Likeness of Sinful Flesh. part 1/2

(Rom 8:3)  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

Biblical Etymology of "likeness"

H1823

דְּמוּת

demûth

dem-ooth'

From H1819; resemblance; concretely model, shape; adverbially like: - fashion, like (-ness, as), manner, similitude.

Total KJV occurrences: 25

G3667

ὁμοίωμα

homoiōma

hom-oy'-o-mah

From G3666; a form; abstractly resemblance: - made like to, likeness, shape, similitude.

Total KJV occurrences: 6

“.…sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh…” (Amplified Bible AMPC)

Sector 1: the spirit and flesh distinction

It is important to first establish a Biblical principle. One of the synonyms and meanings of "spirit" in the Bible is "mind"

(Rom 11:34 KJV)  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?

(1Co 2:16 KJV)  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

(Isa 40:13 KJV)  Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?

“The teacher must be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then the mind and spirit of Christ will be in him, and he will confess Christ in a spiritual and holy life.” {E. G. White,Review and Herald, February 9, 1892 par. 21}

In the chapter itself Paul is speaking concerning two minds…the mind (spirit) of Christ and the mind of the flesh. We read the following:

(Rom 8:5)  For they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

(Rom 8:6)  For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace:

(Rom 8:7)  because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be:

The question that follows then is this: Did Jesus ever mind the flesh? Was Jesus on His own account at enmity with God His Father? The answer is no. Christ was a sacrifice "not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5:27) Jesus did not have propensities to sin, which is what Paul refers to as the mind of the flesh. We naturally receive that mind of the flesh by virtue of our descendance from Adam and inheritance of the consequences of his transgression. Consider the following:

(Rom 8:6)  For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace:

The mind of the flesh is death. Yet Jesus came to make available a different mind that was in Him. A mind that leads to life.

(Rom 8:2 ASV)  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.

You cannot have both operating at the same time. Either the mind of Christ reigns or the mind of the flesh controls a person. Which mind did Jesus operate with on earth? obviously His own mind, His own Spirit.

(Rom 8:9 ASV)  But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Why is this? why is it that failing to have the spirit of Christ we become none of His? Because if you operate on one, the other has to cease. Thus, when we receive the mind of Christ by receiving His Spirit, the flesh is still physically there yes, and will be till the translation or resurrection, but it is dead already because of sin...while the spirit and mind of Christ is our life

(Rom 8:10 ASV)  And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness.

Conclusion

Christ did not come with the mind of the flesh, but rather in the likeness of sinful flesh. He wore it like a guise to hide His divinity, and in that likeness of sinful flesh, He condemned sin because He had the mind of the Spirit. His own mind, His own Spirit.

Quotes

“Through being partakers of the divine nature we may stand pure and holy and undefiled. The Godhead (divinity/divine) was not made human, and the human was not deified by the blending together of the two natures. Christ did not possess the same sinful, corrupt, fallen disloyalty we possess, for then He could not be a perfect offering.” — Ellen White, Manuscript 94, 1893 (Manuscript Releases, vol. 6, pp. 110-112).

“When Christ first announced to the heavenly host His mission and work in the world, He declared that He was to leave His position of dignity and disguise His holy mission by assuming the likeness of a man, when in reality He was the Son of the infinite God” - Ellen White, Christ Triumphant pg. 227.4

“Jesus Christ, the Majesty of heaven, was not discerned in the disguise of humanity. He was the divine teacher sent from God, the glorious treasure given to humanity. He was fairer than the sons of men, but his matchless glory was hidden under a cover of poverty and suffering. He veiled his glory in order that divinity might touch humanity, and the treasure of immense value was not discerned by the human race;” - Ellen White, Youth’s Instructor, August 22, 1895

“This is one of the times when Christ publicly confessed His claim to be the Messiah, the One for whom the Jews had long looked. Weighted with such great results, it was to Christ one of the most wonderful moments of His life. He realized that all disguise must be swept away. The declaration that He was one with God must be openly made. His judges looked upon Him as only a man, and they thought Him guilty of blasphemous presumption. But He proclaimed Himself as the Son of God. He fully asserted His divine character before the dignitaries who had arraigned Him before their earthly tribunal. His words, spoken calmly, yet with conscious power, showed that He claimed for Himself the prerogatives of the Son of God” - Ellen White, Manuscript releases vol 12, pg 402