The Son of Adam is tempted for your good

Sermon for Invocavit – Lent 1

Genesis 3:1-24  +  2 Corinthians 6:1-10  +  Matthew 4:1-11

There is ongoing and increasing pressure, both from atheists and from nominal Christians, for Bible-believing Christians to finally admit that God didn’t create the universe in six days, that there was no literal Garden of Eden, and that Adam and Eve weren’t real people. They would have you believe that Christianity and all the religions of the world—if they continue to exist at all—should simply focus on working together to make the world a nicer place, to teach people to live good, moral lives (although, of course, not the traditional morality of the Bible), without pretending to have any basis in history or in reality. In other words, keep your God, if you want to. But stop pretending that the Bible is true or that God is who He says He is in the Bible.

I hope you can see that for the demonic lie it really is. Already in the Garden of Eden the devil was there, lying to our mother Eve about who God is and what God has said. And already in the Garden of Eden he was successful in deceiving the woman and in turning the man’s heart from God to his wife.

The rest of human history has played out just as it began in the Garden of Eden, with the devil working to convince mankind that God is the liar, and with man trying desperately to become his own god. You see how well that’s worked out for us? The more mankind denies the truth of God’s Word, the harder man works to become his own god, the more violent and destructive the world becomes. Where sin is allowed to flourish, death reigns, because the wages of sin is death.

But of course, that’s another lie the devil would have you believe, that death isn’t the result of sin, isn’t God’s punishment for anything, that death is part of nature’s evolutionary wonder, that death is natural, and, naturally, irreversible.

So we have before us two opposing stories that simply cannot both be true, two stories that can never be reconciled. The story of evolution, and the story of creation. The story of the primordial soup, and the story of Eden. The story told by sinful men, and the story told by the Bible. If Genesis is a lie, then so is the Gospel of Jesus.

But Genesis isn’t a lie. It’s the actual truth about what actually happened about 6,000 years ago. In the sinless perfection of Eden, where there was food in abundance, the devil tempted the first man and the first woman to take and eat the one piece of food that was forbidden to them, so that they could be like God. They disbelieved God’s Word. They fell into sin. And they brought sin and death upon our race.

Then, about 2,000 years ago, the Word—the eternal Son of God—took on human flesh and became a Man, a Son of Adam, descended from Adam and Eve according to the flesh. He stepped forward to confront the devil’s lies and to win back Paradise for all His human brothers and sisters. Led out into the wilderness by the Spirit of God—the wilderness where there was no food or drink for the Son of Man—Jesus was tempted, not to take and eat, but to make and eat—make bread out of these stones and satisfy your hunger! You have the power to get what you want, to have what you crave, to have what you deserve! Do it!

The temptation sounds familiar, doesn’t it? If you can have what you desire, have it! You deserve it! Of course, what the tempter doesn’t want you to ask is, “What does God say about it?” He wants you to be your own god, to think of yourself first. But even the Son of God Himself, standing in our place as the Son of Adam, refused to think of Himself first. First was His Father’s word and will, even above a desperate need like eating food after 40 days of not eating anything. It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ If and when God says I can have what I so desperately want, then I’ll have it. If He forbids it, then I would rather suffer all things, even death, than to disobey His Word. That’s what perfection looks like!

Then that second temptation took place, where the devil took Jesus up to the top of the temple in Jerusalem and said, If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’

This temptation just doesn’t sound that tempting, does it? Or does it? The devil tempts Jesus to do something He has no business doing—jumping down from a building—by quoting a Bible passage—Psalm 91, which we also recited today in the Gradual—to convince Him that it will be OK. Isn’t that what the devil says about every sin? Don’t worry about it. It’ll be OK. You’ll see God won’t mind. God won’t judge you for it. After all, isn’t it written, “Do not judge”? And, “God is love”?

This is where a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Knowing one verse, one phrase of the Bible can be dangerous, if you don’t know the context of that phrase, and of the rest of the Bible. Jesus did know it, of course, and replied, It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ That’s, again, what perfection looks like! Knowing and honoring the Scriptures well enough to recognize the devil’s lie. And trusting in God enough, based on His Word alone, not to go looking for visible proofs of His love.

In the third temptation recorded in our Gospel, the devil offers Jesus, not just one thing, but all things. All the money, all the power, all the influence, all the wealth. All the happiness in the world. A good life here on earth, if You will fall down and worship me. Seems like a small price to pay. One act of reverence toward the devil, and everything will turn out well for you. No more suffering. No pain. No cross.

Now, of course, the devil doesn’t make it so obvious to us. I imagine you’ve never been very tempted to become a Satanist, or even to praise the devil quietly and in private. No, it’s much more subtle for us. One little act of disobedience toward God, and everything will be better. You’ll finally be happy. You’ll finally have everything you’ve ever wanted.

It’s another lie. Did Adam and Eve get all they ever wanted by eating that piece of fruit? On the contrary, they had everything already, but the devil convinced them they still needed more, and what they got in the end wasn’t what the devil promised. It was judgment and pain and death.

But Jesus stood firm. He had everything already from eternity, but then intentionally set it all aside and humbled Himself, so that He might lose everything, even His own life, to atone for our sins and to earn eternal life for us. Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.

If Adam and Eve are not real, if Jesus is not really descended from them, according to the flesh, if Jesus didn’t really face the devil’s temptations, as you heard today, and defeat them with the Word of God, if He didn’t then die on the cross and truly rise from the dead on the third day, then God is the liar. Then the Bible is a worthless book. Then there is no God who loves you. Then you have no Savior. Then you’re still in your sins. Then your death will be permanent.

But who is really the liar? It’s the devil. Jesus says, He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. Jesus stood against Him in today’s Gospel and stands against Him still. He sends you His Spirit—the Spirit of truth—who proclaims to you this word of truth. The temptation of Jesus was real, as was His descent from Adam and Eve, as was His suffering, death, and resurrection. Jesus, the Son of Adam, was tempted for your good. And His victory over sin, death and the devil is a victory that He freely shares with all who trust in Him.

So trust in Him. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. And follow Him, too. When the devil tempts you—and he will! —then be imitators of Jesus. Know the Word of God. Use the Word of God. And be prepared to surrender all things and to suffer all things rather than to depart even a hair’s breadth from the Word of God. At the moment of the temptation, God may seem very far away. But He isn’t. He’s very close, and He’s given you this word of promise: No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.