Do You Know King Jesus and Desire Him First in Your Heart?

John wanted to present Jesus so that you might desire Him first in your
heart. He presents his gospel very specifically that you might understand Heis God who stepped out of Glory for us. Then, there is Matthew who groups
his narrative around 5 great discourses of Jesus. Mark presents Jesus as the
suffering servant. Luke is a meticulous historian pointing us to the fact that
He is the Messiah who fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies. So, as we
look at Jesus, not only is He the Word. He is God. But Jesus came to earth
where He is fully man. As unimaginable as that is, He faced temptation as a
human being. He faced hunger, fatigue, work, rejection, and trials of this
world willingly. So, the question is do you know King Jesus as Savior, Lord
and do you desire Him first?

This week I want to present a piece of His humanity, found in Matthew.

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized
by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be
baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” 15 But Jesus answered
and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to
fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. 16 When He had been
baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold,
the heavens were opened to Him, and [b] 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.” Matthew 3 (NASB)

To Know King Jesus in His Humanity

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted for forty days and
forty nights, He then became hungry. Matthew 4: (NASB)
Yes, do not miss this. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted
by Satan. God is never the tempter, but He may lead us as well into the
valley. It was particularly important at the beginning of Jesus ministry; He
square off against the devil in His human form. To be the Savior of the
world, this was essential. He could not be our Savior or take our place on
the cross if he were not fully human and faced temptation as such like we
do. Only He did not sin.

Do not for a moment think that because He did not have a sin nature means
He did not feel the temptation. But neither did Adam or Eve have a sin
nature before they had fallen to temptation, disobeyed God, and thrust the
world into our current sinful state.

Furthermore, our temptation is filtered by God, protecting us from the
ultimate of temptation. Jesus does not have that. Instead, as Satan tempts
Jesus, there is real temptation to lay aside the cross, to gain everything
without the suffering. Let us see if we can see that.
Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was
led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being
tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and
when they had ended, He was hungry.

Hungry is an understatement. During a fast, there is a point where hunger
dissipates. But when it returns, one is famished due to nearing a state of
starvation.

To Know King Jesus—God is my Provider

3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God,
command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and
said, “It is written: ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT COMES OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’” Matthew 4

So, Satan questions God’s Provision of Jesus as the Son. Christ could
anytime have turned and said, “remember Genesis, I will crush your head.”
But He did not. Why? Could it be that would have been a sin in itself? Truth is: “It was not the time for that. Instead, Jesus quotes scripture from
Deuteronomy. Furthermore, Satan knew Jesus was the Son of God, so the question was not for himself; but rather a crafty way of questioning Jesus to consider why would His Father allow Him to be hungry? If indeed He is the Son of God, why in a place where manna had been given to the Jews was Jesus left to hunger?

Have you ever felt a hunger deep within your soul which seems to not be
fulfilled? Are you hungry for love? for peace? for contentment? Where is
God? He is on His throne the same place He was while Jesus was hungry.
The Holy Spirit was there with Jesus but did allow Him to be hungry.

To Know King Jesus—on the Mountain Overlooking the World

5 And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in
a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this
domain and its glory, for it has been handed over to me, and I give it
to whomever I want. 7 Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all
be Yours.”
Three times Christ refers to Satan as the prince of this world, the deceiver,
and the ruler of this world. Paul even wrote it as this:
in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the
unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the
glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4
Let me see if I can help to explain this. Currently, Satan is the prince of this
world for a time; however, Jesus’ death on the Cross has given Him the right
to the deed of the earth.

REVELATION 5

1 I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll
written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. 2 And I
saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to
open the scroll and to break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on
the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look
into it. 4 Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found
worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders
*said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of
Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to be able to open the
scroll and its seven seals.”

6 And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and
the elders a Lamb standing, as if slaughtered, having seven horns
and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all
the earth. 7 And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of
Him who sat on the throne. 8 When He had taken the scroll, the four
living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the
Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense,
which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they *sang a new song,
saying,

“Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You
were slaughtered, and You purchased people for God with Your
blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation. 10 You have
made them into a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will
reign upon the earth.”
So, Satan was saying, “You do not have to go through all the pain, suffering
and die to own all this. I can give it to you now. Just bow before me just
once. I not so unreasonable”
8 Jesus replied to him, “It is written: ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR
GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’” Luke 4

To Know King Jesus—Humble Servant of God

Matthew 4 5 Then the devil *took Him along into the holy city and
had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and he *said to Him,
“If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written:
‘HE WILL GIVE HIS ANGELS ORDERS CONCERNING YOU’;
and‘ON THEIR HANDS THEY WILL LIFT YOU UP,

So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
What Satan was suggesting is that Jesus launch His ministry quickly.
Everyone would follow and believe you if you do this. All would know who
you are. But Jesus, was not going to run ahead of His Father’s timing. He
came to be the suffering servant and the Savior by paying the price for all
who would believe. It was not time to be King until all who would come to
Him. Had He jumped ahead where would we be?

7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written: ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT
THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’”

This is true of us as well. I cannot go out and live a life of debauchery and
pray for God to give me health.

Then,
10 Then Jesus *said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘YOU
SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’” 11 Then the devil
*left Him; and behold, angels came and began to serve Him.

Matthew 4:
Or Luke 4: 13 And so when the devil had finished every temptation, he
left Him until an opportune time.
It was not the only time that Satan tempted Christ, but never did Jesus sin.

Why is this important for us to Know King Jesus.

We are prone to think He does not understand how hard it is to live this life?
How often do we wish to throw up our hands declaring defeat or surrender in
the battles of this world? Furthermore, beyond what others see we know
that God also sees our heart. Therefore, we are not without guilt on our
own. It is this very Word of God that sees deep within our heart.
12 For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-
edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and
spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and
intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His
sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him to
whom we must answer.
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed
through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to our
confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot
sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in
all things just as we are, yet without sin.
And because of that:

16 Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so
that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our
need. Hebrews 4: (NASB).

DO YOU KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD? He is our only Hope in Life and Death! Our Joy is found in Him.

Therefore if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord: I urge you today. Go to my page titled How to Be Saved by clicking on this link. There is nothing more important than this; because He is the way, the truth and the life. Therefore, I urge you to seek Him today.

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