"Thank You, Captain Obvious!"

I know you are much smarter than I am and probably had this figured out already, but bear with me.

If I got to choose five books that should be required reading for all Christians, "Restored" by Neil T Anderson would be on the list.  I've been through it before, years ago, but it never ceases to amaze me how something you've heard previously and know well suddenly hits you in a fresh way.  The Bible is famous for doing that.  Chapter One provided a light bulb moment for me.

Neil states that one of the primary reasons Jesus came to us as a man was "to give us an example to follow in His steps. Jesus showed us how a spiritually alive person could live a righteous life.  He did so by demonstrating a life totally dependent upon His Heavenly Father.  All temptation is an attempt to get us to live our lives independently of God.  Jesus was tempted in all ways but unlike Adam He never sinned."


Suddenly what I had always known in my head took on a very real, very deep meaning in my heart.


I guess I've always thought about Jesus, both fully God and fully human, as being sort of above all the temptation stuff, as if He possessed some supernatural resistance that we don't have.  I mean, after all, He is God.  On some level I thought when Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness that that was it, once and for all.  Battle over.  The Big Stuff was dealt with and Real Ministry could begin.


Somehow it never really occurred to me that Jesus was truly tempted by little, garden variety sins that trip me up so badly, and tempted by them everyday.  I guess I thought He simply brushed off any thoughts of lying, cheating, pride, resentment, lust, complaining, greed, gluttony, laziness, etc.  


I've finally realized that it's not that Jesus couldn't sin, it's that He didn't.


Two by four me upside the head and call me George.


I mean, really, DUH!  I've been a Christian for over 24 years and I'm only just now getting that?


It wasn't only in the wilderness with Satan that He was truly tempted.  It was every day.  All day.  

Just like me.  

Wow.  

How did I not get this before?

Romans 14:23 says, "whatever is not from faith is sin."  Everything Jesus did was by faith.   Everything. 


It makes me look at every situation He encountered with new eyes.  His humanity has taken on a whole new dimension.   I want to go back through the Gospels and look closely at how Jesus handled every situation He went through.  

I can't wait to see what the next 7 chapters have in store for me.