In the Bible we read of Christ, from birth to about twelve years of age, and then for eighteen years, there is silence, until Jesus is presented as the Lamb of God at the age of thirty. During these eighteen years of silence a tremendous amount of activity actually took place, however, the Bible sums it up briefly by stating that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. These few words speak volumes, even though many Bible students may have glossed them over.
However, it must be noted here that between the ages of twelve and thirty, a whole lot of pressure is brought to bear upon our souls by the enemy of all righteousness, for his temptations against our fallen nature usually assert themselves in their severest forms, especially during those turbulent teenage years. And thus, we should never conclude that the three temptations against Christ in the wilderness, were the first forays of the devil against His soul.
This conclusion can be drawn from the Bible, which teaches us that Christ was tempted in “All” points, just as we are yet without sin. But many folks have stumbled over this statement of scripture, believing that Christ had an advantage over us in overcoming, and thus the logical reasoning that naturally follows that mode of thought, is that we cannot reasonably be expected to overcome, as Christ overcame, since some assume that He must have had an advantage. And as a direct result, many have given up all hope of overcoming, preferring to grovel in the liabilities of fallen human nature, instead of appropriating the victories that can be ours daily through Christ.
The subsequent overtones of these conclusions can be seen in doctrines which advocate for faith in God and in Christ’s righteousness, even as the believer continues to live in sin. And thus we have come to an era in Christianity, where faith in Christ has now become quite lopsided, with little corresponding growth in grace and practice, as the word of God clearly stipulates. Let’s read:
2nd Peter 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, it is for the purpose of correcting these erroneous theories of Christ, that we now turn to Bible for answers, not only about His victories in the wilderness, but also about those eighteen years of silence which were referred to previously. There are a few fundamentals we need to cover first, before we can better understand Christ’s temptations and His victories in our behalf.
[1] In accomplishing the singular act of incarnation, God did not do anything for Christ, which was not done in the first Adam, and since Adam could have sinned, and he did, then Jesus also could have sinned, but He didn’t. In other words, the first Adam was created without any bias to sin, and therefore, because Christ must pick up from where Adam lost, He too was made without any inherent bias to sin, for God was His Father, just like the first Adam. Let’s read:
Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
[2] The first Adam was created from the dust of the earth, while the Second Adam was made using the same processes we are all now subject to, but this was all done in love and mercy, so that thousands of years of degenerate human nature would fall upon the shoulders of Christ, thus making Him one with us. Fallen human nature is not a sin, it just means that the natural urges which occurred mildly, and were easily controllable in the first Adam, have now been thrown entirely out of balance, and because of this, we now experience bouts of extreme pangs of hunger, thirst, and sexual urges, which when we permit to run unbridled, result in a dire lack of self-control. Let’s read:
Matthew 24:37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with eating and drinking, nor is it a sin to be given in marriage. The problem occurs when we take these inherently God given desires to extremes and indulge excessively in them contrary to God’s revealed will. Thus it is, that when a decision is made to participate in any of the aforementioned activities in a manner that is clearly against scripture, sin occurs. Gay marriage, shacking up without being married, one or two night stances, polygamy, marrying, and divorcing, and remarrying several times, for very trivial, unscriptural reasons, all become sin, for they are contrary to God’s ideal, given in His established order.
[3] These biological urges, in their disturbed and fallen state, are what set the stage for Christ to be tempted in all points like as we are, hence the reason why we are admonished in the Bible, not to allow these urges to cause us to make decisions that are not in harmony with the scriptures. Let’s read:
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
[4] Being made sinless does not prevent a person from being tempted, and this statement covers all situations, including Adam, Christ, Eve, satan, and the millions of angels who fell with him. Let’s take for instance, the first Adam who was not created with any inherent bias to sin, but was tempted just like Christ, and he did fall. It is worthy of note that even in his sinless state, the power of temptation asserted itself against his soul, and thus it was with Christ, who chose to react differently. It all boils down to our God-given freedom to choose. Let’s read:
Proverbs 1:10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
The devil and the angels who fell with him were all created sinless, without any bias to sin yet they all fell, and thus, it would be quite erroneous for us to conclude that in the incarnation of Christ, God the Father put up invisible fences, and hedges around the soul of Christ, so as to insulate Him from the severest temptations. On the contrary, God pulled out all the stops, and permitted satan to hurl his best shots, and fiercest temptations against Christ, and the rest is history, because Christ came out victorious on every point. Let’s read:
[The desire Of Ages pp. 753] The withdrawal of the divine countenance from the Savior in this hour of supreme anguish pierced His heart with a sorrow that can never be fully understood by man. So great was this agony that His physical pain was hardly felt. Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Savior could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father's acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that Their separation was to be eternal.
Ezekiel 28:12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
[5] This leads us to our next logical observation, for according to the scriptural laws of science, both parents contribute to the makeup of their offspring. And thus the question is, what did The Holy Ghost contribute, and what did Mary contribute, so that Christ could be born sinless, with Him having one parent who was a sinner, and the other who was sinless. It must be noted here that Mary was not a mere surrogate for Christ without having any input, because she did bring something to the table. If this is not the case, then Christ could not be tempted in “All” points, like as we are.
This then raises another very important scientific question, because many folks, including Christians, have erroneously excused Adam’s sin, believing that he had no other choice, but to follow his wife into never land. Question: If Adam had not sinned, and then had children by Eve in her sinful state, would his kids have been born with inherent propensities to sin, or would we all have been born with moral neutrality? In other words, can a sinless father and a sinful mom produce children who have no bias to sin? And if so what does that teach us about the male and female contributions to the make-up of their children? To get some answers we must turn to the scriptures. Let’s read:
Genesis 2:21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
1st Corinthians 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
8 For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man.
9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
These, and other statements lay the responsibility of transferring sinful propensities squarely at the feet of man, for Mary could make no contribution in that area whatsoever, hence the reason why Christ was not predisposed to sin, as we are. When we examine the nature of the fall in Eden, we see that Eve fell because of deceit, but Adam made a choice that was well-informed and deliberate, and that’s why sinful propensities came from through Adam to his offspring. Let’s read:
1st Timothy 2:13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
This brings us to the incarnation of Christ, where A sinless Father, is coupled together with a sinful mother, and no evil propensities can be transferred by the mother. If The Father were to do something in Mary that would have miraculously prevented a natural transfer of sinful propensities, then it would be considered by some as a shady deal, rendering Christ invulnerable, and not subject to the normal processes and liabilities we go through. In essence, Mary would produce a sort of righteous robot, who could not ever sin. Robots are the creation of man, not of God. And so we read of Christ’s incarnation as announced by the angel Gabriel. Let’s read:
Luke 1:26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest”…
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
This level of science, not even the angel Gabriel could comprehend, that’s why the best description he could give was “That Holy Thing”. As was stated before on this forum, the word Omniscience really consists of two distinct words, “Omni and Science, and therefore it is with reverence that the curtain is drawn aside for the believing members of the scientific community to investigate the vast treasures of knowledge and understanding which are revealed in Christ. Mary’s contribution to the process is fallen human nature, whilst the Holy Ghost’s contribution is the sinless characteristics of God the Father.
[6] Earthly fathers do play a very important role in the production of their children and because of this, several passages allude to the fact that the brunt of the responsibility for a child’s moral constitution, rests with the father. This sacred but solemn truth should act as a firm, restraining order against the reckless, and wanton indulgence in sin by men, for the powerful sinful propensities are transferred from father to son as a legacy. Let’s read:
Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
1st kings 21:25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
1st Kings 22:51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.
52 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin:
53 For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the Lord God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.
And now, having gone through the fundamentals we now turn to the eighteen years of silence. We will take up the history of Christ from the age of twelve, what took place during those eighteen years, and immediately after, when He is revealed as the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. Let’s read:
Luke 2:41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.
42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.
44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.
45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.
46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.
47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
From this point forward, up to the age of thirty, The Lord will be subjected to relentless temptations, for as stated before, it is during the teenage and young adult years that temptations are very fierce, and so difficult to resist. The Bible teaches us that Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin, so God will have us understand that the three temptations we read about in the wilderness, are not the first assaults against the soul of Christ. The devil followed Christ relentlessly during His teenage years, and Jesus had to overcome, just the same like we have to be victorious, by praying and trusting to the strength of The Father in heaven. Let’s read:
Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Thus it is, that from age twelve to thirty some of the severest temptations took place. He was tempted in all points, like as we are, which means that all the common enticements to sin, to which all are now subject, were brought to Christ on many occasions during His teenage and young adult years, “Like as we are”. Christ was tempted with girls, like as boys and men are, yet without sin. The town of Nazareth where Christ grew up had many females who were interested in Christ. Even the local church where He attended services had female members who must have been drooling over Him. And He had to watch His step at every turn, even in church, “Like as we are”. They came in all shapes and sizes, at all hours of the day and night, for different and apparently valid reasons, but Christ was just as relentless in resisting through the strength of God, as satan was determined in brings his temptations. Let’s read:
[The youth instructor #3] Christ's childhood and youth were scarcely noticed in the gospels. He was brought up in wicked Nazareth. The inhabitants were proverbial for their selfishness, avarice, fraud, deceit, and general wickedness. Christ, the Redeemer of the world, was not situated where the influences surrounding him were the best calculated to preserve a life of purity and untainted morals, yet he was not contaminated. He was not free from temptation. Satan was earnest and persevering in his efforts to deceive and overcome the Son of God by his devices.
Christ was the only one who walked the earth upon whom there rested no taint of sin. He was pure, spotless, and undefiled. That there should be One without the defilement of sin upon the earth, greatly disturbed the author of sin, and he left no means untried to overcome Christ with his wily, deceptive power. But our Savior relied upon his Heavenly Father for wisdom and strength to resist and overcome the tempter.
Christ was also tempted on the issue of food, for the temptations on food are much stronger than those on sexual urges. As Christ passed through the town of Nazareth, the local Red lobster would be cooking up a storm, and the smell of freshly baked bread rolls, and deep fried shrimp could be picked up from a distance. Then the temptations to indulge appetite, contrary to Gods revealed will, would come to Him. And after a long day at work, tired and thirsty, neighbors and friends would invite Him to have a bud light or two, for social reasons, but He continues to resist the clamors of fallen nature. Let’s read:
Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Proverbs 31:4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
These varied temptations continued through the eighteen years of silence, during which time satan had opportunity to hone his skills, in preparation for the big one that would take place in the desert. It’s worthy of note that of all the temptations known to man, he begins with the most irresistible- food. And God made certain that Christ would be in the most vulnerable position, so that His victory on this point will forever clear the way for satan’s sophistries on food, and overcoming would be permanently put to rest. As a matter of fact, if by the grace of God, we can gain the victory over food, all other subsequent temptations will lose their stranglehold over us, for as the Bible has stated on several occasions, it all began with food, and it will end with food. Let’s read:
Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
There are times in our Christian experience when we go through terrible ordeals over the issue of food, and of all temptations it is proven to be the most formidable and difficult to resist, especially at times when we are presented with so-called valid reasons why we should indulge appetite contrary to God’s revealed will. The grace of God, together with the victories Christ gained in behalf of the human family provide the power, and necessary incentive for every person to live victoriously each day.
But if we subscribe to the idea that it is impossible for us to overcome, then we will be literally succumbing to defeat by agreeing with our arch-enemy in the false doctrine that we cannot overcome. Let’s read:
[The great controversy pp. 489] “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” [Proverbs 28:13.] If those who hide and excuse their faults could see how Satan exults over them, how he taunts Christ and holy angels with their course, they would make haste to confess their sins and to put them away. Through defects in the character, Satan works to gain control of the whole mind, and he knows that if these defects are cherished, he will succeed.
Therefore he is constantly seeking to deceive the followers of Christ with his fatal sophistry that it is impossible for them to overcome. But Jesus pleads in their behalf his wounded hands, his bruised body; and he declares to all who would follow him, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” [2 Corinthians 12:9.] “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Let us then learn the pertinent lessons of self-denial from the life of Christ, His teenage, and young adult years, and on into manhood, and may we never forget that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which reminds us of the sacred truth, that with God nothing is impossible, and therefore, we too can overcome, even as Christ did, for this is the whole purpose of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let’s read:
Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
God bless!