“a moral message. Somoene is used as an example for others to learn.”
These examples are not moral messages for others but tests of the individual’s commitment and loyalty. When they were going through the testing they had no idea of being used as examples.
Hbr 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten [son],
Jam 1:12 Blessed [is] the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
The difference between testing and temptation is in the intent of the initiator. When God subjected Jesus to hunger in the desert it was to test him in his reliance on God but when Satan tempted him in the same situation it was to sin by relying on himself to perform a miracle to satisy his personal hunger.
Why, because God is unsure?
The difference between testing and temptation is in the intent of the initiator
Not necessarily. Job is an example where God practically accepts a "bet" from Satan as if to prove him wrong. God allows Satan to do whatever he wants but not to harm Job. What was the test? It seems almost like a cruel game, with rules and limits, with the outcome clearly known to God.
When God subjected Jesus to hunger in the desert it was to test him in his reliance on God but when Satan tempted him in the same situation it was to sin by relying on himself to perform a miracle to satisy his personal hunger.
Christians believe Jesus is God and Man at the same time, one Person, divine and human, unconfused. So, to say "God" subjected Him to hunger sounds, well, "Pauline."
My question to you is: was there any time that Christ had any doubt or wondered if He would be able to resist the temptation and pass the test? Is there any possibiliyt that Vhrist could have failed the test/tempattion?
If not, then what was the purpose of the test/temptation?
The whole concept of Jesus being subjected to test/temptation is an oxymoron in the context of the developed Christian theology of His divinity.
But not if Jesus is seen as the Jewish Messiah, anointed, but not divine. In fact, the synaptic Gospels very much express such an image of a Jewish Messiah, who is a favorite of God, anointed, but not divine. Christ is never called divine; none of the Apostles pray to him or to the Holy Spirit, even after the Resurrection.
The divinity of Jesus is introduced for the first time in the NT in John's Gospel, written at the very end of the 1st century (and as such should be placed at the very end of the bible and not after the Gospel of Luke), when the Christian doctrine had fully evolved and Christ's divinity had become a matter of faith.
***When God subjected Jesus to hunger in the desert it was to test him in his reliance on God ***
Are you seriously stating that God (the Father) tested God (the Son)? Where do you people get your ideas from? It cannot be from Christian Scripture or the Church.
Yes, that's exactly right. When God tests, it is with the EXPECTATION that the person will succeed. The man of God should turn towards Him and God will help him. When satan tempts, it is with the EXPECTATION of failure. We all know how that goes, unfortunately. But even when we are tempted, God still provides a way out:
1 Cor 10:13 : No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
If my above is right, then it looks like all men are tempted, but only the elect are tested.