Transhumanism is nothing new of course for, as Solomon taught 3000 years ago, “There is nothing new under the sun.” In transhumanism Satan tempts men yet once again to become as God. It’s so strange. Satan tempts man with the exact same promise that God Himself gives to man! The difference lies in that Satan tempts us to become like God in an unlawful way. Law dwells at the heart of all things. Stephen Jones recently wrote, “Whatever God says always comes from His very Being and is a reflection of His will and character. That is the law of God.” This is a good definition.
No, man can only become like God if he does so lawfully, according to God’s ways. Jesus said, “Enter in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in there: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) The fact remains, though, that Jesus does indeed call us to be a “new man,” even a man of “flesh.”
Paul speaks a mystery in his books concerning the flesh: But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (1 Corinthians 15:35-49)
First, Paul says here that “all flesh is not the same flesh.” Then he says that there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, and that there is a natural body and then a spiritual body raised in glory. Next he tells us the second man, Jesus the LORD, descended from heaven and thus possesses a heavenly body. Finally Paul declares that faithful believers will “bear the image of the heavenly!”
In his book to the Ephesians Paul reveals a great mystery within his teaching about marital relations. He says, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:31-32 KJV)
God does not intend man to meld his flesh with machine. No, God’s intentions go far higher. In simplest terms the gospel is this: A man (Jesus) left his mother and father (God) to prepare (by teaching his bride to obey His word) and then become joined to his bride (man) so that they, together, would become one flesh. Only God knows what that flesh will look like or consist of, but one thing we do know, that flesh will be in God’s image! This is the new man, not the machineman. The goal of the Gospel, then, is the reproduction of God Himself, Elohim, man fully made in God’s image!
