Jesus
wasn’t a God-robot. He had total freedom of will to choose just like we do. And
He’s not the exact same as God either. James 1:13 says, “God cannot be
tempted.” But Jesus “was in all points tempted like as we are” (Heb 4:15). He
could have chosen to be disobedient, just like Lucifer chose in the beginning. But
rather. . .
Jesus chose
to be obedient to God because of us. He believed in what obedience would bring.
He believed in his Father’s good will
for mankind. The first chapter of John tells us Jesus was there when God
created everything: elephants, rabbits, tiny neutrons, huge galaxies,
mountains, flowers and everything else—all things for mankind to explore,
utilize and enjoy.
Jesus
knew God’s intention from the beginning and after Adam sinned and the devil
began to have so much influence on earth, Jesus was willing to come to earth
and go up against the devil to rescue men and women from his clutches.
To do
this Jesus would have to beat Satan at every turn. He would have to live as a
man and face all the temptations any man or woman would face. And He had to
handle them by choosing God’s way every time.
He didn’t
give in to even one temptation to make a bad choice.
As we
accept Jesus Christ into our hearts, He gives us the ability to turn to Him for
better choices in every situation. He’s been there.
God was
sure Jesus would do the right thing but because He loves us so much, He was
willing to let Jesus come to earth and live as a man and have freedom of will. Jesus
could have chosen differently if He’d wanted to. But because He loved us too,
He chose to go through with God’s plan at every turn. He took the horrible
results of every bad decision we make and He paid the ultimate price of death
and hell.
Then God
raised Jesus pure and free forever.
Romans
8:34 says Jesus is at the right hand of God, now living to make intercession
for us. He is also right here with us to help us with our choices and
Colossians 1:27 says we have Christ in us. How can He be in so many places at
once? He’s Spirit and even the scientists now are proving that things can be in
two places at once. It’s awesome.
Just
like Jesus had decisions to make, let’s make an effort to give God honor by
making good decisions ourselves and when we honestly don’t know what choice to
make, take it to Jesus, because He always knows the best choice at that time. He’s
been through it. He took our place on the cross so that He could always be
there to help us.
Love,
Carolyn
PS: I chose this
picture because it's like a child's coloring book, simple and quiet. I wanted
to show that not every choice is an adult one and ultra-dramatic and life
changing. Many choices are in the everyday innocent decisions and small choices
that may or may not make huge seeable differences :-).
My
entire WINGS e-book of 60 exciting, helpful life lesson stories is on SALE for only $5.00. Look for it under
my name, Carolyn Molica, on Amazon.