Paul referred to Jesus in 1 Corinthians as the 2nd man and the last Adam.
1 Cor 15:45 (NKJV) And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
There have only been two men born alive.
All others have been born dead.
Bodily alive, socially active, but spiritually dead.
Adam and Eve could pass on only that which they had.
Peter tells us that Jesus was our example.
1 Peter 2:21 (NKJV) For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
Not only the steps in following Him in bearing with suffering, but following and imitating Jesus in all areas of life.
Eph 5:1 (NKJV) Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
When Paul talked of imitation he was using language which the wise men of Greece could understand. Mimesis, imitation, was a main part in the training of an orator. The teachers of rhetoric declared that the learning of oratory depended on three things–theory, imitation and practice. The main part of their training was the study and the imitation of the masters who had gone before.
It is as if Paul said: “If you were to train to be an orator, you would be told to imitate the masters of speech. Since you are training in life, you must imitate the Lord of life.”
This morning, we look at the life of Jesus, and His dependence upon the Holy Spirit.
All that Jesus did was covered by the Holy Spirit.
Empowered, prompted, directed by the Spirit of God.
It is in this way that we shall look at His life.
It is in this way that we shall seek to follow Christ.
Jesus was born of the Spirit.
Luke 1:35 (NKJV) And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
No man had anything to do with the birth of Jesus Christ.
We are told in the Book of Leviticus that the birth of a child caused a woman to be unclean because she brought a sinner into the world.
Mary is told that she is not bringing a sinner into the world; He is holy.
The union of man and woman can only produce a child with a sin nature.
By the virgin birth is the only way God could get that “holy thing” into the human family.
In Psalm 51:5 David said, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
Mary’s Son would be different.
He would be virgin born.
Jesus offered Himself to God through the Spirit.
Heb 9:14 (NKJV) how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
It was Christ’s offering up himself to God through the eternal Spirit, not only as the divine nature supported the human, but the Holy Ghost, which he had without measure, helping him in all, and in this great act of obedience offering himself.
One might ask, “When did Jesus offer Himself?”
Psalms 40:6-8 (NKJV) Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.”
Heb 10:5-7 (NKJV) Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me.
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come–In the volume of the book it is written of Me–To do Your will, O God.’ “
Jesus Pleased God
Matt 3:16-17 (NKJV) When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
John 8:29 (NKJV) And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”
Because what He was pleased God, what He did pleased God.
Jesus Was Filled And Driven By The Spirit
Luke 4:1-2 (NKJV) Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
Jesus Overcame Satan By The Power Of The Spirit
Luke 4:3-4 (NKJV) And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ “
Jesus didn’t need to act as God in order to beat Satan, only as a man filled with the Holy Spirit.
What the Garden of Eden was as compared to the wilderness.
In the Garden, man turned away from God when he had everything.
In the wilderness, Jesus was choosing God when He had nothing.
Phil 2:5-6 (NKJV) Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
Phil 2:6 (NIV)Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
Phil 2:6 (Living) who, though he was God, did not demand and cling to his rights as God,
Jesus humbled Himself always.
Though He was always God he was always man.
It is important that we see both sides of His nature.
His deity and His humanity didn’t work against each other, but cooperated with each other.
The JW’s only see His humanity, and they try to prove His lack of deity.
The problem isn’t understanding humanity, but His humility.
Jesus Lived Through The Power Of The Holy Spirit
Luke 4:14 (NKJV) Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.
Jesus Was Anointed For Ministry By The Holy Spirit
Luke 4:16-19 (NKJV) So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD. ‘
Jesus Gave Commandments Through The Holy Spirit
Acts 1:2 (NKJV) until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen,
W/O The Holy Spirit, Jesus Did Nothing
John 5:30 (NKJV) “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
John 6:38 (NKJV) “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
John 12:44 (NKJV) Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.
From Bethlehem to the Mt. Of Olives; from the cradle to the grave, Jesus was the exclusive vessel of the Holy Spirit.
John 14:5-9 (NKJV) Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Jesus is the example of what God intended man to be when He created him (Genesis 1:26). In John 8:29 Jesus said that He always did the things that pleased the Father, and in Matthew 3:17 God said of Jesus, “This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”
God’s Spirit works in us to change us into the likeness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).
C. When we see the divine ideal for man in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit changes us from glory to glory into that same image (2 Corinthians 3:18). We have to see Christ with an open or “unveiled” face, a face that is not blinded to the truth.
D. We can only see Christ in the Word and we need the Spirit to make the Word alive to our hearts (2 Peter 1:4).
B. As we become more like Christ, our problems arise from living as redeemed spirits in unredeemed bodies. We desire to be delivered from these bodies of flesh so that we can enjoy the full, rich, overflowing life in the spirit (1 John 3:2, 2 Corinthians 5:4, Romans 8:22,23).
C. As the Holy Spirit continues to work in us, we find that our joy is in growing continually more conformed to the image of Christ. “I shall be satisfied when I awake, with Thy likeness” (Psalm 17:15).
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