Christ and His Righteousness - E.G. Waggoner
'God Manifest in the Flesh
“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. John 1:14.”
No words could more plainly show that Christ was both God and man. Originally only Divine, He took upon Himself human nature and passed among men as only a common mortal, except at those times when His Divinity flashed through, as on the occasion of the cleansing of the temple or when His burning words of simple truth forced even His enemies to confess that “never man spake like this man.”
The humiliation which Christ voluntarily took upon Himself is best expressed by Paul to the Philippians. “Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being originally in the form of God counted it not a thing to be grasped [that is, to be clung to] to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, becoming in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.” Phil. 2:5-8, Revised Version, marginal reading.
The above rendering makes this text much more plain than it is in the common version. The idea is that, although Christ was in the form of God, being “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His Person” (Heb. 1:3), having all the attributes of God, being the Ruler of the universe, and the One whom all Heaven delighted to honor, He did not think that any of these things were to be desired, so long as men were lost and without strength. He could not enjoy His glory while man was an outcast, without hope. So He emptied Himself, divested Himself of all His riches and His glory, and took upon Himself the nature of man, in order that He might redeem him. And so we may reconcile Christ's unity with the Father with the statement, “My Father is greater than I.”
It is impossible for us to understand how Christ could, as God, humble Himself to the death of the cross, and it is worse than useless for us to speculate about it. All we can do is to accept the facts as they are presented in the Bible. If the reader finds it difficult to harmonize some of the statements in the Bible concerning the nature of Christ, let him remember that it would be impossible to express it in terms that would enable finite minds to grasp it fully. Just as the grafting of the Gentiles into the stock of Israel is contrary to nature, so much of the Divine economy is a paradox to human understanding.
Other scriptures that we will quote bring closer to us the fact of the humanity of Christ and what it means for us. We have already read that “the Word was made flesh,” and now we will read what Paul says concerning the nature of that flesh: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom. 8:3, 4.
A little thought will be sufficient to show anybody that if Christ took upon Himself the likeness of man in order that He might redeem man, it must have been sinful man that He was made like, for it is sinful man that He came to redeem. Death could have no power over a sinless man, as Adam was in Eden, and it could not have had any power over Christ, if the Lord had not laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Moreover, the fact that Christ took upon Himself the flesh, not of a sinless being, but of a sinful man, that is, that the flesh which He assumed had all the weaknesses and sinful tendencies to which fallen human nature is subject, is shown by the statement that He “was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.” David had all the passions of human nature. He says of himself, “Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Ps. 51:5.
The following statement in the book of Hebrews is very clear on this point:
For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. [“For verily not of angels doth He take hold, but He taketh hold of the seed of Abraham.” Revised Version.] Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted. Heb. 2:16-18
If He was made in all things like unto His brethren, then He must have suffered all the infirmities and been subject to all the temptations of His brethren. Two more texts that put this matter very forcibly will be sufficient evidence on this point. We first quote 2 Cor. 5:21:
For He [God] hath made Him [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
This is much stronger than the statement that He was made “in the likeness of sinful flesh.” He was made to be sin. Here is the same mystery as that the son of God should die. The spotless Lamb of God, who knew no sin, was made to be sin. Sinless, yet not only counted as a sinner but actually taking upon Himself sinful nature. He was made to be sin in order that we might be made righteousness. So Paul says to the Galatians that “God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Gal. 4:4,5.
“In that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” “For we have not a High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb. 2:18; 4:15, 16.
One more point and then we can learn the entire lesson that we should learn from the fact that “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” How was it that Christ could be thus “compassed with infirmity” (Heb. 5:2) and still know no sin? Some may have thought, while reading thus far, that we were depreciating the character of Jesus by bringing Him down to the level of sinful man. On the contrary, we are simply exalting the “Divine power” of our blessed Saviour, who Himself voluntarily descended to the level of sinful man in order that He might exalt man to His own spotless purity, which He retained under the most adverse circumstances. His humanity only veiled His Divine nature, by which He was inseparably connected with the invisible God and which was more than able successfully to resist the weaknesses of the flesh. There was in His whole life a struggle. The flesh, moved upon by the enemy of all righteousness, would tend to sin, yet His Divine nature never for a moment harbored an evil desire nor did His Divine power for a moment waver. Having suffered in the flesh all that men can possibly suffer, He returned to the throne of the Father as spotless as when He left the courts of glory. When He lay in the tomb, under the power of death, “it was impossible that he should be holden of it,” because he “knew no sin.”
But someone will say, “I don't see any comfort in this for me. To be sure, I have an example, but I can't follow it, for I haven't the power that Christ had. He was God even while here on earth; I am but a man.” Yes, but you may have the same power that He had if you want it. He was “compassed with infirmity,” yet He “did no sin,” because of the Divine power constantly dwelling within Him. Now listen to the inspired words of the apostle Paul and learn what it is our privilege to have:
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph. 3:14-19.
Who could ask for more? Christ, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, may dwell in our hearts so that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. What a wonderful promise! He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmity.” That is, having suffered all that sinful flesh is heir to, He knows all about it and so closely does He identify Himself with His children that whatever presses upon them makes a like impression upon Him and He knows how much Divine power is necessary to resist it, and if we but sincerely desire to deny “ungodliness and worldly lusts,” He is able and anxious to give to us strength “exceeding abundantly, above all that we ask or think.” All the power which Christ had dwelling in Him by nature, we may have dwelling in us by grace, for He freely bestows it upon us.
Then let the weary, feeble, sin-oppressed souls take courage. Let them “come boldly unto the throne of grace,” where they are sure to find grace to help in time of need, because that need is felt by our Saviour in the very time of need. He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmity.” If it were simply that He suffered eighteen hundred years ago, we might fear that He had forgotten some of the infirmity, but no, the very temptation that presses you touches Him. His wounds are ever fresh, and He ever lives to make intercession for you.
What wonderful possibilities there are for the Christian! To what heights of holiness he may attain! No matter how much Satan may war against him, assaulting him where the flesh is weakest, he may abide under the shadow of the Almighty and be filled with the fullness of God's strength. The One stronger than Satan may dwell in his heart continually and so, looking at Satan's assaults as from a strong fortress, he may say, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.”
*******
My thoughts-
Mat_4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Mar_1:13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
Luk_4:2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
Tell me, if our Savior wasn't able to succumb to temptation, would the devil even try to tempt Him? What would the point have been? If Christ had some special power that is beyond our ability to also wield, would it even matter if He came at all? Seriously. How could our Savior possibly save us sinners if He didn't also risk sinning Himself?
Don't you imagine that Satan would have been the first one objecting if Jesus were completely beyond His ability to tempt? Satan, the ultimate in deception would not stand for a Savior unable to be tempted. Look what he did about Job. He told God that if He removed His shielding hand from around Job then Job would curse God, He would sin easily enough. And Job was just an example of a man, not the Savior come to lay claim to the right to save ALL who believe in Him. You have to comprehend that Satan would have disputed with God mightily if Jesus was just going to dress Himself up in human flesh to put on a show for people and angels. Jesus had to be able to be tempted of the greatest of all temptations. Jesus had to be able to comprehend the tempting a fallen sinning human being could endure, because it was that fallen sinning human being He was going to save. Jesus was NOT placed in an earthly Garden of Eden, the angels were not asked to move aside to let Jesus in that Garden where the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil existed. Jesus wasn't given the Garden life clothed in the light of God's righteousness, not even aware of His own nakedness. That life was gone. No human being would ever again experience what Adam and Eve experienced, not even Christ and why would Christ go back to that point, who could He save by proving that He could resist that temptation? Couldn't we ALL say we deserve to have the same experience as Adam and Eve, if that were the case? Put in the exact same situation is it guaranteed that any of us would have fallen to temptation? The ONLY way Christ could save fallen mankind was outside of the Garden experience because that is where we dwell.
Some say that we are born condemned, in fact whole churches, whole denominations believe in this. They believe that an infant who dies is condemned to death as a sinner unless of course they step in and do something such as infant baptism which is found NO WHERE in our Bibles.
Isa 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
Isa 11:7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Isa 11:8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.
We know for a fact that this projected scenario will NOT take place until we live in a whole new world, the world after Christ returns and after we dwell with Him in heaven for a thousand years. The new earth. In the new earth a sucking child (infant) will play on the hole of the asp a very deadly snake. This sucking child, this infant is saved, and this was stated long before any sort of infant baptismal rite was initiated.
We are born with all the tendency to sin, we are born sinners, but we are not born condemned sinners. We are condemned when we are accountable for our sins whatever age that begins for the individual.
Christ never sinned, not once. Born with our weak, infirmed flesh He never ONCE consented to sin with His mind, not once!
Satan knew that Christ felt every temptation thrown His way. Satan knew that there existed the possibility for Christ to commit sin, to fail.
We through the sacrifice of our Savior can live in Him, live in Christ's righteousness. He did no sin, He beat every single temptation known to mankind.
Before you start with naming all the temptations He couldn't have been tempted with because He didn't walk the earth in our day with our modern temptations, the truth is that EVERY single temptation has a commonality- they involve choosing self over God. That commonality unites every single sin there is. No, Christ wasn't tempted with chocolate covered donuts, or a syringe full of heroin. Yet, Christ felt the temptation to choose self over God in ways we will never comprehend.
The Garden of Gethsemane where He was sweating blood, His temptations were so great, tell me-- when was the last time you sweat blood fighting against temptation? He was being tempted to free Himself from the crucifixion, from the pain, the humiliation, the horror, the torture, the separation from His Father that death would bring. We who think little of sinning, of succumbing to temptation to save ourselves from the smallest of inconveniences, we can't even imagine what our Savior endured.
He was touched by our infirmities. He emptied Himself. God with us! The Word made flesh and dwelling among us. Dwelling among us as one of us. Honestly and truly to outside appearance He was just another man, having nothing remarkable to prove He had some special power of His own to keep Him from sinning. He looked like everyone else. He wasn't glowing with a halo. He appeared like sinful man- like you and I.
By the grace of God may we fully comprehend what our Savior has done and still does for us. We can't let ourselves make the mistake of believe Christ succeeded because He used His own special powers against sin. We can't let ourselves believe that Christ took on any other flesh than the flesh He was born through- Mary's sinful flesh, the same flesh that all her ancestors had inherited through Adam and Eve- after they sinned. Our Savior suffered to save, Satan made sure He would suffer in every way He possibly could. Satan would not have tempted our Savior, Satan would not have been so cruel if all our Savior did was in vain. Our Savior's sacrifice was worth more than we'll ever fully realize. Our Savior's sacrifice was accepted, wholly accepted by God the Father and by all who have a stake in the outcome between good and evil.
Please Lord, help us in all we do as we seek to know Your TRUTH, always Your TRUTH!
In Your LOVE!
'God Manifest in the Flesh
“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. John 1:14.”
No words could more plainly show that Christ was both God and man. Originally only Divine, He took upon Himself human nature and passed among men as only a common mortal, except at those times when His Divinity flashed through, as on the occasion of the cleansing of the temple or when His burning words of simple truth forced even His enemies to confess that “never man spake like this man.”
The humiliation which Christ voluntarily took upon Himself is best expressed by Paul to the Philippians. “Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being originally in the form of God counted it not a thing to be grasped [that is, to be clung to] to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, becoming in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.” Phil. 2:5-8, Revised Version, marginal reading.
The above rendering makes this text much more plain than it is in the common version. The idea is that, although Christ was in the form of God, being “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His Person” (Heb. 1:3), having all the attributes of God, being the Ruler of the universe, and the One whom all Heaven delighted to honor, He did not think that any of these things were to be desired, so long as men were lost and without strength. He could not enjoy His glory while man was an outcast, without hope. So He emptied Himself, divested Himself of all His riches and His glory, and took upon Himself the nature of man, in order that He might redeem him. And so we may reconcile Christ's unity with the Father with the statement, “My Father is greater than I.”
It is impossible for us to understand how Christ could, as God, humble Himself to the death of the cross, and it is worse than useless for us to speculate about it. All we can do is to accept the facts as they are presented in the Bible. If the reader finds it difficult to harmonize some of the statements in the Bible concerning the nature of Christ, let him remember that it would be impossible to express it in terms that would enable finite minds to grasp it fully. Just as the grafting of the Gentiles into the stock of Israel is contrary to nature, so much of the Divine economy is a paradox to human understanding.
Other scriptures that we will quote bring closer to us the fact of the humanity of Christ and what it means for us. We have already read that “the Word was made flesh,” and now we will read what Paul says concerning the nature of that flesh: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom. 8:3, 4.
A little thought will be sufficient to show anybody that if Christ took upon Himself the likeness of man in order that He might redeem man, it must have been sinful man that He was made like, for it is sinful man that He came to redeem. Death could have no power over a sinless man, as Adam was in Eden, and it could not have had any power over Christ, if the Lord had not laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Moreover, the fact that Christ took upon Himself the flesh, not of a sinless being, but of a sinful man, that is, that the flesh which He assumed had all the weaknesses and sinful tendencies to which fallen human nature is subject, is shown by the statement that He “was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.” David had all the passions of human nature. He says of himself, “Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Ps. 51:5.
The following statement in the book of Hebrews is very clear on this point:
For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. [“For verily not of angels doth He take hold, but He taketh hold of the seed of Abraham.” Revised Version.] Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted. Heb. 2:16-18
If He was made in all things like unto His brethren, then He must have suffered all the infirmities and been subject to all the temptations of His brethren. Two more texts that put this matter very forcibly will be sufficient evidence on this point. We first quote 2 Cor. 5:21:
For He [God] hath made Him [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
This is much stronger than the statement that He was made “in the likeness of sinful flesh.” He was made to be sin. Here is the same mystery as that the son of God should die. The spotless Lamb of God, who knew no sin, was made to be sin. Sinless, yet not only counted as a sinner but actually taking upon Himself sinful nature. He was made to be sin in order that we might be made righteousness. So Paul says to the Galatians that “God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Gal. 4:4,5.
“In that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” “For we have not a High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb. 2:18; 4:15, 16.
One more point and then we can learn the entire lesson that we should learn from the fact that “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” How was it that Christ could be thus “compassed with infirmity” (Heb. 5:2) and still know no sin? Some may have thought, while reading thus far, that we were depreciating the character of Jesus by bringing Him down to the level of sinful man. On the contrary, we are simply exalting the “Divine power” of our blessed Saviour, who Himself voluntarily descended to the level of sinful man in order that He might exalt man to His own spotless purity, which He retained under the most adverse circumstances. His humanity only veiled His Divine nature, by which He was inseparably connected with the invisible God and which was more than able successfully to resist the weaknesses of the flesh. There was in His whole life a struggle. The flesh, moved upon by the enemy of all righteousness, would tend to sin, yet His Divine nature never for a moment harbored an evil desire nor did His Divine power for a moment waver. Having suffered in the flesh all that men can possibly suffer, He returned to the throne of the Father as spotless as when He left the courts of glory. When He lay in the tomb, under the power of death, “it was impossible that he should be holden of it,” because he “knew no sin.”
But someone will say, “I don't see any comfort in this for me. To be sure, I have an example, but I can't follow it, for I haven't the power that Christ had. He was God even while here on earth; I am but a man.” Yes, but you may have the same power that He had if you want it. He was “compassed with infirmity,” yet He “did no sin,” because of the Divine power constantly dwelling within Him. Now listen to the inspired words of the apostle Paul and learn what it is our privilege to have:
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph. 3:14-19.
Who could ask for more? Christ, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, may dwell in our hearts so that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. What a wonderful promise! He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmity.” That is, having suffered all that sinful flesh is heir to, He knows all about it and so closely does He identify Himself with His children that whatever presses upon them makes a like impression upon Him and He knows how much Divine power is necessary to resist it, and if we but sincerely desire to deny “ungodliness and worldly lusts,” He is able and anxious to give to us strength “exceeding abundantly, above all that we ask or think.” All the power which Christ had dwelling in Him by nature, we may have dwelling in us by grace, for He freely bestows it upon us.
Then let the weary, feeble, sin-oppressed souls take courage. Let them “come boldly unto the throne of grace,” where they are sure to find grace to help in time of need, because that need is felt by our Saviour in the very time of need. He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmity.” If it were simply that He suffered eighteen hundred years ago, we might fear that He had forgotten some of the infirmity, but no, the very temptation that presses you touches Him. His wounds are ever fresh, and He ever lives to make intercession for you.
What wonderful possibilities there are for the Christian! To what heights of holiness he may attain! No matter how much Satan may war against him, assaulting him where the flesh is weakest, he may abide under the shadow of the Almighty and be filled with the fullness of God's strength. The One stronger than Satan may dwell in his heart continually and so, looking at Satan's assaults as from a strong fortress, he may say, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.”
*******
My thoughts-
Mat_4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Mar_1:13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
Luk_4:2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
Tell me, if our Savior wasn't able to succumb to temptation, would the devil even try to tempt Him? What would the point have been? If Christ had some special power that is beyond our ability to also wield, would it even matter if He came at all? Seriously. How could our Savior possibly save us sinners if He didn't also risk sinning Himself?
Don't you imagine that Satan would have been the first one objecting if Jesus were completely beyond His ability to tempt? Satan, the ultimate in deception would not stand for a Savior unable to be tempted. Look what he did about Job. He told God that if He removed His shielding hand from around Job then Job would curse God, He would sin easily enough. And Job was just an example of a man, not the Savior come to lay claim to the right to save ALL who believe in Him. You have to comprehend that Satan would have disputed with God mightily if Jesus was just going to dress Himself up in human flesh to put on a show for people and angels. Jesus had to be able to be tempted of the greatest of all temptations. Jesus had to be able to comprehend the tempting a fallen sinning human being could endure, because it was that fallen sinning human being He was going to save. Jesus was NOT placed in an earthly Garden of Eden, the angels were not asked to move aside to let Jesus in that Garden where the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil existed. Jesus wasn't given the Garden life clothed in the light of God's righteousness, not even aware of His own nakedness. That life was gone. No human being would ever again experience what Adam and Eve experienced, not even Christ and why would Christ go back to that point, who could He save by proving that He could resist that temptation? Couldn't we ALL say we deserve to have the same experience as Adam and Eve, if that were the case? Put in the exact same situation is it guaranteed that any of us would have fallen to temptation? The ONLY way Christ could save fallen mankind was outside of the Garden experience because that is where we dwell.
Some say that we are born condemned, in fact whole churches, whole denominations believe in this. They believe that an infant who dies is condemned to death as a sinner unless of course they step in and do something such as infant baptism which is found NO WHERE in our Bibles.
Isa 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
Isa 11:7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Isa 11:8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.
We know for a fact that this projected scenario will NOT take place until we live in a whole new world, the world after Christ returns and after we dwell with Him in heaven for a thousand years. The new earth. In the new earth a sucking child (infant) will play on the hole of the asp a very deadly snake. This sucking child, this infant is saved, and this was stated long before any sort of infant baptismal rite was initiated.
We are born with all the tendency to sin, we are born sinners, but we are not born condemned sinners. We are condemned when we are accountable for our sins whatever age that begins for the individual.
Christ never sinned, not once. Born with our weak, infirmed flesh He never ONCE consented to sin with His mind, not once!
Satan knew that Christ felt every temptation thrown His way. Satan knew that there existed the possibility for Christ to commit sin, to fail.
We through the sacrifice of our Savior can live in Him, live in Christ's righteousness. He did no sin, He beat every single temptation known to mankind.
Before you start with naming all the temptations He couldn't have been tempted with because He didn't walk the earth in our day with our modern temptations, the truth is that EVERY single temptation has a commonality- they involve choosing self over God. That commonality unites every single sin there is. No, Christ wasn't tempted with chocolate covered donuts, or a syringe full of heroin. Yet, Christ felt the temptation to choose self over God in ways we will never comprehend.
The Garden of Gethsemane where He was sweating blood, His temptations were so great, tell me-- when was the last time you sweat blood fighting against temptation? He was being tempted to free Himself from the crucifixion, from the pain, the humiliation, the horror, the torture, the separation from His Father that death would bring. We who think little of sinning, of succumbing to temptation to save ourselves from the smallest of inconveniences, we can't even imagine what our Savior endured.
He was touched by our infirmities. He emptied Himself. God with us! The Word made flesh and dwelling among us. Dwelling among us as one of us. Honestly and truly to outside appearance He was just another man, having nothing remarkable to prove He had some special power of His own to keep Him from sinning. He looked like everyone else. He wasn't glowing with a halo. He appeared like sinful man- like you and I.
By the grace of God may we fully comprehend what our Savior has done and still does for us. We can't let ourselves make the mistake of believe Christ succeeded because He used His own special powers against sin. We can't let ourselves believe that Christ took on any other flesh than the flesh He was born through- Mary's sinful flesh, the same flesh that all her ancestors had inherited through Adam and Eve- after they sinned. Our Savior suffered to save, Satan made sure He would suffer in every way He possibly could. Satan would not have tempted our Savior, Satan would not have been so cruel if all our Savior did was in vain. Our Savior's sacrifice was worth more than we'll ever fully realize. Our Savior's sacrifice was accepted, wholly accepted by God the Father and by all who have a stake in the outcome between good and evil.
Please Lord, help us in all we do as we seek to know Your TRUTH, always Your TRUTH!
In Your LOVE!
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