Temptation can get trivialized. However, it is anything but trivial when we consider the nature of events in the Garden of Eden and in Jesus' wilderness temptation. Do you think this kind of thing is a temptation for you? I'm betting it is. Read on.
Is the Garden of Eden simply about eating fruit that you were told not to eat? That's the kind of simple disobedience that starts as a three year old. The stakes are much higher here. God tells Adam that if he eats the fruit, he will surely die. Those are pretty high stakes, far more than a cookie-out-of-the-cookie-jar slap on the hand.
We can see the gravity of the situation when we listen closely to the dialogue between the slippery serpent and the naive Eve. Or is she so naive? Hasn't she simply omitted the information that makes this a big deal in order to justify her decision to eat the forbidden fruit anyway? You and I, of course, would never be so selective in choosing information simply to justify our choices, right?
The nature of the issue is more straightforward when the devil challenges Jesus after his forty day and night fast in the desert wilderness. We can see the stakes more clearly. Again, we need to pay attention to the dynamics at work in the dialogue between the two. Turning stones into bread leads to Jesus' admonishment about the word of God. The devil picks right up on that, quoting the word of God back to Jesus, insisting that he prove himself as Son of God, and his statement about the importance of the word of God. After Jesus denies the righteousness of testing the faith of God, the devil brings out his best temptation yet.
Find out how this works out and see if the God temptation is anything you should be aware of. The sermon video is below and the downloads are below the video panel.
Is the Garden of Eden simply about eating fruit that you were told not to eat? That's the kind of simple disobedience that starts as a three year old. The stakes are much higher here. God tells Adam that if he eats the fruit, he will surely die. Those are pretty high stakes, far more than a cookie-out-of-the-cookie-jar slap on the hand.
We can see the gravity of the situation when we listen closely to the dialogue between the slippery serpent and the naive Eve. Or is she so naive? Hasn't she simply omitted the information that makes this a big deal in order to justify her decision to eat the forbidden fruit anyway? You and I, of course, would never be so selective in choosing information simply to justify our choices, right?
The nature of the issue is more straightforward when the devil challenges Jesus after his forty day and night fast in the desert wilderness. We can see the stakes more clearly. Again, we need to pay attention to the dynamics at work in the dialogue between the two. Turning stones into bread leads to Jesus' admonishment about the word of God. The devil picks right up on that, quoting the word of God back to Jesus, insisting that he prove himself as Son of God, and his statement about the importance of the word of God. After Jesus denies the righteousness of testing the faith of God, the devil brings out his best temptation yet.
Find out how this works out and see if the God temptation is anything you should be aware of. The sermon video is below and the downloads are below the video panel.
| 03-05-17-ff-answers.pdf |
| 03-05-17-the_god_temptation.pdf |