Man Called Jesus of Nazareth Changed the World and Can Change You

Man Called Jesus of Nazareth Changed the World and Can Change You

Man Called Jesus of Nazareth Changed the World and Can Change You

The man called Jesus can change your life!

Man Called Jesus

 

The man called Jesus of Nazareth proclaims the mystery of life. This man did what no other man has ever done.  He lived his entire life in perfect submission to the Spirit of life that dwelt within him. The man called Jesus did not attempt to use life to enhance himself. He willing gave that others might live. Truly, he was and is the Son of God.

The mystery of the man called Jesus

In the counsel of God before the creation of the world (Eph. 1:1-14), it has been decreed that earthly man would experience life by experiencing the source of that life. Jesus said,

For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man (John 5:26,27).

The Father God has not only “given to the Son to have life within himself,” but he has also made the Son to be the one that would enable man to experience that life (“authority to execute judgment”). It was in the man called Jesus of Nazareth that this authority was given.

With God the Father being the only one that has “life within himself,” it would be necessary for someone to become the mediator (the “go-between”) of the God of the heavenly realm and the man of the earthly realm (1 Tim. 2:5). By being the one which bridged the gap between Creator and creation, the Son of God (the life of the man called Jesus) now has the authority to make the decision (“execute judgment”) who experiences life and who does not.

With the limit being set in advance (the meaning of the word translated “predestinated” in “having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ” of Ephesians 1:5) and the limit being pre-arranged (the meaning of “hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation” of Acts 17:26), man cannot experience life from within himself. Therefore, it was necessary for the Son of God to become the Son of man in order for man to experience the life that is only within God.

The Son of God became the Way by which man could experience life “according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Eph. 1:11). John recorded this established fact of creation when he wrote,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men . . . that was the true Light, which lighted every man that cometh into the world (John 1:1-4,9).

Every man that comes into the world has the true light and life of Christ dwelling within him.

Deception of perception concerning the man called Jesus

How is it then that so few people actually experience the life of the spirit that lights them from within? Ultimately, the answer to that question lies in the revelation of the

. . . gospel of God concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord [the man called Jesus of Nazareth], which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. (Rom. 1:4)

Understanding the revelation of the gospel of God, thereby understanding the fatal deception that causes man not to experience the true quality of  life, lies in the mystery surrounding the twin statements concerning Jesus Christ:

made of the seed of David according to the flesh [and] declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness.

It is within this interplay of the flesh and the Spirit that the deception of perception spins its destructive trap:

And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway[s] (Rom. 11:9,10).

The failure to experience life (one’s back being bowed down by the pressures of life) is inseparably tied to how one sees life. As will be seen, it is the awakening of man’s perceived perception that destroys the life that is found only in God.

Any temptation that would lead man away from the Spirit of life has as its ground of being a faulty perception of the flesh. Moreover, because the Spirit is “clothed upon” (Gen. 2:7; John 1:14) with flesh, the susceptibility to fall from the quality of the life of God is always present. As Paul wrote to the Galatians,

Christ [life in the Spirit] is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law [life in the flesh]; ye are fallen from grace (5:4).

Having this treasure of life in earthen vessels,” with the accompanying adversity (Gal. 5:17) between the Spirit and the flesh, always makes man susceptible to the deception of perception. This susceptibility to the awakening of man’s perception (the awakening of his self-identity as an autonomous self) is illustrated in the man called Jesus of Nazareth. Although the temptation to deception did not produce a faulty perception this man called Jesus, he nevertheless faced the same temptation as Adam and as all other men.

He faced that temptation because He was “made of the seed of David according to the flesh” and “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness.” The man called Jesus of Nazareth was the Word, the Expression of God, in an earthen vessel.

Mystery of the birth of the man called Jesus

Being “made of the seed of David according to the flesh,” Jesus was true man in every aspect of what it means to be man. He was born of the linage of David, “according to the flesh.” In all details of the birthing process (except for one), Jesus was born as all other men were born. His entire life was experienced in the realm of humanity as all other men.

It is the conception of Jesus that sets Him apart from all other men. He was conceived not by man but by the Holy Spirit:

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS . . . (Matt. 1:18:21).

Born of a woman, clothed with flesh, (thereby making him totally man) and conceived by the Holy Spirit, “begotten” of God, (thereby making him totally God), Jesus alone is one of a kind.

John recorded this supernatural birth of Jesus as,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, The same was in the beginning with God . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us . . .  (John 1:1,2,14).

The Son of God took residence in a tabernacle (“dwelt”) of flesh. Although He is a resident of the heavenly realm, He “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7) to become a resident of the earthly realm. The Son of God, totally God, dwelt among men, totally man. It is the mystery of the man called Jesus.

Living life as the man called Jesus

Throughout the earthly life of Jesus there were indications of both his humanity and his deity. A careful reading of the accounts of his life will reveal all the ingredients of every other man (with one exception, he “did no sin, neither was guile found in him” [1 Pet. 2:22]). He fasted (Luke 4:2), became hungry (Luke 4:2), and ate (Luke 22:8). He worked (John 5:17) or did things that fatigued him (John 4:6), became weary (John 4:6), and slept (Mark 4:38). He felt anguish (John 22:44), indignation (John 11:33), agitation (John 11:33), and wept (John 11:35). He felt satisfaction (Mark 1:11), contentment (John 17:4), and joy (Luke 10:21). Ultimately, his humanity is revealed in the fact that he died (Luke 23:46). He was, as man, totally man.

There are also indications of his deity in the accounts of his life: the voice of the Father from heaven declaring “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11); His transfiguration before Peter, James, and John (Matt. 17:2); his own statements: “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), “I am the bread which came down from heaven” (John 6:41), and “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (John 5:17). His closest followers perceived him to be the Son of God, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14). Ultimately, his deity was revealed in that he was resurrected from the dead (Luke 24:6). He did not become the Son of God by his resurrection. He was resurrected because he was the Son of God. He was, as God, totally God.

This is not to say that he was of two persons. In the mystery of the incarnation (a technical term that means the one person is true man and true God), he is the ultimate union of the flesh and the Spirit. He is what was prefigured in Adam (“who is the figure of him that was to come” [Rom. 5:14]): the Spirit of God in-breathed into a body of flesh. He is the perfect representation of having a “treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Cor. 4:7). He, the one person of Jesus, is totally man and totally God.

Being totally man and totally God, He was brought under the same temptation to deception, the awakening of man’s own perception, that all men face. As the writer of Hebrews stated,

For we have not an high priest [Jesus] which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin (4:15).

Jesus was tempted (as all men) to perceive that he had the capability from within himself to produce life. He was tempted (as all men) to awake to his autonomous “self-identity.” He was tempted to live of the flesh, the deception of perception.

The temptation of the man called Jesus

The actual temptation to this deception that occurred in Jesus’ life has been preserved in the Gospels. Luke wrote that after Jesus was baptized by John in the river of Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus

in a bodily shape like a dove . . . And a voice came form Heaven, which said, Thou are my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).

Immediately, after this baptism, “the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12).

It is highly probable that the words of the Father, “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” were still fresh in his mind, when the adversary of his soul said, “If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread” (Luke 4:3). It was a strong temptation for he was hungry having fasted for forty days.

Although Luke does not record when He finally ate, it can be assumed that he did. Therefore, the temptation was not a matter of eating, nor was it a matter of the food coming from the stone being made into bread. The temptation was the perception of how or who would produce the food.

Would he understand that it should be a production of the Father at work within him, or would Jesus perceive that he could produce the food from within himself? Would he give thanksgiving to the Father for the food, or would Jesus assume that he could be the one, being the Son of God, that could put the food on the table?

Moreover, this tale of temptation is deeper than just the perception of who does the work. The temptation would move from tempting Jesus to think that He could do it himself to why he would even want to do it for himself. The adversary to his soul

. . . taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine (Luke 4:5-7).

Jesus is now being tempted to overthrow the Father’s throne and kingdom for his own throne and kingdom.

The issue was not the worship of “Satan” as opposed to the worship of the Father. The issue was actually between Jesus and the Father. Would Jesus attempt to find life in the glory and the honor of his own kingdom as opposed to experiencing the glory and the honor of the Father’s kingdom? He was being tempted to be moved out from identity in the Father to his own autonomous self-identity.

Finally, the tale of temptation brought Jesus to the core of the deception. the adversary of his soul

. . . brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hand they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone (Luke 4:9-11).

Again, Jesus was being tempted to preempt himself over the Father. “Satan” was tempting Jesus to move himself out from living in, through, and by the Father. Instead of letting the will of the Father produce his life, Jesus was being tempted to fall to the deception that he had the capability to get the Father to move according to his will.

By the results (if he had fallen to the temptation) of Jesus’ action, jumping off the pinnacle of the temple, the Father would have to save him. By getting the Father to respond to him, by using the Father as a resource person for his own need, Jesus would then become the prime mover of his own life. His own autonomous self-identity would be established.

The man called Jesus conquered the deception of perception

The tale of temptation had run it course. It began by tempting Jesus to quench (1 Thess. 5:19) the true Spirit of life that dwelt within him. The temptation is never the question should one eat or not eat (should one live or not live). Rather, it is to be tempted to think that the hunger can be satisfied by the power of the one who hungers.

This tale of temptation always begins with the deception that the individual himself can make life happen. However, the temptation to deception runs deeper than just the desire to produce life. For the desire to produce life is grounded in the perceived glory and honor that will come upon the one who can successfully produce his own life. It is this perceived glory and honor that drives men into foolish, evil deeds (John 3:16-21). Going about trying to establish their own life, they fail to submit to the life of the Spirit (Rom. 10:3).

The perception that one can receive honor of himself, thereby experiencing life from that honor, will always frustrate the life that comes from experiencing the honor that is of God. As Jesus said of those who were striving the most to receive honor from men,

. . . ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. I receive not honour from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, which receive honour not of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only (John 5:40-44).

The glory and the honor of men strikes at the heart of man to move him away from the glory and the honor of God.

The tale of temptation, through the desire to produce life itself for the glory and the honor, has at its core the lifting of one’s self to preeminence. It is the created one desiring to make himself the measure of all things. It is as it was expressed of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon,

I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will set also upon the mount of the congregations, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High (Isa. 14:13,14).

The heart of the temptation to deception, the deception of perception, is the big lie that the creature can become the preeminent one, that he can become a God. With his autonomous self-identity firmly established, he now perceives he can produce the good life. He has fallen to the temptation of the flesh. He is on his way to the chambers of death and hell (Prov. 7:27).

Although Jesus was susceptible to this deception of an awakening self-perception, he lived his life knowing that “the son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise [‘similarly, at the same place or time’]” (John 5:19). Jesus lived his life by experiencing the indwelling Spirit of life, “according to the spirit of holiness” (Rom. 1:4).

Jesus did what no other man has ever done. He did not attempt to preempt himself above the treasure (2 Cor. 4:7) that dwelt within him. He did not attempt to use the Father to enhance himself. He knew that the life he was [is] was [is] the life of the Father (John 5:26,27). He lived as no one has ever lived his life, or will ever will.

The good news is Jesus lived his life, died on a cross, buried in a tomb, raised from the dead, ascended into heaven, and has returned by the power of the Holy Spirit to enable you to encounter the same quality of the life of God he experienced. Experiences the life that Jesus lived will always be because Jesus can now live in and through the believer. If will never occur when man attempts to live that life from within himself. The man called Jesus can change your life.

 

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Dr. James Stone is the founder and President of Christian Ministries, Inc., a ministry for personal, family, and church growth. He travels extensively across America and several foreign countries sharing his experiences with Jesus. His over 40 year career in ministry has included individual counseling, family counseling, church pastor, Bible college/seminary professorships, leader of revivals, Christian growth seminars & church growth specialist.

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