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The Temptation in the Wilderness
It has been said that it is as blasphemous to deny the humanity of Jesus as it is to deny His divinity. The more you understand your Bible the more you’re going to see that it could be no other way. In order for the Redemption of mankind to be possible, the Redeemer has to be both man AND God. Our aim is not to prove that in this lesson. Instead, the purpose of this episode is to show you that there is great comfort in knowing that Jesus was very much like you and me.
I think the one thing that surprises most “new” Christians is the fact that this regenerated life we have in Christ is no less challenging than the one we left behind. There are just as many setbacks, disappointments and obstacles as there were before we surrendered to Christ. Well, we shouldn’t be surprised. God’s Word never claimed it would be any easier. We all seem to assume that once Christ comes into our life that sin will no longer be a factor. We spend those first few brief moments feeling like we’re above failure, that we’ve got that “old man” beat and then just as we’re feeling pretty good about ourselves, temptation appears, we fall to it…and then it happens again…and then again and in the end we somehow come to the conclusion that we’ve failed or that our Salvation “didn’t take” or a thousand other foolish thoughts. We get tempted…and it doesn’t take very long…as our discussion today attests to…we get tempted and we think that there’s something wrong with us. We were just sure that accepting Christ was going to make the temptations glance right off of us and when it actually sticks to us like an ugly, smelly glue, we just assume we’re to blame.
The story of the Temptation in the Wilderness shows us that no one is safe from the tricks of the devil. When we read this very personal story from the life of Jesus we can actually see that temptation is just a part of the journey but instead of this being simply a reminder of our vulnerabilities, it is a clearly detailed battle plan. Certainly the devil didn’t intend this to happen, but when he decided to go after Jesus all he really did was give the Son of God the opportunity to teach us a vital lesson. Join us for this episode as we discuss the infallible tactic that Our Lord employed to fend off the foolish attacks of Satan.
But, before you begin the lesson, please, take a few minutes to speak to God and ask Him to help you to get to know His Ways better. Ask Him to show you, through His Word and through His Spirit what He expects from you and pray that He will inspire in you an unending desire to live for Him.