As part of His work in His new administrative arrangement, or economy, God condemned sin in the flesh through the death of Christ in the flesh. Concerning this, Romans 8:3 says, “For, the law being impossible in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” Here we see that God sent His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin and condemned sin in the flesh. God solved the problem of sin by sending His own Son “in the likeness of the flesh of sin.” Christ became flesh (John 1:14), but He was only in the likeness of the flesh of sin. There was no sin in His flesh. He had only the likeness of the flesh of sin, not the sinful nature of the flesh of sin.
The phrase “the likeness of the flesh of sin” contains three important words: likeness, flesh, and sin. To say only “the flesh of sin” would indicate sinful flesh. Paul, however, adds “in the likeness,” indicating that in Christ’s human nature there was no sin, even though that nature did bear the likeness, the appearance, of the flesh of sin. Furthermore, Paul does not say that God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh and stop there. He adds “of sin.” The word “likeness” denotes strongly that Christ’s humanity does not have sin, but still that His humanity was in some way related to sin.
In doing the work of condemning sin in the flesh through the death of Christ in the flesh, God was wise. He knew that He should not send His Son to be the flesh of sin, for if He had done that, His Son would have been involved with sin. Therefore, God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin, as typified by the brass serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness (Num. 21:9), as mentioned by the Lord Himself in John 3:14. The Lord’s word in John 3:14 indicates that the brass serpent was a type of Himself on the cross in our stead. When Jesus was on the cross, in the sight of God He was in the form of the serpent. Satan is the serpent, and the sin that was injected into man’s body, transmuting it into the flesh of sin, is the nature of Satan. Hence, the flesh of sin actually means the flesh with the nature of Satan. The Bible says that Jesus, the Son of God, became flesh. However, this absolutely does not mean that Christ became the flesh with the nature of Satan, because Romans 8:3 says that God sent Him in the likeness of the flesh of sin, thereby indicating that Christ assumed only the likeness of the flesh of sin, not the sinful nature of the flesh of sin.
In another verse, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul says that Christ “did not know sin.” This means that He had no sin and that He did not know sin in an experiential way by contact or personal experience (cf. John 8:46; 1 Pet. 2:22; Heb. 4:15; 7:26). Yet 2 Corinthians 5:21 also says that this One who had no sin was made sin for us by God. Although this verse says that Christ was made sin, it does not mean that He was sinful in nature, for He was sent only in the likeness of the flesh of sin. The brass serpent had the form of the serpent, but it did not have the poison of the serpent. Christ was made sin in form. Within Him there was no sin; He had nothing to do with the nature of sin. He was made only in the likeness of the flesh of sin for us.
Romans 8:3 says not only that God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin, but also that God sent Him “concerning sin.” Some versions render the Greek here as “an offering for sin.” Paul’s thought is that sin is a problem to us and makes our flesh weak before the law (Rom. 8:3a). Not only our flesh but also sin needs to be dealt with. So God sent His Son not only in the likeness of the flesh of sin but also concerning sin, that is, for sin, for the problem of sin. In this way, God condemned sin and dealt with our flesh to resolve the problem.
Sin was condemned in the flesh of Christ on the cross. Sin is the nature of Satan. Satan’s nature, that is, sin, was in the flesh, and Christ put on the likeness of this flesh of sin, the likeness of the flesh in which sin, the nature of Satan, dwelt. Then Christ took this flesh to the cross and crucified it. In this way God condemned sin in the flesh through the death of Christ in the flesh.
The sin in the flesh condemned by God may be called personified sin. This personified sin is described in Romans 5 through 7, where we are told that sin reigns (5:21; 6:12), that it can lord it over us (6:14), that it deceives us (7:11), and that it dwells in us (7:17, 20). This personified sin in the flesh, which can force us to do things against our will, is actually Satan moving in our sinful flesh. Therefore, when God condemned sin in the flesh, He also destroyed Satan, the Devil (Heb. 2:14).
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