What God Has Done - The Past

Please stand for the reading of God’s word.

New International Version (2011) Chapter 4

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. ’Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

This is the word of the Lord.

When things go poorly in life, the easiest thing to do is ask where is God. Where you , God, when my grandpa died? Where you , God, when my parents got a divorce? Where you , God, when my mom left? Why, God, does it feel like you have left me alone? Why does it feel like I do all this stuff for everyone else, but no one does anything for me? When will life ever get easier? Where are you?

I don’t know if you have ever fallen into a spiral of anxiety or anger, but at those moments, it can be hard to think about anything else. It can be hard to see past what’s right in front of you. It can be hard to see God.

This week, we are starting a three-week series called (K)now God. The purpose and the prayer of this series is to help you know God now. The hope is that we can help give you ways to see God in your past, present, and future. The hope is to help you see God in their story. Because friends, that’s what we really want for you at Embassy. We don’t want your life with God to just be a Sunday morning, and Wednesday night kind of faith. We want you to see how God loves you and wants to be involved in every part of your life.

Today, we are going to be working through Luke 4:1-13, and man, this is such a cool passage. There are so many beautiful parallels in these few verses that, unless you are thinking about it in the moment, it can be easy to miss.

Jesus has just been baptized by John the Baptist, and we are told that no joke “heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” in Luke 2:21-22

So, you know, a majorly high spiritual point for Jesus. (I don’t think there wasn’t a moment that wasn’t spiritual for Jesus, but you understand what I am saying.)

It’s the beginning of his earthly ministry, and God the Father says, “This is my boy, and he hasn’t even done anything, and I am proud of him.” And then, for the sake of others, the Spirit descends physically and fills him. Jesus has received his public anointing and calling, and he is ready to go.

Which is exactly where our passage picks up.

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them, he was hungry.

A few things we need to notice right off the bat. Jesus, full of the Spirit, got out of the water and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Jesus didn’t accidentally go into the wilderness; it wasn’t some fun camping trip he decided to take. No, this was a directed location by the Spirit of God. Jesus was directed by the Father's will into a time of testing.

Before we move on, let’s be clear that, as James 1:2 tells us

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

God can test us, but he does not tempt us. He can use things to test our faith, but he is not tempting us. Only the devil tempts us, but God is sovereign over everything and can allow Satan to do these things. Clear? Also, I want you to notice the word wilderness. In Greek, it means desert, or a desolate place. It means a place of no life. Harsh environment.

So Jesus, being filled with the Spirit, is sent into the desert by the will of the Father to be tempted by the devil.

Can anyone else think of a time when man was tempted by the devil, and it went really bad, or when a specific group of people went into the wilderness for 40 years? YEAH YA KNOW THE FALL OF HUMANITY, RIGHT? Or when the Israelites were tested in the wilderness?

If you know your Bible, you should have big light bulbs going off in your brain. Jesus starts his ministry, and the first thing that he does is redeem what Adam and the Israelites couldn’t do.

Verse 3 - 4 says The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

Verse 5-8 says, “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

Verse 9 -12 says “The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

The first temptation questions God’s provision and care and Jesus’s identity. If you are really the Son of God, then ask God to feed you while you are so hungry.

The second temptation is an invitation to worship Satan and abandon loyalty to the Father, a direct challenge to the first commandment. Satan is saying look, if you do what I say you won’t have to die on the cross and you can have all this power.

The third temptation is a testing of God and would be a sign of a lack of faith. Satan is saying “Throw yourself off of this building and if God sends angels to catch you then he actually loves you.”

He tests his identity, power, and love. And how does Jesus respond every time?

It is written.

Jesus is tempted by the devil, and how does he respond? “Scripture says this.” “The father says this.” “The will of God is this.”

So when things got hard for Jesus, what did he do? He remembered what God said and what God had done.

You hear me? This is the moment. This is one of the defining moments of Jesus’s ministry. We have to remember that Jesus could have failed. He was fully human and fully God. This is the starting line, and if Jesus tripped here, then nothing else would have happened.

And in this defining moment for Jesus, tempted by the devil. He says, “No, I know what God has done for me, and I know what the scriptures say.”

You want to know how to deal with hard things? Look to the past and see what God has done and what he has said.

Repeatedly, scripture reminds us to remember what God has said.

New International Version (2011) Psalm 77

11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. 12 I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

New International Version (2011) Psalm 103

2 Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

New International Version (2011) Psalm 105

Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, 6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob. 7 He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.

Remember what he has done! Forget not all his benefits! Remember the deeds of the Lord!

Why? Because how do you know someone is reliable? How do you know someone is trustworthy? How do you know that you can count on someone when things get bad?

You look back, and you see what they have done. Do they show up? Are they there when you need them? Do they react the way you need them to consistently?

We, through the example of Jesus, are called to do the same thing.

If you hear anything tonight, hear this.

Looking to the past can help us trust God now.

Looking to the past can help us trust God now.

If you want to see God in your story, I think there is a really beautiful practice that is helpful to do occasionally. This has helped me over the years to see and visualize what God has done in my life and just how consistent he actually is. There is probably a cooler name for this, but I’m going to coin this practice, the “God Did Timeline.”

Life, as we all know it, doesn’t look like a straight line. Although we might want it to be, that’s not really the way it works out. It’s more like this. Draws a curvy line on the whiteboard.

Because Life is filled with ups and downs. Draws little dots on the curves

Mark 5–10 significant moments in your life.

Where was God?

What did I believe about myself during this season?

What was God teaching me (even if I didn’t see it then)?

Points to hit :

Parents left Mormonism - went to PCC - got bpatized

Difficulties with mom - started to believe I wasn’t enough

Came to WACC - Travis spoke into my life. Met aub - high

Started dealing with bad coping , mechanisms because of life at home felt unstable - low

Graudated highschool got a job at hospital moved out started college - high

Started doing stupid things - low

Came back to church, left bad environment, got hired as intern - high

Depression - low

The point of this practice is to see where God has been in each of these points. To see that God has been in your highs and your lows.

To see how he has helped you move from a low to a high. To see how the hard things in your life might have led to good things.

God has always been there. And will always be. What I want you to understand from this series is that God is not just a story you heard in Sunday school. God is not just some outside source looking in. NO God is involved in your life. In the smallest and the biggest moments. You just aren’t paying attention. And this can help us see God in our story.

My challenge to you is to create one of these. And then when things get rough. You can go back and look at this. Because when things get tough Looking to the past can help us trust God now.