Ephesians Lesson 30 of 39 part 6

2Corinthians 5:16

"Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more."

Our own idea of this verse is, that Paul is referring to Christ and His earthly ministry. Paul knew all about Jesus of Nazareth, my goodness they were about the same age, and he walked as a contemporary with Jesus. We have nothing in Scripture that they ever confronted each other face to face, but old Saul of Tarsus knew who Jesus of Nazareth was, and Jesus knew who Saul was. So Paul says, "yet now henceforth on this side of the death, burial, and resurrection, we do not know Him as still in the flesh." We know all men through the Spirit. For the spirit is empowered by the Spirit to discern the spiritual from the dead or nonspiritual. This is a great mystery because all are spiritual, what do I mean by this? We were created spiritual beings as recorded in Genesis 1:27 and as such we are a receptive being, influenced by one or the other of two Spirit beings. Now the second spirit being is Satan and of course the other is God Himself. This is why Jesus said that we can serve only one master as Matthew records in chapter 6 verse 24 and Luke in chapter 16 verse13. And why Jesus in the wilderness when He was confronted by the voice of the flesh. Told the flesh that, “Jesus said to it, Get hence, Satan: for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.” in Matthew 4:10 (paraphrased). It was this spiritual being (Gen. 1:27-28) that Jesus acknowledged Himself to be, while in the wilderness and it was from here that He revealed Himself to be the Son of man (Gen. 2:7) and God.

This is where most of Christendom should be, at any given moment. But instead they are still over there in Jesus’ earthly ministry, in Israel's past and in the synoptic gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John on the other side of the cross. In the earthy, carnal, fleshly ministry of the letter which does what? Kills. Do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with studying His earthly ministry, but there is no salvation in that. We do not get saved by believing that Jesus ministered to the Pharisees, which by the way it does not appear to have happened. He and John the Baptist both have a holy war of sorts against evil and the Pharisee's, Sadducee's and scribes were the epitome of evil and at its center. Many preachers and teachers spend most of their time there, not seeing how Jesus dealt with the Pharisee, Sadducee's and scribes and belittled them and their Religiousness, and that of course makes it so much more incomprehensible. Why? because they were incompatible with Jesus and John the Baptist's message and were NOT in agreement with the Jewish Institution of Religious exercise. In other words they were and remain diametrically opposed to each other. It is something that we can learn, but it is not where our salvation is found. Its not where the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth wants us to spend our and His time.

Jesus in Matthew 11:29, asks us all to learn of Him and we will not find Him any longer in the synoptic gospels but rather within His revelation or revealing to and then through Paul. Though the Spirit of Truth will take us through the Old Testament and therein reveal all things pertaining to Christ. Just as Jesus did with His disciples after His return from taking the Old Testament Saints to Glory and there sprinkling them with His blood, to sanctify them there (Luke 24:45, Ephesians 1:10, Philippians 2:10, and Colossians 1:20; Hebrews 2:17).

Our salvation is only found in Paul’s writings on ascension side of the cross. Our salvation was one of the mysteries that was given only to the Apostle Paul for the Body of Christ. And that is what Paul is saying here in this verse. "Since we are on this side, I’m not going to be hanging on to Jesus and His ministry on that other side of the cross." The side where the man who acknowledged Christ was hung, we are to be with Him in paradise, for He is our Canaan land and rest. There are many preachers and teachers that do not want to face up to His shed blood, and refuse to face up to His resurrection, because they had much rather talk about Jesus walking on the water. So they are hung on or with the thief who rejected Christ. One day they will wake up at His judgment seat and find their place with the goats and all black cows. It is these kind of people who are to be His footstool. We think most of them know nothing of the Jesus who died for their sins, was buried, and rose again, because if they did that would be their message. They never hear His asking of them, “are you willing to take My Yoke and learn of Me?” For He is not in the signs, wonders and miracles that is not where we will learn the most of Him, though we are to pass through, and by that way, we are not to stay there or on milk.

Nevertheless this is what Paul is driving home, henceforth since His death, burial, resurrection and ascension we do not spend all our time back there in His earthly ministry to Israel and that is exactly what he says in verse 16.

2Corinthians 5:16

"Wherefore henceforth know we know man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more."

Let’s read verse 17, this is the verse we brought you here for in the first place.

2Cointhians 5:17-19
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."