What Christ Faced

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Almost immediately after Christ was baptized by John the Baptist (Mark 1:9-11), He entered an extraordinary, extended battle with Satan.

Successfully resisting the devil’s temptation was the key to Christ overcoming sin and qualifying to replace and remove him at the establishing of the kingdom of God. Matthew 4:1-25 contains the account: “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit … to be tempted of the devil” (Matt. 4:1). Through enticement, the devil repeatedly baited Christ, in various ways. Take time to read the account. At the end of several attempts by Satan to break Christ’s will, the account climaxes.

Notice that after being offered all the world’s kingdoms by Satan, Christ rebuked him (Matt. 4:10) and commanded him to leave. The temptation ended and the devil departed. Christ had successfully resisted—and qualified!

Grasp this. Jesus Christ passed a very real test! He overcame the world, His flesh, and the devil in defeating sin and qualifying to pay for the sins of the world.

God’s Purpose Must Be Completed Before His Kingdom Can Arrive Though Christ qualified to replace Satan over 2,000 years ago, there are several reasons for the long delay in establishing God’s kingdom.

Since God’s Plan encompasses 7,000 years, and the sixth day is drawing to a close, with the seventh one-thousand-year “day” of God’s Plan now to follow soon, Satan will soon be bound (Rev. 20:2). But this could not happen before the first six thousand years are complete.

Again, man has been given 6,000 years to try his own ways, governments, religions, philosophies, value systems, forms of education—and methods of trying to solve the world’s greatest problems. Under the sway of Satan, he has practiced sin—disobedience to God’s commands—for all this time. Then he has tried to treat all of the ill effects instead of treating the cause—breaking God’s spiritual laws. Hard lessons are being learned. The vast majority, who have never known the precious truth of God, are having to learn that their own solutions simply do not work!

Having conquered sin, Christ qualified to replace (Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13) the “god of this world.” He assured that the devil will soon no longer be able to deceive (Rev. 12:9) and confuse mankind (1 Cor. 14:33). Having not yet been bound, Satan does everything within his power to thwart God’s Plan. His deceived ministers (2 Cor. 11:13-15) teach, in effect, that God has failed to save the world. Yet, only by God’s permission does Satan hold sway over this “present evil world” (Gal. 1:4; 1 John 5:19). Recognize that God is not losing a kind of great cosmic “wrestling match” over which He has full control. He knows exactly what He is doing, and the beauty of His plan can be known. No true God would ever condemn humanity without offering salvation to ALL!

There are other reasons for the delay in Christ’s Return. He had to first call and train the original disciples to become apostles—to become the foundation of the Church (Eph. 2:20) and to take the gospel to the world. Then, throughout the New Testament period, He had to train the rest of an administrative team to rule with Him.

Christ did not establish His kingdom immediately, because He had to ascend to heaven to become High Priest of those God calls. Christians are reconciled to God by Christ’s death, but they are saved by His LIFE (Rom. 5:10)—His Resurrection. Also, while still human, Christ could not install Himself as Satan’s replacement. Daniel showed that He had to return to heaven (also Luke 19) to be CROWNED with power and glory before He could return.

What Is God’s Purpose for Humans?

Most people have absolutely no idea WHY they were born. This is spiritually revealed knowledge, unattainable to all whom God has not called to understand His truth (John 6:44,65).

In the next chapter, we will explore more of the difference between men and animals and that God is working within the minds of those He calls toward His AWESOME PURPOSE!

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