Tricks or Treats?

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According to history.com, Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago, mostly in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1.
This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints. Soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, festive gatherings, donning costumes and eating treats.
One of our family traditions this time of year is to watch popular movies. There is a list…Sleepy Hollow, Hocus Pocus, and Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! Now, out of these, It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is my favorite. Something that I enjoy about the classics, and boy was Charles Schulz able to crank out classics! But in watching it it this year, there was something that stuck out to me. We find a great opener when we find Lucy and Linus picking out a pumpkin. It’s brought inside, and Lucy plunges a knife in the top, starts scooping out the insides, and Linus exclaims “Ohhhh, you didn’t tell me you were going to kill it, WAAAAAAHHHHH!” It’s just funny. Almost as funny as when Linus jumps in the leaves with the sucker and gives the great epiphany “Never jump in a pile of leaves with a wet sucker”. Just GREAT lines…especially for a big kid like me who loves sarcasm and wit.
But we find the plot change, as the gang prepares their costumes for Trick or Treat. All except Linus, who is at the table writing a letter. “Dear, Great Pumpkin, I’m looking forward to your arrival on Halloween night. I hope you bring me lots of presents”.
[Charlie Brown enters]
Charlie Brown: Who are you writing to Linus?
Linus: This is the time of year to write to the great pumpkin! On Halloween night the great pumpkin rises out of his pumpkin patch and flies through the air with his bag of toys to all the children!
Charlie Brown: You must be crazy! When will you stop believing in something that isn’t true?!
Linus: When will you stop believing in that fella with red suit and the white beard that goes “Ho, Ho, Ho!”?!
Charlie Brown: “We're obviously separated by denominational differences” [Charlie Brown walks away]
It just happened to dawn on me... I have heard this line at least once each year (more often when we bought it on dvd)… we can be obviously separated by denominational differences. In scripture we find a conflict among good and evil.

Tricks

Genesis 1:31 ESV
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
In creation, God saw everything that He had made - as a whole of creation placed in Eden - was very good. Perfection. Yet, there was something else that would soon go on.
Ezekiel 28:13–19 ESV
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. 14 You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. 16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. 18 By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. 19 All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.”
We find a description of Satan who was also in Eden, tasked as being the guardian cherub. But in perfection, there was imperfection. Satan’s heart was proud. Proverbs 16:18 “18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” The proud spirit preceded Satan’s fall. He gave up perfection, for what he wanted. There was a shift in the universe that day. As Charlie Brown would say Satan and God obviously were separated by denominational differences.
It would not be long until his pride would lead to the fall of God’s creation until His return.
Genesis 3:1–7 ESV
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
I have said it many, many times…Adam and Eve were placed in God’s perfection…and Satan was still able to influence them into sinning. Notice his tactic. “Did God actually say” - Satan tried to make Eve second guess God’s Word. But then Even added to God’s Word. God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ So we blame Eve for the origin of sin, right? Wait! Who did God give His command to? ADAM… Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Adam was given the directive to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Notice it came with a consequence - when you eat of it, you will surely die. Then Satan blatantly contradicted God “you will not surely die”. Eve was deceived…she ate…and she gave it to Adam, and he ate. If Adam had been the man of the house, He would have stopped Eve from eating. Instead, he stood idly by while she willfully sinned and didn’t even say a word. “They were obviously separated by denominational differences” It reminds me of 1 Peter 5:8.
1 Peter 5:8 ESV
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Satan will contradict God boldly knowing he is deceiving them…just as he has deceived himself.
Satan is full of tricks, and will do whatever is necessary to bring all of human kind down with him. But there is good news, even though Satan tries to trick us, God offers us a treat.

Treats

I could go on and on about ways Satan can trick us, but to be honest, his tricks are nothing compared to God’s treats. When Adam and Eve sinned, the relationship caused death. Not an immediate physical death, but the separation of the spiritual relationship God created with us and the spiritual death that went along with it. Spiritual death is the eternal spiritual separation of God and His creation. We find New Testament confirmation that our sins cause this spiritual death.
Ephesians 2:1 ESV
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
Notice the tense - were. We were dead in our sins, following our own desires, the ways of the world, simply put we followed Satan. There is a way to restore our relationship with God.
Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
BUT - changes the whole picture. Because of God there is something different that happens. We were created because God wanted us. We were formed by His hands, received His breath resulting in life. Even though we struggle with sin, He still extends us mercy - taking away our misery because of His great love for us. If we receive Christ as our Savior, we become one like Christ, and are extended grace - the unmerited favor of God - have been saved. These words can be translated as “you are in a saved state”, not “just” saved, but passing from death unto life. But because of our struggle with free will, it does not mean we will be able to live a sinless life. Paul tells us in Romans 7:19
Romans 7:19 ESV
19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
Mankind’s soul will constantly struggle with our humanity. It’s rare, but we get to look into the life of Paul, what he felt, learned, and experienced as he struggled to please God on a road to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Paul knew he did not have any inherent good. He knew that, in the flesh, his human nature was sinful, depraved, and corrupt. Paul knew, without God, there was nothing good in his flesh. It did not mean that he did not ever do any good things or works, just that he was unable to be as good as he should be, that he was not perfect in God’s eyes, and was unable to please God because he constantly fell short of God’s glory. What is the reason of Paul’s feelings of inadequacy? He was contaminated by the disease of sin. We are in constant battle because of sin. Why do we constantly battle between good and bad, Godliness and inadequacy, morality and sin???
John 10:10 ESV
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Life is the opposite of death. While Satan tries to keep us in the dark so he can lead us to destruction, Christ came so that we could have abundant life. Isn’t there a huge contrast between the thief and Christ? So how do we have abundant life?
James 4:7–8 ESV
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
We submit to God because of what we received from God.
John 3:16 ESV
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Eternal Life (ainios): life, real life. It is the very life of God Himself. It is the very energy, force, being, essence, principle, and power of life. It has more to do with quality and with what life really is than with duration. To live forever in the present world is not necessarily a good thing. The world and man’s body need changing. That changed life is found only in eternal life. The only being who can be said to be eternal is God. Therefore, life—supreme life—is found only in God. To possess eternal life is to know God. Once a person knows God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, that person has eternal life—he shall live forever. But more essential, the person has the supreme quality of life, the very life of God Himself.
John 17:3 ESV
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Without Christ, there would be no life whatsoever. Life is in Him, within His very being. All things exist and have their being (life) in Him. Whatever life is and all that life is, it is all in Jesus Christ. This is the very thing that is distinctive about life—it is eternal. It lasts forever and it is rewarding. If that isn’t a treat, I don’t know what is.

Conclusion

Talk about the ultimate trick. Going back to It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, there is a familiar scene. Lucy gets Charlie Brown to try to kick the football one more time… just as she has done many times before. Charlie Brown thinks he will be smart and declines. Then Lucy brings out a contract, stating she won’t pull the ball out this time. Charlie Brown carries on a deep conversation with himself, and finally convinces HIMSELF that now is the time to kick the football. Lucy holds, Charlie Brown runs, and at the last minute Lucy pulls it away. Charlie Brown goes in the air, missing the football, yelling AUGH! Lucy looks at him matter of factly and says “Funny thing about this contract, it was never notarized.”
Satan uses this same tactic on us as humans. He will do his best to convince us what he offers is better. What he can do is more spectacular. That we can accomplish OUR desires if we do it his way. All the time, deceiving us. Having no plan on following through with what he has offered. And, like Charlie Brown, we convince OURSELVES that this is our time…this time it will be different…this time we will succeed…and then he pulls the ball away from us. Again, we find ourselves flat of our back, wondering how things went wrong. Satan is the ultimate trickster. In the last part of John 8:44 we are told:
John 8:44 (ESV)
44 ...He (Satan) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Many of our kids went around “trick or treating” yesterday. I still look forward to this time of year, even as a grown adult momma still puts together a treat bag for Allison and I FILLED with our favorite candies. We anticipate, even get excited, to see what is in the bag. Then we enjoy everything we have been given. In scripture we are told God offers us the sweetest treat we could ever ask for…salvation through Jesus Christ. Not only salvation, but the promise of eternal life with Him in heaven.
We are told in John 5:24
John 5:24 ESV
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 14:6 ESV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Revelation 3:20 ESV
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
1 Peter 1:8–9 ESV
8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
I don’t know about you but I anticipate, and even get excited at times, to see what THAT treat will be like.
My question to you all today is simple, have to fallen for Satans tricks, or are you enjoying Christ’s treats? The choice is yours today.
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