The Humanity!

Today's Reading: Mark 1:12-13

Jesus' Humanity-

Mark 1:12–13 (ESV)12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. Personalize it method (Rick Warren's 40 Days in the Word): Lord please show me the lesson on your Word today and give me application for my life. I ask this in Jesus name, amen. Jeff, see that my Son faced temptation in this desert as a man and this text teaches of His Humanity. Understand this picture of my Son's nature and the significance of him being fully God and yet fully man. See the implications and understand the lessons that come from His humanity and His experience as the Son of Man. Know that your high priest understands you and has in fact, experienced harsher temptation and harsher suffering (although not in the physical sense) than any other man will ever endure. First see the other accounts of this temptation in the desert for a more complete picture of His temptation… Matthew 4:1–11 (ESV)4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,   “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,   “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and   “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,   “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.  Luke 4:1–13 (ESV)4 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ ” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,   “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ ” 9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,   “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and   “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. First recall one key point of the deity of Christ: As the second person of the trinity, He performed the act of creation and ceaselessly sustains everything in continued existence (including the properties of all things living and non-living) by the word of His power. Should He release for a moment the sustaining power of His Word, creation would cease to exist and there would only be the triune God as from all eternity. This includes while He was in the womb and while He was in the desert and while He hung on the cross. From Grudem's Systematic Theology- God keeps all created things existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them. Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Christ is “upholding the universe by his word of power.” The Greek word translated “upholding” is φέρω (G5770) “carry, bear.” This is commonly used in the New Testament for carrying something from one place to another, such as bringing a paralyzed man on a bed to Jesus (Luke 5:18), bringing wine to the steward of the feast (John 2:8), or bringing a cloak and books to Paul (2 Tim. 4:13). It does not mean simply “sustain,” but has the sense of active, purposeful control over the thing being carried from one place to another. In Hebrews 1:3, the use of the present participle indicates that Jesus is “continually carrying along all things” in the universe by his word of power. Christ is actively involved in the work of providence. Similarly, in Colossians 1:17, Paul says of Christ that “in him all things hold together.” The phrase “all things” refers to every created thing in the universe (see v. 16), and the verse affirms that Christ keeps all things existing—in him they continue to exist or “endure” (NASB mg.). Both verses indicate that if Christ were to cease his continuing activity of sustaining all things in the universe, then all except the triune God would instantly cease to exist. Such teaching is also affirmed by Paul when he says, “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28), and by Ezra: “You are the Lord, you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you” (Neh. 9:6). Peter also says that “the heavens and earth that now exist” are “being kept until the day of judgment” (2 Peter 3:7). One aspect of God’s providential preservation is the fact that he continues to give us breath each moment. Elihu in his wisdom says of God, “If he should take back his spirit to himself, and gather to himself his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust” (Job 34:14–15; cf. Ps. 104:29). God, in preserving all things he has made, also causes them to maintain the properties with which he created them. God preserves water in such a way that it continues to act like water. He causes grass to continue to act like grass, with all its distinctive characteristics. He causes the paper on which this sentence is written to continue to act like paper so that it does not spontaneously dissolve into water and float away or change into a living thing and begin to grow! Until it is acted on by some other part of creation and thereby its properties are changed (for instance, until it is burned with fire and it becomes ash), this paper will continue to act like paper so long as God preserves the earth and the creation that he has made. Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: An introduction to biblical doctrine (316–317). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House. So understand Jeff that my Son was fully God and yet willingly subjected himself to the human limitations and experiences of His own free, but united will with me.  See that He took on humanity for your sake in the narrow lens but more so in the wide lens for the sake of demonstrating the greatness of the glory of my grace. All the same, see the beauty and significance of His humanity... Recall some Key points regarding His humanity- From Grudem's Systematic Theology- Temptation- In connection with Jesus’ sinlessness, we should notice in more detail the nature of his temptations in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13). The essence of these temptations was an attempt to persuade Jesus to escape from the hard path of obedience and suffering that was appointed for him as the Messiah. Jesus was “led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil” (Luke 4:1–2). In many respects this temptation was parallel to the testing that Adam and Eve faced in the Garden of Eden, but it was much more difficult. Adam and Eve had fellowship with God and with each other and had an abundance of all kinds of food, for they were only told not to eat from one tree. By contrast, Jesus had no human fellowship and no food to eat, and after he had fasted for forty days he was near the point of physical death. In both cases the kind of obedience required was not obedience to an eternal moral principle rooted in the character of God, but was a test of pure obedience to God’s specific directive. With Adam and Eve, God told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the question was whether they would obey simply because God told them. In the case of Jesus, “led by the Spirit” for forty days in the wilderness, he apparently realized that it was the Father’s will that he eat nothing during those days but simply remain there until the Father, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, told him that the temptations were over and he could leave. We can understand, then, the force of the temptation, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3). Of course Jesus was the Son of God, and of course he had the power to make any stone into bread instantly. He was the one who would soon change water into wine and multiply the loaves and the fishes. The temptation was intensified by the fact that it seemed as though, if he did not eat soon, his very life would be taken from him. Yet he had come to obey God perfectly in our place, and to do so as a man. This meant that he had to obey in his human strength alone. If he had called upon his divine powers to make the temptation easier for himself, then he would not have obeyed God fully as a man. The temptation was to use his divine power to “cheat” a bit on the requirements and make obedience somewhat easier. But Jesus, unlike Adam and Eve, refused to eat what appeared to be good and necessary for him, choosing rather to obey the command of his heavenly Father. Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: An introduction to biblical doctrine (536). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House. Never think that your savior has not experienced something like what you are going through. And never think that He does not share in your sorrow. Know that He blazed the trail and we can follow but only by the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit. So pray and ask for His strength to resist temptation in your life and know that you can walk in obedience because nothing is impossible with God. Suffering on the Cross- From Grudem's Systematic Theology- The Pain of Bearing Sin More awful than the pain of physical suffering that Jesus endured was the psychological pain of bearing the guilt for our sin. In our own experience as Christians we know something of the anguish we feel when we know we have sinned. The weight of guilt is heavy on our hearts, and there is a bitter sense of separation from all that is right in the universe, an awareness of something that in a very deep sense ought not to be. In fact, the more we grow in holiness as God’s children, the more intensely we feel this instinctive revulsion against evil. Now Jesus was perfectly holy. He hated sin with his entire being. The thought of evil, of sin, contradicted everything in his character. Far more than we do, Jesus instinctively rebelled against evil. Yet in obedience to the Father, and out of love for us, Jesus took on himself all the sins of those who would someday be saved. Taking on himself all the evil against which his soul rebelled created deep revulsion in the center of his being. All that he hated most deeply was poured out fully upon him. Scripture frequently says that our sins were put on Christ: “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6), and “He bore the sin of many” (Isa. 53:12). John the Baptist calls Jesus “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Paul declares that God made Christ “to be sin” (2 Cor. 5:21) and that Christ became “a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). The author of Hebrews says that Christ was “offered once to bear the sins of many” (Heb. 9:28). And Peter says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: An introduction to biblical doctrine (573). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House. See Jeff that you savior felt the guilt and shame of every sin committed by His bride (the church and those believers of the Old Testament as well) as if He committed it himself! Can you now see how He "despised the shame" of the cross and sweated blood in the garden the night before His crucifixion? Does this not reveal the greatness of the glory of my grace? Does this truth not move you to worship? Do you not see how His suffering exceeded any other? Do you see that the man Jesus could have chosen to release His hold on creation at any moment to instantly return to the comfort and joy of the triune God with the cessation of all other existence? Now my unsearchable nature will leave you not understanding how He could have had that option while yet my sovereign will would not have allowed it- but it is not so different than with any other man. Recall that I will accomplish my purposes and I am not frustrated. Ephesians 1:11 (ESV)11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, From Grudem's Systematic Theology- Abandonment The physical pain of crucifixion and the pain of taking on himself the absolute evil of our sins were aggravated by the fact that Jesus faced this pain alone. In the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus took with him Peter, James and John, he confided something of his agony to them: “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch” (Mark 14:34). This is the kind of confidence one would disclose to a close friend, and it implies a request for support in his hour of greatest trial. Yet as soon as Jesus was arrested, “all the disciples forsook him and fled” (Matt. 26:56). Here also there is a very faint analogy in our experience, for we cannot live long without tasting the inward ache of rejection, whether it be rejection by a close friend, by a parent or child, or by a wife or husband. Yet in all those cases there is at least a sense that we could have done something differently, that at least in small part we may be at fault. It was not so with Jesus and the disciples, for, “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). He had done nothing but love them; in return, they all abandoned him. But far worse than desertion by even the closest of human friends was the fact that Jesus was deprived of the closeness to the Father that had been the deepest joy of his heart for all his earthly life. When Jesus cried out “Eli, Eli, lama sabach-thani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46), he showed that he was finally cut off from the sweet fellowship with his heavenly Father that had been the unfailing source of his inward strength and the element of greatest joy in a life filled with sorrow. As Jesus bore our sins on the cross, he was abandoned by his heavenly Father, who is “of purer eyes than to behold evil” (Hab. 1:13). He faced the weight of the guilt of millions of sins alone. Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: An introduction to biblical doctrine (574). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House. As yesterday's study considered, see that my Son had to suffer the emotions and the anguish of complete abandonment as a man. If ever a man has suffered alone without any support or compassionate shoulder or understanding ear, it was my Son who exceeded in His suffering. I withdrew my affection and my communion with my Son on that cross and there was in a wonderful way a reunification at the completion of the act as depicted in the river Jordan. Know however, that it was my good pleasure to put Him on that cross. Know that it was my purpose from forever and that I had a book of life of the lamb that was slain, within which your name was written, before I created Adam and before Satan fell! Plan A Jeff. My cross was plan A. See that I understand joy in the midst of suffering.  From Grudem's Systematic Theology- Bearing the Wrath of God Yet more difficult than these three previous aspects of Jesus’ pain was the pain of bearing the wrath of God upon himself. As Jesus bore the guilt of our sins alone, God the Father, the mighty Creator, the Lord of the universe, poured out on Jesus the fury of his wrath: Jesus became the object of the intense hatred of sin and vengeance against sin which God had patiently stored up since the beginning of the world. Romans 3:25 tells us that God put forward Christ as a “propitiation” (NASB) a word that means “a sacrifice that bears God’s wrath to the end and in so doing changes God’s wrath toward us into favor.” Paul tells us that “This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:25–26). God had not simply forgiven sin and forgotten about the punishment in generations past. He had forgiven sins and stored up his righteous anger against those sins. But at the cross the fury of all that stored-up wrath against sin was unleashed against God’s own Son. Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: An introduction to biblical doctrine (574–575). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House. Do not think for a moment Jeff that my love has excused sin. Do not think for a moment that I did not require full payment for your sin. Do not think for a moment that without the covering of the blood of the lamb that anyone has a hope of protection for the mighty wrath that I will pour out upon the earth. Think not for a moment that I will withhold the righteous judgement that will come upon all who do not trust in my Son and repent in this life. Do you suppose that I would pour my wrath on my own Son if simple forgiveness and erasing of sin was a good and righteous alternative? If you think that I take lightly what I did to my Son just because I purposed to do it you are mistaken and this element of your rescue from certain doom and unending conscious torment is what should leave a trembling in your soul as you rejoice in your safety under the blood of my Son but aware of the terrible wrath that you escaped only by my grace and my choice. Let it be a delight to fear me Jeff. Fear me not as your enemy but as one that was your enemy and now is your king, owing salvation only by my own payment for your unrighteousness. But hear this my child- I have no wrath for you. I have love as in you I see the righteousness of my Son. I do not see in you the sin you have committed or that you will commit. I see the beauty and glory of my only begotten Son. Do you see that he traded places with you? Do you see that I had to see Him as the ultimate compilation of the sin of all believers and as such the entirety of my wrath and anger against these sins was completely and forever satisfied on the cross? Do you see that I have no wrath left for you? Do you see why there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus? But woe to the man who is not in Christ Jesus…for this wrath is yet to come. Application and prayer: Today I will consider how my savior has experienced everything I could be suffering Today I will consider that my savior has overcome and offers me strength to do the same by His Holy Spirit Today I will rejoice that Jesus bore my shame and guilt and the wrath of God that was due to me such that I need not fear God as an enemy Today I will serve and worship Jesus for the amazing act of selflessness and love that brought Him to create man, then to come as a man to suffer in my place Thank you for this love and grace that you have for me Father. Thank you for your strength and for your righteousness and for your choice to redeem me rather than placing me on the alter of judgement as you did your Son. Teach me to understand these things deeper every day. I ask this in Jesus name, amen. Soli Deo Gloria! View blog from a computer or iPad for more content. Follow @dailysurrender