If we desire to have a correct understanding of this narrative we must divest our minds of preconceived ideas, and engrave on the clear surface a distinct impression of the Christ of the Apostle’s testimony “The Man Christ Jesus.” This man — for he was a man — a man approved of God among the Jews — was the promised prophet that God said He would raise up unto Israel from among their brethren, like unto Moses. If we fail to grasp this reality we cannot appreciate the truth of the temptation.
The difference between this man and other men lies in the fact that he was begotten by the Holy Spirit of God instead of being begotten by man, hence he was called “the only begotten of the Father,” and therefore Son of God as well as Son of Man, the Son of Mary, the handmaid of the Lord.
This is the second man. The first was made out of the dust, the second was begotten from a virgin. Being the Son of God, he was the image of his Father. The likeness lay not in the outward form, for he was in the likeness of sinful flesh — a man. The Godlikeness was in the understanding, a characteristic reflection of the Deity — Godliness manifested in the flesh. The Divine features were engraved by the Spirit upon the brain of the woman’s seed, hence as his intellect developed by experience the faithful likeness of the Deity could be seen as in a mirror, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father”1 was the phrase by which he expressed this truth to the disciples.
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Author: T. Royce
Keywords: Christ tempted, Christ's temptation, Christ's temptation in the wilderness, Devil, Devil and Jesus, Devil tempts Jesus, diabolos, Evil angel, Evil Inclination, Evil nature, Evil one, Hara Yetser, Ha-ra Yetser, Hara Yetzer, Ha-ra Yetzer, Hara Yezer, Ha-ra Yezer, Jesus' temptation, Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, Jesus tempted, Jesus tempted by Satan, Jesus tempted by the devil, Jesus tempted in the wilderness, Jesus's temptation, Satan, Satan and Jesus, Satan tempts Christ, Satan tempts Jesus, Sin personified, Temptation, Temptation from within, Temptation in the wilderness, Tempted in the wilderness, Tempted of Satan, Tempted of the devil, Tempted to do evil, Tempts Christ, Tempts Jesus, The devil tempts Christ, The devil tempts Jesus, The Evil Inclination, The Evil One, Tittle, Two jots, Wilderness temptation, Yatsar, Yetsarim, Yetser ha ra, Yetser ra, Yetzer, Yetzer ha ra, Yetzer Hara, Yetzer ra, Yetzer tov, Yezer ha ra, Yezer Hara
Bible reference(s): Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2-13, Hebrews 2:18, Hebrews 4:15
Source: “Christ’s Temptation of the Devil,” The Testimony, Vol. 7, No. 80, August 1937, p. 292-6.
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