did Jesus have the opportunity to not do the Fathers will? Could Jesus have failed His mission? If you say no, then salvation was a given and the sacrifice was only physical pain, no temptation to fail. If you say yes, then Jesus can think for Himself. He was so close to the father that He perfectly reflected the Fathers Character traits. We have the opportunity to ignore the Father and Holy Spirit when we choose to do things, and Jesus was tempted in all points like us.
Can God sin? The answer is no. And we know God is unchanging.
But you assume temptation and sin are the same thing. This is not true, how do we know this is not true? Jesus said "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" (Matthew 4:7).
So, we know God cannot sin, and we know God can be tempted because it comes from His own mouth.
But the word tempted can mean multiple things, so lets look at the Greek.
ἐκπειράζω
- o prove, test, thoroughly
- to put to proof God's character and power
So we know tempt means to test in Matthew 4:7. We also know that Christ was tested on earth.
You might ask, if Christ was God, how did Satan have authority to take him places such as the mountain? The answer is simple, Christ was in mans flesh. and Satan owns the Flesh. (Ephesians 2) But we also know that Christ is God (John 1:1) This verse makes it extremely specific. They are two different beings, yet both God.
We also know that only his flesh died.(1 Peter 3:18) For He cannot die because He is God.
Jesus conquered the Flesh. He fulfilled the requirements to obtain the rights/deed of mankind. Under sin we were slaves to Satan.
There is nothing, NOTHING in the Bible that says Christ was able to sin.
What you will find is Hebrews 4:15 where it states He was tempted.
πειράω
To test, to make trial, to put to proof
Notice, the bible is very specific in Hebrews 4:15 as it uses the word συμπαθέω or in english Sympathy.
Sympathy is extremely different than Empathy.
Sympathy means to understand someones pain. Empathy means to experience someones pain.
For instance, I can break my arm and have sympathy of your broken leg, but not empathy unless I experience it.
So yes, Jesus had sexual temptation of the Flesh. However, did He as a man experience a woman's sexual temptation?
We also know that in Genesis women were given an unique curse, that they would lust to be over man, Christ could not experience that curse as a man, so is it still every way? (Genesis 3:16)
Christ was tempted by lust, envy, pride, etc and understands the curse even tho He did not experience that specific one.
To wrap this up because I am tired and need sleep, you have failed to read the Bible for what it is, and you have explained away the greatness of God.
Christ was not tempted exactly like us, that would be an absurd statement, as shown with women having an unique curse. He was 100% unable to sin because He is God as stated in John 1:1.
And I won't even touch your statement " He was so close to the father that He perfectly reflected the Fathers Character traits." that you have made. Because again, John 1:1 destroys your assertion, as He IS God, not 'He is like God'.
You have unknowingly made God into a bi-polar schizophrenic being in which traits are only specifically bound to certain projections of Him.
So I have a question for you: What trait does Christ have that God does not have or vice versa?
Both show they are all knowing: Christ was all knowing (Luke 2:47) and (Luke 19:40)
So what trait?