James Richards

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Sunday Morning Service

Jeremy Richards

Copalis Community Church

21 September 2025

Bible References

• Philippians 3:21
• Genesis 1:28
• 1 Corinthians 15:43-49
• Galatians 3:10-13

Audio MP3 PDF

Verse 21, chapter 3 of Philippians, verse 21, Philippians 3, 21. It says, who will transform our lowly body that it might be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. Jesus Christ is in the process of taking that which is lowly and turning it into something glorious. We know that a good earthly picture of that is a caterpillar. You know, this lowly mini legged creature that eats, digests leafy material or other kind of things.

And then at some point in its life, it stops. That life of a caterpillar transforms, makes first of all a chrysalis. And then inside that pupa this chrysalis happens where the old nature is transformed. This glorified worm is transformed into a beautiful butterfly. And so Christ is doing that work in the lives of sinners, transforming you and I from a worm like state into something beautiful.

There needs to be a change, a desire that that which we experience on earth in its best states, that most and the fullest experience you can have of carnal fulfillment is still lowly compared to when there is a spiritual nature birthed inside of you. They cannot be compared. Paul said the glories of what is coming cannot be compared with the carnal. They do not deserve to be on the same scale. No one takes a feather and an elephant and has to weigh them to see which is heavier.

No one takes something that is beautiful and compares it with a newborn scribbling. We don't need an art judge to recognize the difference between the two. And so here you and I need to be absolutely convinced that that work which Jesus Christ does in the life of a believer is of a superior nature than whatever carn desires you could experience on earth. There is no comparison. I'm going to try to say that again.

Whatever carnal natures you may be pursuing and able to experience, they cannot be compared with that spiritual birthing of Jesus. Life in the life of an individual. I'm going to tell you straight words. Whatever sexual fulfillment you think you can receive, it cannot be compared with the greatness of Christ's life in a person. However much money you think you might be able to obtain, just simply cannot be compared to being part of the kingdom of God.

I hope that burdens us. A desire for something real, okay? That he is in the process, that he is the individual that performs this majestic chrysalis in the life of a person and turns us into something vastly superior to what we were, okay? Who will transform our lowly body that it might be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. There is a power and a way in which he accomplishes this work in the life of a believer.

He is able to do it. He has the knowledge and the potency to be able to make this transformation in the life of a lowly, sinful creature like you and me. He takes an individual who can understand how a seed developed, who can understand the mighty majesty of our Lord. We can't. But yet somehow, because of the ability that he possesses, he takes something worm like you and I and turns us into something glorious.

How can he do it? It's a mystery. But we need to see the way in which it happens. Here he is able. So I'm going to start in Genesis.

In Genesis. In Genesis, chapter one. I don't know if we really need to turn there, but Genesis 1. In the beginning, you and I possess by nature in our physical being remnants that have existed since the beginning. They are in you and I, affecting you and I every day.

And it had nothing to do with where you lived, where you're born, where your parents are from, what you did as a job, your hair color, your ancestry. It is in human beings by nature. It is the command. In Genesis chapter one, he gave the command to all physical life. And it says, be fruitful and multiply.

And so all creation continues willingly, joyfully, steadfastly, year after year after year, from the beginning of creation until now. They start their life on their journey only to fulfill God's commands. The heartbeat that beats in every living creature, in every land is still that voice ringing through the centuries. Be fruitful and multiply. Be fruitful and multiply.

And so, to their exhaustion, to their death, they pursue that command without hesitancy, always continuing, Be fruitful and multiply. Be fruitful and multiply. And in a joyous abandon, they continue with all their strength to fulfill that commandment. But man's command was slightly different. In verse 28, it says of chapter one of Genesis, it says, God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and multiply.

Fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And so you and I were also given a commandment. Be fruitful and multiply. But there came a blessing along with it that we were given responsibility to join with God and have dominion over, called the dominion mandate to have dominion over all living things.

And subdue them. Man and woman started on this journey, their hearts beating with the life of be fruitful and multiply. And they joined with God in the garden, beginning to have dominion over all the animals and plants to subdue them. And it was a joyous accompaniment as man joined and walked with God in the cool of the day. They enjoyed together.

They must have had some work that they were accomplishing. His heart beat only to please the master that he served. And then something happened. There was a tempter in the garden that tempted Adam and Eve. And they were taken out of that position of serving with God and having dominion over the environment around them.

As a result of their sin, they were made subject to the curse. No longer was their heart's desire to serve and work with God in his garden. No longer was it their joy to take up and have dominion over things. Instead, it became a burden to do so. The law was brought in, and now they were forced to try to hold up to this standard.

But their heart was not in it. Instead, they began to seek other ways than walking with the Lord, to have dominion. It was still beating in their hearts to have dominion, to subject things around them. But we see that in relationships from the curse that they begin to see it as a dominion, to have dominion over their spouse, over their children. And it becomes to be an ugly thing that is dominated by the law.

People began to reject God's ways of having dominion and began to look for other ways. You and I are still in our being, still beating, have dominion subdue. But it's not one that comes in obedience of walking with the Lord like it was originally. Now we see people stealing from others in a desire to increase the size and scope of their kingdom. They begin to try to put others in subjection under them.

They want to take more than there is due. They still have the desire to make a kingdom, but they're doing it in a different way than was originally intended. You and I, we think it's so strange, but we want to vicariously watch other people build a kingdom. We love TV shows, we love to play video games in which we can expand our kingdom vicariously. But I would like to just let you know this is not the same.

This is not God's intention. It's not the kingdom that he actually wants to build. Okay, all right, we're going to go back to Philippians. I want you to understand that that beating in your heart, that desire to establish a kingdom, is one that is inherent to you as a person. You cannot escape it.

Just As a bird cannot escape the desire to build a nest and to rear young, so you cannot escape the desire to partner with God in His motivation to make this place in which we live subject to his nature. Okay, back in Philippians, Back in Philippians, okay, in verse 21 it says, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body? There is a process. There is something that God does in transforming what is lowly and mundane. Right?

That which is only its only desire is to spread our carnal natural influence over as much area as possible. I get to see it in action with cows, right? A strong bull, what do they do? They use their strength to add to the amount of area they can control. Right?

That is a carnal nature. And so you and I, from birth in some ways are trying to expand our control through natural means. But there is a way in which Jesus does something where he accomplishes this work without our carnal desires in it. Okay, verse 21, who will transform our lowly body that it might be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. So what is the working he uses to transform an individual from a self centered individual only trying to expand their territory into a different kind of creature that is so much more glorious and beautiful?

How does it happen? That's where our focus needs to go. Back to the cross. I'm going to go to, let's see, First Corinthians. If we don't understand the spiritual transformation, we will not look in the right spots.

A caterpillar is driven by instinct to find a certain kind of plant, to find a certain place on that plant and to weave, make a cocoon for himself. There are caterpillars that are confused. They don't know where they're supposed to go. They don't understand that their offspring, it has to be done on a certain plant in a certain way. You and I also need to understand there's a certain place we have to go in order to find the mudane transferred into the glorious.

You can't go anywhere. It has to be a certain place. Okay, in First Corinthians 15.

And it's going to talk about this resurrection from verse 43, chapter 15. It says it is sown in dishonor, 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. That which you and I already possess has the opportunity to be transferred into something that somehow is related to, but is so much more glorious than what we were. Okay, and so it is written, the first man, Adam became a living being.

The last Adam became a life giving spirit. Just as in the same way our ancestor Adam is and his wife Eve introduced the curse to us which affected every area of our life.

We necessarily weren't ones that made decision, but because of one man's decision, our entire course of life was changed. Okay, the last Adam became a life giving spirit. So, so here we see another man, the last Adam. And because of his decision, he has the ability to change people for the better. As the first Adam introduced the curse, so the second Adam takes away the curse.

That curse, if you would think about it, what it's done to us. It used to be in the garden, Adam and Eve look forward to serving the Lord. Afterwards the curse came in and the law had to be used as a whip to drive people to do what's right. What a cursed thing not to want to do what's right. It says, behold, I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.

In that covenant, I will put my laws in their minds and I will write them on their heart. It will be as it was in the beginning. When a person actually wanted to please the Lord, he wanted to do what's right. He was tired of the old way of life and the law and being forced to do it. Now he wanted to do what's right.

So this last Adam, Jesus Christ is a life giving spirit. It says in verse 46, however, the spiritual is not first, but the natural and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven, as was the man of dust. So also are those who are made of dust.

And as the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly. That which Jesus is, is promised also to become those who follow him. Verse 49 is reiterated. As we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. Romans said the same thing in chapter five of Romans.

But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by one man's offence many died much more. The grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned for the judgment which came from the offense which resulted in condemnation. But the free gift which comes from many offenses, resulted in justification.

For if by one man's offense. Death reigned through one much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign through the one Jesus Christ. So we see just as one man's sin brought in judgment, brought in condemnation, brought in curse, so also one man's life brings forth righteousness. I want to stop for a minute to make sure we understand that, that the source of righteousness, the life that is found in living with God, only comes from one person's sacrifice. There is no other source.

If you are looking for a life that is above the mundane, if you are looking for a life that is not steeped in carnality and experiencing something holy and above that which the world has to offer, it is ridiculous to look in any area where Jesus is not.

He promises that the curse can be dealt with and he can reinstitute in the life of an individual that blessing of serving God with a heart, with a pure heart. We're going to go to Galatians, Galatians 3.

The curse is a hard burden to bear in chapter three of Galatians, verse 10.

For as many as of the works of the law are under the curse, anyone who is attempting by their own works to justify themselves are still under the works of the law, and therefore are still under the curse. For it is written, cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident. For the just shall live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them.

Verse 13. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Okay, you and I's heart's desire is to fulfill that natural, original commandment to be fruitful and multiply to have dominion over the earth and subdue it.

But we have always done it by the works of the law. We have always tried to do it. There's always been a back and forth. We know what we are supposed to do, but strength to do it we do not find. And we find ourselves under judgment because we have not lived according to what we know we should do.

Here comes a revelation that I believe should be open to our eyes all the time. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become A curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus. This fullness of life that was promised to Abraham.

I'm going to turn back to Genesis chapter 18 in the Lord's conversation with Abraham. In chapter 18, prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, it says in 1818, Since Abraham shall surely become a great and a mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him, you and I's heart desire is to leave a memory and a mark on this earth. To pass through it without notice to having not accomplished anything is not what we desire. Our desire is to accomplish something beautiful. Here we see that Abraham possessed this ability.

He will become a great and a mighty nation, and all the people of the whole earth will be blessed through him. It says in verse 19. For I have known him in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him.

God, in his desire to bring this blessing to Abraham and to us, has provided an atonement for the curse on the cross that Jesus became a curse for us, that our soul's desire to have the blessing of Abraham might be fulfilled. And so my question before we move to the next verse is, where are you looking? And how do you look that the curse might be taken from off your life? Do you walk as an individual, as our ancestors walk, enjoying the work in the Garden of Eden? Are you an individual who has responded to Christ and his invitation to labor with him?

Take up my yoke and follow me, for the burden is easy and the load is light. Which one are you serving? Are you building an earthly kingdom? Or have you yoked up with Christ and have submitted to his will and are joyfully building his kingdom with Him? With Christ?

If so, I'm going to go back to Philippians to finish.

The curse is dealt with through the cross of Jesus. If you remember, in the desert wanderings, there was individuals speaking against Moses and the Lord. And there were snakes that came out and bit the individuals. And as a result of those snake bites, individuals were dying. They were dying.

Moses went to the Lord and said, what do I do with this situation? And he said, make a serpent and put it on a rod Nehushta, and rise up that rod, that whoever looks on it will be cured from their infirmity. First of all, if you are recognizing that as a result of the curse, you are not able to join joyfully with Christ, Christ and his work. And you want to. You have to be willing to look at Jesus on the cross.

Now, that may sound trite, but the truth is you and I's focus is often other places except the cross of Christ. If we really want to see the curse dealt with, we have to spend time looking at the cross in order to receive the benefit that comes from it. We have to see it. As I brought back to the beginning, just a little bit with the idea of by his stripes you are healed. It's interesting that most people tend, or some people tend to think that the benefit that came from stripes came about as a result of whippings that Romans put on Jesus.

Right? And that is a common, common thought. I'm not here to argue so much, but if our focus is there, where isn't it? It's not on the cross where he was receiving wounds from the Father for our behalf. My hope is that through this, if that we recognize what the curse is, our focus might be placed on the position where Jesus was, where he bore the brunt of the punishment of our sin, where the curse was actually dealt with.

That has an impact in our life. Back to verse 21 of Philippians. It says, who will transform our lowly body, that it might be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. Because of his willingness to become a curse, he is able to bring into subjection in our lives and through our lives, everything around us. We join with him in his work.

He is. He is able to do it because of a legal payment he made on the cross, because of his suffering there. He is able to do it in chapter four, verse one. Therefore, my beloved, because of this absolute truth of Jesus bearing the curse for us, because that is something you can trust, because it's something you can hang upon, because it's a foundation that is absolutely firm, because it's an anchor that holds in the severest of storms, because it's something that has always proven it to sell to everyone who was willing in their sickness in the sand, being bit by serpents, because every individual who was willing to actually raise their heads and look there, because it's always been the case that every sinner who looked to the cross has always received sustenance from the cross.

Because all that is absolutely true and never has not been true, because there never has been one sinner who when looked, never received spiritual benefit from it because of that, my brethren, because you can be absolutely assured if you're tired of a worm like estate in this life, if you're tired of the shameful conduct of trying to increase your territory through unworthy lawful means, and it's a burden to you and you want something better. Though maybe someone here has said, I've lived like a worm for enough of this lifetime and comes to a point of saying, you know, Christ did accomplish something. I'll be willing to look there. I'll be willing to put my focus there. Now, I'm not saying that you just take up a cross and look at it.

There is a focus involved in it where he wants to see whether you really look.

If a person is willing to. It says, therefore, my beloved and longed for brethren, these individuals who he cares for.

Isaiah brought up the benefit of having a godly inheritance in a family.

We want for our children something that is beautiful and lasting. We want something for them that is enduring. We don't give them. Would a child who asks his father for an egg give him a scorpion? No.

Here Paul is saying, look, the people I love, the people I care for so deeply, I want to give you something that you can stand on, that you can rest on in whatever kind of storm it says, my beloved and longed for brethren, my joy and my crown. So stand fast in the Lord, beloved. The one reason Paul says I can encourage people to hold on in spite of all the difficulties is because Christ is able to do that work in your life and will do it because he became a curse for us in one specific place where all the earth and people and even his father abandoned him on the cross and he took our shame, one man taking it. Now my question is for you. Why would you hold onto it?

Why, when he promises a joy, this new heart? You don't serve me because you have to. This new heart I give you, you serve me because you want to, going back to that garden in a fore picture of heaven. And in that he subdues everything around us for his purposes. Amen.

Let's pray. Father, we do thank you for today, Lord. I just pray in one of our hearts of an individual still struggling with a curse, Lord, that you would cause us, Lord, to look up, Lord, to look to that cross where Christ has become a curse.