The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"In All Points Tempted"
Only One has faced temptation of every conceivable manner and measure.
"For we have not an 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" (Hebrews 4:15).
As God, the Lord Jesus Christ could not be tempted. "God cannot be tempted with evil" (James 1:13). As man, conversely, He could be challenged by appeals of the world, the flesh, and the devil. And He was. "In all points." Most importantly, as a man He overcame every temptation in faith and submission to His Father, including the great assault upon His flesh in the garden of Gethsemane, wherein He prayed, "O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me" (Matthew 26:39). It was not possible, of course, a truth known by our Lord in His spirit. "For this cause came I unto this hour" (John 12:27). God nevertheless allowed enemies to entice the Lord in His humanity, leading to the temptation of Gethsemane and the great and overcoming triumph that ensued. "Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done" (Luke 22:42).
"Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh" (I Timothy 3:16).
We could proceed to ponder the wonders and questions such truth brings to heart and mind. However, this is written as a simple appreciation of such glorious as Savior and so profound the sacrifice He made in becoming human, and thus, subject to temptation. How can we ever comprehend the challenge this meant to a Being possessed of such pristinely righteous character that before His incarnation, He could not even be tempted with evil? We will never know. We can only embrace the mystery in the awareness of our Savior's sacrifice and His love for us that "passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19). We can also seek to love Him in greater measure, realizing that the things we cannot know about Him often illuminate our hearts as much as the things we can.
"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. 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 succour (aid) them that are tempted."
(Hebrews 2:14-18)
Weekly Memory Verse
"Ye are risen with Him through faith in the operation of God."
(Colossians 2:12)
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