Jesus: One of us.

1 Thessalonians 5: 9-10
     God did not choose us to suffer His anger, but to possess salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us in order that we might live together with Him, whether we are dead or alive when He comes.
Luke 4: 33-35
     In the synagogue was a man who had an evil spirit in him; he screamed out in a loud voice," Ah! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Are you here to destroy us? I know who you are: You are God's holy messenger!"
     Jesus ordered the spirit, "Be quiet and come out of the man!" The demon threw the man down in front of them without doing any harm.
Mark 1:12-13
   At once the Spirit made Him go into the desert, where He stayed forty days, being tempted by Satan. Wild animals were there also, but angels came and helped Him.
Matthew 16:13; 15-17
   Jesus went to the territory near the town of Caesarea Philippi, where He asked them, "Who do they say I am?"
   Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the son of the living God." Jesus answered, "Good for you Peter son of John!" "For this truth did not come to you from the wisdom of man, but it was given you directly by my Father in Heaven."
Matthew 26: 39
   He went a little farther on, threw himself face down on the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible take this cup of suffering from me! Yet not what I want, but what you want."
So how do these scriptures come together?
The first passage tells us that Jesus died so that we may spend eternity with Him. A death he accepted but as we see in Matthew Jesus asked His Father to (if possible) find another way for salvation to come to the world. Despite his coming agony He gave Himself up to the will of His Father.
Also evil spirits know that Jesus is the Messiah. The Son of God. Jesus who has power of evil given to Him by His Father.
Peter also knew that Jesus is The Messiah. So the forces of evil and people tuned into The Spirit know who Jesus is. That means every man, woman, and child can know God and enter His kingdom.
Also we know that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are. You may ask how so? Jesus was only tempted three times. I will eventually post how those temptations actually fit in to every temptation we have faced and will face.
Last but not least actually most imporant, Jesus knew (if only for a moment) fear. He knew that he was about to be tortured for sins He didn't commit. Being crucified was one of the most brutal forms of capital punishment ever known to mankind.
So in these ways Jesus is very much like us. He came here as a baby. Born in a manger. Lived 33 years, felt grief. He wept when Lazarus (his close friend) died even though Jesus knew that He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Ah yes He raised a mere mortal from the dead and He himself was raised from the dead. He was baptized and so are we. He was told by The Father that He was well pleased with Jesus. We have an opportunity for God to say the same of us.
So get up. Shake of the dust and grief of sin. Seek God in all your ways. He has given ALL of us a reason to be here. Quietly wait for The Spirit of God to speak to you. One of the reasons that Jesus died for us was to pour out His Spirit on us and like Peter, we can confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.