Flesh-And-Bone

Previews of Coming Attractions
October 29, 2023
Chris Seidman, Lead Minister, The Branch

2 Chronicles 16:12-13 (NIV)
In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians. Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his ancestors.

Affirmations …

• Our flesh and bones matter to God more than many realize.

Psalm 84:2 (NIV)
… my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

• Our flesh and bones reflect the glory of God.

Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV)
… you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful … .

Psalm 64:9 (NIV)
… they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done.

In His Image, by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey

What the telescope does to nearby galaxies, the microscope does to a drop of blood. It unveils a staggering reality.

A speck of blood the size of this letter “o” contains 5,000,000 red cells, 300,000 platelets and 7,000 white cells. The fluid is actually an ocean stocked with living matter. Red cells alone, if removed from a single person and laid side by side, would carpet an area of 3500 square miles … .

The function of the flower-like shaped platelets has remained hidden until recently. Now scientists recognize that platelets, which circulate only 6 to 12 days in the blood, play a crucial role in the life-saving process of clotting; they serve as mobile first-aid boxes by detecting leaks, plugging them, and tidying up the debris.

When a blood vessel is cut, the fluid that sustains life begins to leak away. In response tiny platelets melt, like snowflakes, spinning out a gossamer of fibrinogen. Red blood cells collect in this web, like autos crashing into each other when the road is blocked. Soon the tenuous wall of red cells thickens enough to stanch the flow of blood.

Platelets have a very small margin of error. Any clot that extends beyond the vessel wall and threatens to obstruct the vessel itself will stop the flow of blood through the vessel and perhaps lead to a stroke or coronary thrombosis and possibly death.

On the other hand, people whose blood has no ability to clot live short lives. The body cannily gauges when a clot is large enough to stop the loss of blood but not so large as to impede the flow within the vessel itself.

• Our flesh and bones are not excluded from the redemptive work of God.

1 Corinthians 15:20 (NIV)
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

1 Corinthians 15:42-43 (NIV)
So it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power … .

1 Corinthians 15:53, 54b-57 (NIV)
For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

… then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV)
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Jude 9 (NIV)
But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

• So much of Jesus’ ministry involved people’s bodies.

Matthew 28:20 (NIV)
“… teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you … .”

Matthew 25:36 (NIV)
“’… I was sick and you looked after me … .’”

James 5:13-18 (NIV)
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Bill Johnson Quote
The walk of faith is to live according to the revelation we have received even in the midst of mysteries we can’t explain.