40 Days of

Fighting the Flesh

Week 1 Devotions

The UnFallen Flesh

Day 1

The past summer had been a pretty boring one for Matt. He sat around and watched the Cubs most afternoons, while playing video games in the morning. Even though he'd hate to admit it, he was ready for school to start again. Several of his friends were going out for football, so he decided to give it a try, even though he'd never played before. That first week of camp was nothing what he had expected. He had no idea that the coaches would run him to the point of exhaustion. Right after doing at least a hundred up-downs, he got up to run around some blocking dummies about a half a mile a way. As he was running he thought to himself, "what am I doing here? If I had any idea it was going to be like this, I never would have gone out." He didn't realize football would be so much work.

Luke 14:25-30 says, "Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'"

Why did Jesus say these words? He wanted these "followers" to understand that following HIM would not be easy. It would involve tough decisions, a willingness to see the project through, and maybe even death. So he was saying to them, "estimate the cost. You may be willing to see me do miracles, but are you willing to follow Me to the cross?" Following Jesus always involves a cross of some sort - even in our own lives. It involves times of running where we don't want to run - wondering if we are ever going to make it. It means being exhausted, ready to quit, and yet dedicated to the fight. If you are not battling some sin at this time - if you do not feel any struggle - it would make me wonder if you are even a Christian. Christianity is a life long battle until the time you die. You need to be willing to accept this truth and act on it - either that or fall from the faith.

Over the years Lent has been used by Christians to make their own "crosses" so to speak - by giving up meat or sweets or some other luxury of life. It is their self chosen way of showing their dedication to Christ - to prove they are ready to pay the price of following Him. Although we do not traditionally do these things, during the period of Lent we do attempt to spiritually follow Jesus and see Him go to the cross, so he could endure the pain, suffering, ridicule and hell.

Counting the cost means understanding what the cost is. It means knowing what kinds of battles Christ is asking us to fight. It means knowing WHO we are fighting against. Luther stated that we have three enemies - the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh. During these 40 days of Lent, I have chosen to concentrate on fighting the flesh. In order to do this, we have to know what kind of an enemy this is and what kinds of weapons to use against it. I would like you to offer your time to read these devotions and also to come to the Bible studies on Sundays. I know, you may say to yourself, "9:15 on Sunday morning is too early. I have other devotions I read. I don't have the time." But think about it, is it asking too much of you to sacrifice an extra ten minutes a day and hour a Sunday to aid you in the battle against your flesh? I believe these aids will help you in a life long battle against your flesh. I hope you will too.

Key Point: Think of life as a life-long struggle against your flesh. Don't expect it to be easy. Expect it to be a difficult battle to the end.

Scripture Readings: Read Luke 8 and 14. Notice how Jesus was dedicated to service more than family. Notice also the calls to service and the fight that it would take.

Day 2

If only. Those two words tend to drive most of us nuts with regret, despair, and sorrow. There are several science fiction movies that have played on that desire by pretending an ability to travel in time - movies such as Back to the Future and The Butterfly Effect. Inevitably in almost every fantasy that deals with the past - a problem occurs where something worse than the original happens. Even if we could change our past - we'd still have plenty of problems and mistakes to fix over time. It would end up where we would be constantly living in the past and never living for the future.

This first week of Bible study and devotions are meant to not actually go to the past - but at least look back to the past - to what once was - the way man was created to be. There is nothing we can do to change the way that we are now - as much as we would like to. But nonetheless, we will peak back to the Garden of Eden, take a look at the incarnate Christ - and see from these Scriptures what it would have been like to be without sin. It's a picture of innocense - a picture of strength - a picture of willingness - a picture of holiness.

What do the Scriptures say? Before God made man, He paused. He didn't just say "let there be man - but He put more thought and effort into this height of his creation. He said in Genesis 1:26, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." What does that mean, to be made in the IMAGE of God? God is spirit - so it couldn't mean that God made us to look like God. No, this is described in to subsequent verses of the Scriptures -

Colossians 3:10 Put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Ephesians 4:23-24 Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

In these verses the Apostle Paul equates the image of God with knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. In other words, Adam and Eve had an intimate knowledge of God. They were naturally holy people. They knew what the right thing was to do - and they wanted to do it exactly as God wanted them to.

How did this come to play? When God told him to work the Garden, man didn't complain. When God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, that was fine to them, even though God didn't say "why". There was no questioning - no doubting - just a natural willingness to do as God asked him to do. You might compare it to a set of twins who have lived their whole lives together or a married couple of over 40 years. They don't have to ask, "are you angry?" They KNOW when the other one is angry. They know how their loved one will react. They know how each other feels. It's a result of having lived so long together - in many ways they become one. Perhaps a sporting illustration will work here. When you see Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison work together - they've done their profession for so long it is like poetry in motion. Manning knows exactly when Harrison will make the cut - and throw it several seconds before he ever makes the cut. Adam worked with God - knew exactly what God wanted - and when God told him something he didn't know - he willingly did it. There was no tension there. There was no power play. There was no second guessing.

What good is it for us to know this? Is there any use in crying over spilt milk? Maybe not. We can't do anything to change it back. Yet as we look at this, we can be led to see how far we've gone astray. We can yearn to have this relationship reestablished. We can look to Jesus, who has restored this relationship. As we go back in time to Jesus' life and death, we can see a recovery of this relationship. We can look forward to it's full restoration in heaven.

Key Point: Man was made to be in harmony with God. His thoughts, words, and actions were to be in line with God. Think about where and how yours are not. Repent. Look to Christ.

Scripture readings: Genesis 1-2.

Day 3

As I sit down to write this, Brett Favre has the current streak for most games consecutively played. He has had an amazing resilience and fortitude to play so many games without missing a one - having played with a broken thumb and heaven knows what else. He is known as an "iron man" for outlasting everyone else. I think of the times he has been rocked, hit and knocked around - I know there's no way that I would have made it so long. (Of course, the addiction to pain killers probably helped a bit.) It would be nice to have such resilience, though, wouldn't it? Think about how easy it is for us to get hurt - especially when we get older - just bending down to tie a shoe, pulling out a weed, sitting down in a chair, or walking up some stairs - we find ourselves laid up for days or weeks with a bad back or a bad knee. The old grey mare just ain't what she used to be, but we sure wish it was.

Imagine what it would have been like to live during the time of the patriarchs. Genesis 5 is beyond our comprehension. For Methuselah and others to live over nine hundred years! Wow! You have to wonder what kind of bodies they actually had - were they huge in comparison with us? Were they much stronger than we are? Did they slowly decay over 900 years, or was it a more sudden deterioration in the last years of their lives? Genesis 5:32 says, "After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth." This would tell me that they didn't get old and decrepit as we do. They remained strong and virile for many years. Imagine how much you could accomplish in 900 years of life - the houses you could build - the money you could save up - the things you could learn from reading and mere experience in life! It would be absolutely incredible. Then again, on a negative side, think about how hardened someone could become over 900 years. Imagine if someone with such strength became incredibly selfish and smug or addicted to alcohol or sex. Things could get incredibly ugly over time.

Maybe that was the problem with the strength and longevity God gave these men - they became so comfortable with life that they forgot about eternity - or they became so evil that they had no regard for life. In the following chapter of Genesis God said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal ; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." We can look back at the longevity of these patriarchs, but we have to live with the reality that God doesn't want us to live that long. He created us to live eternally. Therefore, he decided to shorten our life to 125 years.

That might sound like a contradiction in terms. If God wants us to live forever, why didn't he fix it so we could? Why did He fix it so we would live shorter lives - if our flesh could be built so much stronger? In comparison with heaven, with world is a cow yard. Imagine living for an eternity with a bad back? Imagine living eternally in a wheelchair, or with Parkinson's disease? What kind of life would it be? Who would want to live forever in a cow yard?

So as we look back at the longevity of man, what can we learn? We can see that God has made us to last a lot longer than a hundred years. God can make an incredible product! We can feel sorrow over the fact that we can't handle long life like we should. We can thank God for causing our flesh to decay. The God who built us to serve Him cannot stand to see us live without Him. The only way we could realize this is with sorrow and pain and heartache.

Key Point: God made flesh to last forever. The patriarchs were given incredible longevity, which we have lost due to our own abuse of God's gifts.

Scripture Readings: Read Genesis 5-6. Ask yourself - how did man abuse his strong flesh? How did God remedy the problem?

Day 4

Are we progressing upwards or regressing backwards? You could make an argument both ways - depending on who and where you look. When you look at the size of Americans - you would tend to think we are physically progressing - at least up and out. Yet if you examine how smart we are, you might say we are digressing. There's a popular myth in the scientific world that man is progressing and becoming stronger and smarter. The ever popular Neanderthal man has infiltrated the books of our schools for decades now. It makes us believe that we evolved from apes and figured out how to walk - that million year old men were about as smart as an ape.

A completely different picture of man is drawn in the book of Genesis. It reads, The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. . . . 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. . . . the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, ' for she was taken out of man."

Does this sound like a Neanderthal to you? Like someone who doesn't know how to talk, much less walk? Not at all. Adam was not just an idiotic kid. He was a fully functioning adult. He was able to examine the animals and name them according to their strengths. He was fully capable of cultivating ground and ruling over God's creation. He was able to recognize the institution of marriage and treat his wife like a gift from God. Work was not a pain for Adam. He enjoyed it and he had the energy to do it.

This view of man prior to the Fall gives us certain insights into life. Work is not a curse. It is a gift of God. Ecclesiasties 2:24 says, A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God. Marriage, too is a gift from God. As much as we like to complain about getting up in the morning or taking care of children or catering to our significant others - these are gifts from God - established prior to the Fall. The problem is not with the institution of work or marriage. These were things that God gave for the flesh of man to enjoy. The problem is with sin. If sin were not in this world - our pet dogs would not run away on us. We'd always have a productive day and come home to a happy household. That's the way God made man - not as an animal - but as a hard working family man and a lovely woman to complement him. The Garden of Eden would have been a fun and great place to live - like heaven on earth.

Key Point: Life before the Fall was filled with joyful work. Marriage was a wonderful partnership of two complimentary creatures. Living in the flesh was fun.

Scripture Readings: Read Ecclesiasties 1-2. What has happened to work? How can we still enjoy portions of living in the flesh yet today?

Day 5

Tomorrow we will look at more passages that examine how God made man and what life would have been like to live before the Fall with "unfallen flesh." Class is at 9:15!