Mankind has visited upon depravity since the first generation, and the opportunities to exit the narrow path of Godly obedience are many. The dark one knows how to steer us away from Jesus...an invitation to indulge in the pleasures of sin can come along, and all of a sudden, you're the guest of honor in a place of dark fulfillment. The appeal of the lurid sin life is very enticing because it is suitable to our corrupted nature.
Hebrews 4 - NIV ( 1984 )
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Suffering
After deciding to follow Jesus we soon experience what it was like when the Lord walked in humanity. Jesus suffered in obedience His entire life. An example of the Savior's suffering would be the forty day fast in the desert. Can you imagine fasting for forty days? Most of us can barley do a modern day fast beyond three days. The suffering during that trial in the middle of nowhere must have been horrible, but our Lord denied hunger's demands and had very little to eat. Jesus suffered during the wilderness fast because He had to be obedient in order to save humanity. Jesus could've turned stones into bread and gorged Himself as the adversary tempted Him to do, but the Savior persevered...it was mandatory.
When we walk in Godly obedience, we can and will suffer in our efforts to be obedient because the natural propensity of our human condition is to scratch the sin itch. After accepting Christ, we start to understand how difficult it is to push back against darkness. A new believer who was previously stewed in sin can suffer in being obedient more than someone raised in a Godly environment. Even the lifelong believer is susceptible to a fall. The adversary knows us better than we know ourselves, but so does our Lord and Savior. If anyone can understand how tough it is to thrust away the urge to sin, it's Jesus.
Hebrews 5 NIV ( 1984 )
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with LOUD cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Suffering is what we are called to do as Christ followers. The Apostle Paul said in Romans eight that we will languish in doing the right thing because Jesus did. With Jesus as our example we can see what it's going to be like for us. In Biblical claim we see that the humanity of Jesus was dependent on Godly help. Jesus was both God and man, but we must remember His humanity was without sin because He was born for that specific purpose. There has never been, nor will there ever be another sinless person beyond the age of reason because our Lord has already fulled that. Since Jesus became our advocate through His perfect, sinless life, we appeal to Christ for Godly for help.
We can expect unfair treatment, and we can certainly surmise that we are going to suffer in abstaining from sin. We suffer in our abstinence because we offend the world by telling them that the sin which feels good to them is wrongful, vulgar sin, and in turn, the world slams the Christ follower. We also suffer because mere abstinence from sin can be a trail...the severity really depends on the person's affliction. Dark seasons happen, but as one learns consistency in repentance, those seasons become shorter. As important as it is to remember who we are, we must remember where we are. We are in a lost and broken world which is opposite of the way of God, but the peace, favor, and authentic soul-felt well being is worth suffering to be righteous. We are to be righteous according to Biblical claim, not self-righteous.
Temptation
Sometimes it's tough to walk the narrow path of Godly obedience, and if we aren't careful we can soon find ourselves in sin. We can find ourselves in situations that we shouldn't be in, and most of the time it's because we stepped toward the sin. I will use an example below. ...
His heart beats in his throat...he wants it to happen, so he indulges, and soon it's a done deal.
But something is wrong. ...
Having committed the inequity he feels as though he's been punched in the gut! It was known all along that he was forbidden to partake in the sin! To make things worse, the dark voice whispers; " NO......don't you DARE pray now...God doesn't want you, you're pathetic ! Look at you, still filthy in inequity, why, you haven't even cleaned up yet...how can you talk to God ? " Again, he tries to say he's sorry to God,, but the dark one screams: " Why are you still praying like a babbling wimp! You may as well enjoy yourself and plan on doing it again becuase God doesn't want you anymore!
Suffering to do the right thing can be a struggle, and the adversary will move quickly to proposition us on our weak days. The evil one eagerly awaits to snatch away those who drift. All too often we snap out of the sin trance to find that the perfumed bed of sin has turned into being strapped onto a death chamber gurney. If you don't repent immediately you will find that fighting back against the evil one is like a doomed criminal who's about to receive the lethal injection. The criminal may try to fight, but the restraints are strong. Like the restraints used in a lethal injection chamber, the evil one will try to restrain you by implying that God doesn't want you. If you listen to the lies of the adversary, you will go deeper into depravity! Jesus will set you free...pray until you've prayed, and you will be liberated if you fall.
The suffering that the authentic Christ Follower feels as they face the consequence of their sin is much worse than suffering to live right. If the truly repented individual falls to sin, they grieve the Holy Spirit, and in turn the sorrow felt by the believer is shattering! Sorrow for sin produces confession and repentance. If there is no sorrow for the sin committed, I find it tough to believe the individual truly ascribes to following Christ.
Hebrews 2
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
I don't know why, but it took me years to realize that Christ not only suffered on the cross, but he also suffered through a sinless life for us to be reconciled! The Bible says he was tempted in every way humanly possible, and that's a heaping portion of temptation. He endured temptation beyond what any other human could do because he had to. Christ's human birth was a death sentence, the cup was to his lips even as a child. Christ was born into a human body to be a sinless human. Jesus was 100 % God, 100% human.
It also took me a long time to figure out that Christ was able to be sin free not because God was forcing His humanity into submission, but rather His humanity was 100% committed in the mission to defeat sin and death. There is no other way for humanity to be reconciled to the Father God, except through Jesus. As I said earlier, there has never been, nor will there ever be another sinless person beyond the age of reason because our Lord has already fulled it.
Thanks for stopping by !
Thomas
Bible verses were NIV 1984
A special thanks to Pastor Tim Conway of Grace Community Church - San Antonio, TX. … Brother, you helped me see my latest epiphany.
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