The Son of God

Thou Art the Son of God Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Matthew 4:1 I had a hard time seeing it, though it was there all along. It was plain as day but hidden away. Christ. He was here, but I could not behold His glory. Watch for it! Look closely! For here in this text, in a moment, His glory will begin to shine forth this day. Allow me to endeavor to pull back the curtain for you to see. As Christ ventures into the wilderness, driven by the Spirit of God, you will see wonders unforetold. He that was just before anointed King, will as we follow begin to shine forth in all His glory. Watch and behold the King of Kings, as He is entered in the lists and comes forth triumphant. Observe then, 1. Where it was from whence Jesus came. Jesus came from a regal ceremony for His anointing. He was hidden for so long, yet now He has entered upon the stage, and once entered upon the stage, having been affirmed as the Son of God, now we shall behold as He enters into His first engagement. Here He shall do battle. Here He shall be put to the test. Here He shall ascend every type and shadow of old and be found the last One standing. He has come forth anointed, He has been affirmed from on high, He has been granted the Spirit's anointing, and He is prepared for the advance of His strength. He was entered in the lists and was here brought to His first engagement. And as He came, let us then observe... 2. How it was that Jesus was led there. The Spirit led him there. This was the divinely prepared engagement, the one by which He would begin to be seen as King and Lord, His glory was here first to shine forth. The Lord had decreed His course and the revelation of His glory. Here, the divine hand had brought all combatants, the Tempter was summoned, the angelic attendants readied, and Christ directed to the field for the engagement. It was away from all earthly eyes. It was a solitary place for Christ, a place where He might begin His mighty fight. Long ago, before the ages begun, the Son of God was determined to this day, a day in which He would come a champion to the field. Christ was here brought first to engage our greatest foe, to advance the call of His sovereign reign, and to accomplish the Father's will, from which we next observe... 3. What it was that would befall Him there. A trial, a test, a temptation, and a contest. Christ was led to this place for a battle against the world's prince. He was to be tempted and tried at the first. He would be shown the culmination of all earthly allurements. He would be pressed in hunger and want for forty days. This was the beginning of the suffering Servant's woes, and this was the start of warfare below. As usual He would fight alone, but the aid and care of His Father was with Him. Here was the Lord and King to engage in the beginnings of troubles, for us, for His Father above, and to this we observe last... 4. To what end Jesus was brought there, He was brought here that His glory may be made known. He came to be declared the Son of God, for His honor, for His Father's glory above. Christ was to demonstrate His power, His might, and His afforded dominion. He was to prove He was the Son of God. What struck me most in reading this passage was the echo of Satan's words, If you are the Son of God. For Christ was to show Himself truly the Son of God. He was to show He was more than a mere man. He was to show He was God of God and man of man. He was to show that He would persevere and not fall. He was to show that He was unlike any other prophet, man, or king, or, to echo the words of the Centurion from the foot of the cross, truly this was the Son of God. This doctrine we shall here then find... Doctrine. Christ the Lord has come forth to display His glory in the conquer of His foes, and in doing so, He shall subdue all our enemies. He is the Son of God, He is the King of Kings, He is the Lord of Lord's, and His glory is manifest exponentially greater than any other servant or king. Here Christ is found to be: I. First, more glorious than Moses. Let us step back and consider how this engagement is first reminiscent of the days of Moses, when he ascended Sinai and met with God. There, as, "God did was about to employ him as his agent in publishing his law, was carried into Mount Sinai, withdrawn from the view of the people, and admitted, as it were, into a heavenly sanctuary, it was proper that Christ should be surrounded by marks of divine grace and power -- at least equally illustrious with those which were bestowed on Moses, that the majesty of the Gospel might not be inferior to that of the Law. If God bestowed singular honor on a doctrine which was "the ministration of death," how much more honor is due to the doctrine of life? And if a shadowy portrait of God had so much brightness, ought not his face, which appears in the Gospel, to shine with full splendor (Calvin)?" Do you see it now? Do you see the glory begin to shine forth in the Son of God? For as Moses' face did shine when he would leave God's prescience, but shortly thereafter fade, here instead, when Christ was drawn away into the wilderness to prepare for the publishing of the law and His glorious kingdom, we find that the opposite occurred. For it was here that His glory began to shine and did not fade. The Son of God's glory does not fade. Furthermore, Christ is found to be... II. More magnificent than David. As we consider the full scope and breath of this encounter, our minds should be drawn back to when David, a young and ruddy lad, for the glory of God, came fought to engage Goliath. He entered the lists against the ridiculer of the Lord's army, the blasphemer of the Philistine hoard, who that day all Israel cowered before. Christ, like David who slew Goliath with a stone, who fell the Tempter with a word. Christ the glorious King engaged the Tempter with nothing more; engaging the liar and blasphemer of our God, that one who was heard to mockingly say, "If you are the Son of God," and with such disdain, was by our Christ silenced thrice over with God's word alone. The rock of our salvation slew the Tempter of our souls and in so doing, we see His glory magnified mightily. As when the Philistines fled in fear from a lad named David, and all Israel shouted and pursued them, here we watch as Christ the Son of God slays the Tempter, affords him his first mortal wound, and we shout with the angels there that day, truly this was the Son of God! Even more, in this engagement, Christ is found to be... III. More obedient than Adam. While the subtle one deceived the woman, but the man willfully fell, here the Son of God was neither. He withstood the tempter. The first man was assailed in the in the garden and failed. He plunged us all into sin and death. In Adam all died. But in Christ He shall all the elect be found alive. Christ the great Redeemer came forth to restore that which was lost, to redeem a people to Himself, and here we have the shout of all creation to His glory, as He begins to undo what so long ago was lost. Christ, the Son of God, here begins to shine with ineffable glory, in obedience and blessedness yet the more. Finally, in this engagement, Christ the Son of God is found to be... IV. More faithful than Elijah. As Elijah was heard to restore the Law, to withstand the apostate nation and king, to serve the Lord God against the prophets of Baal, so Christ comes forth in greater honor and glory. Elijah in all his glory, withstanding Jezebel and Ahab, in subduing the prophets of Baal, in fasting forty days and nights, was but frail and no match for the Tempter. But Christ, the Son of God, is here shown to be One greater than Elijah, without frailty, without despair, He stood unyielding against the evil nation and apostates of his day. He would speak woes to the apostate nation and peace to those afar off. He would engage the gods of the day and withstand all threats. Christ, the Son of God, was more glorious than all others before Him and all others of that day. This first of engagements in the wilderness did Christ in all His glory begin to shine, even more glorious perhaps the He would on the mount of Transfiguration. Do you see it now? Is it clear and evident, more so than before? If so, then I have succeeded in my duty, in raising up the Son of God. Uses 1. For our solace let Christ's glory silence all our enemies. Satan, the apostate, our sin, the Law, all are subdued by our King. His tempter, our accuser, His enemy and our assayer, he was there. Echoes and memories of our forefather's failures, our bondage and shame from Adam were there. Apostates, deniers, and those hypocrites were heard to lead Him there. Our sin was found to be assailing us there. All the handwriting on the wall against us was there. But Christ our Lord came forth unscathed, victorious, glorious, and great, to show us all our troubles would soon be past. This is a mighty encounter, a wondrous display of Christ engaging all our foes! See how He with ease subdues them. See how He wonderfully silences them all. Why would we any longer run and hide as Adam? Why would we fear the tempter ever again? Why would our shame and guilt ever again be heard echoing to our grief? See Christ in all His glory subduing all those that are our accusers that day. If the Pharisees are calling you, a sinner, to account, now you can be heard to say, "I know that I was blind but now I see." If Satan is heard accusing your conscience today, say as Jesus did, the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me (John 14.30). 2. For our confidence let Christ's glory embolden us in obedience to Him. It can be done. Victory is to be had. The end to all our troubles is to be had. He will go forth to set us free. He will go forth to restore our souls. He will go forth to silence our woes. He will lead the way. What shall cause us to tremble again? As Israel shouted and followed the Philistines to their utter ruin, so let us now follow Christ into the lists. He has felled our foes, He has silenced the enemy, He was conquered even our sin, let us shout to Him the glory and go forth emboldened by Him the Son of God. 3. For our direction let us learn the methods of our King. Watch closely as Jesus will show us the way. We will learn much by watching Him. We will learn to forsake this world. We will learn how to silence the Devil. We will learn how to consider our ways. We will learn the need to be close to Him. We will learn to follow Him. We will learn that only He can withstand our foes. We must hide in Him. We must cling to Him. We must learn from Him. We must employ His methods. But most of all, as frail children of dust, we must know that He alone has won the victory for our souls. What shall we do but follow Him? To God alone the glory.