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Scripture Reading: Luke 3:21-22; 4:1-13
In the first three and a half chapters of the Gospel of Luke we see that two angels and a number of human beings were involved in the preparation of the Man-Savior. In Luke 1:30-35 we have the prophecy of the archangel Gabriel, who came to Mary and told her that God intended that she conceive the Man-Savior. In that prophecy Gabriel spoke of four matters concerning the coming Man-Savior. First, Gabriel said that the Man-Savior would be called Jesus (Luke 1:31), which means Jehovah the Savior, or the salvation of Jehovah. Second, Gabriel indicated that the coming Man-Savior would be called Son of the Most High (v. 32), a title that refers to His deity. Third, Gabriel said, “The Lord God will give to Him the throne of David His father” (v. 32). Here we see that in His humanity the coming Savior was to be a descendant of David. Fourth, the archangel Gabriel refers to the coming Savior as “the holy thing” which is to be born and who will be called Son of God (v. 35). Therefore, according to Gabriel’s word, the Man-Savior is Jesus, the Son of the Most High, a descendant of David, and the holy thing.
In Luke 1:42-43 we have part of Elizabeth’s blessing, a blessing by the Holy Spirit. In these verses Elizabeth says, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how can this be, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Here Elizabeth speaks of the Man-Savior as the fruit of Mary’s womb and as the Lord. The “fruit” refers to His humanity, and “Lord” refers to His deity.
In the prophecy of Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, we have three matters concerning the Man-Savior. In 1:69 Zachariah speaks of Him as a “horn of salvation for us in the house of David.” Then in 1:78 he speaks of Him as “the rising sun from on high” that shall visit us. In verse 76 Zachariah also refers to the Man-Savior as the Lord. The horn of salvation refers to the Lord’s humanity; the rising sun from on high denotes His divinity. Zachariah knew that his son, John, would prepare the way for this One, who is the Lord.
In 2:11 we have the angel’s announcement at the birth of the Man-Savior: “A Savior was born to you today in David’s city, who is Christ the Lord.” In the angel’s announcement the Man-Savior is mentioned as being the Savior, Christ, and the Lord.
More aspects of the Man-Savior are revealed in Simeon’s adoration of Him. In 2:25, 30-32 and 34 we see that the Man-Savior is revealed as the consolation of Israel, God’s salvation to all peoples, a light for the Gentiles, the glory of Israel, a test to Israel, and a sign spoken against.
Finally, we have Anna’s adoration. In her adoration there is mention of the Man-Savior as the redemption of God’s people (2:38).
In the word spoken by the archangel Gabriel, Elizabeth, Zachariah, the angel who announced the Lord’s birth, Simeon, and Anna we have seventeen matters related to the Man-Savior: Jesus, the Son of the Most High, the descendant of David, the holy thing, the fruit of the womb, the Lord, the horn of salvation, the rising sun, the Savior, Christ, the consolation of Israel, God’s salvation, a light for the Gentiles, the glory of Israel, a test to Israel, a sign spoken against, and the redemption of God’s people. When we consider all these aspects of the Man-Savior, we see that He is not only both God and man, but everything God intended to give to His people and do for them.
If we read carefully the first three and a half chapters of the Gospel of Luke, we shall see that the preparation of the Man-Savior involved two angels and at least five human beings. The first of the angels was the archangel Gabriel. Gabriel is noted for bringing good news to God’s people. Gabriel brought good news not only in Luke, but also in Daniel, where he spoke concerning the seventy weeks (Dan. 9:24-27). The second angel was the one who made the announcement to the shepherds concerning the birth of the Man-Savior. It is possible that this one who made the announcement was also Gabriel. However, it is my belief that it was a different angel who announced the Lord’s birth.
The five people involved in the preparation of the Man-Savior were Zachariah, Mary, Elizabeth, Simeon, and Anna. We may also mention Joseph, who played a part in the preparation of the Man-Savior. It was he who brought Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
All these people were righteous and holy, living a life according to God’s written Word. Mary and Joseph were young, and Zachariah, Elizabeth, Simeon, and Anna were elderly. Here we see that different kinds of people were involved in the preparation of the Man-Savior. I encourage you to study these three and a half chapters of Luke again and pay attention to the different aspects of the Man-Savior revealed in them.
In the Gospel of Luke we see the kind of man God intended to have in Genesis 1 and 2. This means that God’s intention was to have a God-man. In Genesis 1 we have the man created by God in His image. For man to be created in God’s image means that man is created according to God’s attributes. God is love and light, and He is also holy and righteous. Love, light, holiness, and righteousness are God’s attributes, and God created man according to these attributes. However, the man created by God in Genesis 1 merely bore God’s image. He did not have God within him. Hence, he was merely a God-created man; he was not yet a God-man.
Because God wanted the man created by Him to become a God-man, after creating man God placed him in front of the tree of life. The tree of life denotes God. God’s intention was that the man created by Him would receive Him, as signified by the tree of life, and thereby become a God-man.
In Genesis 1 we have the man created by God. In Genesis 2 there is the indication that God wanted the man created by Him to receive Him by partaking of the fruit of the tree of life. However, the created man failed in that he did not receive the tree of life. Because man did not partake of the tree of life, he remained simply a God-created man.
In Genesis 3 the enemy, the tempter, came in to tempt the man God had created. Because man had not become a God-man, because he did not actually have God within him, he was not able to withstand the enemy’s temptation. The reason Adam could not withstand the temptation was that he was merely a God-created man, not a God-man. It is very important for us to see this.
In Genesis 1 and 2 we have a God-created man, a man who was not able to withstand the temptation of God’s enemy. If we were Adam and if we knew what we know today, it may be that we would have partaken of the tree of life immediately in order to equip ourselves with the Triune God. God Himself is man’s equipment. Once we become equipped with the Triune God by partaking of the tree of life, we become a God-man.
As the God-man, the Lord Jesus did not wait for the tempter to come to Him. Rather, led by the Spirit, the Lord went out to meet the tempter. In Genesis 3 the tempter came to an unequipped man. But in Luke 4 the equipped Man went out to meet the tempter.
In Genesis 3 the God-created man was not equipped by God and with God. Instead, he was a man without God as his equipment. At this point I would refer you to Paul’s word concerning the armor of God: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the Devil” (Eph. 6:11). To put on the armor of God simply means to put on God as our armor, that is, to equip ourselves with God. In Ephesians 6 the church as the corporate new man is equipped with God as his armor. Every piece of this armor is an attribute of God.
In contrast to Adam, who did not equip himself with God, the Lord Jesus was born a God-man. Because He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, He had the essence of God. In His very being He had the divine essence as His element. For thirty years He lived in this divine essence. He was conceived of this essence, He was born of this essence, and He grew in this essence and lived by it. How marvelous! The Lord was not only full of God — He was God. Because He was God in man, He was the God-man.
When the Lord Jesus came forth to minister at the age of thirty, He denied Himself and was baptized. When Adam was in the garden, he did not deny himself. He did not set himself aside. This was one reason Adam failed.
When the Lord Jesus set Himself aside at the time of His baptism, the economical Spirit descended upon Him to anoint Him. As a result, He was a Person both essentially of God and economically for God. He was a Person saturated with God Himself essentially and anointed with God economically. Inwardly, He had God as His intrinsic element, and outwardly He was covered with God as His power. The Man-Savior was full of God inwardly and clothed with God outwardly. As such a Person, He was equipped and ready to fight against God’s enemy and defeat him.
Instead of waiting for the enemy to come to Him, the Lord Jesus, being led of the Spirit, went to the place where the enemy was. The enemy came to the garden to attack Adam, but Jesus went to the wilderness to attack the enemy. When He was led by the Spirit to the wilderness, He was full of God essentially and economically. Thus, He was ready and equipped to deal with the enemy. He went into the wilderness as a warrior and, in the highest standard of morality, He defeated Satan.
When the Lord Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil, He was the highest kind of man. Not only was He a man created by God; He was also a man equipped with God. He was a God-man, the One in the highest standard of morality.
This morality is a matter of having the human virtues strengthened and enriched by the divine attributes. When the human virtues created by God are strengthened and enriched by the divine attributes, that is the highest standard of morality. God is expressed in the living that is according to the highest standard of morality. If we understand this matter, we shall understand the basic and crucial principle followed by Luke in writing his Gospel.
The living in the highest standard of morality is the underlying principle in the Gospel of Luke. In this Gospel we see the Lord Jesus as the God-equipped Man living a life to express God. Because He expressed God, He lived in the highest standard of morality.
This highest standard of morality revealed in the Gospel of Luke is much higher than the morality taught in any kind of philosophy. Confucius, for example, taught morality, but what he taught was not the highest standard of morality. On the contrary, at most, it was a matter of the development of the human virtues. There was no strengthening or enriching of the human virtues with the divine attributes.
In order to be strengthened and enriched in our human virtues with the divine attributes, we need to have God within us essentially, and we need to have God upon us economically. This means that we need to be born of God in order to possess God’s essence. We also need to be anointed with God in order to have Him as our power. When we have been born of God to have His essence and have been anointed by Him to have Him as our power, then we become a God-man, ready to live in the highest standard of morality. In this kind of living the human virtues are strengthened and enriched by the divine attributes.
In 4:1-13 we see that the fully equipped Man-Savior was led by the Spirit to the wilderness where He faced the tempter and defeated him. His victory qualified Him to carry out His God-given ministry. For this reason, from 4:14 He began to minister. The preparation of the Man-Savior, therefore, was completed in His being tested. After gaining the victory over the Devil’s temptation, He was fully prepared and equipped to carry out the ministry God had given Him.
