Mensa Otabil - Beyond the Flesh
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2 Corinthians 5:16: Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh. Yet now we know Him thus no longer. This is a very important statement from the Apostle Paul, and in the next verse he says, «Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away.» But he starts by telling us that we should not look at our lives from a fleshly point of view or from a physical point of view. We are spiritual people. Christians, as spiritual people, once we give our hearts to Christ and make Him the Lord of our lives, our spirits are renewed in relationship with God, and we become spiritual people.
It’s very difficult to look at life from that point of view because we are in the flesh. Somebody might say, «Do you know Mensa Otabil?» Yes, you know him, and you can describe my height and my looks, and I can do the same for people because the flesh is what we see all the time. But the Bible always wants us to focus on the spiritual. So although the flesh or the physical is right in front of us and we see it all the time, God wants us to see past the physical and He says, «From now on, we do not regard anyone after the flesh.» He actually goes on to say we don’t regard Christ after the flesh, and that’s an important statement because Jesus came in the flesh. He was born as a human being, He lived a human life, He lived a historical life, and He was a Jew.
But Jesus must not be seen in the flesh because if we see and know Him only in the flesh, then how can He come to live in our hearts? How can He be our Lord? So there is a point at which we understand that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, but we regard Him as Spirit, who now lives inside us and works through us. That is what the Apostle Paul is saying. In the same measure, when we give our lives to Christ or when Christ comes to live inside our lives, we become spiritual people. To master the spiritual life, we must not allow our physical desires and our physical impulses to control us.
When you read through the Bible, it talks a lot about the spirit and the flesh; the spirit and the flesh. The scriptures say these two are not always together. The real effort of every Christian is to bring their fleshly desires, their fleshly will-what they would want to do naturally as human beings-under what the Spirit of God wants to do with them through their spirit. It is the natural desire of everybody to seek vengeance; that’s what the flesh wants. Somebody hits you, you want to hit them back. Somebody insults you, you want to insult them back. Somebody is against you, you want to be against them. That is fleshly; that is what the flesh wants. But we don’t regard everyone after the flesh, so although that’s the desire of our flesh, the desire of our spirit is that we forgive.
The Christian life is a spiritual life; it’s not a fleshly life. It is not a fleshly pursuit. So anytime you look at your life, ask yourself, «Am I just obeying the impulses of my flesh, or am I doing the dictates of the Spirit? Is this what the Spirit of God wants me to do? Does this bring glory to God?» If it doesn’t, then we have to deny the flesh the pleasure and allow the Spirit of God to reign inside us. In the Spirit, that is where we have our authority.
You know, in the flesh, you have a tribe, you have a gender, you have all the physical limitations that embody you. But in the Spirit, you are more than a conqueror; you are an overcomer; you are the head and not the tail. So one side of your life is at the bottom, but there is another part of your life that is seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That is your spiritual life; that is where we have authority; that is where we trample upon serpents and scorpions; that is where we have power over all principalities and powers. Don’t consider yourself after the flesh; look into the Spirit, and in the Spirit, you are more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, I thank You that You look beyond my flesh. In the Spirit, I am strong, capable, and able to do all things. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»