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"Our Victory is in Christ"
I don’t think people believe much in the existence of the devil
anymore. It’s hard in our sophisticated modern age with all that
we know about science and psychology to believe that there is a
real being who has a consciousness, a personal identity and
determined purpose and goal that he pursues relentlessly. I
don’t know about you but it almost seems silly, or embarrassing,
maybe even detrimental to a person’s mental well-being to teach
that that the devil is real and dangerous.
Yet here we are with our gospel lesson for today. Jesus, right
after His baptism in the Jordan River being led by the Holy
Spirit into the wilderness where for 40 days he was tempted
by the devil. If we are going to take the Bible seriously,
we’ll have to face the fact that God thinks the devil is
real. Unless the Bible is just a human story book that
invents characters to try and explain things we have trouble
understanding. And that is not what we believe. We believe
that the Bible is the inspired word of God and that what we
have before us is not merely human fantasy but God’s very
real description of the world that He created and now seeks
to save.
So before we get to our text perhaps we need to briefly review
what the Bible says about the devil and where he came from. To
grasp the existence of the devil you have to start with creation.
To grasp creation you have to start with one of the shortest,
simplest, most profound and complex passages in the Bible. The
apostle John, writing in his first letter, wrote this: God is love.
It is that statement, “God is love,” that forms the foundation
of all creation and everything God has done and is doing since
then. First of all love is a hard word for us because we don’t
really know what it means. We associate most often with our
emotions. Love for us typically describes our feelings. But
in the Bible used in reference to God love is not so much a
feeling, although that is part of it, as it is an action. Love
is the activity of giving and receiving freely and joyfully
within a safe and secure relationship.
It is out of this kind of love that God decided to create the
world. Love is expanded as it is experienced and expressed by
others. By creating the world God was expressing his very
nature. But here’s the thing – in order for love to be love
it has to be given and received freely. If you force someone
to love you, if you manipulate or control them into loving
you, it is no longer love.
In the Nicene Creed we confess that we believe that God
created all things both visible and invisible. The pinnacle
of the visible creation is us, you and me, human beings. The
pinnacle of His invisible creation was the angels. Now, even
though Hollywood would have us believe that angels are dead
people who go to heaven and sometimes have to do a little
extra good works to earn their wings, the fact is the Bible
describes angels as a completely distinct and separate creation
from people. The angels were created by God to serve Him in
the heavenly (invisible) realm and to serve us here on earth.
As the pinnacle of His creation angels and people were
created with the ability to give and receive love. By
that very fact it was necessary that angels and people
have the freedom to choose between obeying and disobeying
their Creator. The Bible clearly teaches that the devil
was an angel created perfect and holy with the ability
to give and receive love who chose instead to rebel
against God and in so doing led multitudes of other
angels with him. For that rebellion he was cast out of
God’s presence.
His second act of rebellion was to attack God’s earthly
creation, namely mankind. You know the story. I won’t
review it here. Suffice it to say, and listen carefully
to this pattern, because it is repeated over and over in
our lives, he disguised his identity (he was not a seething,
fire and sulfur breathing monster), he always looks harmless
enough. He disguised his purpose. He engaged Eve in a very
delightful theological conversation about God. He shifted
the focus away from the big picture of all that God had
given and zeroed in on the one thing that appeared more
desirable than all the rest and worth sacrificing everything
else for. Then he went for the kill – he attacked God’s
word – “did God really say?” And finally delivers the death
blow – he attacks God’s character by suggesting that God is
actually the one who is up to no good. He convinced Adam and
Eve that God was problem and suggests that “if they eat of
the tree he had forbidden they themselves would become like
God – and what on earth could be better than that.
Our Gospel lesson for today is the reversal of the devil’s
triumph over God’s human creation. Here is the reason for
Jesus going into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
What Adam and Eve failed to do, what no human being has
ever been able to do since, Jesus as a true man now does
on our behalf. Jesus’ faces the devil head on and He comes
out the other end faithful and obedient to God. Here is
the purpose and the power of God’s word for you today in
this worship. Jesus has completely and eternally defeated
the devil and in Christ, connected to him by faith, he
has no power over you.
But you will surely ask, if the devil has been defeated,
why is he still around, why hasn’t God destroyed him
completely and removed him from the scene? For this you
will have to understand the purpose of God’s plan of
salvation. You see, God wants all people to be saved and
come to the knowledge of the truth that Jesus is God in
human flesh come down from heaven to live in perfect
obedience to the Father and then suffer and die as if he
were the most disobedient human being ever to live. For
the devil to be destroyed completely requires the
destruction of everything he has corrupted including
the human race. In order to save us and all people, God
waits patiently for the message of Jesus Christ to be
proclaimed to the ends of the earth.
So the Bible speaks clearly that between here and the
final destruction of the devil we are engaged in battle
for the souls of all people whom God loves and longs to
have with Him forever in heaven. Ephesians 6 comes to
mind where Paul speaking by the Holy Spirit says:
For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms. {13} Therefore put on
the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes,
you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have
done everything, to stand. (Ephesians 6:12-13 NIV)
And Peter in his first letter describes our battle this way:
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy
the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone
to devour. {9} Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because
you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing
the same kind of sufferings. (1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV)
Did you notice at the end of our text after Jesus has
rebuffed the devil at every turn it says that he left
him until a more opportune time? The devil’s entire attack
on Jesus was an attempt to get Jesus to bypass the cross. He
faces that temptation through his earthly ministry but
never more intensely than in the final week and perhaps
ultimately in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus’ prays,
“Let this cup pass from me, but not my will but yours be
done.” But Jesus went to the cross and by his death and
resurrection the devil’s plan has failed.
Perhaps the best way to picture the devil’s work today is
to understand that although defeated he thrashes around like
a dying monster still trying to take as many of God’s precious
people down with him as he can. An illustration from history
might make it more clear. On June 6, 1944 the allied troops
invaded the beaches of Normandy, France. The battle was
horrific. The loss of life numbing. But all historians
agree that with the successful invasion Hitler’s defeat
was sure and certain. Nevertheless the war did not end
just then. The battles raged on. Many more lives were lost
along the way. At times in the midst of those battles you
might even have thought the allies were losing.
It is the same for us. By his death Jesus invaded the devil’s
territory and though it cost Him His very life the victory
was secured at the moment of His resurrection. Now the
battles rage on and we are caught in the midst of them
and sometimes you might even wonder if it God is losing.
We are called to live fearlessly but carefully in these
days between here and the end. It is a dangerous world. The
devil has not changed his tactics. He disguises his identity
(he was not seething, fire and sulfur breathing monster), he
always looks harmless enough. He disguises his purpose. He
engages us in very delightful theological conversation about
God. He shifts the focus away from the big picture of all that
God has given and zeroes in on the one thing that appears more
desirable than all else and worth sacrificing everything else
for. Then he goes for the kill – he attacks God’s word – “did
God really say?” And finally he attempts to deliver the death
blow – he attacks God’s character by suggesting that God is
actually the one who is up to no good. He tries convince us
that God us the real problem and suggests that we can become
like God – and what on earth could be better than that.
Jesus not only wins the victory for us He also gives us the
method and the power to defeat the devil at his old game in
our life. Surely you recognize that in the face of every
temptation Jesus turned the devil away with the words of
Bible. In fact, did you realize that the only words Jesus
speaks in the entire confrontation are quotes from the Bible.
When Paul wrote about putting on the full armor of God in
Ephesians 6 it is the sword of the Spirit, which he identifies
as the Word of God, the Bible that is only offensive weapon
he describes. All the other equipment is defensive and for
our protection, but the Word of God as the power not just
to protect but to advance and destroy the devil’s work.
You see how the devil operates with Jesus? First he looks
for a soft spot. Jesus was hungry. He tries to get us to
focus on the one thing we seem to be lacking to the exclusion
of all the blessings God has poured into our lives –
especially the gifts of forgiveness and the certainty of
eternal life. What is your soft spot? Is it feeling inadequate,
unwanted, unloved? The devil will try to focus you on the
things of this world to meet whatever you think your
deepest need is.
Come back to the Word my friends, you are who God says
you are. Your value, your worth, your character, your
dignity does not come from anything in this world. It
comes from the price God paid to make you his own and
you were not cheap. How much are you worth? Look at
the cross.
You see how the devil operates with Jesus? Jesus puts
his full trust in God and the devil lies and twists and
distorts the truth claiming to have something better than
what God has. He is always trying to get us to take
shortcuts. That’s what he was after with Jesus – trying
to get him to skip the cross and go straight to the glory.
The way of the cross for believers in Jesus is God’s way
through this life. It is being honest and noble when the
shortcut would be so much easier. There was an article in
the Sentinel this past week about how we have become a
nation of liars and cheaters – from school, to family,
to work, to God – we have given in to the temptation
that we can skip the hard part and get on to the good
stuff. When was the right way ever the easiest way?
Jesus points us back – worship the Lord your God and
serve Him only. Do you see why you need church every
week? To call you back again and again. To anchor you
steadfast in God’s Word. To send you serving him rather
than your self.
You see how the devil operates with Jesus. He challenges
God’s care and concern. He even quotes the Bible, which
to me is one of the scariest things, because it means
that not everyone who can quote Scripture is telling
you the truth. You better know it yourself well enough
to discern how it is being used. The devil is constantly
nagging at us that God is not going to come through with
all the wonderful promises He has made. It is easy to
start doubting. We’d love to have God show us He is
still there and can be trusted.
Jesus sent the devil packing and so do we again today,
but he didn’t leave Jesus alone. He is still lurking
around seeking an opportune moment to attack again.
Today, right here in this worship, we have overcome him
too. Forgiven, renewed, strengthened, called to fight, to
learn more, to grow we are armed for another week of warfare.
Amen.
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