Jesus: Lord and Model

Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. (John 5:19 NIV)

Jesus was both fully God and fully human. And yet Jesus the Son limits His earthly ministry to "only what He sees His Father doing". He chose to live His life as our fully human model of a life lived under the direction and power of the Holy Spirit. This is important, because He called us to follow His example, which would be an impossible command if we fallen humans are expected to try to live like the divine Son of God. Jesus lived in the power of the same Holy Spirit that dwells in us.

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. (Luke 4:1-2 NIV)

The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. And just as the Holy Spirit led Jesus, He can lead you and me. I don't think we actually think of Jesus as being led by the Spirit. We sort of assume His supernatural knowledge of human hearts and the power of His miracles came from His divine nature. Jesus was God in the flesh, so of course He could do miracles, right?

But what if Jesus chose not to access His divinity in order to model the Spirit-led and Spirit-filled life so we can follow His example? Then we can have hope that our lives can reflect the same truth and grace as His life. The we can dare to believe we can follow His example, and supernatural things can happen, even through us. Jesus, our Model, demonstrated how to live and minister in the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit so we can follow His example.

We see this truth reflected in what happened immediately following His temptation. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside. (Luke 4:14 NIV) Scripture clearly indicates it was Jesus' intentional design to serve as our Model.

“Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself..." Wait. If Jesus is God, can't He do anything by Himself? Well, He could have done anything God can do. But He chose to live among us as a fully human person to show us the potential of our humanity when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul says this in a different way in Philippians 2:5-7:

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Paul says even though Jesus was in very nature God, He did not consider His equality with God as something to be grasped (ESV translation). Instead He lowered Himself into the very existence of us created human beings, becoming like us in order to reveal Himself to us and to redeem us.

Just as Jesus can only do what He sees His Father doing, so we can only do what we see our Father doing. And to see what the Father is up to and receive our marching orders for a faithful life, we must spend time with Him, searching the Scriptures and praying with our hearts open to His Spirit and His will. Jesus modeled this for us as well: "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." (Luke 5:16 NIV)

One simple principle that changes the focus of our lives and aligns us with God's will for our lives is this: Instead of making a master plan for your life, seek the Master's plan! It is a natural human tendency to seek to pattern our lives after role models. We want to be like our parents and grandparents. We try to be just like that favorite teacher or coach who inspired us. We try to emulate our favorite baseball player or rock star. But what if the most important role model in our lives becomes Jesus Christ?

To have Jesus as our role model is highly discouraging if we have no chance at all of ever living a life like His because He was God and we are only fallen human beings. But if Jesus chose to live a decidedly human life in the power of the Holy Spirit, then so can we. The same Holy Spirit who directed and empowered Jesus can direct and empower our lives. And I find that wonderfully encouraging as I seek to become all that God wants me to be, which is quite simply more Christlike.

Jesus is Lord. He is the King of my life. He is Savior. He died to save me from sin and death. And Jesus is my Model. I want to love like He loved. I want to serve like He served. I want to trust God like He trusted the Father. I want to be holy like He lived out holiness. And the only way to be like Him is to surrender to Him and be filled with His Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit, come...