Real Men Carry Their Crosses – Dealing with Temptation I: Intro (Matthew 4)

If you’re anything like me, you have battled and are battling temptation on a daily basis; temptation to do things part of you doesn’t want to do, and temptation to be someone most of you doesn’t want to be.  Matthew 4 records an amazing account of Jesus being tempted by Satan.  In this account, we see God’s blueprint for us in dealing with temptation in our own lives.

The temptation of Jesus took place right at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  Before Jesus performed any healings or signs and wonders, He was baptised in the Jordan river (Matthew 3).  This is incredibly fascinating when we understand the OT significance of the event and location, but for brevity, let us just summarize this event as the clear declaration of Jesus as the promised Messiah, the God-Man sent to save His people from their sins.  Here, Jesus identifies Himself with humanity and the sin of humanity He would bear about three years later. Here also, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit identify Jesus clearly as God the Son.

After this “inauguration”, Matthew tells us Jesus was ‘led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil’.

Now, we must understand that in leading Jesus to be tempted in the wilderness, God didn’t tempt Jesus, but rather positioned Him to be tempted by the devil.  God never tempts anyone with evil (1 John 2:16).    So when you are tempted, know that it isn’t God that tempts you.  Instead, we are tempted by our own evil desires (James 1:14), often stirred up by the offerings of the world and by the enemy.  (Note that Jesus was tempted by an external source – Satan – whereas we are tempted by an internal source – sinful desires emanating from sinful nature.  As we discussed previously, Jesus did not inherit sinful nature from a human father, so he couldn’t be tempted from within.  But in His humanity via external means He was tempted in every way as we are (Hebrews 4:15).)

We must also understand that not only can God not tempt anyone, but He Himself cannot be tempted with evil (Hebrews 4:15; James 1:13).  There is nothing in God that could ever possibly want anything that is evil, and therefore evil can never be tempting to Him.  The fact that Jesus was tempted shows us that though Jesus is fully God, He set aside the use of His divine power (Philippians 2:6-8) to be tempted in His full humanity, just like we are tempted in ours (Hebrews 4:15).  This is so that He could Himself be legitimate payment for the sin of humanity.  This is important because as we battle temptation, we need to understand that Jesus faced the same temptations we face and defeated them.  This gives us hope because we know that since He defeated sin, sin is ultimately destroyed in His children. In the short-term, we know that we can defeat sin when it rises up in us because we know Jesus helps us!

“…since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.” (Hebrews 2:18, italics added)

Matthew tells us that Satan, ‘the tempter’, came to tempt Jesus after He had fasted forty days and forty nights.  Jesus was hungry, and Satan came and began tempting Him with food.  Satan’s next temptation was with fame and status, and his third temptation was with material prosperity.

We will look at each actual temptation more in depth next day, but there’s an overarching theme to be understood here.  The object Satan used to tempt Jesus really isn’t the issue; food, fame, and wealth aren’t evil in and of themselves, and having any of these things isn’t wrong in itself.  These were only lures to pull Jesus into the real sin – rejecting God in favour of these things.

See, Jesus was sent with a purpose.  We’ve discussed it already.  He was sent to save His people from their sins.  In order to do that, He needed to live a completely sinless life totally as a man with no use of His divine power to “cheat” at living righteously.  If He used divine power apart from His dependence on the Spirit of God, this would be sin because it wasn’t God’s plan for Him, and sin would render His death useless – He would die for His own sin and therefore couldn’t pay for the sins of humanity!  Satan knew this and he tried to derail Jesus from His purpose.  Food, status and wealth really weren’t the issues at all.  Satan was using those things as lures to get Jesus to reject God’s path and purpose for Him.  The only way for Jesus to sin would be to treasure those things rather than God Himself.  The greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37).  To break this and love food, status and wealth with all our heart is sin.

Satan wasn’t disbelieving who Jesus was.  He knew well who Jesus was.  He knew that Jesus was to be exalted by God after walking the path God set out for Him.  But Satan tried to get Jesus to exalt Himself before God’s appointed time and apart from God’s appointed process.  Satan was saying, “Hey Jesus, you’re God in nature, so do all this for yourself!  Do it now!  Don’t wait!  Prove to everyone who you are right now!”  Jesus resisted Satan, obeyed His Father, and God did exalt Jesus after He died for the sins of humanity, raising Him from the dead, seating Him at His right hand as Lord of all, and putting all His enemies under His feet (Psalm 110:1; Ephesians 1:22; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:3, 2:8, 8:1).

Jesus knew His Father’s will for Him would be the road of suffering, because they had people to save, and freedom is always bought with blood.  Knowing that the divine plan of redemption would be to walk the lonely road to the cross, to His own death, Jesus fully surrendered Himself to the Father’s will for Him.  Jesus is awesome in His resolve to follow God and pursue His purpose!

The Bible says that when Jesus found Himself in the form of a man, He did exactly what fits the design of Mankind: He humbled Himself and became obedient, even to the point of death (Philippians 2:8).  He set aside the use of His divine power, which He had from eternity past as part of His divine nature, and humbled Himself, becoming completely dependent on God in the power of the Spirit to live His life as a man.  He met the most intense temptation possible, alone in the wilderness and physically weak from hunger; He met this intense temptation as a man and defeated it.

Jesus submitted Himself to be led by the Spirit, even when the Spirit led Him into the wilderness, even when He was being tempted, even when He was being crucified for you and me.

And this humility and submission is the key to dealing with temptation.

You and I are also born for a specific purpose, and sin in us tempts us to reject God’s purpose for us.  When we are tempted, sin rises up in us and beckons us, sometimes gently, often with a tantrum, to reject God’s path for us and do things our own way.  But the first thing to understand about following Jesus is that we live by actually following Him, by humbling ourselves before Him, by surrendering ourselves to Him and submitting ourselves to live by the power of the Spirit.  You’ll follow Him through tough things where you’re tempted to let yourself out of suffering, where you’re tempted to reject God’s Word to you and His path for you because it’s hard.  But Jesus provided the means and power of victory, and showed us how to live it.  He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and He has sent His Spirit to live in us (John 14:16-17, 16:7-15).  By submitting to the leading of the Spirit and having Jesus live in us by the Spirit, we resist temptation, “putting to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13).  “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” ( Romans 8:14).  The proof of whether or not we are children of God shows up in whether or not we are led by the Spirit of God!

Now, this won’t be perfect.  We will fall and give into temptation from time to time, but as we practice focusing on Jesus and surrendering to Him, we will grow in Him and grow in our ability to surrender our desires to Him for His desires for us.  Theologians refer to this process of growth into Christ-likeness as “sanctification”, and this sanctification is something that Jesus works in all His kids.  But during this process there will be times we fall, and this is where we must trust that Jesus has paid for all our sin, past, present and future.  Because of what Jesus did for us, and because of our standing in Him when we trust Him as our Saviour and Lord, our standing with God is secure; it doesn’t depend on “how well we do”, on how well we resist temptation, on how well we obey.  It is the gift of grace, which God has freely bestowed on us in Christ (Ephesians 1:6).  He died so you don’t have to.  He defeated death so you can live.  He conquered sin so you can put it to death by the power of His Spirit in you.  Resisting temptation and defeating sin is a result of our trust in Jesus that He actually did what He said He did, and is a fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

Now, how can we practically surrender ourselves to Jesus, follow the Spirit’s leading, and deal successfully with temptation?

1.  Understand and believe that Jesus is who He said He is, and that He died to set you free!  When you put your trust in Him, you are no longer a slave to sin, bound to give in to temptation…unless you want to give in.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”  Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Galations 4:4-7)

2.  If you’ve put your trust in Jesus, understand that He is working in you this very moment to accomplish your sanctification!  Focus on this amazing truth, that God is at work in you!

Jesus loves His people and died for us, so that He might sanctify us, having cleansed us by the washing of water with the word, “that He might present to Himself the Church in all her glory, having no spot of wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:26-27).

3.  Be renewing your mind daily!  Spend time with Jesus, in His Word and in every day life.  Offer your whole self to him, read your Bible to be able to watch Him and listen to Him, and ponder His calling on your life.  Humble yourself and give yourself to Jesus.  Fill your mind with Him.  Being with Him is becoming like Him..

 “…I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)

Jesus was at all times led by the Spirit of God.  No temptation could push Him off the hill He was to die on, because of His great love for His Father.  For us, dealing with temptation requires the power of the Spirit of God in us to grow in us a love for God that makes us willing to turn away from sin into His loving arms.

 

at His feet,

jae

“Therefore…let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Advertisement