Temptation is not a Hopeless Situation

Jesus temptation gives us hope to defeat our temptation

I always was confused at Satan's brash temptation of Jesus when he offered him all the kingdoms of the earth. Up until now I was missing one key word in that passage, "given" or "delivered" in the ESV rendering. 

The Devil was "given" authority over the kingdoms of the earth. But, "who gave him that authority?" I asked myself.

The passage in Luke reads...

"And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will." (Luke 4:5-6 ESV)

For all you 'Greek Geeks' out there, the Greek word for "delivered" in this passage is...

παραδίδωμι

Pronounced par-ad-id'-o-mee

It means to surrender, i.e yield up, intrust, transmit:--and it is translated in other contexts as betray, bring forth, cast, commit, deliver (up), give (over, up), hazard, put in prison, and recommend.

So my question still remained, "who gave Satan authority over the kingdoms of the earth? Of course the answer is, Jesus did...Jesus gave Satan that authority...Jesus is the controller and sustainer of all kingdoms and authorities.

We read in Colossians...

"For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Colossians 1:16-17 ESV)

So in the infinitely wise counsel of the Godhead, Jesus gave Satan the authority to temp Himself in the end. So Satan was duped and tricked by the eternal power, authority, and plan of the Godhead...but even still Jesus did not use this information against Satan to rebuff his temptation, for instance Jesus didn't say to Satan, "hey I gave you the authority over those kingdoms in the first place, so..." Instead Jesus used God's eternal, infinitely powerful, and helpful Word to rebuff Satan's weak and authority-less temptation. 

That is why we can call on Jesus in our temptation, because we know that He has the power and authority to overcome it! Every temptation of Satan is ultimately a temptation that is allowed by God's good hand to make us more like Jesus, and with Jesus help and authority we can rebuff the Enemy.

Hebrews describes Jesus victory over temptation and sin...

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15 ESV)

So when you are tempted today call on Jesus the great high priest, author, and perfecter of our faith! He will deliver you! Worship Him now for His deliverance.

CHRIST THE FOUNTAINHEAD OF LIFE: THE TRUE REALITY

Christ the Fountainhead of Life: Christ the True Reality: 

Colossians 2:16-23 Week 5

"So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality (See Greek Word 'so-mah'). Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it. You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires." (Colossians 2:16-23 NLT)

Christ is the Reality behind the shifting shadows

Christ is the true reality, substance, or body of every spiritual thing that we see, all of which are shifting shadows. He is the reality of everything seen and one day all seen spiritual truths will be realized, revealed, and culminate in Him; in complete truth in the unseen heavenly realms!

The Greek word for Reality can be translated as Body, Substance, Reality, or True Picture

Greek word 4983: σῶμα

Pronounced so'-mah: the body (as a sound whole), used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively:--bodily, body, slave.

Don’t let anyone condemn you, but rather focus on the Reality of Christ who is the 'So-Mah' in the unseen in four ways. 

1. Let Christ be your righteousness. 

I have found that people “try” so hard to be Christian when this is an practical impossibility. I think of the scripture where Jesus says, "unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees you can never enter the kingdom of Heaven”. We as the Church have often times tried so vigorously hard to be righteous apart from Christ. We must stop trying so hard. Let Christ be your righteousness! He will stand in the gap for you! He will cover you with his Righteousness! He will clothe you in Holiness! Let Him do it!

"And Christ himself is that reality. Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things."

People were being pressured in the Colossian Church to act out their piousness, But Paul says that Christ himself is our piousness, He himself is the reality of all things spiritual, the seen, the unseen, and the not yet known! so trust him for those things!

Greek word for condemn here can also be translated to trick or beguile...καταβραβεύω it is pronounced kat-ab-rab-yoo'-o (in its original sense); to award the price against, i.e. (figuratively) to defraud (of salvation):--beguile of reward. Now isn't that interesting that Paul here is asking the Colossians to not be tricked into thinking that you could be pious enough, holy enough, or good enough to attain your own salvation. Don't let anyone defraud you of the salvation that Jesus wrought for you on the cross!!!

We are asked not to let anyone trick us into taking up a righteousness of our own through empty piety. in other words "do not take up a yoke again of slavery"! Jesus has taken all our condemnation in our place!

2. Put your pride in Christ alone

"Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body."

Pride is one of those acceptable sins in the Church. Let me give you a for instance. If your pastor gets up this week in your church and admits that he has been looking at pornography for the past 5 years on his Church computer, he would be fired before he leaves the church that same day. But on the other hand if he gets up there and confesses pride a deep and hurtful pride, you would think like I have many times, “yes brother, I am with you.” We have agreed too many times in this area. We have placed our pride in the wrong things! We have succumbed to the worldly pattern which says that pride in self and accomplishments is ok. This is actually the exact antithesis of true spirituality. This verse shows us that when our pride puffs us up, we are not connected to the head of the body namely Christ. We must turn our pride from self and put our pride in Christ alone! "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God". Also Paul wrote that he "boasted only in the cross". We can also take up that boasting when we turn away from worldly pride. 

3. Receive Christ’s victory

"For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it. You have died with Christ, and he has SET YOU FREE from the spiritual powers of this world."

One of the areas of weakness in the Calvinistic, Reformed theological traditions is that of the SPIRITUAL VICTORY that we have in Christ. This Reformed/Calvinistic Camp (of which I am happy camper) sometimes tends to a spiritual defeat perspective. Instead, Romans 8 describes an “overwhelming victory” that we receive through Christ’s righteousness. Many times what I hear in between the lines of these traditions is somewhat of a “woe is me” tone. However this could not be further from the truth! We are OVERWHELMINGLY VICTORIOUS! and We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ! We are made brothers by His own blood, and sacrifice! So my encouraging word is for you to receive and live in that victory, and do not take up the yoke of slavery to sin again!!! 

4. Trust that Christ has destroyed the evil systems of this world (your world)

Christ has destroyed the Evil Systems in the World

"So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.” 

Legalism says that "you cannot do that" because you will not be holy or acceptable to God. The gospel says, however, that you cannot be holy or acceptable to God. Jesus has done that in our place!!! Therefore, He has destroyed all those rules regulations, and teachings that say we can somehow be holy on our own power. But as Paul says here it cannot help us conquer even one evil desire. This is the greatest news we could receive in the gospel! You cannot do it, so stop trying so hard. He is our righteousness. Put down your empty acts of religion, and receive His perfect righteousness. When I am most tempted to act on my own behalf, I have usually taken my eyes off of Christ. "Let us therefore fix our eyes on Jesus the Author and Perfecter of our faith". We can begin to do that through worship. 

JOY IN THE RESURRECTION

WE CAN FIND JOY IN THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS IF WE CLING TO HIM IN 3 WAYS 

Noli Me Tongere by Alexander Ivanov 1835 (After Jesus' Resurrection)

THE RESURRECTION STORY:
"Now on the first  day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing  there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and  that  He had said these things to her." (John 20:1-18 NASB)
1.  CLING TO HIM BY WEEPING AND REPENTING OVER OUR OWN SIN
Mary was a woman that Jesus had encountered and cast seven demons out of her and from that point on she began to follow him along with a group of women who supported the disciples...
"Soon afterwards, He (Jesus) began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means." (Luke 8:1-3 NASB)
Mary was a person of whom we can say that she had truly repented.  The Lord had delivered her from seven Demons and she had taken hold of that deliverance by faith and lived as we see here a life of complete change.  She was the only one at the tomb weeping that her Lord and Master that she had followed was not there to pay homage to.  She was a broken woman that she could not do homage her Lord.  This is a signal that she was a woman of repentance that she could not worship and care for the Lord's body showed her obeisance. She had taken to heart what Jesus had said, "go and sin no more".
2. CLING TO AND SEEK JESUS AS THE 'RABONI' (TEACHER) OF YOUR LIFE
"Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father" (John 20:16-17)
Mary recognized that it was Jesus probably when He said her name.  How many times had He called her, "Mary" and again this time as the risen Lord He reveals Himself to her.  This is a special moment in which  Jesus reveals Himself to her and she is the first person recorded in scripture to see the risen Lord! She honors Him and the first words Jesus hears from another human after he is raised is "My Teacher" not "My Lord" or "My King" or anything else, but "My Teacher".  If we cling to Jesus as the Rabbi or teacher of our lives we will find great joy and hope because if the risen Lord is our teacher we can never go astray.
3. CLING TO HIM BY TELLING OTHERS OF YOUR NEW FOUND LIFE IN THE RESURRECTION
Notice how Jesus left the grave clothes neatly folded and in another place, because living people don't need grave clothes (DUH). He did it because he has a new set of clothes they are heavenly glorified clothes, only dead people wear grave clothes anyways (DUH). He has put off the snares of death, and this is a small token to us that he left us, of his victory over death. Just in case anyone would say that Jesus body was stolen by the disciples or anyone else, a robber doesn't steal a body and then take off the clothes and set then aside neatly folded. It would also be a bit awkward to carry a dead naked body anywhere. I could just see it; guys in bandits costumes carrying around a dead naked body, weird! For a Jew that would also be the ultimate defilement anyways. It is obvious Jesus has set these grave clothes aside and folded them neatly as a sign to us of his VICTORY. And so we should proclaim that VICTORY just like we would any other great VICTORY. The San Francisco Giants won the World Series two years ago. In the city they celebrated with a parade. They said maybe up to a million people were there in the city that day for the parade.

San Francisco Giants Victory Parade

Abe Kuhn went to the celebration and he said all he saw there was people everywhere, singing songs, and partying that the S.F. Giants had won.  As is with any victory there should be announcements of victory. In the same way we should announce the victory of Jesus over death. Jesus is raised from the dead! The cross of Jesus Christ, and his miraculous resurrection from the dead on the third day has to be the greatest single event in human history, and should be announced proclaimed and celebrated in all the world.  It is definitely greater than the San Francisco Giants winning the world series! So Mary goes to the Apostles and proclaims the news, and here is what message Jesus sends her with...
"but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and that He had said these things to her."(John 20:18)
We see in this passage that Jesus is the 'firstborn from among the dead' and the proclamation is that JESUS IS OUR BROTHER!  He has called them friends, disciples, and followers, but now he calls them BROTHERS!  Jesus is our brother! that has to be the best news from the Resurrection.  The Scripture also show us in Hebrews 2:11 our brotherhood with Jesus...
"For both He who sanctifies (God) and those who are sanctified (Believers) are all from one father; for which reason He (Jesus) is not ashamed to call them brethren,"
We must proclaim Jesus crucified, risen and coming again with all joy and exuberance of any other great victory, and all the while explaining to people the great brotherhood that we now can share with Jesus!  Maybe today you have pain and scars that sin has left in your life.  Know that our scars are healed through his scars.  And we will know Him by His scars. Have a look at this video and let it be a reminder to you that the Great High Priest our brother has gone to heaven to present his scars to God in our place!