Every
year we celebrate Jesus' birth, but one thousand nine
hundred and eighty six years
ago something happened, something that has slipped the
attention of many through the ages, but has more
significance than His birth. The reason it is often ignored, whilst Christmas is blown
out of proportion, is that the latter fits quite comfortably into
the enemy's
plans.
By using Christmas as a smoke screen and
keeping
everybody involved under the impression they are okay, the evil one can deceive many into a “form of godliness but denying the power thereof,” (2 Timothy 3:5).
What
happened 1,986 years ago? John the
baptist was preaching at the Jordan River and baptizing people
for the remission of their sins..... “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan
to be baptized by John.
But John tried to
deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to
me?"
“Jesus replied,
"Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all
righteousness." Then John consented. As soon as Jesus
was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from
heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased,’” (Matthew
3:13-17).
At
that stage Jesus had knowledge.
This was proven by the fact that he astonished the Pharisees and teachers of
the law with his knowledge already at the age of twelve. He was,
therefore, like any good Christian, living quite a mediocre life by going about
his business. It is often assumed that He
worked as a carpenter, yet He was called
rabbi at several occasions during His three years of ministry.
Since nothing of his
life between twelve and thirty years of age has been recorded, it can also be assumed that his parents, having been
aware of calling, would have had him formally trained as a rabbi. This would
have given him credibility with the people. Part of it would have been the
training all Jewish boys had as they approached the age of thirteen, the age at
which they had their Bar Mitzvah.
But on that day at the Jordan River, when Jesus decided to be obedient to his heavenly Father and had Himself baptized, He
got filled with the Holy Spirit and with the Holy Spirit came the power.....”Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into
the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty
days and forty nights, he was hungry...” (Matthew 4:1, 2).
Let us just think a moment about these forty days; forty long, lonely
days in the tremendous heat of a desert without food or water - and Jesus was
just human. Picture yourself in His situation. How
would you have experienced it? Following those forty excruciating days
came the temptation to the flesh, more than any standard Christian could
handle, He was tempted with three desires:
1)
The desire to satisfy his flesh.
2)
The desire for power.
3)
The desire for material riches.
What
prevented him to submit to these temptations? It was the power of the Holy Spirit in
Him. Through the Spirit He had more and better things
to desire and to look forward to,than what Satan had offered Him, and so have you. You have no need to submit to these
same three temptations fired at you all the time.
How long did Jesus have to wait to see the fulfillment of the
expectations He had in the Spirit? Not long. From the day He overcame those three
basic stumbling blocks of the faith through the power of the Word, many miracles and
powerful teachings flowed from his hands and mouth through the power of the
Holy Spirit. He simply chose to allow the Holy
Spirit's power to work through Him.
At the time He had much knowledge due to
his Jewish training in the Talmud - the Old Testament law and prophets. He
could have relied on His knowledge, but together with the Holy Spirit and His intimacy
with His Father, came lots of revelation which astonished many people.
It was not only Jesus who had this privilege though. (To be Continued)
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