in the fleshly desires- Rom.8:6,8”. Add this to Genesis.2:17, to ascertain that the body is built in the very nature of Satan. But why should a loving God eject us with so deadly a bacteria, the body of sin and death? This is the same question, so many ask me wherever I go preaching, wondering how a loving God (if He truly is love), can create man and throw him into a world where its ruler is all out to kill the man. Yes, many do ask; “why didn’t God remove Satan after creating man?
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
We know that, God has a process through which He will create man into a spirit being. This process will go through three stages. The first one is the physical body. The second one is to develop his mind and behaviour (character) in the course of this physical body. The third one, which is the final stage is to change the physical body and make it a spirit one to those who will qualify in developing the Godly character. Everybody who has freely chosen and resolved to live God’s way is in the second stage which is as we’ve seen, about mind and character development, and this is the case with every genuine sincere true worshiper of the creator God. In their case, God has put his spirit in their hearts, to give them the power to understand, and live His life (practice makes perfect), by which persistence, the Godly behaviour becomes one’s habit (behaviour), and that way, the righteous character is developed. From this point, be sober and open-minded please, and see which way you are going; whether of the flesh which will kill you, or, of the spirit which will give you life, for God says, “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace- Rom.8:6”. God is what He is because He freely chose and likes to be so. For man to be like Him, he has to also freely choose between the flesh, the fleshly people around him as influenced by Satan (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), and the spirit, as influenced by God through his word (the tree of life-Prov.3:18). Once we receive the Holy Spirit, the battle begins, “For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other-Galatians.5:17”. If you want to understand, then know that this choice-making is a continuous practice. In everything we do, each side brings forth its suggestions, and we have to choose which suggestion to go by, for, “….when I want to do good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my heart (the spiritual suggestion), but I see in my members (the flesh) another law (fleshly suggestions) at war with the law of my mind….Rom.7:21-23”. The choices we make determines the character we will develop, “…..either of sin leading to death, or of obedience which leads to righteousness (life) – Rom.6:16”. Even before we continue, I believe it is becoming clear why God allowed Satan to continue being here among men, and also why He created us in the sinful body.
SUFFERING AND DEATH
Brethren, God loves us so much that He doesn’t want us to miss eternal life. He wants to live with us as His children forever. He is therefore informing us in every step on how He is going about creating us to arrive at His original desire, which is to make us spirit beings. Doesn’t it sound strange, that God gave us a body which, if followed will kill us? It’s not strange at all if we understand what it takes to develop character. To develop character, we must freely choose it. After the choice, we must start to practice what we’ve chosen to do. It takes self-discipline, which demands restraint (resistance), for God tells us, “ It is for discipline that you have to endure……….God is disciplining us for our good, that we may share His holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it- Hebr.12:7-11”. How do we arrive at peace through such a rough course? Peace, joy, happiness, and even physical blessings are all fruits of obeying God’s law. We are in these physical bodies which can’t obey. So now, how will we live happily at peace? Know and understand that our joy comes through suffering, for, “….our comfort comes when we patiently endure the suffering- 2 Cor.1:6”. Which suffering? When we obey the law of God, the physical suffers want of its desires. Remember that the life we have all lived by in the past is that of, the lie of Eden, which made us to believe we are like God; and made us to set up our own imaginative ways of living, which are according to, “…the passions of the flesh (against the spirit), following the desires of body…becoming children of wrath-Eph.2:3”. So, when we obey God, we not only oppose the self, but we find ourselves going against the majority of those who were friends in the flesh, and, “….they hate you- 1 Pet.4:4”. The physical likes company (physical support), which one can get only if you agree with others (our message, “The secret of overcoming” has details please. Find it in our web, www.endtimecog.org). But after becoming obedient to God, they isolate you, and talk ill of you, even falsely accusing you. Be frank and tell me please. Are we happy when we are insulted, called devils, and blamed of things we haven’t done? Surely not. It pains. But the only way you can avoid this is by joining the multitude in their fleshly lives against God. It will also be by doing what your physical self-desires which are always against God as we have seen. If not so, then you have to resist the self, and the people around you, and follow God. This is what brings about the physical suffering, but with great spiritual joy- a fruit of the indwelling spirit-Gal.5:23. Brethren, unless we deny self, living in the spirit is impossible. It is this denial that causes suffering in the flesh, while producing a spiritual joy which can’t be compared with the physical one-psalms.4:7. This is how we develop character, for, “……..we rejoice in our hope(looking forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises) of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our suffering…..Rom.5:3”. How can one rejoice in suffering? We are in a fight; we are in an examination room. Who is there among us, who doesn’t rejoice when they pass an exam, when you defeat an opponent? But it will not be possible to rejoice unless we know these bodies to be bad and ones which advise us wrongly, so, ones which we need to crucify-Gal.5:24. So the bodies are things we fear and so resist, which causes them to suffer, but makes us happy every time we resist them successfully and do what is right, for by this insistence in doing the right thing, we are developing the right character. This is why Our Lord says, “……knowing that, suffering produces patience( patience is only when there is a demand against the good, and one decides to endure as he/she continues with the good-rom.2:7), and patience produces( what?) Character, and character confirms our hope (of eternal life, for we know, once we have developed this righteous character, we will see God-Heb.12:14)- Rom.5:3-4”. Do we want to succeed in this course to eternity? Don’t support this body, for it is your greatest enemy, the very tool which Satan is using to contain you in his destructive life. Are we speaking ignorantly? Are we teaching something different from what Christ taught? He Himself had no concern for the flesh, neither had He any need for people’s standards, nor was he ashamed of their insults, and down-playing, which they did in their blindness. He knew this body very well and, so, He suppressed it, for, “…He suffered in the flesh- 1 Pet.4:1”. What caused the suffering? The flesh demands it’s kind of comfort, praises and love by fellow men, support and fame. So, for following God, people hated Him, “…because He testified to them that their deeds were evil-John.7:7”. Since according to the lie of Eden, men are like God, and here is Christ opening their eyes to know that they are only dust, they felt insulted and so resisted him in every way, for, “…He endured from sinners such hostility against Himself-Heb.123”. Today, if people call you Satan, I don’t think you will ever talk to them again, because in the flesh, we want to be talked of, in a good way only. But look at Christ, “…. The Pharisees said that Christ is demon possessed, mad, and his powers are satanic-Mat.12:24; john.10:20”. Was He angry with them? Not in the least, for He replied them, “…I have not a demon but I honour my father-John.8:49”. What made Christ not to be pained by their insults? Because His goal was not for this flesh which exalts self (believes to be someone when we are just dust in the making- Gal.6:3), and feels the pinch. He knew their ignorance and so He could only bearingly pity them, for even at death, having no value for this sinful body of death, he said, “….. Forgive them, for they know not what they do- “. He left us an example to emulate, and also alerted us concerning the body suffering, saying, “I have said these things to you so that, when they come, you may remember that I told you”. Which things? “In the world (flesh), you will have suffering, but be cheerful, for I have overcome the world- John.16:4, 33”. He also warned those who will love the comfort of the physical body against the truth (God’s word) saying, “For whoever will save his life (the body), trying to satisfy the flesh, will lose it, but whoever will lose (rejects the body and its desires in obedience to God’s word) his life will save it-Mat.16:25”. Brethren, this is the purpose of this physical body, that of suffering because of being denied what it wants, being also the means by which God is training us, but only if we freely choose His way. we continue acquiring against it, what God created us to achieve in the body, even if the resistance will cost us it’s death, for Christ our example did put on the body( for what?), “For it was fitting that Jesus, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering. As the children share in the flesh, He Himself likewise partook of the same nature (for what?), that through death…..Heb.2:10, 14”. Dear brother and fellow sharers of the hope of glory in Jesus Christ, I don’t need to dwell on this very much since I believe the point is very clear at this level. “We have a cloud of witnesses of those who were before us-Heb.12:1”. Beginning with Jesus Himself, they tried to do to Him, every shameful, physically-humiliating, feeling-hurting, body-injuring (even killing) things, and all these being Satan’s efforts, to make him side with the body and die, and so, leave us to continue in the body and also die. But Christ resisted the body, “…for the promised joy that was set before him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and so, qualified to sit at the right hand of our heavenly father by His throne-Heb.12:2”. This He did to show us what Satan will use this body to do to us, being an effort to pull us from the creation table. Will we like Christ say no to the body and Satan, and follow Christ’s pathway to eternity? “…..He committed no sin; no guile was found in His lips. When He was reviled (things that shame the body and causes us to defend it), He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten (us today; ‘I will sue you in a court; will take you to police…’)….1 Pet.2:21-23”. After Christ came the apostles who followed his example, from whom we of the true Church of God descend. What was their response to the body and Satan who comes through feelings, and his agents (fellow human beings)? “…when reviled, we bless, when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world….1 Cor.4.12-13”. Yes, “… a people of whom the world (body) is not worthy-Heb.11:38”. Remember brethren that the apostles and the prophets are our ancestors as a Church, for we are “… build on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets (all reporting in, and for Christ)-Eph.2:20”. They suffered all these because of rejecting the world. And what is the world. As usual, most of us think of the world as those people, those thing etc; things which only apply in the world. But what does God tell us the world is? “For this is the world (what?); the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, and the pride of life-1 John.2:16”. My dear brother, do you want to hear the truth, or what you are used to? That body of yours and its lifestyle as influenced by Satan is what constitutes to the world and is what we need to fight; and because the entire world lives in it, then, everyone who decides to follow God and His life, “…makes himself a prey-Isa.59:15”. “Or, do you not know that the friendship of the world (body) is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world (live in the flesh) makes himself an enemy to God- James.4:4”. If then this be the case, and right now, we and the body we are, are one thing, how will we escape its confines, seeing that we live in it?
WE ARE GOD’S HANDWORK
God knows very well how we are buildings under construction-1 Cor.3:9. He knows very well how a building can’t complete itself. Christ confirms this when He says, “…without me, you can do nothing-John.15:5”. If we accept this position, that we are only dust, like did our forefathers- see, Gen.18:27; Psalms.103:14; Job.14:2-3, acknowledging our helplessness, knowing that, if God doesn’t complete what He began when He created these bodies(dust), then all we will do is die because in our right now condition, we are perishable and of few days-1 Cor.15:53; Job.14:2. For this reason, if we have chosen to allow God to continue creating us, then we should immediately stop, “… Doing according to what we, or people think, and begin to ask God what to do in every step-Prov.3:5”. Let me at this point advise you to read our message, “Are you a true Christian?” Remember to find it in our web, www.endtimecog.org). So, now, where is God that we consult with Him? “Christ says, ‘you are already made clean by the word (accepting God’s life) which I have spoken to you. Therefore, abide in me and I in you-John.15:3-4”. Hey! Abide in Christ? How do we do that in these bodies which hate His life? Are we truly desirous of abiding in Christ, to have Him complete us into spirit beings (a condition which will do away with our right now weaknesses), and remove death completely? If yes, then God is here telling us how. Listen please. “You can make it (how?); not by might nor by self-strength, but by my spirit, says the Lord-Zech.4:6”. It is the spirit of God by which we are created, which also sustains all the creation-Heb.1:3, which is also the living law (John.6:63) in our hearts, which if we apply-2 Tim.1:6(we use it, it doesn’t use us), enables us to “…destroy strongholds (bodily passions). To destroy arguments (opposive thoughts-Rom.7:23), and every proud obstacle (independence) to the knowledge of God…taking them all captive to obey Christ-2 Cor.10:4-5”; “… so that the just requirements of the law (by whose practice we develop righteous character) may be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit- Rom.8:3-4”. Can there be a clearer, and plainer information than this brethren? It is God who resolved to create us. He has a desire for the work which He began, and is very ready to accomplish it if we allow him. This is why it is not by us, but by His gracious plan. So, whoever will, let him come to Christ and God will make him/her an eternal being. Let’s learn not to question God. Let’s simply obey. Now we know our enemy, the body, and how it was created purposely for our testing, for God to know for sure whether we want to be like him or not. Let’s therefore confirm to him, and this is done by declaring war to the body, knowing that it was created and can only live nicely and comfortably if, as we have seen, it is fed according to God’s law in which it is designed( remember to read our message, “ The secret of overcoming”. It will shed more light to this). Are you for the kingdom of God and eternal life? If yes, then crucify the body and its passion-Gal.5:24. Look unto Jesus, and follow His examples. Abide also in Him. And because faith is, “knowing and being sure we know”, lets always make sure we are in him. How? “And we know we know him, and are in Him, if we see ourselves obeying (living by) His commandments- 1 John.2:5-6; 3:24”. He who has ears, let him hear what the spirit is telling the Church. May the grace of our Lord, and his love be multiplied to as many as are of his fold.
This voice comes to you from your maker by Christ through His servant,
THE ENDTIME CHURCH OF GOD. Get details of our contact centres from our web, www.endtimecog.org