Struggle Sources
The Consequences of Increasing Violence with Business
“Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching.”
(Ezek 28:16-18 NIV)
I know that was about the King of Tyre, and flashing back to be about the devil, but who else does this apply to? Filled with violence because of widespread trade? Proud because of it’s beauty? Corrupt because of its beauty? Desecrated the sanctuaries with dishonest business?
I’ll leave off what I’m alluding to, in case any of my friends ever want to become president of the United States of America.
May we never forget that all we have and are is a gift from God.
“Is he not the One who says to kings, ‘You are worthless,’ and to nobles, ‘You are wicked,’ who shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands? They die in an instant, in the middle of the night; the people are shaken and they pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand. “His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step.”
(Job 34:18-21 NIV)
Jesus was Tempted
Today I met Andy J at the bank and we talked about Luke 4. The amazing thing about Jesus being tempted in the desert, I think, is that a lot of times we’ve been ripped off and analyze what the temptations represent or what they symbolize and the way He resisted w/ God’s Word or how Satan knows the scriptures blah blah blah.
It’s enough for me to realize that Jesus was tempted. And he wasn’t tempted like my co-worker that doesn’t want me to leave the box of donuts near his cube. This was God, in the flesh, so he was weakened and gave up some of His power, being tempted to cheat the plan.
In the Miracle Maker, a claymation Jesus movie, the do a really good job of showing Jesus being tempted. At the end He is hollering at the top of His lungs, ‚ÄúYou shall not…put…the Lord…your God…to the test.‚Äù and He says that twice, almost forcing it out. Every time I see it I get tears in my eyes, because you really don‚Äôt know if He‚Äôs saying it to the devil or if He‚Äôs saying it to Himself. It really is a struggle for Him to resist.
I don’t know how to explain how one part of the Trinity could rebel or turn against God, but it was possible. It was entirely possible for Jesus to bow down to Satan. If it wouldn’t have been possible, then it wouldn’t have been a temptation. God’s own right hand angel turned against Him, His own son had the opportunity to do it too, but He didn’t.
And that’s the amazing thing. Jesus was fully man and had all of the limitations that we have as men (and women.) As He was a man, He had a perfect relationship with God, and in that relationship GOD did a ton of things through Jesus.
He was tempted to do something, and I don’t think His resistance had anything to do with some rational reasoning as to why we should all resist Satan. He resisted because He knew that was what the Father would do. He resisted because the things Satan suggested weren’t right, and He was willing to die rather than do even one thing that was not in alignment with the Father.