The Armor of God - The Abilities of Jesus - Part 1 of 10

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might." Ephesians 6:10

In the first part of our study, we found the purpose for Paul's writing about putting the armor of God on: to be strong in the Lord and to be strong in the strength of His might. Being strong in the Lord means to realize that He is our energy source. Being strong in the strength of His might is realizing the enabling power of His abilities. When we realize His abilities, our faith and our trust in His ways grows. Throught this growth, we begin to allow Him to guide our lives(Proverbs 3:5,6). Today, we are going to look at the first of ten of these abilities; the resistance to temptation.
An important aspect of the temptation of Christ (Matt 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4: 1-13) is that Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days without food. When Jesus was at His physical weakest point is when the devil tempted Him.

Jesus was 100% God, but was also 100% man. Jesus has a human body. He was born as other human babies were born (Luke 2:7); He thirsted (John 19:28); and as we read in the temptation, He hungered (Matt 4:2). He also had a human mind for He increased in wisdom(Luke 2:52). Jesus also showed emotions for He was capable of weeping (John 11:35) and becoming upset (Matt 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46). In the end, He was tempted in all points as we are yet did not sin(Heb 4:15). Although He was 100% God, He was 100% in God. He could do nothing on His own but only the will of the Father (John 5:30). Although each of us is tempted by our own desires and drwan away from God (James 1:14), He will aid us during these times (Heb 2:18). Jesus was our perfect example during the toughest of temptations. When He was at His physcially weakest ans saturated with hunger, the devil tempted Him with the thought that He could turn the stones into bread for He had the power(Matt 4:13). But Jesus' answer was that" man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." During His toughest trials, Jesus relied on His Father. As Jesus did, we must do. We must submit to God and resist the devil. When we do, the devil will flee from us (James 4:7).