Being Tempted

Temptation is notoriously difficult to resist.

I’ve heard it said that we don’t give in to temptation for the hell of it, but for the heaven of it (repeat). We don’t do a thing because it’s bad but because we’re chasing a taste of heaven.

Cheese is a good thing, esp. to a hungry rodent. So, a mouse doesn’t pause to see that the cheese is on a pressure pad, which releases a spring, activating a kill bar. A mouse’s nose is filled with the good, mouthwatering scent of the cheese.

In Genesis 3, the woman displays the same kind of tunnel-vision. We can trace the steps. She knows God’s instructions:

You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die. Genesis 2:17 (NIV)

The serpent contradicts God’s word and highlights the good:

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4–5 (NIV)

We’re told what’s on Eve’s mind after the serpent speaks:

The woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom. Genesis 3:6a (NIV)

Our great, great grandmother focussed only on the good.

Some Wed. evenings, I work at church. I get to talk with people attending Alcoholics Anonymous. AA and other 12-step groups help people break addiction and resist temptation. To prepare for today, I asked 2 people in recovery for advice.

They spoke openly and thoughtfully. BTW, I think churchgoers can learn to be more honest about temptation and God’s grace from AA. From personal experience and working as mentors, they described how the urge to drink, use drugs, or smoke centres on how good that action will make you feel. Feeling relaxed is a good thing!

When the temptation is most forceful, it seems like having a drink or smoking that cigarette, winning a risky gamble will help you cope with all your problems. Because all your focus is on the good feelings, you cannot see the danger of getting drunk or stoned or losing 100s or 1000s of dollars. Dazzled by good.

Not everyone is prone to get drunk or use drugs. Maybe your problem is anger. For years I’ve worked on controlling my anger – not more than others, but not less, either.

Anger by itself is not sinful. God gets angry at wrongdoing. But in the letter to Christians in Ephesus, Paul tells them, “In your anger do not sin.”

Yet anger wells up when someone has done you wrong. You’ll make them pay by saying something hurtful; by stomping out or slamming doors. You’ll feel so much better, right?

You don’t consider the harm you can do with words, by impaling people on the daggers from your eyes, or the threat contained in pounding the table with your fist. You don’t see the hell of unleashing your emotions. You only see how good you’ll feel passing your pain on to someone else.

It’s false hope. Depending on anything or anyone but God to give wisdom, contentment, or joy is false hope. It’s a trap.

That’s the challenge our first parents had in Gen. 3. Adam & Eve didn’t read the NT book of James. Through James, God promises

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5 (NIV)

Ultimately, the knowledge of good and evil doesn’t come from fruit; it comes from God.

If Adam & Eve wanted wisdom, instead of drooling over the fruit on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they should have asked God, the Creator, the owner of all the trees in the garden, their landlord and king. He gives wisdom, discernment

Adam & Eve didn’t stop and think. They didn’t consider the hellish consequences when they ate the fruit. There’s no record that they even discussed it. They certainly didn’t call on their heavenly Father for guidance and discernment.

Maybe you can relate. I can. There are lots of ways we’ve given into temptation. Now we live with the consequences.

Like Adam & Eve, the relationship with other people is broken by our sin. Did you notice that?

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Genesis 3:7 (NIV)

In their shame, they cover themselves. Adam is also willing to throw his wife under the bus when God confronts them. When the Lord asks if they’ve eaten from the tree,

The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Genesis 3:12 (NIV)

Can you relate to the way sin and wrongdoing breaks trust? It damages families and friendships.

Giving into temptation also breaks our relationship with God. Despite their habit of walking and talking with God, after eating the fruit, Adam & Eve are afraid to face God:

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LordGod among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:8 (NIV)

Sin makes it impossible for us to be close to God, because he is holy, righteous, and altogether good.

Sin disappoints God. It makes him angry.

But in his anger and his justice, God is also loving and full of mercy. Did you notice what the Lord God Almighty did when Adam & Eve huddled in shame in the trees?

God went looking for them! “Where are you?” he calls to them.

The Lordcontinues to go and look for his people. In the opening lines of John’s gospel, he describes how Jesus is God who came into his own creation: full of grace and truth.

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John 1:11–13 (NIV)

Jesus makes it possible for you to be restored to God’s favour. He takes the shame of sin and guilt upon himself. As God, he can bear the punishment; as human he can bear the shame.

Our redemption took place on the cross. Jesus took your shame and died the death you deserve so that when he rose, you will share the eternal life and glory that Jesus deserves!

Now, even though by faith in Jesus we are saved by grace, we continue to face temptation. Until we physically die or Christ comes back to remake his creation without sin, we continue to be inclined to sin. How do we handle that?

My friend from AA spoke of how God removed temptation. God miraculously took away his urge to drink. It’s great when that happens. But it doesn’t always go that way.

His experience with smoking was different. God didn’t miraculously take that urge away. To conquer his addiction to cigarettes, he must exercise self-control. He needs to control his thoughts. Thankfully the HS gives all Christians the gift of self-control. But like a muscle, if you have weak self-control, it needs exercise to grow strong.

It’s not easy, but it’s an important part of growing in Christian discipleship. On a podcast, I heard Max Lucado talk about arming yourself with Scripture so you’re prepared to ward off temptation.

It fits what we know of how Jesus fought temptation. You can read about it in the gospels: check out Mt 4. Jesus resisted temptation where Adam & Eve failed. How?

Properly applied Scripture.

That’s the solution to temptation offered in the OT Wisdom literature. Psalm 19 and 119 both describe the value of knowing God’s word. Ps 119 is a whole alphabet of appreciation for God’s word: Aleph to Taw. Homework: read all Ps 119 this week. Here’s a sample:

How can a young person stay on the path of purity?

By living according to your word.

I seek you with all my heart;

do not let me stray from your commands.

I have hidden your word in my heart

that I might not sin against you.

Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees. Psalm 119:9–12 (NIV)

It’s like that for 176 verses! David says much the same in Ps 19:

The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.

The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.

By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Psalm 19:8–11 (NIV)

It’s why reading or listening to the Bible is vital to growing as a Christian. The only way to know God’s will, to know his heart, to know his instructions for life is to spend time hearing and pondering God’s word.

It’s part of Jesus’ last conversation with his disciples. Shortly before he was arrested, tried and crucified, Jesus told them to remember and obey his teaching:

Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

But we don’t do this alone:

All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. John 14:23–26 (NIV)

How’s that for a promise in the face of temptation!

Hang on to God’s promise. Count on the HS!

One last thing: Max Lucado used a great image about controlling our thoughts. He quoted from a NT letter, Paul’s second letter to church in Corinth:

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. II Corinthians 10:4–5 (NIV)

Lucado played with that image: we come up behind every dangerous thought, prod it with a spear and march it to Jesus for judgement. If your thought is pure and holy before Jesus, great! If not, it’s got to go!