Learning the Lesson of the Cross Daily to Deal with the Flesh and Live within the Veil

Israel defeating Amalek in Exo. 17, the continual war between Israel and Amalek throughout the Old Testament, and God’s commandment to exterminate Amalek because they had a hand against God – all these show us that today, in our Christian life, God hates the flesh, He wants to exterminate the flesh, and there’s a continual war between the Spirit and the flesh.

Today we need to realize that Christ has crucified the old man with Him on the cross two thousand years ago, and whenever the flesh is manifested, we need to exercise our spirit to apply the cross of Christ to the flesh by the Spirit. Dealing with the flesh is a further stage in our experience of the divine life in which we experience the cross of Christ through the exercise of our spirit.

Our Christian experience is typified also by the path of the loving seeker in Song of Songs. As we advance in our growth in life and experience of Christ, we become a new creation in resurrection, and the Lord calls us to live with Him in His ascension as a new creation in resurrection.

First, we become like a garden flourishing in life for the Lord’s satisfaction; we are to Him as beautiful as Tirzah and as lovely as Jerusalem (Song of Songs 6) – symbols of becoming the sanctuary of God. In our experience of Christ we enter the Holy of Holies to become the sanctuary of God; we know the Body and are built up in the Body.

Those who arrive to this point, however, discover that there is still a veil separating the holy place and the Holy of Holies. They are in the heavenlies, they are in the sanctuary of God, and yet the flesh is still there. Then comes the ultimate calling of the Lord, the calling to experience the cross in a stronger way day by day in order to deal with this existing flesh.

We may advance in the experience of life to the point of becoming the sanctuary of God, where we are one with the Lord, and yet because we are still on the earth physically, we still have the flesh – and there’s the need for a further experience of the cross. In order to get into the Holy of Holies and remain there, in order to become the same as God in life and nature, the cross has to be applied to the existing flesh.

May the Lord show us that our experience of the cross of Christ in the Spirit is not once-for-all but a continual and deeper matter as long as we are still men in the flesh, and may we humble ourselves before the Lord, allowing Him to deal with us until we become the same as God in life and nature but not in the Godhead.

The Need of a Stronger Experience of the Cross in Dealing with the Flesh

Dealing with the flesh by exercising our spirit is not an experience that we have once-for-all, but something that we need to do all the time as long as we are on earth in the flesh. Even when we enter into a higher experience of Christ, being one with Him in His ascension as a new creation in resurrection, the flesh still is with us and needs to be dealt with.

Even when we enter into the sanctuary of God – the Holy of Holies – there is yet another veil, another “screen”, which needs to be rent in order for us to further with the Lord. In God’s sanctuary there are two sections separated by a veil: the holy place and the Holy of Holies.

In God’s economy the sanctuary of God still has something negative in it, the veil of the flesh, showing us that in order for us to experience full oneness with Christ in the most Holy place we need to experience a deeper dealing with the flesh.

With Christ this veil was split when He died on the cross (see Matt. 27:51) – both physically and spiritually, through His flesh dying and the veil in the temple being rent, the veil was split. Hallelujah, Christ opened a new and living way into the Holy of Holies through the veil, that is, His flesh (Heb. 10:19-20), and we can now enter in with boldness!

The Lord in His wisdom leaves the flesh here to deal with us, to perfect us, and to humble us. In the case of the Apostle Paul, only the Lord knows how advanced he was, what a God-man he became, and yet he still had a thorn in his flesh, a messenger from Satan to humble him.

So we enter into a mysterious paradox: on the one hand we are becoming God in life and nature – we are God-men, those saturated and constituted with Christ to live His life to the uttermost and YET we realize that we still have the flesh, and this flesh has not changed; the cross is now deeper than ever before and than anything we ever knew.

We are all heading this way on our way to become the corporate dwelling place of God. Even after we become God’s dwelling place, because we are still in the old creation physically, we have the veil of the flesh, and though the nature of the conflict may change a little, we have a deep realization that we cannot trust ourselves not even for an instance nor can we allow ourselves to be in a certain situation because the flesh with all of its potential will remain the same.

We realize that in relation to Christ, the veil in the sanctuary of God was split at the time of the Lord’s crucifixion, but in relation to us, the veil of the flesh remains with us so that God may use it to perfect His seeking ones and so that they may be one with God by dwelling in Him as the Holy of Holies (2 Cor. 12:7; Rev. 21:22).

Lord Jesus, we love You and we want to be one with You in the sanctuary of God as a new creation in resurrection. Lord, may we advance in our experience of life day by day until we hear Your deeper and higher calling to live within the veil in the Holy of Holies. Oh Lord Jesus, may we no longer trust in our flesh or allow ourselves to be in certain situations where the flesh can unleash its potential. Lord, grow in us unto maturity and keep us exercising our spirit to apply the cross to the flesh all the time!

Learning the Lesson of the Cross Daily to Deal with the Flesh and Live within the Veil

According to the type of the tabernacle (typifying our journey into God for the fulfillment of His purpose) and the story in the Song of Songs (signifying our journey of seeking the Lord in love until we’re transformed into the same image as He is for His glory), no matter how mature and spiritual we may become, as long as our body has not yet been transfigured, we still have the flesh, which is the veil.

The Apostle Paul had great and high revelations from God, of which he could not speak to man, and he attained to a high level and great vision in his spiritual life; however, God allowed a thorn in the flesh to be given to him (2 Cor. 12:7).

No matter how much of God’s element we may have in our regenerated spirit, no matter how much we may have been sanctified, renewed, transformed, and conformed to the image of God’s firstborn Son, as long as we are living on the earth, we still have the flesh.

This means that no matter how great spiritual attainments we have and how much we grow in the Lord’s life, we need to deal with the flesh every day by watching and praying. If we don’t watch and pray by exercising our spirit, we can live in the flesh. The flesh will always be present with us as long as we live in the old creation.

Spiritually we may experience Christ in ascension, live in resurrection, and be one with the Lord; however, we need to learn the lessons of the cross and live within the veil, experiencing the cross of Christ being applied to our flesh in order for us not to fall in the flesh.

We need to learn the lesson of the cross daily, passing through the veil by a stronger experience of the cross in dealing with the flesh so that we may live within the veil, that is, live in the Holy of Holies, in the consummated Triune God (Gal. 5:24).

Here, in the Holy of Holies, we become the same as God in life and nature, just as the seeking one in Song of Songs became the Shulammite, the same as Solomon to match him in full. In the Holy of Holies we enjoy the hidden manna, the budding rod, and we experience the law of life; here we become the same as God in life and nature but not in the Godhead – and yet we still have the flesh, and the war continues.

We need to remember daily that, first of all, Christ has obtained the victory over Satan – He has destroyed the enemy on the cross two thousand years ago, and for this we praise Him! Secondly, though the enemy attacks us through the flesh, we need to know how to deal with him in light of Christ’s glorious victory on the cross!

Lord Jesus, advance in us all for the sake of Your move on the earth. Thank You for becoming a man like us in the likeness of the flesh of son, and as such a God-man You destroyed the enemy of God on the cross. Lord, You are now resurrected and ascended, and You are on the throne. Lord, give us eyes to see You. May You be our Lord! Lord Jesus, You are our Lord, and we praise You! Oh Lord, You know that we are still in the old creation – we are still in the flesh. Lord, enlighten us, encourage us, train us, and lead us into victory so that we may become the fulfillment of Your heart’s desire. Lord, cover us all from the attack of the enemy. Apply Your victory even now over us all in Your recovery. Christ is Victor! Praise the Lord! He has won the Victory! Praise You, Lord Jesus!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Crystallization-study of Song of Songs, msg. 10, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (1), week 8 / msg 8, The Glorious Triumph of Jehovah as a Man of War and the Continual War with Amalek.
• Further reading on this topic: recommending Life-study of Song of Songs, msgs. 6-7.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Coming forward to the Holiest, / Through the incense altar’s prayer; / No more veil of separation, / We may boldly enter there. (Hymns #1127)
  # Since it must be thus, I pray, Lord, / Help me go the narrow way; / Deal with pride and make me willing / Thus to suffer, Thee t’obey. / I for greater power pray not, / Deeper death is what I need; / All the meaning of the Cross, Lord, / Work in me-for this I plead. (Hymns #279)
  # Praise Him! praise Him! Christ is Victor! / He has won the victory! / Sin is judged, old Adam finished, / Full redemption now we see! / Vanquished all the evil powers / Thru the Cross triumphantly! (Hymns #124)