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vew -> RE: God the Father, God The Son (Jesus), Jesus the man (3/6/2009 10:24:41 AM)
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Also - to the point about Jesus - he certainly could have sinned. If he could not have sinned than he was not tempted. [/quote] This is a fallacy that continues to be repeated over and over again, even after the correct reasons for it being a fallacy are provided. Christ was tempted -- unlike human beings -- "apart from sin". Which means that while the temptations were real, there was absolutely nothing in Christ -- who is "separate from sinners" -- to respond to those temptations. This may be a concept difficult to grasp until one remembers that Jesus of Nazareth was at one and the same time fully God and fully sinless Man. [/quote] ...and there was nothing in Adam for sin to appeal to either. When Jesus Christ walked this earth He never functioned in His own divinity. He functioned exactly as the first Adam, a true human being without the sin nature, and indwelt by the Spirit of God. It was not Jesus's divinity that made Him sinless until death, for He had stripped Himself of His divine privileges. "Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. Philippians 2:6-7 Jesus Christ shows us man as God intended man to be. What enabled Jesus Christ to remain sinless was that He was completely man, and He was completely man because He was completely available to His Father. (John 8:29, among others) Where the first Adam failed, Jesus succeeded, because He was never, at any moment, not dependent upon God the Father. It was God the Father who worked in and through Christ, just as now it is Christ who works in and through us, as we make ourselves available to Him. Peace [/quote] My answer (VEW) I agree that Christ was indeed perfect, seperate from sinners. Just as Adam was perfect until he caved into temptation. This is in fact the reason that Jesus is called the "second Adam". "For until the law (through Moses) sin was in the world,.....nevertheless, death ruled as king from Adam down to Moses, even over those who had not sinned after thelikeness of the transgression of Adam, who bears a resemblance to him that was to come." Here Paul alludes to the coming of one like Adam, a second Adam. Romans 5:13,14; 1Corinthians 15:45 Now let's consider this one occasion when Jesus was "tempted by the Devil", Jesus did not question Satan's role as the ruler of this world. The Bible explains what happened: "The Devil took him along to an unusually high mountain, and showed him all the kingdooms of the world and their glory, andhe said to him: "All these things I will give you if you fall down and do an act of worship to me." Then Jesus said to him: 'Go away, Satan!" Matthew 4:1,8-10. Think about this. Satan tempted Jesus by offering him "all the kingdoms of the world." Yet, would Satan's offer have been a real temptation if Satan was not actually the ruler of these kingdoms? Or, would Satan's offer have been a real temptation if nothing in Jesus was capable of responding? No, it would not. And note, Jesus did not deny that all these worldy governments were Satan's, which he would have done if Satan did not have power over them. The Bible actually identifies Satan the Devil as the unseen ruler of this world! The Bible, in fact, calls him "the god of this system of things." 2Corinthians 4:4. Now let me ask you this: If I offered you $1000,000,000 dollars to preform some act for me, and there simply is nothing in you that would allow you to respond to my offer....would that really be a temptation? And, if I do not actually have any where near the $1000,000,000 that I offered you and you knew that I couldn't pay up....would that be a temptation? Absolutely not! Therefore, the only logical conclusion that we can come to is that Satan is real, he has the power over the governments of this world, and Jesus was really tempted and capable of resisting....Just as the first Adam was tempted and capable of resisting..though he did not....VEW
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