Presentation 09
Presentation 09
Introduction
Attitudes towards temptation vary considerably. Oscar Wilde writes, "The
only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it". What devastating results
that approach has produced! The temptation in Gen. 3 is of fundamental
importance for a variety of reasons not least because it helps us understand
the nature of temptation. It makes clear the process by which people
commonly yield to temptation.
But significantly, it pinpoints the origins of
evil, both in our world and in human
nature. A question that puzzles many
people is this: "If God created a good
and perfect world, why are we
surrounded by so much evil and
imperfection?" It is a fair question
and Gen. 3 provides an adequate
answer.
Presentation 09
The Tempter Unmasked
God created man not as a robot but with an ability to choose to obey or
disobey him. Man was a probationer with a test that centred upon a tree in
the midst of the garden of Eden. Obedience would enable man to affirm his
trust in, and love for God. Disobedience would demonstrate man’s distrust
of God and indifference towards him. Down the path of obedience God
promised blessing. Down the path of
disobedience God promised punishment.
Adam and Eve had every incentive
to obey God, who had lavished the
blessing of paradise upon them.
But things went disastrously
wrong!
Presentation 09
The Tempter Unmasked
How do we explain the disaster? Genesis is in no doubt. The first words in
this chapter introduce us to a serpent. You may reply, "A talking serpent! Pull
the other leg. Have we not learned that Genesis distinguishes man from the
rest of the created order in a number of ways including man's rationality, his
ability to communicate and reason?”
How then do we explain a talking serpent?
By asking, if we are not dealing with something
more than a mere serpent, something sinister
behind the serpent, manipulating it for
its own ends?
Presentation 09
The Tempter Unmasked
Jesus describes the character of Satan as the serpent and describes the evil,
which he spawned in the world from the very beginning in Jn.8.44.But how
does Satan fit into the picture, where does he come from?
Satan's background is clearly given in Rev12.7ff...
Notice he's presented as an enemy of God, a fallen
angel who leads a rebellion against God and whose
present domain is this world.
But we can go further back than that and ask, “What
caused this powerful created spiritual being to turn
into a rebel?
We read of his pride and aspirations in Is.14.12-17.
Presentation 09
The Tempter Unmasked
What's the relevance of this background material? It helps us understand,
who tempted Eve and why. We'll never understand the terrifying
expressions of evil in the world if we fail to reckon with Satan's
malevolence. He hates God but cannot harm him and so he turns his
attention to that which is both vulnerable and dear to the heart of God man! You will know of people who have wanted to hurt someone they were
once close to. What do they do?
It is not uncommon for them to tear up
their photograph! Man was made in God’s
Image. He is much more than a
photograph but a being who is precious
to God. Satan has set about defacing that
image, dehumanising man.
Presentation 09
The Tempter Unmasked
The Bible provides a balanced approach to the Tempter. It is neither
dismissive of him nor obsessed by him. Scripture steers us between these
unhealthy extremes. It encourages the same vigilance that we find in Jesus,
who for 40 days in the wilderness resisted Satan's onslaughts.
Jesus further recognised Satan activity, when Satan used
Peter as his puppet, a well meaning friend who
attempted to dissuade him from his path of obedience.
Jesus’ significant reply to Peter is found in Matt 16.23.
"Get behind me Satan”.
Jesus recognised that at that moment in time
Peter was nothing less than a dupe of the Devil.
Presentation 09
The Tempter Unmasked
In order to take temptation seriously we must take the Tempter seriously
and recognise the conflict of which we are a part. Satan’s approach is often
subtle and serpent-like. He aims to entice us without our recognising what
is going on.
It’s for this reason that we read in 2 Cor. 11.14
that Satan masquerades as an ‘angel of light’.
If we were to see him in his true colours we
would not be so easily influenced by his
tempting offers.
Presentation 09
The Nature of Temptation
This passage not only exposes the personal character of the tempter it
reveals his strategy. Satan is not particularly original or creative and often
uses the same approach to the human heart.
First, he springs the temptation, when Eve is alone! Many temptations grow
in the seedbed of solitude. People often succumb to temptations in solitude
which they would resist in the company of other
Christians. Christians can have a restraining
Influence on one another. We are able to
strengthen one another in our resolve to
resist Satan.
That resolve is weakened when we are alone.
That is often when temptation is most fierce
cf Matt 4.1ff.
Presentation 09
The Nature of Temptation
Secondly, Satan’s method here is to sow doubts in Eve’s mind about the
commands of God. Satan’s goal is to produce discontent with the One who
issued the commands and as a result alienate Eve’s affection for God cf. v1,
"Did God really say...from ANY tree..."
With what sympathy and understanding he must have spoken those words.
Implying how hard of God to impose such strictures. Satan knew very well
that the command of God referred to only one tree but his question is
framed to make Eve think that God was terribly unreasonable in asking
what he did.
Presentation 09
The Nature of Temptation
Satan’s success is seen in Eve's reply, she does not clearly repeat the
command of God but elaborates it, making it sound more rigorous and
unreasonable "and you must not TOUCH it or you will die“ v3. Satan often
attempts to make the laws of God seem unreasonable. We're less likely to
break them if we see they are designed for our good, as boundary fences
erected for our protection. Satan suggests they impose unreasonable
restrictions on your life, they limit your freedom, they are barricades you
must break out of if you're to enjoy life.
Presentation 09
The Nature of Temptation
Thirdly, Satan is halfway to victory once he engages Eve in conversation. He's
a bit like a double glazing salesman once you let him into your home you are
half way to signing a contract. John Owen writes:
"Whilst temptation knocks at the door we are at liberty, but when any
temptation comes in and speaks with the heart, reasons with the mind and
entices the emotions whether
imperceptibly or knowingly we are
entering into temptation.“
If we are to learn to deal with
temptation then we must learn
to close the door in its face.
cf Joseph who fled temptation
Gen.39.12.
Presentation 09
The Nature of Temptation
Fourthly, Satan challenged the truthfulness and trustworthiness of God, "you
will not surely die“ v4. He encourages Eve, first to doubt the God’s word and
then to deny it. He whispers, "don't take the warnings and threats of God too
seriously". Many have listened to this line and have
approached their Bibles with scissors in hand removing
all that speaks of the reality of God's judgement and
speaks of the accountability of men before a holy
and righteous God.
In its place are pasted in the false hopes with which
they've been fed; "God won't exclude anyone from
heaven." And this despite the fact that Jesus had
more to say about the certainty of judgement
and the reality of hell than anyone else.
Presentation 09
The Nature of Temptation
Fifthly, Satan knows how best to bait his hook. He appealed to Eve's intellect.
He tells a half truth. He tells her eating this fruit will have the effect of
opening her eyes, "you will have a knowledge of good and evil which you did
not have before" v5. Now in a sense that was true BUT its a bit like saying
to a child, "If you put your hand in the fire you will have a
knowledge of the fire you didn't possess before”.
Yes but at what a cost! Eve ended up with the kind of knowledge
that only a guilty person could have. She would know
evil as something which for the first time had tainted
and tarnished her life. In the same way she
would know good as that which was now
something which would always lie
tantalisingly beyond her reach.
Presentation 09
The Nature of Temptation
Satan is a master fisherman who varies his bait depending upon his subject.
Sometimes his appeals are refined and intellectual on other occasions it is to
the baser passions and appetites he addresses his temptations.
C. S. Lewis captures Satan’s approach in his "Screwtape Letters" where he
describes the way in which one of Satan’s minions set about temptation.
"I once had a patient, a sound atheist, who used to read in the British
Museum. One day as he sat reading I saw a train of thought in his mind
beginning to go in the wrong way. God of course was
at his elbow. Before I knew where I was I saw my
20 years work begin to totter...I struck instantly
at the part of the man which I had best under
my control and suggested it was just about
time for lunch."
Presentation 09
The Nature of Temptation
Finally Satan promises freedom by appealing to ambition, "You will be like
God“ v5. His own ambition had been his downfall! He was now saying to Eve,
“Here is a chance to break free from God's apron strings. Now is the time to
make your bid for independence, to be your own person. God is a spoilsport a
bully who uses his commands to prevent you
from realising your full potential.
Take the fruit and be free of him!”
He is rightly called the ‘father of lies’. Rebellion would
not to bring freedom but bondage. This supposed
independence is a myth, an illusion, for to take the fruit
would make her a slave to sin. Satan, like a
contemporary drug pusher was saying your first fix
will be a liberating experience. We know that
addiction and the craving for more is not the
road to liberty the addict was promised.
Presentation 09
Conclusion
Do you see the way in which Satan succeeded in alienating Eve’s heart from
God? He has made God appear as a spoilsport, a cruel and suppressive
tyrant! Satan presented rebellion against him as the route to true
fulfilment and lifelong satisfaction!
This is a pattern that repeats itself in the lives of many
men and women. Temptation promises to
enrich but in fact impoverishes because
its object is not our good but the
disintegration of our lives.
With good reason Jesus counselled
his disciples to, "Watch and pray".
Presentation 09