Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
The reality of spiritual warfare is an emphasis in Jesus’ testing: “And immediately the Spirit driveth Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted [tested] of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto Him” (Mark 1:12-13). Christians must realize that we are in a spiritual battle and that it is the battle of our lives. It is not a battle for our lives; we are eternally secure in Jesus. However, the warfare is ongoing. In this spiritual conflict, our three enemies are Satan, the sin nature (which Jesus did not possess), and the system of the world which aggressively opposes good (Romans 1:18-32). Satan is our adversary (that is the meaning of the name); we are commanded, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8). If Satan cannot lead us into sin, he will try to make us proud that we have resisted temptation. If he can get us to sin, he will endeavor to make that sin a besetting habit. If we serve faithfully, he will attempt to discourage us. James, in his pithy and direct style, flatly states, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (4:7b) – just as he did from Jesus (Matthew 4:10-11).