Jesus Christ was fully of human body. God could have sent the Messiah in any form, such as God himself appeared to Moses, for example, in the burning bush or the glowing cloud that descended to the tent. However God chose to send Jesus within the womb of Mary, formed entirely as a human, with a human upbringing and with a family lineage (recorded in the Gospel through his stepfather Joseph's side). Thus Jesus was both of the flesh and of the human family (he had a normal human body and he could identify his ancestors, both biologically and through the marriage of Mary and Joseph making Joseph's lineage his own). Therefore God validated the "goodness" of the human body and of the geneological family. If human bodies and family lineage were not "good," then God would have sent Jesus as a burning bush or an angel in glorified body.
Further, in the Old Testament it is prophesied that the Messiah will have milk and honey so that he will know them. Now, a lot of people don't understand forms of speech from Biblical times. When the Bible talks about a married couple "knowing" each other, that means they are intimate in sexual relationship. So the Bible expression to "know" means to take part in the activity. It does not mean that this was a previously unknown activity, as in the modern usage to "know what it is like." So many people misunderstand that Jesus somehow didn't know what the good stuff is in life (being all poor and that) and so he'd have some milk and honey in order to "find out" what the goodness of life is (milk and honey representing abundance of sweet and rich food and therefore lifestyle). The promised land "flows with milk and honey," for example. But the modern slang approach of understanding is wrong. What this meant is that the Messiah will engage in the activities that validate the goodness of a rich and prosperous life, ie. he will have milk and honey. The reason it is said like it is is so that no one will think that the Messiah will live as a rich person, but likewise they will know that he did not come to tell people to reject "milk and honey." Thus the Messiah will "know" milk and honey and again, validate the goodness in principle of life.
So Jesus in both the reality of his birth and lineage (human) and in the prophecy is clearly sent by God in a form that validates, not repudiates, being within the world, which is, to live in the world with meaningfulness, fullness and appreciation for its goodness. So Christians are definitely able to point to Jesus as God's validation that the human body, its ancestral lineage, and the ability to experience material goodness and abundance are all correct and normal.
The second example I give is of the teachings of Jesus. I need only point to one example here, which are The Beatitudes. Each beatitude is a pairing, expressing the current state of a person, and the poorness or suffering they may be experiencing, and the reward and comfort that God will give them. If God meant Jesus to teach some sort of great "detachment" from the "suffering wheel" of the world, the beatitudes would not have been taught in the form that they were at all. The beatitudes recognize the meaningfullness of even painful real life experience, and their reward when one is in God's hands, even if that only happens at the end of life. Compare the real beatitude with hypothetical "total detachment" ones:
Real beatitude:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Example of "extreme detachment" "beatitude":
If you feel poor in spirit that is because you care too much about the material world and those around you, and you should detach from them.
Real beatitude:
Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.
Example of "extreme detachment" "beatitude":
Everyone should feel meek instead of proud because there is nothing to be proud about, and nothing to possess, including feeling like God's heirs, on earth.
You see what I mean? I don't want to do any more examples because the fake ones make me want to puke, but I know that an example is the best teaching tool.
Therefore you can see that Christians are taught through both the words and the living example of Jesus, that one can be and should be part of the world and its goodness. The difference is that one should not allow one's self to be ruled or dominated by earthly (human made) measures and standards. That's totally different from being detached from either human or God's measures!
Humans are especially challenged in understanding this today because they have a quantity control problem. Abundance has created an inability to enjoy the simple and good things in life. Likewise, some in abundant countries have a totally negative and inappropriate backlash to that, now wanting people to feel guilty about enjoying "milk and honey." You see that with the carbon counting craze. It is wrong to have abundance skew your thinking in EITHER of those directions, to be unappreciative or to be its opposite, which is to become a guilt ridden spoil sport nag of others.
I often think about a young Chinese man who was trapped by the earthquake face down, so he could talk and receive help, but he could not be freed for eight days, and then he perished. He told people that all he wanted out of life was to be with his wife and future to be born baby, a simple life, the happy family with a simple job. That was the dream he held onto until he died. I grieve every day for him, even though I know his goodness has merited him heaven, for he gave quite an example for the world to see even as he died a slow death. I shed tears for him every time I think of him, including now. He, a poor young Chinese man, but with hope for a normal life of marriage, parenthood, and a paying job, set a better example for everyone than anyone I can think of in the laity in the past year. To him, he wanted the milk and honey of his wife, their baby, and being a provider. That is being in this world and wanting what is good. Abundance had not clouded his mind of what is the most important in life, which is family and the ability to support them and to thrive. That is not "detachment" and that is not being ruled by the world. That is being of the world and understanding that life and committed love with children are the most important thing. If he had lived, and he'd worked his way up from worker to manager, that would have been fine too. That is being real and being in the world, but not being a manmade entity of the world.
I hope this is helpful. Much could be (and has been) written, but I needed to help people set the record straight about Jesus. It is obvious that Jesus validated, not denied, the goodness of life and everything he said and did was exhorting people to appreciate life within the context of God's design and purpose. Buddhist type thoughts are not Christianity, they never have been and they never will be. Christians don't "detach" from either the goodness and reality of life in God's creation or the reality of eternal life within God's presence, after a clear and final judgment of their life, no squishy spiritual "recycling." People are sometimes confused by the vows of poverty, including that of Jesus. Where did he impose that on others? He did not and in fact visited with equal affection the rich and the poor. Poverty is a special grace that some do for their own and the world's behalf, and it is very powerful (you see that whenever Jesus speaks of or performs fasting, because fasting is a quick "poverty of the body" if you think about it). But that does not mean that Jesus came in human body with human lineage and prophesied to know the goodness of life just to tell people that life is mean and bad and everyone should feel negative and morose and nagging and guilty about it and ruin it for everyone. What thanks THAT would be to God's generosity and goodness of creation! But that's exactly the mindset of many living today. As a result they glom onto manmade and man defined pleasures and then turn around and have a crisis because they no longer can enjoy the simple pleasures of real life. What a mess.
