InkBleed
09-16-2006, 09:42 AM
By MARY HADDOX
As Christians, we rightfully put an enormous amount of emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus. When we speak or think about “What Jesus did for me,” we will always include the phrase “He died for me,” in the resume.
But how often do we reflect on the fact that he LIVED for me. Let that sink in a moment. Jesus lived his life for me.
What does that mean? After studying this for a youth lesson, I was broken to find out exactly what Jesus did by choosing to face the gauntlet of life for me. Especially when the Spirit led him into the wilderness toå be tempted by Satan. By this time in his life, Jesus would have been away from his Heavenly throne for about 30 years. Think back 30 years in your life. Do you remember where you were, what you were doing, where you were living. If your like me, a 30-year-old memory doesn’t hold a lot of detail. Jesus walked on the earth for three decades living a human life with all the trials, pains and sorrows that humans face and then he was led to the wilderness to be tempted by the Deciever.
In order for us to appreciate what Jesus did in the wilderness we need to realize that he possessed the ability sin. We also need to grasp and understand what would have happened if he had failed and succumbed to temptation. We would have no hope. None. It would have been over for us. He is our only hope.
Another thing we need to realize is exactly the level of temptation he faced. When we read the account of his temptation in the wilderness in Luke 4:14 we can breeze through that passage and probably think to ourselves, “What’s the big deal, I could have done that.” Well, no we couldn’t.
Consider this: I John 2:16 tells us that all temptation can be categorized into three temptation traps. The first being the “lust of the flesh.” The lust of the flesh is anything that our flesh commands of us that we cannot control. When Jesus went into the wilderness, he fasted for 40 days and then he became hungry. No one I know has ever fasted for forty days and most of us can’t go 40 minutes without our stomachs demanding our worship. Food is the most basic and primal desire that man has. Jesus was hungry after 40 days. Satan couldn’t have tempted him with a sultry and sexy woman, because his basic need of food is what was demanding his attention. The need for food is far stronger than any other fleshly desire. But after 40 days, Jesus looked Satan in the eye and explained that God’s word was sufficient for man. America suffers from obesity. How can we think that we could have overcome this temptation when we can’t control our appetites to the point of having a healthy temple.
The second way we are tempted according to I John 2:16 is by the “lust of the eyes.” The lust of the eyes is anything we cannot take our eyes off of. It consumes our imaginations. It is trying to keep up with Jones’ or coveting something or someone to the point that it is all you can think about. The lust of the eyes is not just about your physical eyesight either – it includes your mind’s eye. The lust of the eyes when we see something and we think we cannot live without it.
Now in Jesus’ lust of the eyes temptation in the wilderness, Satan showed him all the kingdoms of the world and offered it all to him. We think to ourselves, “Well God owns everything anyway, so what is the deal?” Here is the big deal: Jesus was human, 30 something years of age. The things from his heavenly home were trapped away within a human memory fading. The things of his human future promised a gruesome death and humiliation. What Satan was offering to Jesus was a way to bypass the cross and still be “set for life.” If he had bowed down and worshipped Satan, he would not have had to face Calvary.
The average American has 20,000 in credit card debt. We cannot resist the temptation of the lust of the eyes with the small things like charging up more than we can pay on stuff we don’t need. Jesus resisted the lust of the eyes to the point that he would die on a cross.
Lastly, temptation comes in the form of “the pride of life.” The pride of life can sneak in undetected and manifests when we rise up in arrogance. It is when we say “Don’t you KNOW who I AM?” It is when we feel we can do it all without any help. It is when we think we do not need anybody or anything. It is when we rely solely on our own flesh. It is when we put all confidence in our own abilities. It is when we develop and over-bloated sense of our own self worth.
Satan tempted Jesus in this way when he took him to the highest point in Jerusalem on the pinnicle of the temple and told him to jump off, his angels would catch him – after all he is the Son of God. By doing this, Satan pointed who Jesus is: the Son of God. If anybody ever had a right to say, “Don’t you KNOW who I AM?” it is Jesus. If anyone ever had a right to take confidence in himself, it is Jesus. After all, he has some really wonderful credentials: King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Alpha and Omega, Almighty God just to name a few.
But out of humility and a love for the Father to do his will, he did not yield to the temptation. Wouldn’t it be reasonable to think that we, who are not God, who are a created, dying flesh could resist this temptation of the pride of life using his example?
No one you know, no one I know has ever faced this standard of temptation. And Jesus did it without sin. He allowed Satan to set the bar at the highest standard for temptations so we could look at it and understand that we do not have to stumble when we are tempted by our petty little temptations.
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted, as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15.
Jesus did an amazing, wonderful, historical feat when he gave himself up on the cross. He showed his power by collecting the keys to hell and death. And He gives us hope in his resurrection. If that was all he had done, he would still be my God and I couldn’t love him any less than I do.
If all God wanted to do was redeem mankind, he could have went straight from the stable to the cross with the spotless sacrifice it required. But God walked the earth 30 plus years to show us how to live, how to love, how to live an abundant life without sin by overcoming temptations through his strength and by his example.
“But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.” I Corinthians 10:13
As Christians, we rightfully put an enormous amount of emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus. When we speak or think about “What Jesus did for me,” we will always include the phrase “He died for me,” in the resume.
But how often do we reflect on the fact that he LIVED for me. Let that sink in a moment. Jesus lived his life for me.
What does that mean? After studying this for a youth lesson, I was broken to find out exactly what Jesus did by choosing to face the gauntlet of life for me. Especially when the Spirit led him into the wilderness toå be tempted by Satan. By this time in his life, Jesus would have been away from his Heavenly throne for about 30 years. Think back 30 years in your life. Do you remember where you were, what you were doing, where you were living. If your like me, a 30-year-old memory doesn’t hold a lot of detail. Jesus walked on the earth for three decades living a human life with all the trials, pains and sorrows that humans face and then he was led to the wilderness to be tempted by the Deciever.
In order for us to appreciate what Jesus did in the wilderness we need to realize that he possessed the ability sin. We also need to grasp and understand what would have happened if he had failed and succumbed to temptation. We would have no hope. None. It would have been over for us. He is our only hope.
Another thing we need to realize is exactly the level of temptation he faced. When we read the account of his temptation in the wilderness in Luke 4:14 we can breeze through that passage and probably think to ourselves, “What’s the big deal, I could have done that.” Well, no we couldn’t.
Consider this: I John 2:16 tells us that all temptation can be categorized into three temptation traps. The first being the “lust of the flesh.” The lust of the flesh is anything that our flesh commands of us that we cannot control. When Jesus went into the wilderness, he fasted for 40 days and then he became hungry. No one I know has ever fasted for forty days and most of us can’t go 40 minutes without our stomachs demanding our worship. Food is the most basic and primal desire that man has. Jesus was hungry after 40 days. Satan couldn’t have tempted him with a sultry and sexy woman, because his basic need of food is what was demanding his attention. The need for food is far stronger than any other fleshly desire. But after 40 days, Jesus looked Satan in the eye and explained that God’s word was sufficient for man. America suffers from obesity. How can we think that we could have overcome this temptation when we can’t control our appetites to the point of having a healthy temple.
The second way we are tempted according to I John 2:16 is by the “lust of the eyes.” The lust of the eyes is anything we cannot take our eyes off of. It consumes our imaginations. It is trying to keep up with Jones’ or coveting something or someone to the point that it is all you can think about. The lust of the eyes is not just about your physical eyesight either – it includes your mind’s eye. The lust of the eyes when we see something and we think we cannot live without it.
Now in Jesus’ lust of the eyes temptation in the wilderness, Satan showed him all the kingdoms of the world and offered it all to him. We think to ourselves, “Well God owns everything anyway, so what is the deal?” Here is the big deal: Jesus was human, 30 something years of age. The things from his heavenly home were trapped away within a human memory fading. The things of his human future promised a gruesome death and humiliation. What Satan was offering to Jesus was a way to bypass the cross and still be “set for life.” If he had bowed down and worshipped Satan, he would not have had to face Calvary.
The average American has 20,000 in credit card debt. We cannot resist the temptation of the lust of the eyes with the small things like charging up more than we can pay on stuff we don’t need. Jesus resisted the lust of the eyes to the point that he would die on a cross.
Lastly, temptation comes in the form of “the pride of life.” The pride of life can sneak in undetected and manifests when we rise up in arrogance. It is when we say “Don’t you KNOW who I AM?” It is when we feel we can do it all without any help. It is when we think we do not need anybody or anything. It is when we rely solely on our own flesh. It is when we put all confidence in our own abilities. It is when we develop and over-bloated sense of our own self worth.
Satan tempted Jesus in this way when he took him to the highest point in Jerusalem on the pinnicle of the temple and told him to jump off, his angels would catch him – after all he is the Son of God. By doing this, Satan pointed who Jesus is: the Son of God. If anybody ever had a right to say, “Don’t you KNOW who I AM?” it is Jesus. If anyone ever had a right to take confidence in himself, it is Jesus. After all, he has some really wonderful credentials: King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Alpha and Omega, Almighty God just to name a few.
But out of humility and a love for the Father to do his will, he did not yield to the temptation. Wouldn’t it be reasonable to think that we, who are not God, who are a created, dying flesh could resist this temptation of the pride of life using his example?
No one you know, no one I know has ever faced this standard of temptation. And Jesus did it without sin. He allowed Satan to set the bar at the highest standard for temptations so we could look at it and understand that we do not have to stumble when we are tempted by our petty little temptations.
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted, as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15.
Jesus did an amazing, wonderful, historical feat when he gave himself up on the cross. He showed his power by collecting the keys to hell and death. And He gives us hope in his resurrection. If that was all he had done, he would still be my God and I couldn’t love him any less than I do.
If all God wanted to do was redeem mankind, he could have went straight from the stable to the cross with the spotless sacrifice it required. But God walked the earth 30 plus years to show us how to live, how to love, how to live an abundant life without sin by overcoming temptations through his strength and by his example.
“But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.” I Corinthians 10:13