by Susan Tang
God's power in our lives will certainly work to make us more like Jesus, but not less human. You may be anointed, but you still have hormones, eyes and ears. This means you are not immune to temptation. You can still be attracted to another woman or man even though you can cast out devils, heal the sick and raise the dead. Even Jesus was tempted sexually but He did not give in. Temptation is painful. This is why the scriptures says, "He himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour (lift up) them that are tempted" (Hebrews 2:18).
When Jesus was fitted into a human body, He had a mind like ours - a mind prone to take its own ungodly mental excursions. It also means He had emotions like ours. He could feel as any human being feels - depression, fear, anxiety, meanness, resentment, hatred or revenge but He did not give in to these feelings. It also means His physical body was also impacted with muscles, hormones and appetites just like us. Yes, Jesus as the Son of Man, was, in "all points (mentally, emotionally, socially, sexually etc) tempted like as we all, yet without sin." If He had not subjected Himself to every human temptation, then He cannot be our merciful and faithful high priest (Hebrews 2:17-18, 4:15).
He was called the "Son of Man" because of His humanity, a humanity from which He did not hide. He was never unreal when He was on earth. He opened blind eyes, cleansed the lepers, multiplied loaves and fishes and raised the dead but in the garden of Gethsemane, He bared His soul to His disciples. He told them that He was going through some things that He could not go through alone, so He asked for their support and their prayers. That was being human and real.
When He was overwhelmed by grief, He was not afraid to cry, even in public. When He was angry He was not afraid to express it by overturning the tables of the money changers. When He became disgusted at the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, He proceeded to rebuke them with strong language and scathing remarks. He enjoyed Himself at social gatherings and He interacted well with children, women and men.
He was invigorated by sweet smelling perfume as it was poured over His head. He also believed in taking a 'break.' He told His disciples to "come apart and rest awhile." He definitely did not believe in "working till you drop." He believed in taking 'snacks' between preaching, if it was necessary. When He felt the people were hungry, He stopped His discourse and told His disciples to give the people something to eat. He also believed in eating a good breakfast! Even in His resurrected body, He dirtied His hands by cleaning fish and collecting firewood to cook breakfast for His disciples
The humanness of the apostle Paul could be seen in some of his epistles, especially in his letter to Timothy. He expressed his loneliness and his need for human companionship and comfort (2 Timothy 4). This anointed man of God was so disappointed when Titus did not catch up with him in Troas that he decided not to preach there (2 Corinthians 2:12-13). He was anointed but at Troas, he needed more than the anointing; he needed human succour.
Paul was very real with his own feelings when he confessed that he was "troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears" and that God comforted him by "the coming of Titus." God did not comfort him by giving him more revelations and visions but by the coming of a trusted friend. Yes, however strong we are, there are times when we need someone to whom we can open up to and someone who can pray with us. To the Corinthians, he was bold enough to say, " Who is weak and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?" He was indirectly saying, "I am still a human being like you all, subjected to the same passions." When one is secure in the anointing, one is also real. There is no need to hide behind unreality.
Many anointed priests fell because they thought their anointing had cancelled their humanity and had made them invincible and infallible. They thought they could stay independent of human support and they denied they had temptations. They thought they were immune to their seductive secretaries, scantily clad church women or the lustful people they ministered to. Unhealthy denials, false 'bravado' and self-delusion caused their fall. They failed to flee from evil until evil had them ensnared.
When we know we are vulnerable, then we must learn to flee, not just from evil, but from the MERE APPEARANCE of evil! This has always been the biblical stand (1 Thessalonians 5:22).
God's power in our lives will certainly work to make us more like Jesus, but not less human. You may be anointed, but you still have hormones, eyes and ears. This means you are not immune to temptation. You can still be attracted to another woman or man even though you can cast out devils, heal the sick and raise the dead. Even Jesus was tempted sexually but He did not give in. Temptation is painful. This is why the scriptures says, "He himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour (lift up) them that are tempted" (Hebrews 2:18).
When Jesus was fitted into a human body, He had a mind like ours - a mind prone to take its own ungodly mental excursions. It also means He had emotions like ours. He could feel as any human being feels - depression, fear, anxiety, meanness, resentment, hatred or revenge but He did not give in to these feelings. It also means His physical body was also impacted with muscles, hormones and appetites just like us. Yes, Jesus as the Son of Man, was, in "all points (mentally, emotionally, socially, sexually etc) tempted like as we all, yet without sin." If He had not subjected Himself to every human temptation, then He cannot be our merciful and faithful high priest (Hebrews 2:17-18, 4:15).
He was called the "Son of Man" because of His humanity, a humanity from which He did not hide. He was never unreal when He was on earth. He opened blind eyes, cleansed the lepers, multiplied loaves and fishes and raised the dead but in the garden of Gethsemane, He bared His soul to His disciples. He told them that He was going through some things that He could not go through alone, so He asked for their support and their prayers. That was being human and real.
When He was overwhelmed by grief, He was not afraid to cry, even in public. When He was angry He was not afraid to express it by overturning the tables of the money changers. When He became disgusted at the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, He proceeded to rebuke them with strong language and scathing remarks. He enjoyed Himself at social gatherings and He interacted well with children, women and men.
He was invigorated by sweet smelling perfume as it was poured over His head. He also believed in taking a 'break.' He told His disciples to "come apart and rest awhile." He definitely did not believe in "working till you drop." He believed in taking 'snacks' between preaching, if it was necessary. When He felt the people were hungry, He stopped His discourse and told His disciples to give the people something to eat. He also believed in eating a good breakfast! Even in His resurrected body, He dirtied His hands by cleaning fish and collecting firewood to cook breakfast for His disciples
The humanness of the apostle Paul could be seen in some of his epistles, especially in his letter to Timothy. He expressed his loneliness and his need for human companionship and comfort (2 Timothy 4). This anointed man of God was so disappointed when Titus did not catch up with him in Troas that he decided not to preach there (2 Corinthians 2:12-13). He was anointed but at Troas, he needed more than the anointing; he needed human succour.
Paul was very real with his own feelings when he confessed that he was "troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears" and that God comforted him by "the coming of Titus." God did not comfort him by giving him more revelations and visions but by the coming of a trusted friend. Yes, however strong we are, there are times when we need someone to whom we can open up to and someone who can pray with us. To the Corinthians, he was bold enough to say, " Who is weak and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?" He was indirectly saying, "I am still a human being like you all, subjected to the same passions." When one is secure in the anointing, one is also real. There is no need to hide behind unreality.
Many anointed priests fell because they thought their anointing had cancelled their humanity and had made them invincible and infallible. They thought they could stay independent of human support and they denied they had temptations. They thought they were immune to their seductive secretaries, scantily clad church women or the lustful people they ministered to. Unhealthy denials, false 'bravado' and self-delusion caused their fall. They failed to flee from evil until evil had them ensnared.
When we know we are vulnerable, then we must learn to flee, not just from evil, but from the MERE APPEARANCE of evil! This has always been the biblical stand (1 Thessalonians 5:22).
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