The Same Jesus, Yesterday, Today, and Forever
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“Jesus Christ is the final word by which God has revealed His redemptive purposes in the world, a revelation to which nothing can be added.” - DeYoung
As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Jesus Christ is the final word by which God has revealed His redemptive purposes in the world, a revelation to which nothing can be added.” - DeYoung
“A new study from Lifeway Research finds close to 3 in 4 Americans believe Jesus was born in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago. Even more say Jesus is the son of God the Father, but less than half believe Jesus existed prior to being born on that first Christmas.” - CToday
I’m not simply referring to the reason why God allowed Christ to be tempted. I’m also querying God included the account of Christ’s temptation in the Bible. According to John’s Gospel, 20:30, Christ did many significant things in His lifetime that are not recorded in Scripture. Apparently, the Holy Spirit moved the writers of Scripture to record those events which were most necessary for the salvation of sinners and edification of the church.
“The phrase is rare, but it does appear twice in the OT. In Isaiah 44.23 it appears in contrast with heaven: “Sing O ye heavens; … shout, ye lower parts of the earth.” Here it clearly means the earth as distinguished from heaven; grammarians would call this a ‘genitive of apposition’—’ye lower parts, that is to say, the earth.’” - Olinger
“The third New Testament example of applying an Old Testament YHWH citation to Jesus appears more than once … It appears at the very beginning of this proclamation, in Peter’s sermon at Pentecost.” - Olinger
“…lest there be any doubt about the reference, Isaiah later exclaims, “Mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts!” (Is 6.5). And John, the inspired Evangelist, says that it’s Jesus.” - Olinger
Read Part 1.
The second temptation of Jesus in Matthew concerns the protection of God:
Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: `He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, `In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” (Matthew 4:5-6)
“Can you say that Christ is supreme in your life? Is He the preeminent one in your life? Is He your authority? Or are you?” - P&D
There are so many amazing stories about Jesus in the Gospels that they can vie for precedence and obscure somewhat from our minds their individual greatness. This problem of over familiarity certainly applies to the Temptation of Jesus. I shall follow Matthew’s report:1
Along with the startling claims of John’s prologue there are other texts in the NT which convey the same essential facts. In Colossians 1 the apostle Paul refers to Jesus this way:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Colossians 1:15-17)
Discussion