Temptation - The Great Reenactment

           “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them…

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:26, 27, 31)

“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan.” (Mark 1:9 – 13a).

In Genesis we see God creating man in His own image. In the Gospel we see the express and coeternal Incarnate image of God on earth to recreate man. In Genesis we see that God’s creation was very good. In the Gospel we hear the Father proclaiming His delight in the Son. In Genesis we see that the woman gives the fruit to her husband and sin and death enter our race; in the Gospel we see our Divine Husband taking the curse upon Himself, thus giving life to His Bride. That is, as in Genesis the bride was, in a sense, the conduit of sin and death, so the Husband is now the conduit of justification and eternal life. In Genesis we see the first creation coming up out of the waters, in the Gospel the New Creation rises from the Jordan River. In Genesis mankind is removed from the Garden with the Tree of Life, in the Gospel the Tree of Life comes to mankind.

And so in the Gospel we see the Great Reenactment of the Temptation in Genesis culminating in not one onslaught of temptation, but of forty days of temptation (Luke 4:2) culminating in three hyper-temptations.

Jesus is driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan for forty days – this after the Father’s affirmation and the descent of the Holy Spirit! While we are not shown the particular temptations of the forty days (save the last three), Luke gives us just a glimpse when he writes, “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time,” (Luke 4:13 italics mine).

Considering the nature of the final three temptations, and considering what the Scriptures teach us about temptation, we are on safe ground to think that the nature of the temptations that Jesus encountered for forty days has to do with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin,” (Hebrews 4:15 NASB).

As we will consider in a future meditation, temptations often come after times of victory and growth. In the life of our Lord Jesus, He was impelled by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted; in one sense the season of temptation did not come to Him, He came into it. Also note that the culminating temptations came when Jesus was hungry, having fasted for forty days; we are probably on safe ground in thinking that His body was crying out for relief.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:1 – 4 ESV).

In Genesis the serpent tells Eve that if she eats from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that she will be like God. Sadly she forgets that she and Adam are God’s children, made is His likeness and image – she denied who she already was in God.

In the Gospel the enemy again raises the issue of identity, this time by challenging the Son’s identity in the Father, “If you are the Son of God…” The enemy challenges the Son to vindicate His sonship by satisfying His hungry body that has been fasting for forty days, the enemy appeals to the desires of the flesh. However, the Son affirms His sonship not by gratifying His legitimate bodily needs, but by affirming that we are called to live according to “every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Yes, we need bread, but let us eat bread as we live in subjection to God’s Word, which is a higher bread, a more sustaining bread, the Bread of eternal life.

Suppose Eve had responded to the serpent as Jesus Christ responded to Satan? In the Garden the enemy called God’s Word into question. In the Wilderness the enemy misused God’s Word in an effort to appeal to the Son’s legitimate bodily needs.

When we are tempted, shall we reenact the scene in the Garden, reprising the roles of Adam and Eve? Or, shall we run to our Great Reenactor and hide ourselves in Him, allowing Him to live in us and through us, faithfully being the extension and outworking of His Incarnation?

Temptation - Dancing with Death

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:12 – 15 ESV).

This passage in James and the previous posting’s passage in 1 John inform one another – that is, each helps us understand the other and together they increase our understanding of temptation.

John makes it clear that if we follow our lusts (desires) in loving the world (this present evil age) that the love of the Father will not be in us (1 John 2:15). He also makes it clear that the world and its lusts are passing away, but that the one who does the will of God lives forever (not the one who thinks about doing the will of God!).

When Adam and Eve lusted after the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and acted on their desire the result was death; spiritual death working in the soul and body of humanity. James paints a picture of what this dance looks like, it is as if we are participating in a masquerade ball:

We see someone desirable to dance with, she (or he) looks attractive. As we dance to the music we are drawn ever more deeply into the embrace of our dancing partner. Before long we are unaware of our surroundings, our discernment abandons us, we lose our perspective and equilibrium. We are enveloped with and in sin. Do we realize that the fruit of our dance is death? To dance with death is to produce death. To dance with temptation is to dance with death. It may not look like death as we approach it; it may look desirable for food, it may be pleasing to the eyes, it may promise to make us wise if we will only dance with it – but it will kill us. It will deaden our souls, dull our minds, and harden our hearts.

Temptation will nearly always look like something better than what we have, and it will always entice us to disobey God’s Word and turn our eyes away from Jesus Christ.

James warns us not to be so foolish as to think, “This temptation is from God,” when he writes:

“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.”

The stakes are high. How high?

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

This has to do with our love for God when facing temptation, do we love God or do we love our lusts? Note that John also frames the issue of our desires in the context of love: “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15b).

Temptation challenges our hearts. To whom do our hearts belong?

Paul evokes Genesis when he writes (2 Corinthians 11:3 NASB), “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” Once again, we are all reenactors; shall we play the role of Adam and Eve, or shall we play the role of Jesus Christ? Shall we choose to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, or shall we eat from the Tree of Life, our Lord Jesus Christ? What is feeding our desires?

James writes:

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2 – 4 ESV).

The word “trials” can just as easily be translated “temptations”. God desires to use our temptations to mold us into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we are tempted we can either submit to God and His Word, or give ourselves over to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. If we foolishly think that we can control temptation, or that we can moderate our downward spiral into sin and death and somehow go so far and then turnaround and go back to obedience…we are fools. We are either slaves to God and His Word, or we are slaves to sin (Romans Chapter 6); what we are not is autonomous – we will either serve God or the devil…which will it be?

Temptation - Real Reenactors

          We are all reenactors. The difference between our reenactments and those of actors and actresses who reenact history on a stage is that the reenactments of humanity carry eternal consequences while reenactments of those who dramatize history on a stage are in the moment, as the dew on the morning grass.

            There is a sense in which we reenact the Temptation in the Garden of Eden every day. Compare this passage from Genesis with the following passage from 1 John:

            “He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” (Genesis 3:1a – 7, ESV)

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15 – 17).

            In Genesis Eve sees that the tree is good for food, in 1 John we read of the desires of the flesh. In Genesis Eve sees that the tree is a delight to the eyes, in 1 John we read of the desires of the eyes. In Genesis Eve sees that the tree is desired to make one wise, in 1 John we read of the pride of life.

            The warning that John gives in his letter is a warning that has its genesis in Genesis. The serpent is ever posing the question, “Has God said?” The enemy’s unrelenting attack is upon the Word of God, seeking to undermine our trust in, and obedience to, God’s Word.

            Temptation appeals to our egos, to our sensual and bodily desires, and to our desire to possess what we consider valuable. The word that the ESV translates as “desires” is often translated into English as “lusts” – when we lust for something we desire to possess it and consume it. Sadly, while we think we can posses and consume that which we lust for, the reality is that we are the ones who are possessed and consumed and destroyed.

            There is a story told of when the comedian W.C. Fields was nearing the last days of his life in a hospital. A friend walked into his room and saw him reading the Bible. When the friend asked Fields if he was searching for God, the comedian replied, “No, I’m looking for loopholes.” I don’t know whether this story is true, but I do know that it illustrates the way many of us approach temptation and the Bible, God’s Word. Rather than seeking grace to obey God’s Word in the midst of temptation and spiritual warfare, too often we look for loopholes. Are we thinking that maybe the serpent was right when he asked the question, “Has God said?”

            Every day of our lives we are reenacting the drama of the Garden of Eden. Shall we be the understudies of Adam of Eve, or will we be the understudies of our Lord Jesus Christ? As we will see in another meditation, our Lord Jesus engaged in His own reenactment when He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness after His baptism by John the Baptist. Jesus rewrote the script, and in rewriting the script He gave us an invitation to join Him in the New Script, the New Creation, the New Man.

            In 1 Corinthians 4:9 Paul writes about being a spectacle to angels and to men. In Ephesians 3:10 he writes of God’s many-faceted wisdom being known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. We are reenactors on a cosmic stage – which part are we choosing to play when we are faced with temptation?

            Are we reprising the roles of Adam and Eve, or are we on stage with our Lord Jesus Christ?