Today a look at the second of three occasions where Jesus is tempted in the wilderness, to gather insights from Jesus' victory over these temptations.

Looking at the Second Temptation

Consider the sequence of the second temptation (Matthew 4:5-7):

Introduction

“Humanity and Divinity Combined” should be a stimulating hope. Man on his own can accomplish nothing. Man cooperating with God can experience a changed heart. God always intended the closest connection between Himself and the creatures He made in His image.

Humans are not left dangling helpless and hopeless on the battlefield between Christ and Satan. Humans are not intended to be the recipients of infinite “get out of jail free” cards. Humans will never enter heaven because they claim a loose verbal affiliation with Jesus.

My thesis is simple:

The gospel is the power of God to salvation (Romans 1:16); divinity works in the human believer. God has a part. Man has a part. Man may become a partaker of the divine nature.

To Will and to Do

Consider Philippians 2:12-13...

Someone said the Cross comes before the crown, and they were right. Consider our Bible passage Mark 10:32-34:

They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. Again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, saying, 'Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the gentiles. They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.'

Christians want to walk with Jesus. We want to live with Him, live like Him, conquer with Him, and love like Him. Scripture is filled with the history of God interacting with His people, working, saving, keeping, delivering.

Jesus' experience is rich with insight. He is our Substitute but also our Example. His sinless life stands in place of our damaged lives. When we receive Jesus as our Savior, His life stands in place of ours. It is as if we had not sinned.

There are two kinds of outcast: those removed for acting wrongly, and those moved for acting in moral rightness. We experience being cast out when a person or group in authority seeks our removal from the group. Perhaps they feel threatened, or, maybe they are experiencing feelings of insecurity. Or, they may simply be asserting dominance. The result is, one person or group casts out another person or group.

We live in an advanced age. We have our screens, our conveniences; we are very wise, very special. Christianity is so old, so pale, so uninteresting. We are located in a culture in which civility has fallen to the ground before our eyes. We don't need Jesus or His archaic, pestilential religion.

So some think. But Jesus possesses many things of which we are destitute. Jesus has virtues many can't even list, let alone have the mastery of.

Four books were published in 2018 taking to task Adventists whose beliefs have been called "Last Generation Theology." Two of these new books are published by the Pacific Press, one by the Pacific Union, and one by Andrews University Press. You may have read the following ad copy in a recent sales catalogue advertising two of these books. The heading says, "What is Last Generation Theology." The reader is asked: