The Divine Annointing #1
Brother Sparks reflects on the significance of Jesus' baptism and subsequent wilderness temptation, emphasizing the divine anointing upon Him. Jesus' baptism marked the heavenly endorsement, with the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and God's voice affirming His Sonship. Immediately after, Jesus, full of the Spirit, was led into the wilderness for 40 days of fasting and testing by Satan. Sparks highlights that this wilderness period was a crucial battleground where Satan challenged Jesus' sonship, authority, and destiny, aiming to undermine His mission and the implications of His divine sonship, including His inheritance and dominion over the world. The core of Satan's attack was to question Jesus' identity and the significance of His sonship, which carried the promise of authority and dominion. Sparks explains that Jesus' victory in the wilderness was rooted in His unwavering obedience, understanding of His mission, and acceptance of the cross, which was essential for His authority. He emphasizes that Jesus' authority was moral and spiritual, derived from His settled heart and divine purpose, not from official position. For believers, Sparks underscores the importance of the Holy Spirit within, the necessity of settling major spiritual issues, and the need to accept the cross to walk in divine authority. The victory in the wilderness laid the foundation for Jesus' ministry and authority, which believers are called to inherit through the Spirit, facing their own battles with faith and resolve.
Main Points Outline
Jesus' baptism and the divine affirmation of His Sonship.
The wilderness as a spiritual battleground where Satan challenged Jesus' identity, authority, and destiny.
Satan's attack focused on questioning the significance of sonship, inheritance, and dominion.
Jesus' victory was rooted in obedience, understanding His mission, and acceptance of the cross.
Authority is moral and spiritual, based on a settled heart and divine purpose, not official position.
Believers inherit the anointing through the Spirit, which empowers them to face spiritual battles.
The importance of settling major spiritual issues and embracing the cross for divine authority.
The foundation of Jesus' authority was laid in the wilderness, enabling His victorious ministry.
Christ's victory is a model for believers to walk in divine power and authority through the Spirit.
1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
