“God’s Word, There is No Substitute”     2013

Genesis 3:1-6           Matthew 3:16-4:11

Genesis 3:1-6

3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’“ 4But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; 5for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6So 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.

 

Matthew 3:16-4:11

3:16And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”  4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” 7Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” 11Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

 

Today is Christ the King Sunday,

   a relatively recent addition to the liturgical calendar.

                  It began in the Roman Catholic Church,

                        but was later adopted by most Protestant denominations.

 

In 1925, Pope Pius XI was very concerned about

            where the modern world and the church seemed to be headed ----

- with all the modern advances in so many areas of technology,

            it seemed to many,  that given enough time and research,

                        scientists, educators and social engineering

                            would solve every human need and problem on their own…

                                                … without any help from God or religion …

 

            … and Scripture as the unique and authoritative word of God

                        was little more than

                                    a collection of quaint stories and ancient myths,

                                                with no real relevance to the modern world.

Responding to those concerns the Pope wrote an encyclical,

            as a declaration and affirmation of the sovereign rule

                        and the reign of God as it is revealed in Scripture…

   … to be celebrated as Christ the King, the Sunday before Advent.

 

In this encyclical, the Pope explains,  

            “… the manifold evils in the world are due to the fact that the majority of men have thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives;  that these have no place either in private affairs or in politics:  and that as long as individuals and states refuse to submit to the rule of our Savior, there will be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations.”

 

                    These words turned out to be a prophetic warning,

                              describing the terrible consequences that follow

                                       when we turn aside from God’s word and truth.

 

It is both ironic and revealing that in 1925,

            that same year was marked by a significant rise in fascism,

                        as both Mussolini and Hitler were coming into power;

 

                 which would eventually lead to the terrible consequences

                        of the violence and unspeakable atrocities of WWII,

    and set the stage for the 21^st century to be

            the most deadly and violent          ever  in all of human history…

  … terrible consequences when we turn from God’s word and truth.

 

But let’s go back a little further to Genesis,

            when humanity first rejected what God had said,

                        for it is a pattern repeated throughout human history.

 

It begins with Adam and Eve

            living peaceably in the Garden of Eden just as God intends.

                        They have the run of the whole place,

                                    they can do anything, and eat anything they want,

                                                except for the fruit of one deadly tree.

 

So how are they tempted,

            how were they convinced to eat the forbidden fruit?     vs. 1

                                    Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

 

When the woman answers, God said, that if we eat it, we will die,

            the serpent plants a doubt ----

                        ‘what God said is not true, don’t trust it.’     vs. 4-5

                                                But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

           

The serpent never actually told her to eat the forbidden fruit,

            but just planted a seed of doubt about what God had said,

                        convincing her that God’s word isn’t really true…

            … which led to terrible consequences,

                        their expulsion from the Garden of Eden and death.

 

     Human sin began with temptation,

          and temptation began with doubting, not trusting God’s word.

 

In the Matthew passage, the story of the temptation of Christ,

                 the tempter tried to use the same strategy

                        as the serpent had used in the Garden of Eden.

 

The story begins with the baptism of Jesus, vs. 16-17

            And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

 

                        When God declares, ‘you are my son, my beloved,

                           that is the word of God.

 

Then a few verses later, how does the temptation of Jesus begin?

            vs. 3

                        The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

                                                You catch that, “If    you are the Son of God.”

 

At his baptism, God just said, “This is my Son”,

    but the tempter is trying to plant a seed, suggestion of doubt.

                “Why should God’s Son have to be hungry?,

                            for if you really are the son,

                                    then you have the power to turn stones into bread.”

The temptation begins by suggesting  some doubt about God’s word.

 

Unlike Adam and Eve,

    the tempter’s suggestion of doubt gains no traction with Jesus,

                        but notice what Jesus says about God’s word,   vs. 4

                                                But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

 

Jesus doesn’t need to prove that he is God’s Son by making bread,

            because God has already said it, so the issue is settled ---

                 - he doesn’t live by bread, but by trusting what God says.

           

In the next temptation,

            again it challenges the truthfulness of what God said,

                        by suggesting doubt and mis-applying Scripture. vs. 6-7a

                                                “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

 

Jesus refutes that doubt and mis-interpretation of Scripture

            by calling on Scripture to interpret the word of God, vs. 7b

                                    Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

 

In each of the temptations,

  Jesus refutes the issue of doubt raised by Satan with God’s word,

            defeating temptation  in contrast to the fall of Adam and Eve.

 

            In the Garden of Eden they began to doubt what God had said,

                        and instead chose to believe what the serpent told them.

  What a striking contrast to Jesus simply trusting what God said,

    and defeating temptation with the trustworthy word of God.

 

Temptation begins with questioning the truth and veracity

    of what God has said, the word of God,

                        and Jesus was victorious and faithful

                             by trusting and obeying God’s word as absolute truth.

 

I find it ironic and perhaps revealing,

            that during the week before Christ the King Sunday,

                        there was story in the news about a large retailer

                                    labeling some Bibles for sale,   as being fiction…

                                                … a sticker identifying each Bible as fiction.

 

The retailer issued a press release in response,

            assuring customers that it was an accident, a mistake,

                        that was in no way an attempt to marginalize Christians

                                    or their belief in Scripture as the word of God.

 

But as I look and reflect on our culture and our world,

            I sense a significant turning away from God

                        and rejection of Scripture as the true word of God…

… and mistake or not,

          fiction and myth are how many would describe the Bible.

 

Today in our world, there are many skeptics who don’t believe,

            and who question, doubt or even deny the possibility

                   that Scripture is uniquely dependable & truly God’s word.

But it is not for the Bible to be evaluated by our standards,

            but to evaluate our culture, by the standards of Scripture.

 

The Bible, it’s writings that teach about God’s mighty acts

     accomplishes far more than just providing information as data.

The written word of God is intended, and powerful to change lives,

            and to motivate the reader by drawing us closer to the Lord.

 

            Scripture  is God revealing and speaking to humankind,

            it is the truth that transforms  as a blessing given by God…

 

… and if Scripture truly is   the true and inspired word of God:

      then it is our reliable guide that we are called to obey,

          even when it’s not easy or in line with the ways of this world

 

It is not for us to judge Scripture by our standards of reason,

            nor by the shifting values of our culture,   but ratherà

                  we and every aspect of our lives are judged by God’s truth.

 

But how well

            do we   as church members, even know what is in our Bibles?  

                        Are we committed and actively engaged in Bible study?

Are we

            teaching our children the truth and importance of Scripture,

                        and about obeying God’s word

                                    as the unique guide and standard for our living?

 

In 1925 the Christian church needed to be shaken and awakened,

            and reminded that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

So too, we must commit and not compromise or surrender

            to forces of our culture that we know to be wrong,

                        or that promote a life that is less than God’s will.

 

In Joshua 24 it describes a scene

            in which the people of Israel are all gathered at Shechem.

Their leader

            would retell the stories of God’s faithfulness to them,

                        by bringing them out from their slavery in Egypt,

                               along their wilderness journey to the Promised Land.

 

Then,   vs. 14-15

            “Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

            Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

           

We have to make a choice ---

            truly commit to the Lord as revealed in the word of God,

                        or to the lessor gods of culture and world ---

                                                                                    ---- but we cannot serve both.

Our choice and decision matters,

            for there are real consequences and repercussions ----

                        - either we trust, follow and obey the word of God,

                                                                                                            or we do not.

 

If Christ is our King, then we are called to submit to our King,

            and the question is,

                        will Christ rule over every aspect of our lives?

 

Our challenge is to recognize the false gods of our culture

            and to be aware of what distracts us from faithfulness to God.

 

We are under constant and ever-changing temptation to doubt,

            to compromise, to be squeezed into the mold of this world,

                        and be seduced and influenced by culture's lesser gods.

 

Therefore it is critical for us to come to   our Shechem;

            to consider all that God has done for us,

                        the abundant and amazing blessing of our lives,

    and then to honestly evaluate and judge

            the quality, integrity and faithfulness of our response…

 

… and ,  are we seeking to live by the word and will of God?,

                                                otherwise we will get out of sync with God,

                                                    with God’s will,  and God’s plan for our life.

 

Christ the King Sunday reminds us that God is on his throne;

                        and the challenge to us,

                                    is Jesus really     ruling on the throne of our lives?

And what do we fear losing or having to endure

            more than we love, more than we trust,

                more than we want to know and serve Jesus Christ?

 

It’s about the word of God, and making that alone   our authority,

     which is to say, “no” to any and all other and lessor gods,

            to anything that we trust and value more than Jesus Christ.

 

*  So how do we live out our lives in sync with God and God’s will?

 

It begins with prayer, consistent and personal prayer on our own

            as well as with partners in prayer who support one another.

 

It is critical to include regular feeding on God’s word,

            aided by a good and faithful devotional reading each day,

                        as well as Bible study and discussion with a group

                               in order to focus our hearts and minds on the Lord.

 

And a healthy and growing walk with God happens in community –

            a family for fellowship where we can connect and be known,

                    and as a place to offer our gifts in Christian service.

                               

So what does

          my commitment to God, to trusting God’s word really mean?

 

Honestly, I don't know exactly what God is asking from you today;

            but I know you'll have the time of your life while doing it,

                        and live a much richer and fuller life than ever before…

… for somehow,

          someway God is calling you to respond to his love for you…

 

… and I am pretty sure that it means more time and effort

          spent exploring, learning, being transformed by God’s word.