Because He Has....We Can!

This morning I read Heb 4:14-16



14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.





Temptation is something that every Christian encounters throughout their life. Whether it be the temptation to steal, fornicate, intoxicate yourself, gossip, cheat, or lie. We have all, at some point in our lives, came to a crossroads of either giving into temptation or standing firm. What is even more amazing about temptation is that it even occurred in the life of Christ Himself. When the God of heaven chose to clothe Himself in flesh, he too put himself in the environment of temptation. He too surrounded himself by choices that could either make or break Him and yet He remained without sin. What does this mean for us? This means that He knows what we deal with on a regular basis. He understands what it is like to be faced with a decision to either do the will of God or do the will of the flesh. How amazing is it that God can sympathize with our weaknesses. I mean think about that for a second... the God of heaven and earth, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God that holds all power in His hand chose to put Himself in a position where He could understand and relate to WEAKNESS! God being weak? God being vulnerable? All so that we wouldn't have to feel alone. He did all that so that we wouldn't have to feel helpless, hopeless, and lost. God loved us enough to come dwell in a weak and frail human body that would be tempted with the same temptations that we face on a regular basis, and yet remained sinless. He had the chance to choose self; to choose sinful flesh every time and yet in every situation He chose God instead. Because of His actions we now can say during every moment of temptation, My God felt this same tug-o-war. My God felt this same weakness. My God felt this same overwhelming desire to do the will of the flesh and yet He chose to go God's way. And because He went God's way, I too can go God's way! Isn't that amazing? Through God becoming sinful man He gives us possibility. He gives us hope. And not only that but He also gives us compassion.

We see in verse 16 that God tells us that because He can sympathize with our weakness we need to draw near to the throne of grace with boldness. He tells us that when we draw near this throne He will give us grace and He will give us mercy when we need it. So God not only gave us the ability to overcome temptation but also gave us help in doing so. He tells us to come without fear and without hesitation to a throne completely made of grace and we will receive it. The word grace here means "a gift, benefit, favor" and the word mercy here means, "active compassion". So the Creator of the heavens and earth, who has experienced everything we experience, looks down on us having these internal battles with our flesh and tells us to come to Him without fear but with confidence. He tells us to come knowing without a shadow of a doubt that He sits on a throne of compassion and will give us favor to help in our time of need. We have absolutely nothing to worry about! He is on our side! The problem comes when most of us don't take the time to come to Him. Think about it! How many times do we actually take the time, in our moment of temptation, to confidently go to God and expect favor, compassion and help to overcome it. If He promises it, then why don't we take advantage of it? If we are really honest with ourselves then we know the reason we don't take advantage of it is because we don't want to. We want to do what our flesh wants to do. I believe that is the difference between us and Jesus. Jesus wanted to do the will of the Father and would sacrifice anything and everything to do so. His flesh was not of foremost concern to him. He wanted to please God and that was it.

So what about us? What is more important to us...a small amount of pleasure for the flesh or an immeasurable amount of pleasure for God? He knows our weakness and provided us with everything we need to still act in a way that is pleasing to Him in spite of it. The question is, "Will we take advantage of it?" Will we come to him? Will we take the help that has already been provided? Will we realize that because he has...we can. Because he has overcame, we can overcome and because He has been weak, we can be strong.

God,
Help me to realize that in my time of temptation, I am not alone. Lord, thank you for your willingness to comfort me, to identify with me and to help me. I receive your grace and mercy. I desire to be pleasing to you and you only. Thank you Lord for making a way for me. I love you. Amen.