WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
Jesus is truly human as we are, and was tempted like us. He is also the only begotten son of God.
Jesus has been referred to often in these studies. There is much more to say about him, but we have seen already that he is the most important person in the Bible and in the whole purpose of God.
We have mentioned his perfect life, his special death as the final sacrifice for sin, his resurrection to eternal life and his ascension to heaven from where he will return as world-wide King.
Yet the New Testament still refers to him as a man –
`the man from heaven` (1Corinthians 15:47-9); `the man, Christ Jesus` (1Timothy 2:5) The Apostle John tells us that Jesus “came in the flesh”; meaning of course that he had the same human nature that we do.
This is so important that he explains - “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist” (2John 1:7).
Jesus therefore truly and fully shared our nature, and was tempted “in every respect as we are” (Hebrews 4:14). This made it possible for him to `defeat sin` in his own life,
by always obeying his Father`s will and never giving way to his human desires when they went against those of his Father. God himself could not overcome sin in that way, because God cannot be tempted.
The Epistle of James tells us, “Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one” (Jas 1:13).
A thousand years before Jesus` birth, God made this promise to King David - “When your days are fulfilled . . . I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body,
and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.” (2Samuel 7:12-13).
The first thing this tells us is that the Saviour would be the son of God, and in the last study we learned how this happened (Luke chapter 1) The second thing we learn is that the Saviour would also be truly a son of David.
God stated very plainly that he would “come from your body”. These are the same words (in Hebrew) that God used to Abraham when promising the birth of Isaac (Genesis 15:4); and David used them about
his son Absalom (2Samuel 16:11). In today`s language, the Bible was saying that the Saviour would be physically, genetically, descended from David.
This shows us how wrong it is to think that Jesus existed in another form before he was born. No-one who existed before birth – such as an angel, or God Himself - would be the son of David in that literal way.
Mary would not be his real mother either, she would only be a way for a spirit-being to enter the world.
No: Mary was the true mother of Jesus, David was his distant grandfather, and Jesus is truly descended from the long line of people who are listed in Luke chapter 3.
The result of this was that Jesus had a constant struggle in his mind between his own human will and the will of his Father. Like us, he had to fight against temptation inside himself.
The battle continued until his death, “even death on a cross”: and then his Father raised him again, “highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name”. (Phil 2:8-9)
Jesus lived that perfect life because he always allowed his Father`s will to rule him. He accepted his Father`s help, so that his victory was God`s victory – in Bible language it was the victory of `spirit` over `flesh`.
In study 4d we thought about Jesus` temptation in the wilderness, and saw that Jesus overcame every temptation by reminding himself of God`s advice in the Bible.
The Gospels go on to show us that his temptations went on through his life, and each time it was his reliance on God and His words in the Bible that made it possible for him to do the right thing.
“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, `My Father, not as I will, but as you will.`" (Matthew 26:39)
Now we can begin to understand that the freeing of God`s people from their sins is God`s work, but that praise for that should go to Jesus also.
God sent His son and made it possible for him to live that perfect life; and Jesus, using all the help that his Father offered to him, obeyed perfectly.
Later we shall see what this can mean for us, but before we do that we must learn more about the Holy Spirit,
because the Holy Spirit is so much connected with all that Jesus did, and with all that he now does from God`s throne in heaven (Rev 3:21).
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What The Bible Says
