Article July 27, 1981 Issue

Don't identify with flesh

JOANN AMPARAN

The need to establish an indestructible sense of identity was glimpsed by the Psalmist: "In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me."^{Ps. 56:4.} The deeper meaning of this verse is that we can prove, step by step, the real substance of man's being to be God, Spirit, and therefore incorporeal. Flesh cannot express the selfhood of the man Spirit has created. Flesh is a belief that attempts to deny our Godlike existence. Can matter even hint at our eternal relationship with a creator who is pure Spirit? It really can't. Although one should care for the body properly, true identity must be sought and found outside flesh, or matter.

When we look in the mirror each morning, we may think: "There I am!" But what we see is a matter-based impression made on thought. Flesh no more constitutes our eternal, Godlike identity than the clothing we wear. Matter is not true substance—it is an impression made on the corporeal senses by false suggestion. It does not really exist, since man and the universe are spiritual.

The Master, Christ Jesus, was ever turning the thought of his disciples to God, who is Spirit, and away from concern for things material. Jesus' denial of the fleshly concept of life provides a powerful rebuke to the age-old argument that we are essentially biological. His recognition of man's real identity effectively dealt with disease and sin and made people whole, useful, and normal. He restored people to life and health, proving his understanding of God and man to be not abstract but practical and true. His spirituality led to his own final ascension out of the flesh, after he overcame even death and finally discarded all fleshly beliefs.

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