GRACE BIBLE CHURCH
05-18-2022
PASTOR ROBERT R. MCLAUGHLIN
GBIBLE.ORG
PDF:GBC05182022NOTES
Christian Soldier 74A, Doctrine Of Kenosis, Part 15, 3 Parts Of Our Lord’s Evidence Testing.
We are still on Point 4 in our doctrine of Kenosis which deals with the evidence testing of our Lord.
We are almost finished with second temptation.
One thing we know is that jumping 450 feet down from a high mountain would not be the way our Lord would die.
We know that because of all the prophesies He fulfilled throughout the Word of God
We have the prophecy of certain events which took place around the Cross in PSA 22:6-8.
Look at PSA 22:6 "But I am a worm, and not a man, a reproach of men, and despised by the people."
PSA 22:7 "All who see Me sneer at Me; they separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,"
PSA 22:8 "Commit Yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, because He delights in Him."
This was totally fulfilled in Luke 23:35.
LUK 23:35 "And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, slaying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen one."
We have the prophecy of the cross with His hands and feet being pierced in PSA 22:16.
PSA 22:16 "For dogs have surrounded Me; a band of evildoers has encompassed Me; they pierced My hands and My feet"
This was fulfilled throughout the gospels when they nailed His hands and feet to the cross, MAT 27:31 and MAR 15:24.
Back to MAT 27:31 And after they had mocked Him, they took His robe off and put His garments on Him, and led Him away to crucify {Him.}
MAR 15:24 And they *crucified Him, and *divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them, {to decide} what each should take.
MAR 15:25 And it was the third hour when they crucified Him.
MAR 15:26 And the inscription of the charge against Him read, "THE KING OF THE JEWS."
Then there was the prophecy of casting lots for His garments; PSA 22:18.
PSA 22:18 "They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."
This was totally fulfilled in MAT 27:35.
MAT 27:35 "And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots;"
There is the prophecy that not one of His bones would be broken; PSA 34:20.
PSA 34:20 "He keeps all His bones; not one of them is broken."
This was fulfilled in John 19:34-36.
JOH 19:34 "But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water. "
JOH 19:35 And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
JOH 19:36 "For these things came to pass, that the scripture might be fulfilled, "not a bone of Him shall be broken."
Then there is the prophecy of the false witnesses; PSA 35:11.
PSA 35:11 "Malicious witnesses rose up; they ask Me of things that I do not know."
Fulfilled in Mark 14:57-58.
MAR 14:57 "And some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying,"
MAR 14:58 "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands."
There is the Old Testament prophecy of the betrayal of Judas Iscariot which pointed to the Cross; PSA 41:9.
PSA 41:9 "Even My close friend, in whom I trusted, who ate My bread, has lifted up his heel against Me."
Fulfilled in Luke 22:47-48.
LUK 22:47 "While He was still speaking, behold, a multitude came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him."
LUK 22:48 "But Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of man with a kiss?"
Next:
There is the prophecy that they would offer our Lord gall and vinegar to relieve His physical pain, but He refused to drink it to relive His comfort as the perfect Son of God; PSA 69:21.
PSA 69:21 "They also gave Me gall for My food, and for My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink."
Fulfilled in Matthew 27:34.
MAT 27:34 "They gave Him wine to drink mingled with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink."
Then there is the prophecy of the physical abuse and humiliation of Jesus, which is one of our points in the Doctrine of Kenosis; ISA 50:6.
ISA 50:6 "I gave My back to those who strike Me, and My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spiting."
This is fulfilled in Matthew 26:67.
Mat 26:67 "Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him."
Next:
There was the prophecy that He would come to die for our sins in order to save us which is related to the Cross and how our Lord would die in ISA 53:5.
ISA 53:5 "But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for out well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed."
This was fulfilled throughout the entire New Testament as in ROM 5:6-8.
ROM 5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
ROM 5:7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
ROM 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
There was the prophecy that He would be silent as He approached the Cross which is another manifestation of Kenosis; ISA 53:7.
ISA 53:7 "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth."
This was fulfilled in Mark 15:4-5.
MAR 15:4 "And Pilate was questioning Him again, saying, "do You make no answer? See how many charges they bring against You!"
There is the prophecy of His crucifixion; ISA 53:12.
ISA 53:12 "And He was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors."
This was fulfilled in Luke 23:33-34.
LUK 23:33 "And when they came to the place called the skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left."
LUK 23:34 "But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves."
There is the prophecy of the piercing of Jesus's side which alludes to the Cross as a way to die; ZEC 12:10.
ZEC 12:10 "They will look on Me whom they have pierced' and they will mourn for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born."
This was fulfilled in John 19:34.
JOH 19:34 "But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water."
And a part of it will be fulfilled in Revelation 1:7.
REV 1:7 "Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him."
There is the prophecy of the nailing of Jesus' hands and feet that point to the way of the Cross; ZEC 13:6.
ZEC 13:6 "And one will say to Him, 'what are these wounds between Your arms?' Then He will say, 'those with which I was wounded in the house of My
friends."
This was fulfilled in John 20:27.
JOH 20:27 "Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing."
Now, there is a principle behind all this which is the Following principle:
Nothing is more insidious or subtle than the use of God’s Word to get someone to act independently of God.
Jesus’ temptation was more severe than anyone could ever imagine.
It was more severe because He was tempted directly by the devil Himself while we contend mainly with lesser demons.
It was also more severe because there is a sense in which temptation is “relieved” by giving in, and Jesus never did yield.
Therefore, He bore levels of temptation we will never know by experience.
Satan did not question Jesus’ deity; he challenged Him to prove it or demonstrate it through miraculous works.
This was a temptation to use God’s gifts for selfish purposes.
Satan suggested that Jesus use His miraculous powers to provide food for Himself.
We could say that the same temptation came to Jesus on the cross; MAT 27:40.
Look at MAT 27:40 "You who {are going to} destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself if You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."
It wasn’t a matter of refusing supernatural help; it was a matter of submitting to His Father’s timing in all things.
Jesus was willing to fight this battle as a man; He could have easily rebuked Satan into another galaxy, but resisted him in a way that we can imitate and identify with.
Jesus used Scripture to battle Satan’s temptation, not some elaborate spiritual power inaccessible to us.
Jesus fought this battle as fully man, and He drew on no “special resources” that are available to us.
“Out flashed the sword of the Spirit: our Lord will fight with no other weapon.”
He could have spoken new revelations, but chose to say, ‘It is written. (Spurgeon)
He could have stood against Satan with a display of His own glory.
He could have stood against Satan with logic and reason.
Instead, Jesus used the word of God as a weapon against Satan and temptation.
He used a weapon that everyone can use especially when they are all alone.
He used a weapon to defend His Sonship.
He used a weapon to defeat temptation.
He used a weapon that was effective because He understood it.
“The Word of God has a power in it to squash Satan’s temptations which is far better than that wooden dagger, that lead the Pope to their holy water, different crosses, etc.”
However:
It is not the SIGN of the Cross but the word of the Cross, that overthrows Satan.”
The Holy Spirit revealed to Jesus that this was important for us to know what happened when He was tempted in the wilderness.
Jesus overcame temptation on our behalf and succeeded as the sinless Son of God where Adam and Moses and all others had failed.
That is the way the woman fell back in the garden.
The woman fell because she added to the Word of God.
This goes on all the time and people are constantly misusing the Word of God by acting independently of the will of God and the plan of God.
Back now in MAT 4:5 Then the devil *took Him into the holy city; and he had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,
MAT 4:6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God throw Yourself down; for it is written, #'He will give His angels charge concerning You'; and ' On {their} hands they will bear You up, Lest You strike Your foot against a stone. '
MAT 4:7 Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
Satan has used a scripture here that is true but it is not
apply to the situation.
Jesus said unto him, “It is written,” again He quotes the pertinent passage of scripture, DEU 6:16.
DEU 6:16 "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.
- Jesus turns the first class condition of verse 6, since You are the Son of God, back on Satan which was the important thing that Satan said at first, “If thou be the Son of God [and you are].”
- The issue is not to jump when Satan commands, this is tempting the Lord to try and murder Him right out of this life.
- Satan quoted scripture which did not apply whereas Jesus quoted scripture that did apply.
Not all scripture applies to one situation.
The more mature you become and the more doctrine you understand the better qualified you are to apply the pertinent scripture to a pertinent situation.
- To all believers who are tempted to commit suicide this temptation is both worldliness and Satanic.
It is worldliness because of human viewpoint self-pity.
It is Satanic because the individual who commits suicide could care less about hurting others who love them.
It is Satan’s objective to get the believer to operate independently of the will of God and it is never the will of God to get the believer to take his own life.
- Your departure from the earth must be strictly the sovereignty of God and never a matter of human volition; PSA 68:20.
PSA 68:20 God is to us a God of deliverances; And to God the Lord belong escapes from death.
Now, in verses 8-10, we have the third recorded temptation which is the relationship with the Father’s plan.
MAT 4:8 Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain, and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory;
MAT 4:9 and he said to Him, "All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me."
MAT 4:10 Then Jesus *said to him, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'"
MAT 4:11 Then the devil *left Him; and
behold, angels came and {began} to minister to Him.almost ready to complete the evidence testing of our Lord.
MAT 4:7 Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
Satan has used a scripture here that is true but it is not pertinent to the situation.
Principles:
- Jesus turns the first class condition of verse 6 back on Satan. The pertinent thing is what Satan said at first, “If thou be the Son of God [and you are].”
- The issue is not to jump when Satan commands, this is tempting the Lord to take Him right out of this life.
- Satan quoted scripture which did not apply whereas Jesus quoted scripture that did apply.
Not all scripture applies to one situation.
The more mature you become and the more doctrine you understand the better qualified you are to apply the pertinent scripture to a pertinent situation.
- To all believers who are tempted to commit suicide this temptation is both worldliness and Satanic.
- Your departure from the earth must be strictly the sovereignty of God and never a matter of human volition.
In verses 8-10, this third temptation is the relationship with the Father’s plan.
Let’s read the passage again.
MAT 4:8 Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain, and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory;
MAT 4:9 and he said to Him, "All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me."
MAT 4:10 Then Jesus *said to him, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'"
MAT 4:11 Then the devil *left Him; and
behold, angels came and {began} to minister to Him.
Principles of the third temptation:
- The third temptation deals with our Lord’s relationship with the Father’s plan
- It is the plan of the Father that Jesus Christ should rule the world, but this plan demands the cross before the crown as the basis for establishing an eternal kingdom of regenerate believers.
- In the third temptation, Satan offers a plan which by-passes the cross and Satan tempts Jesus to accept the crown by-passing the cross.
Satan is the only one who could tempt Jesus this way because he is the ruler of the world.
- The offer of Satan to give Jesus the kingdoms of the world is a bona fide offer because Satan is the ruler of the world.
Since Satan is the ruler of the world, we have certain safeguards to keep Satan from gaining control of the world like the divine establishments.
The divine establishment is:
- Freedom
- Marriage
- Family
- Nationalism
- Satan’s plan always ignores, distorts, obscures, or rejects the cross.
- This temptation, rejected by Christ, will be accepted in the Tribulation by the beast of REV 13.
REV 13:3 And {I saw} one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed {and followed} after the beast.
Verse 8 gives us the location of the third temptation,
MAT 4:8 Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain, and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory;
We can speculate all we want as to the high mountain but it is unknown.
Remember, the kingdoms of the world are ruled by Satan — JOH 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; EPH 2:2.
Look at JOH 12:31 "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.
Go forward to JOH 14:30 "I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;
Next JOH 16:7 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
JOH 16:8 "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment;
JOH 16:9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;
JOH 16:10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me;
JOH 16:11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
The title in Ephesians 2:2, “the prince of the power of the air,” actually deals with the earth as a title for Satan’s rulership of the world.
EPH 2:2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Notice that it says MAT 4:8 Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain, and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory;
There are two sides to this temptation.
First of all,
- The temptation is to try to get Jesus to avoid the cross which is repugnant to Him anyway, illustrated by the scene of Gethsemane where Jesus Said: “If it be thy will let this cup pass from me.”
Jesus did not want to go to the cross in His humanity. He went because it was the Father’s will.
He went joyfully because He had us in mind, but the cross and bearing the sins of the world was repugnant to Him and this is a temptation to avoid the cross.
- The word “glory” casts some light on this temptation, Jesus didn’t see the kingdoms in some of their dirt and filth.
These kingdoms are presented in their glamour, which means only the nice side is seen by Jesus in His humanity.
This makes the temptation very attractive.
But in MAT 4:9 and he said to Him, "All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me."
This was Satan’s offer to our Lord.
In this manner Jesus would have received the kingdoms of the world without going to the cross and this would have constituted a deviation from the Father’s plan.
God is eternal and His plans are eternal.
Since God is eternal the only kingdom that Jesus can rule forever and ever must be an eternal kingdom.
The only eternal kingdom will be composed of members of the human race who are in union with Christ and they will be a part of this eternal kingdom.
So:
Jesus Christ could have taken the kingdoms of the world without going to the cross but He refused it.
In Verse 10 — the victory.
MAT 4:10 Then Jesus *said to him, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'"
"Begone, Satan” in the Greek is a very dramatic, “Get out of here,” Jesus gave him an order. It is a present active imperative.
So that in MAT 4:11 Then the devil *left Him; and
behold, angels came and {began} to minister to Him.
Satan obeyed the order.
The word “left means to depart quickly; “and, behold, the angels came to minister to Him.”
The angelic conflict is ultimately resolved by the cross and since Jesus has just stood up under the greatest pressure known to man, He declared that He will go to the cross and the angels come and they ministered to Him.
After 40 days without food Jesus Christ eats again.
As a result of this great victory Jesus Christ enters into a marvellous period of ministry.
In verses 12-25 we have the ministry of the King.
MAT 4:12 Now when He heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee;
MAT 4:13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of
.Zebulun and Naphtali.
MAT 4:14 {This was} to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
MAT 4:15 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles
MAT 4:16 "The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, And to those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a light dawned."
MAT 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
MAT 4:18 And walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
MAT 4:19 And He *said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."
MAT 4:20 And they immediately left the nets, and followed Him.
MAT 4:21 And going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the {son} of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.
MAT 4:22 And they immediately left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
MAT 4:23 And {Jesus} was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
MAT 4:24 And the news about Him went out into all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, taken with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.
MAT 4:25 And great multitudes followed Him from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and {from} beyond the Jordan.
Point 5. The False Doctrine of Kenosis.
The traditional view says that the relative divine attributes of Christ were surrendered or emptied during the First Advent.
The gnostic view denies that Christ had a real body or that His body was made of some heavenly substance instead of human flesh.
The Lutheran view denies that the incarnation involved any humiliation.
All of them are absolutely unequivocally wrong!
When it comes to the doctrine of Kenosis, there are many well-known theologians who do not rightly divide the Word of God.
There are many pastors that don’t even know the doctrine but refuse what they do not know or what they do not understand.
It is impossible for deity to surrender an attribute without changing the character of the essence from which it came.
MAL 3:6 "For I, the Lord, do not change;"
HEB 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.
The point is that God cannot change, therefore, to rob God of any attribute would destroy His deity.
If Christ did not possess all the attributes of divine essence, then He did not possess true deity in the first place.
It is impossible to subtract any attribute without destroying the total essence of God..
There are three categories of absolute attributes: spirituality, infinity, and perfection.
- Spirituality includes the life and personality of God.
- Infinity includes self existence, immutability and His unity.
- Perfection includes His holiness, truth, and love.
The relative attributes of God include:
- Attributes related to time and space: eternity and immensity.
- Attributes related to creation: omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence.
- Attributes related to moral beings: veracity and faithfulness, which are related to His truth; mercy and goodness, which are related to His love; and justice and righteousness, which are related to His holiness.
If one category of attributes is necessary for deity, it logically follows that all others are also necessary.
In fact, the purpose of the Gospel of John is to prove the deity of Christ, that He remained deity during His incarnation, that omnipresence continued in the flesh, JOH 1:48, 3:13.
However, it is a passage that is vital for us to understand because it reveals what our Lord did in choosing His first disciples.
JOH 1:29 The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
JOH 1:30 "This is He on behalf of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'
JOH 1:31 "And I did not recognize Him, but in order that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water."
JOH 1:32 And John bore witness saying, "I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.
JOH 1:33 "And I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.'
JOH 1:34 "And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."
JOH 1:35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,
JOH 1:36 and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and *said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"
JOH 1:37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
JOH 1:38 And Jesus turned, and beheld them following, and *said to them, "What do you seek?" And they said to Him, "Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?"
JOH 1:39 He *said to them, "Come, and you will see." They came therefore and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
JOH 1:40 One of the two who heard John {speak,} and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
JOH 1:41 He *found first his own brother Simon, and *said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which translated means Christ).
JOH 1:42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).
JOH 1:43 The next day He purposed to go forth into Galilee, and He *found Philip. And Jesus *said to him, "Follow Me."
JOH 1:44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.
JOH 1:45 Philip *found Nathanael and *said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and {also} the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
JOH 1:46 And Nathanael *said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip *said to him, "Come and see."
JOH 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!"
JOH 1:48 Nathanael *said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."
JOH 1:49 Nathanael answered Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel."
JOH 1:50 Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these."
JOH 1:51 And He *said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Anything done outside of the will of God becomes a form of evil in the sense of being independent from God.
For example,
Did Satan try to make our Lord sin in the wilderness?
No.
All he tried to do what get the Lord to choose independently from His Father’s will.
I really don't think that the average Christian understands the evil behind the attitude of being independent from God.
And I'm talking about members of our own congregation, including all of those throughout the world.
What makes even the good we produce evil?
Answer-Independence from God.
My will over God's will.
Our imagination is actually to limited to picture the crisis which took place in the universe when for the first time ever one of God's creatures said "No" to the will of God.
At the moment, the first repudiation of God took place in the universe.
When we think of someone being independent from the plan of God and not really caring about the things of God and God's will for their life, we don't think of these individuals as real evil people.
And yet in JOH 8:44 our Lord said who had the real evil oneis to the religious leaders of His day;
JOH 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
Notice that Satan was a murderer from the beginning.
Our Lord stated that Satan did not stand in the truth and that he was dominated with an inordinate desire, and that he was a murderer from the beginning.
All these disclosures are various ways of describing one sin, that of seeking to rise above the realm in which he was created for and above the purpose and service assigned to him by God.
ISA 14:1 3 "But you said in your heart [Satan thought this in his frontal lobe], 'I will ascend to heaven;
I will ascend to heaven as we noted is a reference to the third heaven where God is, 2CO 12:2.
He wanted the highest heavenly position.
In his unholy self-promotion, he determined that his abode should be higher than that position to which he had been appointed to by his Creator.
I want to be something else than what I was created for.
Now, here's the shocking thing, we see the same sin not only in unbelievers but even in believers today.
For example, we have been made to love and to obey and to serve God.
Yet the majority of believers are much more occupied with their own life and their own will over the will of God.
The Bible says;
1CO 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
1CO 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
Yet the majority of believers say NO!!!
The Bible says;
2CO 5:15 and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
Yet the majority of believers say No!!
The Bible says;
MAT 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
NO! Or
ROM 6:19 Just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
Yet the majority of believers say NO!
ROM 12:1 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Yet most believers say NO!
NO! NO! NO!
There's very little difference between Satan's sin of independence and ours.
The majority of believers are much more occupied with their own life and their own will over the will of God.
And so there's very little difference between Satan's sin of independence and ours.
And the interesting thing is that if we truly desire to glorify God, then we must realize that His grace will not be satisfied until;
He can take some members of the human race, who by original position are lower than the angels, and lift them up to an eternal citizenship in the highest realm.
That's why the writer of Hebrews says;
HEB 2:6 "What is man, that Thou rememberest him? Or the son of man, that Thou art concerned about him?
HEB 2:7 "Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, And hast appointed him over the works of Thy hands;
HEB 2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. "For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him.
Our Lord gave us a glimpse of this the night before His death in JOH 17:21 when he was praying for His disciples;
JOH 17:21 that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, {art} in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.
JOH 17:22 "And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one;
JOH 17:23 I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me.
JOH 17:24 "Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world.
JOH 17:25 "O righteous Father, although the world has not known Thee, yet I have known Thee; and these have known that Thou didst send Me;
JOH 17:26 and I have made Thy name known to them, and will make it known; that the love wherewith Thou didst love Me may be in them, and I in them. "
Satan has no right either by position or redemption to claim this eternal citizenship and this highest of all heavenly positions which is why he is very angry.
His self-seeking intention as revealed in Isa 14 is an outrage against the Creator's plan and purpose for the creature.
This is why God describes the reprobate in ROM 1.
ROM 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
ROM 1:19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
ROM 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
ROM 1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
ROM 1:22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
ROM 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four footed animals and crawling creatures.
One of the reasons why Satan and the kingdom of darkness promotes evolution is the fact that they want us to think that we are closer to the animal kingdom rather than the angelic kingdom.
Satan would rather have us believe we are closely related to apes and monkeys than to ever discover we've been elevated higher than angels.
So back in;
ISA 14:13 I will raise my throne above the stars or the shining ones of God.,
"will raise" is the hiphil imperfect of the verb rum which is the causative stem and he is saying I will cause myself to rule.
It means that he will lift himself up above all the angels of God.
This is what he tried to do as the ruler of the world.
Satan had power and authority and he wanted more power and authority.
I will raise my throne or exalt my throne above the stars of God refers to the angels as noted in Job 38:7; Jud 13, Rev 12:3-4, stars are angels.
The point is that although Satan was appointed to the guardianship of the throne of God, he lusted after the possession of a throne of his own and to rule over the "stars of God."
And
God has allowed him to accomplish a part of this goal which is why we read in EPH 2:2 that Satan is the
prince of the power of the air,
In 2CO 4:4, he is the god of this world
In JOH 14:30, he is called the ruler of this world.
He has some rulership and God is allowing him to rule the world and this cosmos is a terrible reflection of Satan's rulership.
However, thanks to a lot of ignorant well-meaning Christians, Satan is doing a little better job ruling the world with their help than he would be doing without them......for they are helping him clean it up.
So back in ISA 14:13 I will raise my throne above the stars or the shining ones of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.
I will sit on the mount of the assembly in the recesses of the north refers to rulership over the government of the earth, Isa 2:1-4.
This is Messianic recognition.
The original sin was a thought, he said this in his heart or he thought this.
You see, there's some people who will never get this straight.
They think that any sin of immorality is a sign of a horrible believer or a person who isn't really a believer at all.
And, if a person is moral, they think he's spiritual.
And there are many unbelievers who are moral and they're not spiritual at all, in fact, they're not even saved.
Morality is not spirituality.
It may be a result of spirituality but morality is for the entire human race.
The most awful sins that you can commit and the ones that can really turn you into a monster have to do with what you think and what you say.
And if you ever get this perspective down pat, it will straighten out your life in a fantastic way.
If you don't get this perspective, you will never amount to a thing as an ambassador for Christ.
You'll run around all of your life trying to be self-righteous and moral......
thinking anything you want to......
being just as jealous, envious, hateful, antagonistic or implacable as you want to be....
gossiping and maligning and nit-picking and running people down.....
with a facade of self-righteousness.....
and you'll never amount to a thing.
And people will never condemn you so you can get away with it.
And you will appear to be such a sweet, loving, caring individual but you are only deceiving yourself and eventually your hypocrisy will be manifested or revealed.
Christians can get away with gossip and maligning and jealousy and pride and all these things.
They can get away with it in most churches.
In most churches, people are evaluated on the basis of their obvious sins....sins that can be seen.
And so overt sins which can be seen become the basis of condemnation.
And meanwhile, the gross mental attitude sins are ignored.
So ISA 14:13, gets down to the basic origin of sin, all sin comes from within.
The first sin ever committed was thought, "I will, I will, I will...."
It was negative volition toward God's word.
So again, ISA 14:13 "But you said in your heart,
The area of the first fall of Satan was the heart.
ISA 14:13 "But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven;
This was power lust expressing a desire to rule over God.
Satan was so taken with himself that he literally thought that he could become superior to God and that he could rule over God.
The word ascend means to rule or to have the sovereignty in heaven.
ISA 14:13......I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
This is power lust to rule over the angels.
And then the third I will is power lust and Satan's ambition to rule over the earth.
ISA 14:13.......And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.
Now remember man isn't in the picture as of yet.
So what does it mean to rule the earth?
It means to rule planet earth as it existed before the creation of man and therefore Satan wanted to rule over the angels on the earth as well as those in heaven.
ISA 14:14 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
Now, clouds are used to represent the divine presence of God or His glory.
Point 7. Part of the kenosis is the sustaining ministry of God the Holy Spirit to the humanity of Christ.
Isaiah prophesied that a power system would come, i.e., that God the Holy Spirit would indwell a human and fill the soul.
Jesus Christ was the first one to receive this ministry.
Isa 11:1 3, 42:1, 61:1.
ISA 11:1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
ISA 11:2 And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
ISA 11:3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
ISA 42:1 "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one {in whom} My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.
ISA 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives, And freedom to prisoners;
This ministry of the Holy Spirit is related to the virgin birth in Mat 1:20; Psa 40:6; Heb 10:5.
Christ was constantly filled with the Spirit from birth, Joh 3:34.
The filling of the Holy Spirit is related to the baptism of Jesus, Mat 3:13 17.
It is related to His public ministry, Mat 12:18, 28; Luk 4:14 15, 17 18, 21.
The omnipotence of the Holy Spirit sustained Jesus Christ while bearing our sins on the cross, Heb 9:14.
The Holy Spirit's ministry to Christ is continued as the agent in resurrection, Rom 8:11; 1Pe 3:18 19.
This same ministry and power is transferred to the royal family; Joh 7:38 39, 16:13 14; 2Co 3:1 3; Eph 3:16 17.
Point 8. Summary.
It the doctrine of Kenosis it is important to note that the two natures of Christ maintain their complete identity through being joined in personal union forever.
The characteristics of His human nature belong to the human part of Him, the characteristics of His divine nature belong to the God-part of Him.
Each nature has its own attributes that adhere to that nature.
In other words, there is no mixture of the two natures.
He is never half-God and half-man or half man and half-God.
Sometimes He operates from His human nature only.
Sometimes He operates from His divine nature only.
And sometimes He operates from both natures together but not mixed.
For example, in His humanity He became hungry, Mat 4:2 but in His deity He never hungers, Joh 6:35.
In His humanity, He became thirsty, JOH 19:28, but in His deity He is the water of life, Rev 22:17.
In His humanity, He would say such things as JOH 14:28 "For the Father is greater than I."
And then in His deity He would say JOH 10:30 "I and the Father are one."
Or JOH 5:23 in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.
And then and sometimes He operates from both natures together but not mixed when He says such things like JOH 14:6 "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me."
This is reason why there are so many cults out who deny the deity of Christ because they don't understand this doctrine, or the doctrine of the hypostatic Union, Trinity, and the deity of TLJC.
The point is that the human nature in Christ always remains the human nature and the divine nature always remains the divine nature.
This is why we can refer to Him as the God-man.
In His deity He has omniscience, Joh 2:25, but His limitation of knowledge is concluded from the fact that Christ could be amazed, Mat 8:10.
In His deity He could not be tempted, Jam 1:13, in His humanity He could be really tempted, Heb 4:15.
In His deity He is the giver of faith, In His humanity He possessed faith, Heb 12:2.
He has all knowledge yet He is said to have learned in Luk 2:52; Heb 5:8.
In Mar 13:32 with Mat 24:36, Christ states categorically that He is ignorant of the exact time of the Second Coming but as God He knows.
Kenosis is based on the fact that the union of the deity of Christ to unglorified but true humanity is a necessary factor for a winner believer to know and understand.