Sermon
Title: The Second Adam Part 2
Scripture
Reading: James 4:1-10
The three temptations recorded by Luke were the
last three of many Jesus faced in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-2). In other words,
the temptations recorded by Luke were the final three, not the only three.
1) Jesus Christ was
tempted to doubt the Father’s love and care for Him (Luke 4:3-4).
Remember the first Adam? “Indeed, has God
said?” (Genesis 3) was intended to raise doubts in Eve’s mind. Eve, what is God
secretly and wrongly keeping from you? Why would it be a sin for Jesus to turn a rock
into bread? After all, Jesus did feed 9,000 men and countless women and
children during His ministry by multiplying bread and fish.
Satan was aware that in the incarnation, Jesus
had voluntarily set aside the independent use of His divine power. The Devil
was attempting (as he had with Eve) to get Jesus to distrust God’s love and
provision for Him. Satan hoped to entice Jesus to question the love of the
Father and the care of the Holy Spirit. Like Jesus, believers are often tempted
to doubt God’s love and provision for them. If He did love them, they reason,
He would not have permitted whatever painful, disappointing circumstances they
find themselves in.1
The attempt was to get Jesus to act
independently in His own power to get what the Father was not giving Him
because the Father obviously wasn’t paying attention or didn’t care. Both Adam (Genesis 3 and discontentment with
God’s provision of the trees) and Israel (Exodus 16 and discontentment with
God’s provision of manna) were tempted with food.
“For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD
bestows favor and honor. No good things does he withhold from those who walk
uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!” (Psalm 84:11-12). I am confused. I hurt. I hunger. I thirst. I
desire. However, I will choose to depend on the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1) to trust
the Father’s Word (Luke 3:22; Exodus 8:3). If you can
depend on Him to be your Federal Head, you can depend on Him with your
uncertain future, illness, financial need, loss, etc.
2) Jesus Christ was
tempted to doubt the Father’s perfect plan for Him (Luke 4:5-8).
Why was it a sin for Jesus to obtain what was
rightfully His? Jesus’ temptation was to bypass God’s path/plan of suffering.
Is it really necessary to go through all of this difficulty and pain to get to
my destination?
Turn
to Romans 8
We eat sandwiches because bread helps us to
grab on to the meat. You can grasp the meat better when it is surrounded by
bread. Notice the sandwich:
·
The top piece of bread: “There is
therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
·
The meat: “And we know that for
those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called
according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be
conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers” (Romans 8:28-29).
·
The bottom piece of bread: “Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” (Romans 8:35). “For
I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things
present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else
in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ
Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).
“Christ never failed to distinguish between doubt
and unbelief. Doubt is can’t believe. Unbelief is won’t believe. Doubt is
honesty. Unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light. Unbelief is content
with darkness” (Henry Drummond).
“Some of
us who have preached the Word for years, and have been the means of working
faith in others and of establishing them in the knowledge of the fundamental
doctrines of the Bible, have nevertheless been the subjects of the most fearful
and violent doubts as to the truth of the very gospel we have preached” (C.H.
Spurgeon).
3) Jesus Christ was
tempted to presume upon God’s grace (Luke 4:9-12).
We most commonly presume upon grace in two
ways:
First, through twisting Scripture (Luke
4:10-11) to produce a false view of faith:
This
type of temptation (Luke 4:9-12) is perhaps the most subtle and dangerous of
the three, because it seemingly encourages people to exercise faith in God. In
reality, it arrogantly, brazenly demands things from God, turning Him into a
utilitarian genie who grants people’s every whim. That false view of faith,
promoted in its most extreme form by the so-called prosperity gospel (also
known as the “name it and claim it” movement), in essence makes man sovereign.
If the right formula is used and enough faith is exercised, God has to respond.
When He does not deliver the goods they have claimed by faith, however, many
become disillusioned and abandon Him. In contrast to that false, even
blasphemous view of faith, true faith humbly submits to God’s will. It prays,
as Jesus taught, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven” (Matthew
6:10; Luke 22:42).1
Such a test would be presumptuous of Jesus,
because it would be artificially created and really would be unbelief
masquerading as faith.3
Second, through a false view of grace:
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in
sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live
in it?” (Romans 6:1-2).
“For it is impossible, in the case of those who
have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared
in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the
powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to
him up to contempt. For the land that has drunk the rain that often falls on
it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated,
receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is
worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned” (Hebrews
6:4-8).
The Father does not appear here as he did at
the baptism (3:22). When it seems as if the Father is absent, remember, He has
left us His Word. Jesus overcomes Satan and temptation by knowing the Word,
trusting the Father, and depending on the Spirit (two-fold mention of the
Spirit in Luke 4:1.
By way of application, let us look briefly at
three short passages:
·
Corinthians 10:3-6
The challenge before us then is not merely to do
what God says because He is God, but to desire what God says because He is
good. The challenge is not merely to pursue righteousness, but to prefer
righteousness. Out of
all the armor God gives us to fight Satan, only one piece is used for killing –
the sword. It is called the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). So when Paul says,
“Kill sin by the Spirit” (Rom. 8:13), I take that to mean, Depend on the
Spirit, especially His sword. What is the sword of the Spirit? It’s the Word of
God (Eph. 6:17). Here’s where faith comes in… The Word of God cuts through the
fog of Satan’s lies and shows me where true and lasting happiness is to be
found. And so the Word helps me stop trusting in the potential of sin to make
me happy, and instead entices me to trust in God’s promise of joy (Psm. 16:11).
(John
Piper,
How
Redeemed People Do Battle with Sin, Decision, Jan. 1990)
Sources
1) MacArthur, John. The MacArthur
New Testament Commentary: Luke 1-5. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009.
2) Pink, AW. Our Accountability
to God. Chicago, IL: Moody Bible Institute, 1969, 1999.
3) Brock, Darrell. Luke 1:1-9:50. Grand Rapids, MI:
Baker Academic, 1994.
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