The Word Became Flesh: Christ came in the Likeness of the Flesh of Sin yet without Sin

On one hand, the Word became flesh (John 1:14), and on the other, God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin to condemn sin in the flesh (Rom. 8:3). This is a wonderful matter in the New Testament.

Christ came as the reality of the sin offering, and He was made sin on our behalf on the cross, so that we may be able to be redeemed, saved, regenerated, and made one with God, even to become the righteousness of God in Christ.

He died as a Substitute for us on the cross, bearing our sins in His body and even being made sin for us, so that we may be able take Him as our sin offering today and enjoy God, be filled and saturated with God, and live a life for God and His purpose.

He Himself did not know sin, for He only put on the likeness of the flesh of sin but without the sin in the flesh. Christ didn’t know sin in an experiential way by contact or by personal experience, for in His nature and substance there was no sin; nevertheless, Christ was made sin on our behalf and He was judged by God.

He was not made sinful, for He never committed any sin, but in God’s eyes He was made sin on the cross, for the likeness of the flesh that He bore was related to sin, the world, the devil, the flesh, and the ruler of this world.

Because of the fall of man, we all are sinners – we are sin producing factories, and we are also sinful – we have the indwelling sin in our flesh. If we see this, if we realise that we are sinful and sin is in our very nature, we will cling to the Lord, for He as the sinless one who came in the likeness of the flesh of sin – the Word who became flesh – was made sin for us, so that we may become the righteousness of God in Him.

On the cross God put all our sins, iniquities, and trespasses on Christ, and even more, He made Christ sin on our behalf, considering Him as the unique sinner in the world.

Thus, God could judge sin in the flesh, cast out the ruler of the world, terminate flesh, deal with the old man, and defeat Satan, all because Christ has the likeness of the flesh of sin, and God considered this as the real flesh, which is involved with all the negative things.

May we open to the Lord and be unveiled as we read His word and contact Him concerning this matter, so that we may really see the meaning and importance of the Word becoming flesh, and of Christ coming in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin to condemn sin in the flesh.

And may we learn to take Christ as our sin offering every day, laying our hands on Him and accepting His perfect sacrifice which dealt with both sin and sins.

The Word Became Flesh – Christ Became Flesh, yet with No Sin in the Flesh

We need to arrive at a crystal clear understanding of what does it mean that the Word became flesh (John 1:14). As the Word that was with God and that was God, Christ became flesh (John 1:1, 14). He didn’t come in the likeness of the flesh – He became flesh.

God didn’t create the flesh – He created man in His image and with His likeness, but due to the fall of man, man was corrupted and became flesh.

When God created man and everything, He said that everything was very good (Gen. 1:31); however, after sin came in to ruin and corrupt man and the whole creation, man became flesh, and God said, My Spirit will no longer struggle with man, for he has become flesh (Gen. 6:3).

Man is flesh, and even when man tries to keep the law, no flesh shall be justified before God (Rom. 3:20). In God’s eyes, fallen mankind is simply flesh.

And one day the Word became flesh. God joined Himself with humanity. But this flesh was different from any other flesh: all other flesh is of human father and human mother, but the Lord’s conception was of the divine essence with a human mother (Matt. 1:18).

The Word became flesh means that the divine essence mingled with the human essence, and God put on humanity; He didn’t put on the sinful flesh or the sin in the flesh, but only the likeness of the flesh.

Our flesh is not only flesh but sinful flesh, but the flesh of Christ – having nothing to do with the male essence as the source – is not a sinful flesh. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and reality; He had no sin in the flesh, but He bore the likeness of the flesh of sin yet without sin.

Even more: throughout His life, Satan tried to inject sin in Christ and have ground in His flesh, but he couldn’t do it. Because the Lord Jesus put on the flesh – the Word became flesh – Satan could access Him and tempt Him.

The Spirit even led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, after forty days and forty nights of fasting; Satan tried three times to enter into the flesh of Jesus, but he could not get through (Matt. 4:1-11).

Our flesh is sinful, corrupt, and fallen, but Christ’s flesh is sinless, and even when Satan tried to get in His flesh, he couldn’t. Eventually, Christ Himself said, The ruler of this world is coming, and in Me he has nothing. Wow! What a God-man!

Christ joined Himself to fallen humanity by becoming flesh, but His flesh was separated from the flesh of sin; He never knew sin either by personal experience or contact with the others.

Therefore, the Word who became flesh to express, manifest, explain, and define God, He lived a perfect human life with no sin, and He put the flesh on the cross to judge sin in the flesh, condemn Satan, and cast out the ruler of this world.

Thank You Lord for being incarnated as the Word who became flesh. Thank You for putting on human nature and being manifested in the likeness of the flesh of sin yet without sin. Lord, how we love and appreciate You as the first God-man, the Word becoming flesh, who had no sin in the flesh. Our flesh is sinful and fallen, but Your flesh was without sin. Thank You Lord for living such a life as a pattern for us. Thank You for dying on the cross to terminate sin in the flesh, condemn the devil, and cast out the ruler of this world. Hallelujah for Christ, the Word who became flesh!

Christ came in the Likeness of the Flesh of Sin, having the Flesh of Sin but not the Sin of the Flesh

On one hand, the Word became flesh (John 1:14), meaning that God entered into humanity and put on the flesh – which is without sin.

On the other hand, God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, yet He had no sin in the flesh (Rom. 8:3). It doesn’t say that the Word became in the likeness of the flesh (which would be a heresy) or that God sent His son in the flesh of sin (which would mean that He was sinful); rather, the Word became flesh, and Christ came in the likeness of the flesh of sin.

We need to understand what happened when the Word became flesh and what happened because God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin. God sent His Son only “in the likeness of the flesh of sin”; the Son did not actually have the flesh of sin but only the form, the likeness, of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3).

The fact that the Word became flesh means that the Triune God became a man in the flesh in the likeness of a sinful man. Because He was a man in the flesh, Christ was indirectly involved with sin, for He was in the likeness of the flesh of sin (but not with sin in reality).

Because His flesh was involved with sin, God condemned sin in the flesh of fallen mankind. God entered into the fallen sinful man and became one with the sinful man; however, He had only the likeness of the sinful man and not the sin of the sinful man.

Hallelujah, God was manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16) when Jesus Christ was incarnated, and in this One there was no sin! Because Christ became a man in the likeness of the flesh of sin, He was indirectly involved with sin, Satan, and the world – not in reality, but just in likeness.

He came as the Lamb of God to fulfill all the offerings; during the first three hours on the cross He was persecuted by man, and during the second set of three hours, He as the Lamb of God was judged by God.

When Christ was on the cross, God considered His likeness of the flesh of sin as being the real thing, and He condemned sin in the flesh. This beloved God-man was willing to come in the likeness of the flesh of sin, in the likeness of a sinful man, and because He did so, God could judge sin in the flesh.

In our flesh sin is living as a person, but in the Lord’s flesh sin was not present; however, because He had the likeness of the flesh of sin, God could judge the living sin in the flesh, condemning the sin in the flesh of fallen mankind. Thank You Lord!

Lord, open our eyes to clearly understand what does it mean that the Word became flesh and that God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin yet without the sin in the flesh. May we be clear concerning the fact that the Word became flesh so that God would enter into humanity and become one with the sinful man, yet He had only the likeness of the sinful man but not the sin of a sinful man. Hallelujah for our Christ who became flesh and was manifested in the likeness of the flesh of sin for God to condemn sin in the flesh!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 3, “God’s New Testament Economy,” ch. 3, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Leviticus (1), week 7, The Reality of the Sin Offering, the Bronze Serpent, and the Destruction of the Devil.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Man was driven out of Eden for he was serpentine, / Now a vessel not of glory but of corruption. / Man a flesh became; he is not the same, a man of shame / A vessel dead within. (Song on, In eternity, in the beginning)
  # For that which the law could not do, being weak, / In the flesh, God sending His Son, / In the likeness of flesh, and concerning sin, / He condemned sin in the flesh. (Song on, The Law of the Spirit of Life)
  # Jesus, dear Lord, / You partook blood and flesh. / You’re the Eternal Word, / God in a man manifest. / Lord, You died for humanity / To redeem man for eternity. / Lord, You died on a tree for me. / Lord, You loved me eternally. (Song on, Jesus, dear Jesus, You’re so glorious)