Jesus, our example

Jesus, our Example
There is a movement amongst Christians to seek the right posture, or attitude towards God in order to receive the desired benefits. Indeed, we must allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse us when we come to God with our petitions. But in regards to having faith for what we are asking, the answer lies not in how we think. God could have just sent His Spirit to change our thinking if thinking was the key to what we seek from heaven. But the answer is in how we live our lives, therefore, God sent us His Son as an example on how to live. His goal was that we would become as Jesus is; perfect. Without the ongoing project of perfection in us, our thoughts become tainted with correlations between what God has done before, and what we perceive our present need is.
To look at an example of Jesus’ behavior, let us look at His temptation in the wilderness concerning money. Some Christians believe that the riches of the world will one day be given to them. There is scripture to support the fact that God does take from the wicked and give to the righteous (Prov 13:22). Some look at the financial needs of ministry and see the monies of the unrighteous as tools in God’s hands to equip them, the Christians, for the works of God. These thoughts seem reasonable because of the knowledge of the past – God took the riches of the unrighteous and gave them to His people (Ex 11:2) – and because of the present need – God’s kingdom needs to be built and we need money to do this. But when we look at the example of Jesus we find that the Word of God in the flesh of man is speaking a more clear word when he is tempted in the wilderness by his adversary. Satan offers Jesus the kingdoms of the world in exchange for Jesus’ servitude to him. Now, what more powerful ministry could have come to the earth than Jesus’? His cause was right, and He was a righteous man. Is this the time when the monies of the world are given into the hands of the righteous? No, for Jesus correctly uses the word of God, rebuking satan and saying “It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” (Mt 4:10; Dt. 6:13). We have Jesus’ example to illustrate the heart of God’s word. Money is not the tool in God’s hands to build his kingdom. We can see from the word of God that God’s kingdom comes “not by might, not by power, but by the Holy Spirit” (Zech 4:6). Jesus showed us by His words, and by His life, that it is the Spirit that builds the kingdom of God.
Jesus was fervent about the meaning of God’s words. He was the author of the word, and held the heart of the word within Him. His example brought the word and the Spirit to life in His flesh. And that is God’s intention with us; that we live as the word and the Spirit leads us in our bodies.
We will become like Jesus, not just in our thoughts, but in our lives. As Jesus was made perfect by those things He suffered (Heb 2:10), so will we be made perfect by the things we experience in our lives. It is not in the thinking we become perfect, but in the living and walking with God’s word and Spirit. What Jesus lived in the wilderness when faced with satan’s temptations was denial of self (I’m sure that he knew his coming ministry would need funding). He also honored God’s word, not wanting to twist it to his own advantage. It was denial of self that led Jesus to the suffering which made Him perfect. Jesus lived out the truth He held in His heart, to His own hurt. He bore in His body the dedication to truth that He talked and thought about.
The next time we want to “posture” ourselves to receive from God, or “gaze” upon those aspects of God we deem lovely, perhaps we should look also at our own lives and find if we are exhibiting these same behaviors in ourselves. Rather than thinking that we can appropriate Jesus’ perfection for us, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to say that He is our example, of what we should do? He who died on the cross did say “Pick up your cross and follow Me,” (see Mk 10:21 KJV).