What's At Stake?
For the next few weeks, we are going to take a look at the life of Jesus when he entered into the desert right after his baptism and faced three huge temptations, and try to identify the driving forces behind those temptations and the one’s we face every day. Once we understand what is behind temptation and what is at risk every time we're tempted, perhaps we can find the confidence to respond as Jesus did.
Now first, I want to make clear, that God never tempts anyone with evil. James 1:13 – 15:“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;14but each one is tempted when by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
Next, there are two things that I want us to recognize this morning in every temptation: a) There is always more at risk than one realizes; and b) a great deal of our ability to overcome temptation is the confidence and trust we have in God our Father. (Ex: the confidence a son/daughter has in their parent to give what is promised helps promote delayed gratification. - Esau’s birthright) I shared from Proverbs earlier because if we could get wisdom and understanding given to us from God and strive to stop for a moment and consider these two things when we are being tempted, I believe we would be more apt to break free from those things that may hinder our spiritual walk. With every temptation, there is always more at risk than we realize and there is a relationship between our temptation and our confidence and trust in God in everyday life.
Consider for a moment what was really at risk in the temptation of Jesus. It really was not what we may think or see on the surface, but it was much deeper than that. What really was at stake were you and I; we were the ones that hung in the balance with Jesus ability to say no to the tempter. What was at stake was His ability to remain the sinless Son of God. What gave him the right to die for our sins in the future was his ability to remain sinless. If he had his own sin to pay for, he could not have paid for ours. You see, there was more at risk in that moment of time than just turning a stone into a piece of bread. It was our salvation that was stake.
Matthew 3:16 – 4:3a “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 4:1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said,…”
In the verses that follow, Jesus is tempted in three different ways all of which have to do with his confidence in God; and all three of these temptations are in the background of everything that you and I will be tempted with. Is it not amazing that these temptations that Jesus was faced with, one of these will be behind every temptation that you and I will be faced with! I believe this is not just a coincidence. For example, Jesus was tempted to meet a legitimate need (God given) in an illegitimate way (in a way not pleasing to God). Second, He was tempted to leverage God for his own purpose. Third, He was tempted to take a short cut; to obtain the right thing in a wrong way. Every single one of our temptations falls in one of those three categories. Once we begin to recognize this, our temptations will begin to lose their leverage with us. Temptations will never go away, but they can lose their leverage with us so we can deal with them more effectively when we understand what is really going on in the background. Jesus Christ came not only to forgive us of our sins, but also to set us free from the power of sin. Romans 6:6 “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin”-
Remember, there is always more at risk than what you realize at the moment. There are three things that are at risk every time you’re tempted. They are: your future, someone else’s future (those under your authority), and your faith (your relationship with God-conscience can become seared and your confidence in God waivers). A good example of this is found in Genesis 3 in the account of Eve.
At the heart of every temptation is the question: Can God be trusted? Can he be trusted to meet my needs? Will he really take care of me? Will he really help me to overcome? Can God really be trusted? That was the question in the Garden of Eden! When we say yes to the temptation, we are making the statement that God cannot be trusted.
When temptation comes, and it will, do not let it steal your future, your family and friends, and your faith!
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