What Jesus Christ Being Tempted Means For Us!
Part 1a: 22min
Part 1b: 29min
Full Message:
Main Passages: Matthew 4:1-11 Luke 2:42
“Jesus demonstrated faithfulness in the wilderness of temptation. Unlike Adam and Eve in the garden and unlike the children of Israel in the wilderness, Jesus refused to gratify His desires apart from God’s will or to test God and His promises. Instead of taking the path of earthly exaltation, Jesus fixed His eyes on the cross and triumphed over the temptations of the Evil One. As Christians, we can resist temptation by trusting in the Savior who overcame temptation in our place. ” The Gospel Project
Theological Theme:
In the wilderness, Jesus, relating intimately with His Father, and in the Holy Spirit’s power, triumphs over temptation at the point that Adam, and Israel, and all of us have failed.
Christ Connection:
In order to undo the consequences of Adam’s sin, Jesus steps into our world and overcomes the temptation to which Adam succumbed. In order to fulfill the purpose of His people, Israel, who doubted God in the wilderness, Jesus overcomes temptation on behalf of His people. Jesus’ temptation is connected to His cross, the place where He conquered sin as our Savior.
Missional Application:
God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to resist temptation by resting in our identity in Christ, the One who overcame temptation in our place.
“In each of the three neverto-be-forgotten pictures which our Lord has given us, the temptation of Satan centers round this point—‘You are the Son of God, then do God’s work in Your own way; assert Your prerogative of Sonship.’ Jesus deliberately rejected the suggested ‘short cut’ and chose the ‘long, long trail,’ evading none of the suffering involved.” – Oswald Chambers
“The first Adam sinned by eating. Christ prevailed by self-control. He thus teaches that there is no need for us to stay far away from God.” –Theodore of Heraclea
“The wilderness temptation represents an all-out assault on the identity of Jesus, which was revealed at His baptism. It was a threefold attack. First, Satan sought to tempt Jesus to satisfy His desires apart from the will of God. The temptation was to make Him rely on Himself apart from the Father in sustaining His own life with physical bread. Jesus triumphed when He spoke of relying on the word of God for life. Second, Satan sought to tempt Jesus to doubt God’s protection and to test that promise by jumping from the roof of the temple. Once more, Jesus displayed His total trust in the Father. Third, the Devil tempted Jesus to abandon the identity the Father bestowed upon Him at the Jordan, the radical identification with the world that would finally lead Him to the cross. Jesus’ final triumph in the wilderness occurred when He determined to serve and worship the Father alone and triumphed over the temptation of Satan. This is not simply an ancient story of a struggle between good and evil. It is a battle plan for those who long to remain obedient to God. Jesus’ victory in the wilderness matters because it is a foretaste of the victory He will achieve for the world on the cross. He is always the pattern and the paradigm. We have failed to engage or understand this narrative if we have not realized that His victory can be echoed in our own experience. His victory is ours! In light of Christ’s work, our appropriate response is following His pattern of obedience as worship.” – The Gospel Project
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Trinity and Humanity 
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