Going into the wilderness4/9/2023 He never allowed temptation, the presentation of sin as an option, to grow into enticement or into a sinful act. Jesus had to deliberately decide to resist and reject sin-every second, minute, hour and day of His 33-plus years of life. With the help of His Father, He set His will to never let the process of sin, later described in James 1:13-14, occur in His mind. Had He been physically and mentally unable to sin, living a perfect life would have much less meaning.įor His perfect life to be a meaningful example for us, He had to experience temptation-and completely reject it. He was not a robot, preprogrammed to be mentally and physically incapable of sin. Would He sin or remain sinless? Could Jesus have sinned?īecoming flesh meant that sinlessness was not a given for Jesus. The second requirement would be determined by Jesus Himself throughout His life. Because He was God and “all things were made through Him” (John 1:3), He could die for all humankind. The first requirement was fulfilled when God the Word willingly emptied Himself of the powers and glories of divinity to come to earth as a flesh-and-blood man, Jesus of Nazareth (John 1:14 Philippians 2:5-7). The Savior could not take on the curse for others if He earned the curse Himself (Romans 8:3). The Savior had to live a perfect, sinless life in the human flesh.The Savior’s life had to be worth more than the sum total of everyone who would live and die throughout all history.The Savior would take the curse-the death penalty-upon Himself to make it possible for us to be saved from eternal death and live forever.īut, in order for God’s plan to provide a Savior, two conditions had to be met: So, God’s plan included a way to address this problem. His greatest desire is that we fulfill that potential.īut that couldn’t happen if everyone were to sin and die as the curse demands. No, He created every human being with the potential to receive eternal life as children in His family (Hebrews 2:10 1 John 3:2). Jesus had to deliberately decide to resist and reject sin-every second, minute, hour and day of His 33-plus years of life.But God’s purpose for mankind was not for us to commit sin and then die for eternity. That curse is the death penalty that hangs over the head of every person who breaks them.īecause Adam and everyone after him broke God’s law and sinned, the death penalty has hung over all humanity. God’s laws beautifully define how to live a righteous life (Psalm 119:35, 172).īut those laws have another side-a curse. Sin, as defined in the Bible, is breaking the laws of God (1 John 3:4). “Death spread to all men” because, as Paul wrote a chapter later, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12, emphasis added throughout). Paul later described the consequence of this choice. But the serpent entered the picture and tempted them to choose sin (Genesis 3:1-6). They could have received eternal life and set their offspring on the path of righteousness and peace. To understand the seriousness of these 40 days, we have to understand this basic truth: God’s plan of salvation required a Savior.īack in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were given the choice to obey or sin. What was at stake during those 40 days in the wilderness? God’s plan required a Savior Jesus confronted His greatest adversary, Satan the devil, at His physically weakest point.īut before we examine the confrontation itself, we have to understand why it was such a pivotal event-not only in Jesus’ life, but for the entire plan of God. Aside from His crucifixion, this was probably the most critical experience in Jesus’ entire human life. What would occur in that wilderness-likely the Judean desert-over the next 40 days would have eternal ramifications. Jesus would especially need it for what He would experience next.Īfter He was baptized, “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). In the last article in this “ Walk as He Walked” series, we saw that after Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, He was filled with God’s Spirit (Matthew 3:16 Luke 4:1).
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