Being and Getting It Right

[HKHaugan]

Resurrection 4 Being and Getting It Right

If we want to get feel for the life of the resurrected Jesus we have to begin where Jesus began and why; His baptism and what He said about it. John the Baptist prophesied Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Mt.3:11). He used the image of wheat and chaff. Wheat being the proof of spiritual life and chaff the anti-spiritual. When Jesus came to the Jordan John was reluctant to baptize Jesus but Jesus was making a statement about the spiritual danger of sin and the need for forgiveness. Even though He didn't need baptism nor forgiveness (He was sinless), He began what every human being needed, a rejection of sin, the self centered disease that lay at the root of all human behavior outside of God. That's the wilderness, the real wilderness we live in, the wilderness into which each of us is born, the wilderness Jesus entered for our sake. He modeled humility before John as God's way, water as the truth of His Word and the dove-like appearance of the Holy Spirit as the new spiritual life. Everyone needs that new filling; humility, truth and new life. So why did Jesus submit to baptism? “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness (Mt.3:15).” This was immediately approved by the Father and the Holy Spirit with the Father's voice, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased (Mt.3:17).”

“To fulfill all righteousness” is the beginning of the process of recovery of the mind, heart and spirit. The mind needs to learn what it takes to think right, the heart needs to trust like Jesus trusted and our spirit needs to act in faith like Jesus did His whole life and especially when He went to the Cross. Righteousness is about thinking right, trusting right and acting in faith right. It's about being self-confidently right, having a right attitude in the world and relationally right.

To seal that spiritual righteousness, Jesus was led to be alone in the wilderness tempted by the devil. In this action Jesus exposed not only sin and evil but also their perpetrator. Jesus also showed that temptation is the key to differentiating between right and wrong, then knowing which to choose. The three temptations He experienced are the summary of all the temptations with which Adam and Eve were faced. The devil tempted them in the mind, heart and spirit with doubt. In the mind, “Did God really say...” in other words, doubt God's Word. In the heart,”...you'll be like God knowing good and evil...” doubt God, therefore no need for God. In the spirit “...she saw the fruit, took some and ate it” which is faith in self acting apart from God.

Jesus, on the other hand, counters those three. First, in response to the devil's plan to get Jesus to doubt Himself, Jesus says that “...man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Second, when the devil tries to get Jesus to doubt His Father by testing Him, Jesus retorts, “Don't put God to the test.” Third, the devil frustrated by Jesus offers Jesus total world rule if He will just bow down to him. Jesus tells the devil what the Word commands which is “...to serve and worship God alone.” So what makes human beings images of God, their mind, heart and spirit, Jesus met the temptations in each and showed how the Word countered each. In essence Jesus was saying that the mind, heart and spirit work only when the Word is applied to any and every temptation. Instead of letting temptation use us we use temptation to show the presence of God. “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it (1Cor.10:13).” This is exactly what Paul spoke to when he said he boasted of his weakness because in it God exhibited His strength (2 Cor.12:9). He was filled with the Holy Spirit, the life of Christ.

We do need to realistically face the fact of human nature. Weakness feeds on temptation's appeal to desire. We do give in. We do have feelings that move us to act out the weaknesses in our nature. We are sinners. It is not easy to overcome a past that was ridden with self-induced means for satisfaction. We are identity conscious. We are not satisfied with the horizontal identities the world offers us. If we seek them it is inevitable we will be drawn into meeting what is necessary to fulfill their requirements. No one is free from temptation and no one is free from the weaknesses where we are spiritually attacked. It is the calling of a disciple to meet them in the Spirit with the Word. It is the Word that identifies the issues and the Spirit that nudges us at the point of the Word's specific uncompromising morality. Thank the Lord that repentance is available and forgiveness awaits on the other side of our failures.

But back to fulfilling all righteousness. The Word and the Spirit are the Cross at work to restore us at the point of our weaknesses whatever they may be. The specifics of what tempts us are the not the issue. It is the goal of the Word to be like Jesus, not the same as, which is impossible. But to be like Him as individually unique persons in the way our mind, heart and spirit work in balance. With each of us in mind He is making us right again. Right with Him in our mind to reason like Him. Right with Him in our heart trusting Him for our confidence. Right relationally with Him in our spirit to step out in faith as active witnesses for Him. Why is being right so important? It is our deepest need.

Jesus was right with His Father in mind, heart and Spirit which is why He submitted to baptism; baptism with water, human baptism among the world of people, baptism by John the final prophet (all prior prophecy pointed to Jesus). Baptism marks our spiritual beginning, our spiritual rebirth. It is when we start the recovery and restoration process. When we are at one with Jesus we are at one with the One who is eternally right, God the loved Son of God the Father through the Holy Spirit, the Right Spirit of God. Jesus' birth, Jesus' death and Resurrection and every incident in between are how humanity is restored, justified, made right. The whole process points to one major gift the Lord uses to recover us and that is faith. By faith He came among us, by faith He lived, by faith He died and by faith He rose from the dead. He was faith perfected and through His faith we have been offered eternal life with Him by receiving Him.

Receiving Him is to believe Him with our mind, trust Him with our heart and have faith to act for Him with our spirit. This is our purpose, why we exist, our identity and our significance, why we worship Him, why we serve Him, why our aim is to give Him glory. The amazing thing about all this is when our lives are sold out for Him He shares His glory with us because He loves us far beyond anything we understand. That glory is expressed in the peace you can even feel, the stability and confidence in not having to defend yourself or fear the world of others, that in your aloneness you are not alone, in the unexpected blessings and circumstances that happen, in the relational challenges that allow you to grow, being prompted to do things that help others and seeing the results. Sharing these specific incidents we experience as individuals is our testimony. Our words, our actions, our spirits in motion. All of this is the risen Lord, the Resurrection of Jesus, at work in our lives.