Overcoming the Greatest Obstacle to Physical, Mental and Spiritual Health-Part 1
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Volume 1 | Issue 3 April 28, 2018
He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. Revelation 3:21, 22 (ASV)Greetings Emmanuel Brinklow Church Family In our last issue, we concluded with Christ’s call to overcome as He overcame and to receive the same eternal honors as He received. This final call to overcome is the climax to all six calls to each Church, and the reward to sit with Him on His throne encompasses every successive reward. However, the most magnificent thing about this call to us is the Author and Finisher of our faith calls us to overcome as He has overcome. To fully appreciate this, we need eternity to let this sink in to our understanding and experience. But for now, it is important to understand what Jesus overcame, why and how He overcame, and finally what His overcoming means to us. It is my hope that as this topic unfolds we will clearly understand what we must overcome, why and how we are to overcome in our own behalf. What Jesus Overcame To understand what Jesus overcame, follow me to where it all began, in the Garden of Eden. As Satan contemplated his plan to take over the earth and make it the center of his rebellion against God’s government, he diligently studied man to determine the best strategy of attack. As he looked around Eden, he saw that God had provided man with everything that he needed and could ever want. So, how could he get man to desire the one thing that God had prohibited above all the many things that He has provided for their good? He must deceive man into thinking that God has withheld something the most desirable, the most appealing and the best tasting, something that they could no longer live without. Therefore, Satan appealed to their natural appetite, which normally served them well in choosing all the variety of foods God so graciously provided for them, to desire a fruit that God expressly forbade. Unfortunately, man believed Satan’s lie, ate the forbidden fruit, and consequently, man’s appetite became perverted.
“As in his human strength man could not resist the power of Satan’s temptations, Jesus volunteered to undertake the work and to bear the burden for man and overcome the power of appetite in his behalf” … Confrontation P. 37Man’s appetite which once served him well became perverted and the relentless master, while his intellect and morals became the servants to carry out the will of the appetite in the most ingenious ways. Through long years of constant indulgence, appetite has strengthened and become more debasing. Perverted appetite has been successively passed on from generation to generation. This is what we have inherited and why if left to ourselves, succumb so easily to what seem to be insurmountable temptations. Why Jesus Overcame Perverted Appetite Satan exalted that man so easily yields to appetite. He taunts Christ that man is his lawful prey. He points to the antediluvians who were destroyed because they were given over to appetite and passions. Sodom and Gomorrah, his best work, fell likewise. Even the children of Israel whom Christ delivered from slavery, fell in the wilderness over appetite. Though their children were established in the land of Canaan, they never reached God’s high purpose. Appetite overcame many of their best leaders such as David and Solomon. Sadly, as we trace history, perverted appetite has been Satan’s most effective tool to degrade and obliterate the image of God in man. Through this tool, each generation has become feebler in physical, mental and moral power such that we cannot overcome in our own strength. It is this reason that Christ came in our behalf to overcome appetite by withstanding the most powerful test upon this point. When the Fullness of Time Came Jesus Took up Our Cause But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. Gal 4:4,5 (ASV). When the fullness of time came, when man had reached the lowest, Jesus came and took upon Himself our infirmities. With these infirmities, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness, the most desolate environment to begin where Adam and his descendants had failed. To break the power of perverted appetite, He fasted for nearly 6 weeks and in those days did not eat anything. He felt the full force and strength of perverted appetite, of natural hunger and the most powerful and overwhelming cravings that come to a starving person just before death. In behalf of man He exercised the most self-denial, perseverance and firmness of principle that surmounted the pangs of hunger. He showed a power of self-control stronger than hunger and even death. He experienced the maximum power of Satan’s temptation on the point of appetite and came off entirely a conqueror The Bright Hope to the Overcomers In our next issue of the Health Ministries letter, we will explore how Jesus overcame the strongest temptation on appetite, and what His overcoming means to us. There is bright hope to every struggling soul. Until next issue, may the riches of God’s grace empower you to experience victories where it matters most in your life. Robert V Sigh MD, MPH Health Ministries Director Emmanuel Brinklow SDA Church ]]>