Articles
Made Like His Brothers
If Satan wanted to destroy the gospel, how might he do it? Since he can’t eliminate it, he would allow the story of a baby born and laid in the manger–as long as we didn’t know that baby as our Savior. As long as Christianity is just one plate on the buffet of world religions and as long as the Word becoming flesh and making His dwelling among us is cluttered with many layers of man-made traditions, then it can exist as a lost and irrelevant relic. But, Jesus being both fully God to be our Savior and fully man to be sacrifice is essential for the gospel and our salvation (Hebrews 2:14-18).
I. Luke 4:3-13. Since God is untouchable, Satan goes after those made in God’s image as we are able to choose sin (Genesis 3:1-15). So, when God became a man, the devil had to test just how man-like He was, but Jesus remained sinless to His death on a cross. And because He defeated the one who held the power of death through His own death, we too who are flesh and blood can share in His immortality and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15).
II. John 8:34-38. In doing so, Jesus delivered us who were in slavery to the fear of death because it is “Abraham’s offspring” that He helps. Many thought they were Abraham’s offspring because of physical descent, but Jesus explains that it is those who are obedient by faith that He sets free from the slavery of sin. It’s those who are sons of God through faith, having been clothed with Christ through baptism, who are Abraham’s offspring and heirs (Galatians 3:26-29).
III. Romans 3:22-25. Because He’s fully God, Jesus can be our Savior (Isaiah 43:3-11); because He’s fully man, though, He can be our sacrifice (2 Corinthians 5:21). He had to be made like us in every way so that He can help us in eternity and here and now (Hebrews 4:14-18). He is our righteousness and our propitiation for sin, sympathizing with our weaknesses and providing an ever-present help in our need. And that is indeed good news!
As Satan does his best to dilute the gospel message or clutter it up with so much that is not about Jesus becoming a man to take care of our greatest need, let us uncover the light of the gospel message and let it shine forth.
