Fashioned like His Glorious Body

And if a leprosy breaks out greatly on the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the one who has the plague from his head even to his foot, to all that appears to the eyes of the priest, then the priest shall look. And behold, if the leprosy has covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce the plague-spot clean. It has all turned white. He is clean.” (Leviticus 13:12-13)

This doesn’t seem to make sense. So, it requires some study. Leprosy doesn’t sprout all over the body at once. It may appear as a sore at the beginning which spreads. The priest determines if it’s contagious or not. The person whose leprosy has covered the entire body, has had leprosy for some time. The disease spreads in different stages. The fact that the disease has covered the entire body and is white instead of raw flesh indicates that the disease has been a long time on the body. It’s probably in a stage where it’s no longer contagious. So, the priest can declare the leper clean and not contagious.

The priest protects the community from disease by determining if the disease is contagious or not. Our priest, our high priest is Jesus, the Word. (John 1:14; Hebrews 14:14,15) The Word determines if we’re corrupted by sin. The Bible tells us that the Word of God is alive and powerful. (Hebrews 4:12) It reveals sin in us. The Word of God determines what sin is and if it’s in us. While it is true that Jesus took our sin away, our past, present and future sin, we have not repented of all sin. I will give you a for instance. How many of us “redeemed Christians” cuss, cheat, lie, envy, gossip, love money, are rude, get angry, desire recognition, think more of themselves than others or make themselves servants to others? We may not murder or steal, but we covet. That’s the flesh.  And that’s sin. When sin is revealed what do we say? We may say, “That’s just the way I am.” Or we make some excuse why it’s permissible to us. The next time you say, “That’s just the way I am,” or make some other excuse, beware, you are making an excuse to sin. And a redeemed child of God should not do that.

What are we to do? The pull of the flesh is very strong. That’s why we think it’s just the way we are. But we are not! We are children of the Most High God, the I Am, the Creator of anything and everything created. “But as many as received Him, He gave to them authority to become the children of God, to those who believe on His name,” (John 1:12). And Paul also wrote, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26) As children of God, we are expected to leave the world and live on another plane, a higher plane. We have a higher calling. We are not to give in to the flesh because the flesh is of this world. “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (1John 2:15-17) So when the flesh pulls, we need to recognize it as sin. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life are of the world and are sinful and death.

First before anything, we must know that reading the Word of God is not only essential but imperative. In the recesses of our brain and in our heart, the Word of God is planted as a seed. When the flesh arises, the Holy Spirit speaks and confirms the Word in our brain and in our heart. “It is sin.” It convicts us of sin. And what we must do is confess it. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9) Confess it for what it is, sin and repent. And this will happen over and over in our lives as the Word of God and the Holy Spirit reveal more sin of the flesh in us. Yes, our future sin is forgiven, but if we haven’t repented of it, in other words left it, it will continue to plague us and hinder our growth and knowledge of our Lord and our relationship with the Lord.

Why does our flesh sin? It was not redeemed. It is of this world. It will return to the dust of the earth. It cannot live in the glory of God without being consumed by His glory. It’s of this world system and sinful. (I John 2:15-17) This fleshy body will not go to heaven. But we will have a body. We will be changed to an incorruptible form that can stand before the Lord God Almighty in all His glory and not be consumed. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Behold, I speak a mystery to you; we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in a glance of an eye, at the last trumpet. For a trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (1Corinthians 15:51-53) It will be like the body that Jesus has. Remember, He bodily ascended into heaven while the disciples looked on. “And saying these things, as they watched, He was taken up. And a cloud received Him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9) Jesus had a body that was able to maneuver on earth in a supernatural way. And it was acceptable in heaven, able to be in glory. And so will be our bodies. Paul wrote to the Philippians that our bodies would be “fashioned like His glorious body.” “For our citizenship is in Heaven, from which also we are looking for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our body of humiliation so that it may be fashioned like His glorious body, according to the working of His power, even to subdue all things to Himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21)

In closing, treasure the Word in your heart and in your mind so that the Holy Spirit can work incredibly in revealing that sin in the flesh. Obey the Holy Spirit and repent of the sin that He reveals, knowing that this flesh is sin and death and knowing that we are supernatural beings, headed for our real home in the spiritual realm where God lives.

Let us pray:

Father God, thank You that I have a High Priest Who knows the struggles and hardships of this world. Thank You that He knows the weaknesses of the flesh and how easy it is for me to be drawn away by it. Help me my Lord to keep Your Word ever in my heart and in my mind that when the flesh rises up, Your Holy Spirit can use it as the weapon against sin and the flesh. Reveal to me the sin of my flesh so I can repent of it and be rid of it by the power of the Holy Spirit. Help me and do not allow me to make excuses for my defects and weaknesses. Help me to confront sin for what it is. And help me to ever seek to be blameless before You. I thank You for cleansing me. I thank You for redemption. And I thank You for Your mercy which is poured out on me daily. Your Goodness to me is too wonderful to understand. I love You Lord. I am so grateful. In the Name of Jesus I pray, amen.