Fully Man

1:00So their struggle was basically the opposite of the struggle that we have today. Back then, people would have no problem believing that God or the gods had come down to earth. In fact, there was lots of Greek and Roman myths about the gods coming to earth. But the idea that God would become a man was completely ridiculous to them. To do so would be to join the spiritual, that which was inherently good, with the material, that which was inherently evil, and so they couldn't comprehend of such a thing happening. So in the early church, this idea known as docetism began to gain traction. The idea that Jesus was not actually a human being, but that he just seemed to be one.

1:54He just appeared to be one. Now, today, if you can convince somebody that Jesus was a real, actual historical person, you probably aren't going to have any trouble at all convincing them that he was fully human. And my assumption is that most of you don't struggle with Jesus' humanity much, if at all. Probably the questions that you've asked in your life revolve around Jesus' divinity, which is the question that we sought to answer in last week's sermon. So my primary concern this morning is not really to prove to you what you probably already believe, that Jesus was fully human. Instead, my primary concern this morning is to attempt to show you why that matters. Why does it matter that Jesus was not just fully God, but also fully human?

2:51And so to do so, we're going to take a look at this text in Matthew chapter 4 on the temptation of Christ. The text begins with these words. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Now, one of the things that you should note is this takes place immediately after Jesus' baptism. Immediately after God publicly affirms Jesus' identity. If you look back at chapter 3, verses 16 and 17, immediately after this, so Jesus comes up out of the waters of baptism, the heavens are opened, and the Spirit of God descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and this voice comes from heaven, the Father's voice, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

3:41Now, we would think that this public affirmation would launch Jesus immediately into a large, successful, obvious public ministry. But in fact, what actually happens is the Spirit of God leads him away from people, away from everything, out into the middle of nowhere to be tempted. And this is a bit of a side note, but if you have just begun following Christ, if you've just recently become a Christian, then it won't surprise me if your experience is similar to what Jesus experiences here.

4:22In the sense that some of our greatest temptations to sin often occur right after. We begin following Jesus Christ. Some of our greatest temptations to sin occur right after we've experienced some great moment with God. That's often how it goes. Friends, the testing of our faith proves whether it's real and whether it is strong or weak. And so Jesus is led into the wilderness to be tempted. And that's a very significant statement because only a man can be tempted by evil.

5:02Take a look on the screen at James chapter 1. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. I want to draw your attention to that middle phrase in the verse: God cannot be tempted with evil. That is very significant to our discussion this morning, isn't it? That God cannot be tempted with evil. You see, the problem is that our sin alienated us from God.

5:41Our sin required us to have someone stand in the gap for us, somebody to bridge the divide between God and man that we created with our sin and our rebellion. But the question is, who would qualify? Who would qualify to stand in that gap? Adam and all of his descendants are sinful. So, no mere man can represent us before a holy God. But God can't be tempted with evil. So, how could he represent us? Well, look at what 1 Timothy 2:5 says, For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

6:28So, Jesus is led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, which is only possible because he is fully man. And Jesus is led into the wilderness to be tempted by whom? The text says by the Spirit. He's not led to be tempted by the Spirit, but led into the wilderness by the Spirit. And I think that's a very significant point as well. The Holy Spirit is the one who is leading him into the wilderness to be tempted.

6:59I want you to remember James 1:13, God cannot be tempted with evil. And then remember that last part of the verse, and he himself tempts no one. So God is not doing the tempting here, but God is leading Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. And if you're familiar with the Lord's Prayer, that's going to really strike you. Because what does Jesus teach us to pray in the middle of the Lord's Prayer? Lead us not into temptation, but deliver.

7:30Deliver us from evil. So when Jesus is teaching us to pray, he says one of the things that we should pray is that we would not be led into temptation. And yet here we have God the Holy Spirit leading Jesus into the wilderness for what purpose? To be tempted. Now, a lot of you are old enough to remember the WWJD bracelets from the 90s and the 2000s. Sadly, I became a Christian after those were cool. So I missed out on that whole trend.

8:05But here's the thing: WWJD stands for what would Jesus do? So I think the point of these bracelets is that you would find yourself in some particular situation, you'd find yourself tempted in some way throughout the day, and you would look down at your cool bracelet and you would ask yourself, now wait a minute, what would Jesus do in this situation? Now listen, I don't want to say that that's a bad question to ask because Jesus is our perfect rabbi. He is our teacher. He came to set an example for us.

8:42But friends, I think a much better bracelet would have the letters W D J D on it. What did Jesus do, not what would Jesus do? What did Jesus do? Because here's what Jesus did. He went out into the wilderness, the exact same place where the Israelites wandered for 40 years because they were tempted and they fell into sin and idolatry and rejected the Lord. He went out to the wilderness to succeed where they failed. And this is exactly what Moses says in Deuteronomy. At the end of their wilderness wanderings, they're about to enter into the promised land. And so Moses is preaching this second telling of the law, and he's recounting all the things that have happened to them. Take a look at Deuteronomy 8:2.

9:41He says, And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these 40 years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. God led them for 40 years to test them so that they would know what was in their hearts. Well, what was in their hearts? Grumbling, complaining, unbelief, sin, and rebellion. That's what was in their hearts. And friends, that's the very same thing that's in our hearts as well.

10:27So the Spirit of God leads Jesus back out there. Back into the very same wilderness where Moses and the Israelites failed to walk by faith, fell into temptation, and sinned against God. He goes back to that same spot to succeed where we failed. And he could do this because he was fully God and fully man. Friends, the gospel is not good advice. So the question, what would Jesus do, is not really that helpful to us. Because what would Jesus do leaves us trying to figure out in our unique situation, our unique temptation, how exactly the Savior, the fully God man, would respond in that particular situation. The gospel is not good advice. The gospel is good news. It's not about asking what Jesus would do and conjecturing. It's about asking the question, what did Jesus do? He did what Moses, one of the holiest men who ever lived, couldn't do.

11:33He did what millions of Israelites, despite seeing God perform amazing miracles, the likes of which you and I will probably never see in our lifetime. He did what they couldn't do. And he did what we ourselves can't do. He walks onto the battlefield alone as our representative, our perfect David, to defend. Defeat the biggest, baddest Goliath in the universe, Satan. He does that through representative combat, going out onto the field, representing us in our place, doing battle with Satan and winning. That is what Jesus did.

12:20But I'm a little ahead of myself here. So I want to slow down and take a look at the actual temptation of Christ. So let's pick up here in verse 3. And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. Some of you know that I'm trying to diagnose what's going on with my speaking voice, and so I'm trying these different things. And one of the things that I'm doing is I'm trying this gluten-free diet for the last three weeks, also known as the taste-free diet.

13:02Turning anything into bread at this point sounds awesome. But for Jesus, this temptation is so significant because he's fully man. He has to eat to live. And he has been fasting. Just, I know a lot of you are familiar with this, but think about this. He's been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. It's hard for me to fast from breakfast to lunch. 40 days and 40 nights, almost six weeks, and Jesus has eaten nothing. Scientists will tell you that 40 days is pretty much the outer limit of how long a human being can go without eating any food.

13:47And so, here in verse 2, if you just back up to verse 2, you have the understatement of the universe. And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. Yeah, he was hungry. Food was not optional for Jesus. Air is not optional for Jesus. Water is not optional. Shelter is not optional because he is fully and completely human, just like you and me. So when Satan comes and he tempts him to turn these stones into bread, there's no doubt that this is a very real, very strong temptation for him. He had to eat at some point or he would die.

14:31And he had the power to turn these rocks into food. But look at what Jesus does. He quotes from the very next verse in Deuteronomy. He says the same words that God spoke through Moses to the Israelites all of those years ago in the wilderness. Look at what he does. Deuteronomy 8:3, he says, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Now, did you catch that word alone?

15:05Man does not live on bread alone. He doesn't say man doesn't live on bread as though all we really need is spiritual sustenance and we're good. No, he says, man shall not live by bread alone. We do need bread, but that's not the only thing that we need, and that's not even the first thing that we need, because we are sustained first and foremost by the Word of God. And so, friends, this first temptation that Jesus faces and successfully resists is an example of what is perhaps the most common temptation that you and I face on a day-to-day basis.

15:52It is the temptation to meet a legitimate need in an illegitimate way. The temptation to meet a legitimate need in an illegitimate way. And if you think about your temptations, probably 95% of the things that you are tempted with are legitimate needs that you are tempted to meet in an illegitimate way. So just consider the Ten Commandments or a few of the Ten Commandments. Safety is a legitimate need. But we can be tempted to pursue our safety.

16:31Through murdering people that we think are a threat to us. Food and shelter are legitimate needs, but we can be tempted to steal to take care of those needs for food and shelter. Love is a legitimate need, but we can be tempted to commit adultery in order to have that need fulfilled. So every one of us has been tempted to meet a legitimate need in an illegitimate way, probably thousands of times in our lives. But what did Jesus do?

17:11He faced that temptation and he won victory over it by trusting in the promise of his heavenly Father. He remembered the word of God and quoted it back to Satan, the one who was tempting him. So Satan wises up, and in verse 5, he takes him to Jerusalem and he puts him on the highest point of the temple, probably one of the corners of the temple that overlooked the Kidron Valley, probably 300, 400, 500 feet below. He puts him all the way up there, and look at how crafty the devil is. He quotes to Jesus from the Word of God. He quotes Psalm 91, verses 11 and 12. He says, Throw yourself off the roof because God has promised in the Word that you're going to be. You're not even going to bump your foot against a rock.

18:04But see, friends, Jesus knew the context of Psalm 91, not just the words themselves. And Psalm 91 is not an invitation for us to lead a reckless life. It's not an invitation for us to forget about the consequences of our foolish choices. No, Psalm 91 is a promise that God will never leave us in our trials and that He will deliver us as we abide in Him. That's the context of Psalm 91. So Jesus answers him back from where?

18:43Another quote from Deuteronomy, where Moses is speaking to the people in the wilderness, just like where Jesus is being tempted, this time from chapter 6, Jesus says, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. And here's what I think is going on. Throwing himself off of the temple would be a very quick, very easy way to prove to everybody, especially the people that seem to matter, who he is. Think about that. If he goes to the temple, he throws himself off, who are the people that are always around the temple? Who are the people that are going to see that thing go down? Well, it's all the Sadducees. It's the priests. It's the Levites. It's the religious leaders. All of these people that common sense would tell you: if you want to have a following, if you want to be successful, if you want to achieve your ends, you've got to prove yourself, you've got to justify yourself before these people.

19:45But, friends, Jesus did not come to justify himself, he came to justify us. He didn't come to prove anything to the crowds. He came not to be accepted, but to be rejected, to be despised by men, to be led away like a lamb to the slaughter, to die in our place and for our sins. And so, once again, Jesus succeeds where we fail. He refused to cave into the temptation to justify himself by putting God the Father to the test. And instead, he trusted that God would justify him in the right time.

20:36And then finally, here in verse 8, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And what does he do? He offers all these things to Jesus if Jesus will just bow down and worship him instead. But Jesus dismisses him with a final quotation. From Deuteronomy, once again, chapter 6, verse 13: you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve. See, if you go back to the wilderness and you think about what the Israelites were dealing with, they were scared.

21:20Their human leader, Moses, who had led them out of Egypt, the one through whom God had performed all of these amazing miracles, he was gone. He had been gone for 40 days and 40 nights. They didn't know if he was coming back. They didn't know when he was coming back. They didn't know who was going to lead them into the promised land. They were afraid. And their fear led them to succumb to the temptation to make and to fall down and bow to a false idol.

21:54Because that false idol promised them provision, protection, all of the things that they wanted. Because, friends, that's what false idols always do. They promise to give us what we think we need at little or no cost. Idols promise us the life that we want, apart from the faith that we need in a God that we cannot control. That's what idols do. Do. They promise us what we think we need, apart from faith in the true God that we cannot control. And so this had to be tempting for Jesus because he knew in the end every knee was going to bow, every tongue was going to confess that he is Lord.

22:48And what Satan's offer does is it promises all of these things without Jesus having to walk down the road laid out by his heavenly Father. A road that was paved with suffering and rejection and death. He was promising him the same ends without the difficult means of suffering and persecution. It was in the garden that Satan first suggested to our parents, Adam and Eve, that God could not be trusted, that his plan was not best. And this is exactly what Satan is doing to Jesus. He's suggesting that there is a better way, a better plan than God's.

23:42But Jesus rejected this tempting offer because he came to succeed where we failed. Where Adam and Eve failed to trust God's word, Jesus believed it. Where the Israelites And Moses failed to trust God's word, Jesus believed it. He succeeded where we failed. And friends, that's so important because all of us are tempted in life to take those easier roads, those roads that don't seem to involve suffering, persecution, difficulty, trial. Even if we know that that's the right thing to do, we are tempted to take whatever is the easy road to get the same ends without the difficult means of getting there.

24:37But Jesus succeeded where we failed. And so in verse 11, we find this. Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. James 4, verse 7, says, Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Jesus set a perfect example for us. He showed us exactly what we need to do when we are tempted. To submit ourselves to God and to resist the devil, and he will flee from us by remembering his word and acting on his promises.

25:30But friends, Jesus did so much more than set a good example for us. He came and he won the battle that we lost and that we continually lose all throughout our lives. He came and took on flesh to become the Savior that we needed, a perfect man who could face every single temptation and yet remain sinless. At the beginning of the sermon today, I told you that my primary objective, my primary goal, wasn't to try to convince you of what you probably already believe, that Jesus is fully human.

26:11What I wanted to do today was to show you why that matters. And so what I want to do is close with two reasons that Jesus' full humanity matters to you and me in our everyday life. The first is this. Unless Jesus was fully human, he couldn't die in our place for our sins. Take a look at Hebrews chapter 2. This is one of the greatest explanations in Scripture for why the humanity of Jesus is significant for our salvation.

26:56Since, therefore, the children share in flesh and blood. He himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has power over death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who, through fear of death, were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

27:45Friends, God is eternal, and because he is eternal, he cannot die. Because he is perfectly just, there's no way for him to simply overlook our sins. So the only solution was for him to send his perfect, eternal son to be made like his brothers in every respect, to take on flesh so that he could make propitiation for the sins of the people. Jesus' humanity allowed him to be the savior that we all needed, one who could represent us perfectly and succeed where we failed.

28:30But the second reason that Jesus' full humanity matters is this. Unless Jesus was fully human, he could not identify with us in our weakness. Unless he was fully human, he couldn't identify with us in our weakness. Take a look at the last verse in that same passage, Hebrews 2, verse 18. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. And look again at the verse that we read for our call to worship today, Hebrews 4:15 and 16.

29:18For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted just as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. You see, friends, the Jesus of Scripture, the true historical Jesus, is able to help us when we are tempted.

30:00He himself was tempted in every way and yet was without sin. He can sympathize with us. So if you come to me and you confess your temptations or your sins, I will be able to identify with you because just like you, I am tempted. And just like you, I fall into sin. But Jesus is better than any pastor, than any priest, than any person, because he was tempted in every way, and yet he never sinned. So I think for some people, you hear that, and you can respond like Peter did in the boat after Jesus' miracle that he performed, and you hear that Jesus was tempted and he never sinned, and you say, Lord, depart from me because I am a sinful man.

31:00But God says, draw near to the throne of grace with confidence. Why? Because it's only there that we receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. The throne of grace, friends, is where we find that help. And the throne of grace is occupied by Jesus, the one who is fully God and fully man. Sympathize with you because he's been tempted in every way that you have, and yet he was without sin.

31:39So let's run to him. Let's run to him with confidence because he is the Savior that we need. Who is the Christ? He is our faithful and merciful high priest who is both fully God and fully man. Let's pray. Father, thank you for sending us a merciful and faithful high priest. I think for a lot of us, when we think about the image of a priest, or even for some of us, when we think about the image of a pastor, we think about Someone who is unapproachable because they're so unlike us.

33:11That's not true. But I think that's the image that we have in our minds. And yet, your scripture says that the one priest who has ever existed, who actually was unapproachable, who actually was perfect in holiness, was the one who took on flesh and faced every temptation and submitted even to death on a cross so that we could approach you, the eternal, perfect, holy Lord of the universe, with confidence. That is the greatest gift that we could be given.

34:04And so, Lord, I pray for every person here who has long thought that there is no way for them to ever approach you. I pray that they would see that there is a way, but there is only one way, and that is through the mediator, Jesus Christ. Would you grant saving faith? Faith to some today to approach you for the first time through repentance and faith in the good news of Jesus Christ. And God, I pray for every Christian who lives a timid spiritual life because we so easily and often forget that we have a perfect mediator standing in the gap for us, Jesus Christ.

35:08I pray that we would approach your throne with confidence, not because we have tried hard to be good people, but because Jesus was a perfect substitute for us. God, we thank you for the person of Christ. It's in His name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.