Monday: The Contrast in the Wilderness
“Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matt. 4:1, NKJV).
Imagine this scene from the perspective of Satan himself. The divine, exalted Being whom he knew as the Son of God had now lowered Himself—had taken on human flesh—in order to save the human race.
Image © Review & Herald Publishing from GoodSalt.com
This was the same Jesus whom he warred against in heaven and who threw him and his angels out (see Rev. 12:7-9). But now this Jesus was—what? An emaciated human being alone in a harsh wilderness with no obvious support? Certainly Jesus would now be an easy target for Satan’s deceptions.
“When Satan and the Son of God first met in conflict, Christ was the commander of the heavenly hosts; and Satan, the leader of revolt in heaven, was cast out. Now their condition is apparently reversed, and Satan makes the most of his supposed advantage.”—Ellen G. White, TheDesire of Ages, p. 119.
What a contrast: though Lucifer had once sought to “be like the Most High” (Isa. 14:14, NKJV), Jesus had emptied Himself of the glory of heaven. Here, in this one scene, we can see the vast difference between selfishness and selflessness; the vast difference between what holiness is and what sin does.
Compare Isaiah 14:12-14 with Philippians 2:5-8. What does this tell us about the difference between the character of Jesus and Satan?
Imagine how the angels who had known Jesus in His heavenly glory must have viewed what was taking place as these two foes now stood face to face in a mode of conflict that the two had never experienced between them before. Though we have the distinct advantage of knowing how this turned out, the angels—indeed all of heaven—didn’t; and so, they must have watched this conflict with rapt and fascinating attention.
| Satan exalted himself. Jesus humbled Himself, even to the point of death. What can we learn from this powerful contrast, and how can we apply this important truth to ourselves? How should it impact the way we make certain decisions, especially those in which our ego is at stake? |
(15)
What a contrast indeed! Lucifer tried to do something that was impossible: make himself, a creation, into a creator. Did he really think this could happen? Maybe over time he convinced himself. I am sure at least one angel must have pointed out to him the folly of this scheme. The Son of God, on the other hand, was the omnipotent Creator. As God, He actually had it within His power to affect any change He thought was best. Counterintuitively (at least to us), He went the opposite direction as Lucifer did. Instead of exalting Himself, He chose to condescend to us, emptying Himself of His God-ness, and eventually becoming obedient to the death of the cross. (Phil. 2:7,8) By doing so, He demonstrated that my eternal life was more important to Him than His own.
The question in the lesson is, "(H)ow can we apply this important truth to ourselves?" Jesus said that if we want to follow Him, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him. (Luke 9:23) This suggests to me that Jesus is calling us to follow Him - to empty ourselves then become obedient to the death of the cross. He even calls us to let the eternal life of our fellow wordlings be more important to us than our own eternal life. (Phil. 2:3) I don't know about anyone else, but this seems to be am impossible request; I can't do it. The beautiful thing is that, since Jesus already walked that path, He has the authority to give us the power to follow Him! "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Phil. 4:13 We can do it in Him. For me, this is the gospel. No news could be better than this.
I know I can't or I have tried to forget about self I love the lord and will do my best. I need to pray before I react
This is a very big contrast and we need to be careful with the way we think and act as Christians because pride brings sin as it brought it to the devils heart. pride might even corrupt the mind of someone who thinks he is doing it for Christ and sacrificing himself. An example of a preacher who might think he is preaching because he want the people to know the truth of Christ when in true sense he really wants people to know that he preaches better than others.Remember what apostle James said "God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble" James 4:6.
Lets pray unceasingly for the humility of mind like that which Christ Jesus had.
Sin has a way of making us feel so unworthy, this lesson helps put value and perspective on the sacrifice Christ made for us! I like the fact that even in our state of unworthiness we should put the salvation of others above our own! The only way to do that is to Lift up Christ!
As Christian we need to pray for the holy spirit because Christ himself we was lad by the holy spirit in this days we are trying to fight against satan without spirit of God lets pray for that we win all lost souls and all evil powers
All are along we thought we need to just follow God without anything in hand as we we see this context is just showing that we need to have to be strong spiritualy and physical fitness for us to be able to fight
The language used in the first verse is very interesting: Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. TO BE TEMPTED sounds to me like a purpose. I understand it as something Jesus did with a purpose (not that He ever did/does anything by accident) - to be tempted. Jesus had to come as a human to prove that God's laws are not impossible to be obeyed. Of course the devil gives us all different temptations, according to our predispositions and preferences, and offering the planet Earth and ita kingdoms was what Jesus came here to do - to redeem us. How much easier it would have been for Him to "accept" it from Satan instead of dying on the cross! ut He could not and did not take the easy way out. That is how serious sin is - there is no easy way out. Jesus did the hardest thing so WE could have the easy way out - after all, we cannot save ourselves. Jesus did all the hard and painful work for us. All we have to do is accept Jesus's sacrifice and for some people that is too hard!
I agree, Karina dee, the language in the first verse is very interesting. It comes close to saying that Jesus "invited" temptation, but I cannot bring myself to agree with that. There is a relevant little thought in Desire of Ages which says that "He did not invite temptation" (DA p.114)... perhaps there is a fine line here, and yet I can't cross the line to say that Jesus effectively tempted the Devil to tempt Him. (I don't mean to suggest that you are saying that He did do that.)
But there are times when people do do exactly that, aren't there? -- They effectively tempt the Devil to tempt them... craving the feeling and the "power" of temptation. But not so with Jesus. He went into the wilderness on guard; He didn't enter that situation "inviting" temptation.
Lord I want to humble myself but it is hard but I will pray about it
A daily dose of (1 Cor. 15:31, NIV), "I face death everyday--yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord", is good medicine for oversized egos such as we humans have. The apostle Paul, recognizing his own struggles with the sin of "pride" and self-dependence, seemed to throw his hands in the air in utter frustration at his futile efforts to overcome sin in his own strength, laments: "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom. 7:24,25). Many times I feel just as Paul felt when he penned these precious verses, but I am so happy they were recorded in the Scriptures for our benefit even thousands of years later. If the story ended at verse 24, we would be hopeless so thanks be to God for verse 25, providing us the solution in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Supreme contrast to the prince of darkness, for He says,
"I am the Light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). Jesus is also the source of "Life", the contrast to death, which came as the curse of sin, born in the mind of the enemy of our souls. "He who knew no sin became sin for us that we may become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21).
In the battle between good and evil - the great controversy - Christ, our righteousness is, in every respect, the antidote for every ill, every poisoning of the mind and body with worldly influence, every tragedy, every trial or temptation we may have to face and every sin to be overcome. If we would overcome sin and self we must first acknowledge who we are, as sinners in need of a Savior and humble ourselves, prostrate at the feet of Jesus. After all, He did NO sin, yet, He humbled Himself and became one of us, in order to save us from all of OUR sins.
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair bowed down with care,
God gave His son to win;
His erring child He reconciles,
And pardons from His sin.
Refrain:
O, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure--
The saints' and angels' song.
when i read your comments it gives me hope again although i have backslide but through your prayers and support i will stand again and be strong
Yes, what a scene of contrasts! An angel of light, fresh from the courts of heaven [seemingly], and this emaciated peasant from the hill country of Galilee [seemingly].
But what a contrast too, between the first Adam (who was faced with temptation while in the strength of perfect manhood, surrounded with the glories of Eden), and this Second Adam! There is a voice within Adventism saying that Jesus, the Second Adam, met the Deceiver having the very same nature that Adam possessed before the fall. But this, I believe, is far from the reality. Jesus met the Deceiver in "the nature of Adam, the transgressor"! (17Manuscript Release p.338) It is true that Jesus' biological father was not a man, but this gave Jesus no advantage. What a contrast exists in this too!
Stewart we see many contrasts in this venue. Verse after verse, used as enlightenment, and well known. I often consider the context. How far back in a Chapter or even a Book, does one have to go to get the understanding of the texts? Or do we lean to our own understandings? Admonitions are plentiful. Yes we also all freely admit to our sins.
Jesus humbled himself to the point of death but in the end will be exalted as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Satan seeks to exalt himself which will also be to his death and final destruction. As the song says, "Jesus is the winner man, Satan is the loser man."
Let us follow the example of Jesus.
Let us surely learn from Jesus for He is ‘gentle and humble in heart, and we will find rest for our souls ‘ (Matthew 11:29).We need to have that same mind that was in Christ (Philippians 2:5).We see surely a total contrast with Satan. He was not satisfied with who he was, he wanted more. In contrast Jesus did not give Himself a name, but was exalted by the Father (Philippians 2:9).Jesus Christ humbled Himself in obedience unlike Lucifer who rebelled against God. A rebellious person knows exactly what is supposed to be done but they choose to do as they please and the end result is not good. Jesus humbled Himself and was exalted but Satan’s pride led him to his downfall. Before pride comes a fall. Let us be like Jesus and humble ourselves and God will lift us up (James 4:10).We see that God does not share His glory with anyone. Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God (1Corinthians 10:31).All the Glory goes to the Father (Isaiah 42:8).God might be using you so powerfully but remember that,ALL the Glory goes to God.Amen
Janet, from my own personal experience, I would suggest that your course of action will not work - focusing on humbling self and the determination to pray before reacting is not likely to work.
Instead, spending personal time with Jesus, during which you allow Him to speak to you and you speak to Him, will change your heart and make you more humble and patient.
When I find judgmentalism and impatience cropping up in life I know I need to go back to the cross. I know I need to allow Jesus more time to change my heart.