THE REAL DEAL ON TEMPTATION
TEXT: Genesis 3: 1 – 10
INTRODUCTION:
During the season of Lent as Christians we focus on the 40 days in which Christ was tempted in the wilderness. One thing or another today tempts all of us. We each in our daily lives are faced with choices that can either lead into a higher path or lead straight into temptation. Temptations may come in many different forms, what might tempt me might not have any effect on you and visa versa.
So what is the real deal with temptation? Why are we tempted? Let us examine the very first time temptation into to play with human beings.
Disguised as a crafty serpent Satan came to tempt Eve. Satan at one time was an angelic being who rebelled against God and was thrown out of heaven. As a created being, Satan has definite limitations. Although he is trying to tempt everyone away from God. He will not be the final victor. In 3:14, 15, God promises that Satan will be crushed
Why does Satan tempt us? Temptation is Satan’s invitation to give in to his kind of life and give up on God’s kind of life. Satan tempted Eve and succeeded in getting her to sin He’s been busy getting people to sin ever since He even tempted Jesus (Matthew 4:11), but Jesus did not sin.
The serpent, Satan, tempted Eve by getting her to doubt God’s goodness. He suggested that God was strict, stingy, and selfish for not wanting Eve to share his knowledge of good and evil. Satan made Eve forget all that God had given her and focus on the one thing she couldn’t have. We fall into trouble, too, when we focus on the few things we don’t have rather than on the countless things God has given us. The next time you are feeling sorry for yourself over what you don’t have, consider all you do have and thank God.
Adam and Eve got what they wanted: an intimate knowledge of both good and evil. But they got it in an distorted and painful way-by doing evil We sometimes have the illusion that freedom is doing anything we want God says true freedom comes from, obedience and knowing what not to do The restrictions he gives us are for our good, showing us how to avoid evil. We have the freedom to walk in front of a speeding car, but we don’t need to be hit to realize it would be foolish to do so. Don’t listen to Satan’s temptations. Don’t think you have to experience certain things to lean more about life.
It wasn’t wrong of Eve to want to "be as gods," or, as some diversions translate the phrase, "to be like God. To become more like God should be any Christian’s highest goal. It is what we are supposed to do. But Satan misled Eve on the right way to accomplish this goal. He told her that she could become more like God by defying God’s high authority, by taking God’s place and deciding for herself what was the best for her life. In effect, he told her to become her own god
But to become like God is not the same as trying to become God himself. Rather, it is to reflect his characteristics and recognize his authority over your life. Like Eve, we often have a worthy goal but try to achieve it in the wrong way. We sometimes want to go before God and do things our way. This often times leads us to do the wrong things.
Self-exaltation leads to rebellion against God. As soon as we begin to leave God out of our plans, we are placing ourselves above him. This is exactly what Satan wants us to do
Satan tried to make Eve think that sin is good, pleasant, and desirable A knowledge of both good and evil seemed harmless to her. People usually choose wrong things because they have become convinced that those things are good, at least for themselves. Our sins do not always appear ugly to us, and the pleasant sins are the hardest to avoid. So prepare yourself for the attractive temptations that may come your way. We cannot always prevent temptation, but there is always a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Notice what Eve did: She looked, she took, she ate, and she gave. The battle is often engaged at the first look. Temptation may begin by simply seeing something we want. Are you struggling with temptation because you have not learned that looking is the first step toward sin? We would win over temptation more often if we followed Paul’s advice to run from those things that produce evil thoughts (2 Timothy 2:22).
One of the realities of sin is that its effect spreads. After Eve sinned, she involved Adam in her wrongdoing. When we do something wrong, often we try to relieve our guilt by involving someone else. Like poison spilled in a river, sin swiftly spreads. Recognize and confess your sin to God before you are tempted to pollute those around you
After sinning, Adam and Eve felt guilt and embarrassment over their nakedness. Their guilty feelings made them run from God and try to hide. A guilty conscience is a warning signal God placed inside you that goes off when you’ve done wrong. The worst thing you could do is try to eliminate the guilty feelings without eliminating the cause. That is like using a painkiller but not addressing the disease. We should be glad those guilty feelings are there. They make you aware of your sin so you can ask God’s forgiveness and then you can correct your wrongdoing.
The thought of two humans covered with fig leaves trying to hide from the all-seeing, all-knowing God is humorous. How could they be so silly as to think they could actually hide? Yet we do the same when we try to hide things from God Share all you do and think with him and don’t try to hide. It can’t be done.
Bros & Sisters Satan’s work through Eve shows that he has a plan for us. I want to propose to you the Five D’s of Stan’s Plan for us:
Doubt: Makes you question God’s word and his goodness
Discouragement: Makes you look at your problems rather than God
Diversion: Makes the wrong things seem attractive so that you will want them more than the right things
Defeat: Makes you feel like a failure so that you won’t even try
Delay: Makes you put off doing something so that it never gets done
So what is our solution to temptation? What can we do to resist temptation? How could Eve have resisted temptation? By following the same guidelines we can follow. First, we must realize that being tempted is not a sin. We have not sinned until we give in to the temptation.
Here are three things that I want to suggest to you to resist temptation:
(1) Pray for strength to resist,
Ask God to help you to recognize what is right from what is wrong. We can only know this when we mediate on his word & know what he expects of us. And it is through his word that he grants us his never failing and everlasting strength.
Philippians 4: 13; Isaiah 40: 29 – 31
(2) Run, sometimes literally
Sometimes in life we do have to run from those things that are not of God and are not in his will for us.
Genesis 39: 10 – 12; 2 Timothy 2:22
(3) Say no when confronted with what we know is wrong.
Sometimes resisting temptation is as simple as saying NO. No to the things that make us sin and separates us from God. No to the things that we know will in the end hurt us. James 1: 12 tells of the blessings and rewards for those who don’t give in when tempted.
DELIVERED BY GOD TROUGH HIS SERVANT TOMAISHA A. HENDRICKS
SUNDAY 20TH FEBRUARY 2005
MT. ZION BAPTIST CHURCH, Guyana, South America
