Mark 1:12 "And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness." This has always intrigued me. The fact that this happened immediately after his baptism by the Spirit (came down on Him as a dove), suggests that there was a sense of urgency. It appears that God urgently wanted to settle the score with Satan. Jesus came to reclaim our relationship with God by overcoming Satan, as a man. He was righting Adams wrong.
Jesus is called the second Adam in the book of Romans. The first Adam sinned and handed his nature down to us. We have been bent towards deception, selfishness, and rebellion. Yet Jesus, as the "second Adam," overcame Satan's temptations. In Romans, Paul explains that just as we inherited a sin nature from Adam 1, by faith we can inherit an obedient nature through Adam 2. In Christ, we were created anew. So awesome! But first, Jesus had to confront Satan and this time, not give an inch.
So God comes down into Jesus by the Holy Spirit, and drives him to confront the devil. It's kind of like one of those sci-fi movies where the super hero bursts onto the earth from another dimension. He first gets his bearings, dawns the cape, and rushes off to defeat his enemies. Similarly, (artistic license here), the Holy Spirit comes down on Jesus and immediately compels him into the desert for a show down with Satan. The word "driveth" in the Greek means "to eject, bring forth, cast, expel, thrust out." Seems he wanted a piece of that cunning serpent.
Could it be that God could not wait to confront his enemy on the battlefield of mankind? All these years God was separated from his creation because of Adam's sin. Few men could get close to the Presence of God. No man could fully withstand the power of evil to seduce and deceive. Enter Jesus to come and restore mankind to God. Before Jesus restores our nature, he first had to reclaim victory over Satan's power, in man, as a man.
This is a great comfort for me! There is absolutely no contest between God and Satan. God does not battle Satan for power over anything. Yet as a man, the Lord had to reestablish dominion and give us a new, overcoming spirit. A new nature. The reality is that the same Spirit that overcame the evil one in the wilderness, and every day afterwards, lives in us! This is the good news, great news for the poor in spirit.
Where do we look when we are struggling? What do we depend upon when we need more love, more peace, more self control? We look to Him. He has made a new and living way by the ministry of the Spirit of God (2 Corinthians 3). Paul declares in this passage that we serve in the newness of the Spirit, not the oldness (and inability) of the letter of the law.
We partake of Christ's life. In Him, the power of the sin nature was crucified, and that same nature was raised into a new life. He cleansed us, then he raised us, then he filled us. It's the Promise of the Father. We have no victory apart from Him. His victory is our victory if we will but believe. Over time we are being changed into His image. This is a beautiful, lifelong process. I believe it is called "sanctification" in some religious traditions. He made us holy, and He is making us holy. Only Believe.
Jesus is called the second Adam in the book of Romans. The first Adam sinned and handed his nature down to us. We have been bent towards deception, selfishness, and rebellion. Yet Jesus, as the "second Adam," overcame Satan's temptations. In Romans, Paul explains that just as we inherited a sin nature from Adam 1, by faith we can inherit an obedient nature through Adam 2. In Christ, we were created anew. So awesome! But first, Jesus had to confront Satan and this time, not give an inch.
So God comes down into Jesus by the Holy Spirit, and drives him to confront the devil. It's kind of like one of those sci-fi movies where the super hero bursts onto the earth from another dimension. He first gets his bearings, dawns the cape, and rushes off to defeat his enemies. Similarly, (artistic license here), the Holy Spirit comes down on Jesus and immediately compels him into the desert for a show down with Satan. The word "driveth" in the Greek means "to eject, bring forth, cast, expel, thrust out." Seems he wanted a piece of that cunning serpent.
Could it be that God could not wait to confront his enemy on the battlefield of mankind? All these years God was separated from his creation because of Adam's sin. Few men could get close to the Presence of God. No man could fully withstand the power of evil to seduce and deceive. Enter Jesus to come and restore mankind to God. Before Jesus restores our nature, he first had to reclaim victory over Satan's power, in man, as a man.
This is a great comfort for me! There is absolutely no contest between God and Satan. God does not battle Satan for power over anything. Yet as a man, the Lord had to reestablish dominion and give us a new, overcoming spirit. A new nature. The reality is that the same Spirit that overcame the evil one in the wilderness, and every day afterwards, lives in us! This is the good news, great news for the poor in spirit.
Where do we look when we are struggling? What do we depend upon when we need more love, more peace, more self control? We look to Him. He has made a new and living way by the ministry of the Spirit of God (2 Corinthians 3). Paul declares in this passage that we serve in the newness of the Spirit, not the oldness (and inability) of the letter of the law.
We partake of Christ's life. In Him, the power of the sin nature was crucified, and that same nature was raised into a new life. He cleansed us, then he raised us, then he filled us. It's the Promise of the Father. We have no victory apart from Him. His victory is our victory if we will but believe. Over time we are being changed into His image. This is a beautiful, lifelong process. I believe it is called "sanctification" in some religious traditions. He made us holy, and He is making us holy. Only Believe.
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