- 40th International Bible Conference, July 26, 2008   For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: ‘I am the LORD, and there is no other.’  Isaiah 45:18     The Relationship Between the Flesh and the SpiritWhen studying the Bible, discussing the doctrines of the Bible, or holding what are regarded as religious functions, people usually think they are dealing with issues that are on a higher level than matters of the flesh. In other words, they consider they are dealing with matters that are spiritual, matters of mind and soul, or, on a deeper level, matters of the conscience. As we read the Bible, however, we find that, contrary to expectation, matters of the mind and matters of the flesh are not polar opposites, but rather they are very close. If you bear in mind that the Bible deals not only with spiritual matters, but also quite extensively with matters related to the flesh, you will find it a great help when you are studying what it says. The Bible is made up of 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament, making a total of 66 books. If, however, you read the Bible, thinking of the contents of both the Old Testament and the New Testament simply as God’s word, you will tend to accept everything as being only of a spiritual nature. Of course, that is not to say that God’s word is not spiritual. If you read the Bible carefully, however, and especially if you examine the contents of the Old Testament carefully, you will be able to see that the doctrines related to the flesh and those related to works are tied very closely together. The first chapter of the Old Testament, for example, reveals the answer to the question regarding the creation of the heavens and the earth: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Then, from the passage that follows, we can see the order of the process of this creation. In the New Testament, however, it says, “In the beginning was the Word,” (John 1:1) which reveals a dimension different from the movement and visibility implied in the creation of the heavens and the earth. Genesis chapter 1 begins with the words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters,” but John chapter 1 begins with the words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John’s Gospel is saying that the Word was the driving force behind the creation of the heavens and the earth. As a result, it is a huge task and a great struggle for us, living in the present age, to work out how we should understand the many words written in the Bible, some of which appear to focus on actions while others appear to focus on matters of the spirit. Let me give you the answer first and then explain. When we look carefully into the doctrines of the Bible, we find very fortunate passages amongst the many that apply to us. One of the passage says, “By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, … Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:20, 28). It says here that it cannot be done by deeds, but it can be done by faith. Even so, many churchgoers who believe the Bible live their lives thinking the way to God is laid open before the person who keeps the law and performs good deeds. In the Bible, we can know that matters of the flesh clash with spiritual matters, and matters related to actions clash with those related to faith. Yet, the actions of the flesh and the salvation of the spirit referred to in the Bible actually are not so distant from one another. If you read the Bible carefully, matters related to actions and those related to the spirit and faith may appear to be far apart, but that they are actually closely related. The Bible says that man cannot be justified by works, so to say that deeds and faith are close together may lead to confusion. Nevertheless, having assurance of becoming a child of God through faith is not actually possible without some kind of action. Simply put, that action is not carried out by us; we must remember that there was One Person who carried out this action in our place.   My Frame Wrought by GodLet’s read from Psalm 139. “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You.”  Psalm 139:13-18 Those who believe in the theory of evolution, even if only in a vague way, will probably not accept these verses. Nowhere in the Bible, however, will you find a verse that says something like, “I created man, so just believe it.” It is just that the very first chapter of the Bible gives the answer right from the beginning, saying, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And in these verses from the Psalms it also says, “For You formed my inward parts.”Let’s think about the digestive organs. When we take food into our mouths and swallow it, it goes down through the esophagus and enters the stomach. Then it passes through the duodenum and enters into the small intestine. The length of the small intestine is about 8 meters and it is all twisted up together. As the food passes through the small intestine, many nutrients and much moisture is absorbed into the body. Then as the remainder of the food passes on through the large intestine, it is prepared for elimination. The length of the large intestine is generally around 1.2 meters. The food we take in through our mouths each day is digested by the digestive organs, which also move the food on from one part to the next. Such is the incredible processing plant that is in operation within my body. Countless people have spent decades researching and developing new watches, cellular phones, automobiles and so on. I do not think there will be anyone who thinks such inanimate objects just came about by themselves, and yet there are people who say our bodies, which live on from day to day, came into being by themselves. I am not trying to tell people to believe the doctrine of creation.Whether to believe in the theory of evolution or the doctrine of creation is up to the individual, but the first thing the Bible says is, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” and one of the writers of the Psalms who was inspired by the Spirit of God, wrote “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”How much do we generally know about our bodies? We tend to give our bodies only very vague consideration. From time to time, we change the engine oil in our cars, and if we smell something even slightly bad from the air conditioner, we are quick to change the filter. We pay attention to the things we carry around to make sure everything is intact, and if a single button is missing from our clothes, we fix it and sew on another one. We take so much interest in inanimate objects and do what we can for them when something goes wrong, and yet we do not really take much interest in our own bodies. Nevertheless, as we come to know the Bible, we are able to see very clearly that it was the God who has the power to decide the fate of our spirits who first formed our bodies. When I get up each morning and stand in front of the mirror, looking at myself through my physical eyes, what is it that my body is saying to me? If God really created my body and is trying to tell me something through my body, shouldn’t I, at least for once in my life, listen to what the voice of my body has to say? In the Psalm it says, “My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth”. No person has ever ever been inside his own body to take a look around and neither can man diagnose his own condition unless he is aware of certain symptoms, and yet the Bible says, “My frame was not hidden from You.” God looks into the things I cannot see, the things I cannot hear, and the deep places I cannot reach.Even people who do not believe in God use expressions such as, “Oh my God!” And if you ask them who God is, they will say something like, “Isn’t He the One who is in heaven and who created the universe and things like that?” The Bible does not only deal with the larger visible issues. Through the short yet profound content of this Psalm, we can see that God, who speaks to us from a deeper place, beyond all the limits set by man, exists in the Bible. This is why we are able to find the truth if we study the words of the Bible carefully, and we can see that there is a way for us who are in the flesh to be united with God who created us.     The Creation of the Heavens and the Earth, and the Creation of the BodyLet’s take look at what happened on the first day when, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. When “the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep,” God spoke His words of command, “Let there be light.” And then the Bible says, “And there was light.” (See Genesis 1:2-3) When the earth was enveloped in darkness and in a state of chaos, God gave the command, “Let there be light,” and as He did this, the light was there. In John’s Gospel,

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