“Now filled with the Holy Spirit”.
Luke 4:1 ERV “Now filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan River. And then the Spirit led him into the desert”.
Jesus was “filled with the Holy Spirit”. He had conquered his Divine Human with the Divine Truth, virtue and operation which was with Him from the beginning. He was now beginning His mission as Savior God. The Creator God was about to place a mirror in front of humanity so they could see themselves as they really were. More revelation and truth were about to be released than previously in human history. Once they realized who they were, He would now show the entire universe His love and His redemptive plan for them to follow and learn.
Now Jesus left the Jordan River. The Jordan River is located in a low place. A river in Scripture means Divine Truth. Jesus had emerged from (baptism) at the Jordan River as Savior God. This is symbolic of the Word reaching to the lowest places of human kind and beyond. He was also the first born into this new church that was about to be revealed and formed. He was to be the head and leader. Col 1:18 “He is the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning of everything else. And he is the first among all who will be raised from death. So in everything he is most important”.
It is just as a new born again believer who has been baptized (Jordan River) into the kingdom. John 3:5-7; “Jesus answered, “Believe me when I say that everyone must be born from water and the Spirit. Anyone who is not born from water and the Spirit cannot enter God’s kingdom. The only life people get from their human parents is physical. But the new life that the Spirit gives a person is spiritual. Don’t be surprised that I told you, “You must be born again”.
From there, He was “led into the desert”. This is symbolic of Jesus now proceeding to a new place in His church as Savior God. Specifically, to be where masses of Gentiles had not seen the illumination of God’s love and purpose. A parched desert devoid of Divine Truth as opposed to a thirst quenching river of the Word, He had just left.
Savior God was now in a place of temptation and pain.
Luke 4:2 ERV “There the devil tempted Jesus for 40 days. Jesus ate nothing during this time, and when it was finished, he was very hungry”.
Jesus was tempted “for 40 days”. Just as Moses went up into the mountain for “forty days” to receive the tables of stone. The flood was “forty days upon the earth”. Jesus was seen “forty days after he was raised from death”, He spoke to them about God’s kingdom. Jonah 3:4-5 “Jonah went to the center of the city and began speaking to the people. He said, “After 40 days, Nineveh will be destroyed!” The people of Nineveh believed God. They decided to stop eating for a time to think about their sins. They put on special clothes to show they were sorry. All the people in the city did this, from the most important to the least important”. These examples all portray events before the Kingdom was presented to them.
Savior God was now displaying to all creation the sacrifice one has to endure to reach the Kingdom of God while on the earth. Jesus taught very plainly to His followers such facts; John 16:33 “I have told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have troubles. But be brave! I have defeated the world!” Acts 14:22 “In those cities they helped the followers grow stronger in their faith and encouraged them to continue trusting God. They told them, “We must suffer many things on our way into God’s kingdom.” Luke 9:23 Jesus continued to say to all of them, “Any of you who want to be my follower must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you every day for following me”. And many more.
Savior God was in a place being pulled in two directions. The lure of the world and the promise of the Kingdom. This battleground was for the will and the mind.
This was also an illustration and illumination to the new church that He was forming. The previous church had relied on sacrifices and offerings to maintain a connection to the heavenly Father. Now, it was almost as if angels were starting their existence on the earth. Can the born again followers “stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you every day for following me”.
Jesus led to Jerusalem
Luke 4:9 ERV “Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem and put him on a high place at the edge of the Temple area. He said to him, “If you are the Son of God, jump off!
“The devil” led Jesus. The devil is the complete opposite of all kingdom principles as it is well known. The devil represents every thing of self love, and the evils that flow forth from that self love. Savior God was led into a place that represents an intensified battle for the will and the mind. This is primarily was an illustration and teaching to the new church that He was forming. This represents the born again believer as they ascend toward Jerusalem (Heaven) in their spiritual life.
The Brown, Driver & Briggs Hebrew definitions; Jerusalem = “teaching of peace”. We also know from Scripture, that Jerusalem represents in the highest sense the Church. We are told of the New Jerusalem (New Church) in the Book of Revelation;
Rev 3:12 KJV “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name”.
Rev 21:2 KJV “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”.
The born again person of the church is constantly in a battle of the mind while undergoing regeneration into the kingdom. Samuel Brengle called it “a war as real as the battle of Waterloo”.
Eph 6:12-18 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world’s rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand Therefore stand, having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching to this very thing with all perseverance and supplication for all saints”.
lclioncross - The New Emerging Church Coming Down From Heaven 