THE SUPREME CHARACTER OF THE LORD JESUS

A CHARACTER THAT STANDS AGAINST ALL TESTINGS

How do we know that a person's character is true? We can discern this when we see it go through the fires of testings, true character does not falter! Before the commencement of the Lord's ministry, He was led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness. It was there that He was tested by the devil for 40 days. "Being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry" (Luke 4:1). Imagine the Lord Jesus going through 40 days and 40 nights without eating! Imagine the tremendous physical strain that He suffered! On top of this, He was victorious against the temptations of the devil. How did Jesus stand up against all these demands? He did it by having a tremendous strength of character. His strong character stood against all the testings hurled at Him.

HAVING A DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S WORD

How did Jesus have this supreme strength of character? One suggestion is that He had a depth of knowledge of the word of God. Whenever the devil tempted Him, the Lord Jesus defended Himself with the word of God. Constantly, the Lord Jesus was guided by the word of God. He was sustained by the word of God. The Scriptures strengthened and encouraged Him. Let's consider the ways by which the Lord gained this depth of knowledge.

1. Following The Path of Discipleship

"The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned..." (Isa. 50:4) The word "learned" suggests one who has been discipled well. It is one who sought to learn and has done well in it. If we want to have a deep knowledge of God's word, we need to be discipled first. It was God Himself who discipled His Son. It was God who gave Him the knowledge and understanding of His word. As we seek to be disciples of the Lord Jesus, the Spirit of God will also give us the knowledge and understanding of His word.

2. Having A Great Sense of Purpose in Studying God's Word

"That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary" (Isa. 50:4). The Lord Jesus did not just seek after knowledge for the sake of gaining it. He had a tremendous purpose in doing so. His foremost purpose was ministry. In order to minister well, He needed that depth of knowledge of God's word. In ministry, it is vital to speak the right words at the right time... to be effective in sharing the word. It was this goal that the Lord Jesus sought after when He deepened His knowledge of God's word. Let's be driven by this goal too.

3. Seeking To Be Trained On A Constant, Consistent, Daily Basis

"Morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned" (Isa. 50:4). Gaining deep knowledge of God's word does not happen overnight. It is gained through a slow but definite process. Each day, the Lord Jesus was being trained in understanding the word a bit at a time. Constantly, He would be trained to hear and recognise God's voice and not His own voice. Consistently, the Master taught and the Servant heard. This is how we should be trained too. Each day should see us reading and memorising the word of God. Everyday should see us asking the question, "Lord, what are You teaching me from Your word?"

4. Exercising Obedience To The Word Of God

"The Lord God has opened My ear; And I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away..." (Isa. 50:5) There are times when the lessons learnt from the word of God are about the suffering and difficulties that we will face. Like the Lord Jesus, we must not be rebellious, nor should we turn away from them. It is imperative that we submit ourselves to the word of God. Let's seek to be obedient to His word. When the word of God is real and precious to us, it will strengthen our character to stand against the attacks of the evil one.

~ A-P Rev Mitchell Tan ~