Character Studies - ElectronicGospel

Wise Servants of God: Jesusa character study by Jeff S. SmithIntroductionThis series of lessons on the "Wise Servants of God" ends on a most logical subject, the son of Godhimself, Jesus the Christ. When one thinks of wisdom and the Bible, the name Solomon is usually the firstto come to mind, but even his greatest rumination pales in comparison to the creator of intellect, the LordJesus. You see, Solomon's wisdom was not always personally applied and his latter years showed aremarkable decline in his ability. Christ, on the other hand, drafted wisdom at the dawn of time andlearned its personal application throughout a sinless sojourn on Earth. As we bring this series to a climax,we turn our pious attention to the unparalleled wisdom of our redeemer, who was from the beginning andever lives as our example in righteousness.DiscussionI. The Deity of ChristA. In The Beginning1. there are two places in God's word where the phrase "In the beginning" is prominent; one isquite obvious while the other is less soa. Genesis 1:1 tells us that "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth"b. so prominent is that phrase because of its placement at the onset of God's revelation and itsdescription of both the Godhead and the creation that the words become a trigger phrase when used again;one cannot read those four words without thinking of Genesis 1:1 and the creation (John 1:1-5, 14)c. without a doubt, John is informing us that Jesus was present at creation, that he was neitheran angel nor a lesser god, but a member of the one Godhead itself2. these other characters with wisdom have been but handfuls of water and Jesus is the wellincarnateB. Incarnation1. the Old Testament predicted that the Messiah would be more than a deliverer of Gideon'scaliber, more than a prophet like Elijah and more than a king like David, he would be Emmanuel, which,being translated, is "God with us"2. Jehovah prepared a body for his eternal and divine spirit (cf. Hebrews 10:5) and Jesus beganhis earthly visit in the womb of Marya. as he reached Jewish adulthood, his wisdom was already exceptional (Luke 2:40-52b. it is true that Jesus restrained many of his natural abilities and much of his inherentknowledge in order to fulfill his role as a savior acquainted with suffering and tested by the devil, butwitnessing the exercise of wisdom on display that day and recorded in our New Testaments relieves anydoubt that his deity was always fully in tactII. The Wisdom of ChristA. In Surviving Temptation1. as Christians we put Jesus on a pedestal in our hearts, but we must never forget that for 30years of time, he lived among men and became intimate with their struggle (Hebrews 5:14-16, 5:8-9)2. Jesus is the author of salvation on every levela. he bought our redemption with his blood and he becomes our Master when we obey thegospelb. but he also has written the manual on overcoming the tempter and living holy3. James wrote that if we submit to God and resist the devil, the latter will flee from us and theformer will draw near (cf. 4:7-8)a. Jesus demonstrated this resistance in the wilderness by facing Satan in three rounds ofintense temptation (Matthew 4:1-11)b. to every temptation, he replied by appealing to scripture–"It is written ..."c. we know that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can resist and will alsoprovide a way of escape with every snared. whether it be the lust of the eyes or flesh or the pride of life, there is no temptation strongerthan God's wordCharacter Studies! 73