Antichrist: Denying the Physicality of God, His Church, His Temple

Many Evangelical, Creedal Christians deny the physicality of God, His Church and His Temple. They focus on only the spiritual meaning of temple as the body of the believer. They focus only on the spiritual meaning of the church, as the body of believers. But what many errantly deny is the continued importance of the physicality of Christ's being, the physicality of His church, and the physicality of His temple.

Yes, there is a crucial spiritual meaning to the temple and the church. But God is both spiritual and physical. Temples are both spiritual and physical. The Body of Christ is both spiritual and physical. These are not mutually exclusive. There is no dichotomy here. You want to make a false dichotomy and say it is only one way or the other. Truth is, its both, which is my point. Gods temple and church and being are both spiritual and temporal. Just as Christ redeemed and resurrected His body, He has redeemed and restored His church, His holy word, and His temple.
Without the body, Christ couldn't have performed the atonement. Christ not only performed the atonement with his body, he also died with His body, He redeemed and resurrected His body, H showed His body to the Apostles and Paul, and He ascended into heaven with His body. Therefore, the body can't be all bad or inherently evil. There must be something good about His physicality. And if there is any good in it, than that good must be a part of God's Being who is the source of all that is good.

Christ equated His body with that of the temple and with His church in the scriptures.

John 2:18-21 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.

Eph 4:11-14 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Jesus Christ showed us that perfection involves the unification of both the spirit and glorified body together. Despite Christ redeeming His physical body, many Evangelical, Nicene Creed Christians deny the physicality of God, deny the physicality of Christ's church, and deny the physicality of Christ's temple. Many Christians have adopted an extreme "Christ is all I need" doctrine to exclude the need for gifts of grace like prophets, apostles, priesthood, church organization, water baptism, communion, laying on of hands, etc. However, this is exactly the kind of thing John in Revelation warned the believers about. Denying the physicality of God is what John said was the spirit of Antichrist.

1 Jn. 4: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Many Early Christians went apostate because this "physicality is evil" doctrine crept into the doctrine. The physicality of God was denied and it affected other doctrines. Many Christians know that the gnostics denied Christs physical resurrection but have forgotten why the gnostics refused to accept that Christ had a body. They rejected Christ's physicality because they knew that Christ was the exact, perfect and complete revelation of the nature of the Father. And they could not accept that the Father could possibly have any physicality. So, while Evangelical Christians today accept Christ's physicality, many are no better then the Gnostics because, like them, they can not accept that the Father has physicality as part of His nature. that is the doctrine of the antiChrist then and now. And that leads many to deny any physicality in Christ's Church (also equated with His body), and Christ's temple (also equated with His body). The truth of the Bible is that there are both spiritual and physical meaning to Christ's Church and Temple as Christ has both a body and a spirit as the Father has both a body and a spirit.

Philip. 3: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

1 Cor. 9: 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

1 Cor. 15: 42, 50, 52-54 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Satan and Evil do not create anything of their own, but corrupt things. Therefore there is nothing inherently evil about the body or physicality. Christ, on the other hand, changes things, purifies, sanctifies, and perfects things. Therfore the corruptible flesh can become incorruptible and holy. This truth refutes the belief that anything physical is evil, impure, and inferior. If anything physical is inferior, what would that mean about Christ who has a body? Would that make Christ inferior? Yes, corrupt flesh and blood can not inherit the kingom of God, but Christ's incorruptible and glorified body of flesh and bone did.

Rev 13:5-7 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

John talks again about the message of the "mouth" or "false prophet" or "Antichrist" of the beast. The Antichrist would blaspheme God, His name (Christ), by blaspheming his tabernacle, his body, or physicality. This is also directly related to those who deny the physicality of Christ's church and the revelations about the restoration of Christ's temple in the Last Days. Some see God as spirit only. Therefore, they only see the God's church, temple, and salvation in terms of the spiritual and deny any physicality associated with them.

When the Scriptures say that God is spirit, and that man must worship Him in spirit and in truth. It was saying God is both spirit and body and man must learn to worship God both in body and spirit, letter of the law and spirit of the law, with a broken heart and contrite spirit, and with faith and works together just as God is a perfect and glorified union of the spiritual and physical.

John warns us not to worship the beast (Roman Catholic Church), its image (Protestantism), and receive not its mark (Trinity, Nicene Creed). John warns us not to listen to the Antichrist and the "mouth" of the Beast that will blaspheme His tabernacle and deny the physicality of God, His church, and His temple.

Obviously, this would be the road most traveled by the Gentiles. If most people were to be fooled, shouldn't those who consider ourselves true believers of Christ examine ourselves like the Apostles did to ask if we are guilty of denying and betraying Him. Shouldn't we ask as did the Apostles, "Lord, Is it I" (Matt. 26: 22).