Temptations

(I gave this sermon on 19-11-2013 in Danish mission hospital Chapel, Thirukkovilur)

Today we are going to look into Gen 3:1-7 as a portion for our devotion.

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'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 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.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely 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." 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. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Gen 3:1-7)

This is a familiar portion which we would have read many times in our life. Still God’s word is alive and active, so let us dig deep and find out the depths of treasure packed in this part of the Scripture.

We know from Gen 1 and 2 that God has created everything, heavens and earth and all that in it and finally He created man as the ultimate crown of creation and all that so far has been good (Gen 1:31). With this in background, let’s see how Satan is tempting Eve in this occasion. Verse 1 says, serpent was cunning when compared to other creations. Let’s look at the question to find out how he was tempting Eve. “"Did God actually say:”  Let us look at this part for now. Notice the word ‘actually’. Through this phrase inclusion in the passage, we see that, Satan has cunningly brought up the ambiguity of God’s word. Did God really say that you will die? Or is He cheating you?  And not only he brought the ambiguity to God’s word but also he clearly wanted to deceive Eve by conveying falsely that God is suppressing them. God is not giving the freedom they deserve. So many times, when we sin, we think obedience to God is like being under slave. But that’s the same deception as Eve faced. But are we really oppressed? Is God not gracious to us? Has He not been faithful to us in our lives? Aren’t we also faithful to God for what we have got? Eve had entire Eden garden for her to enjoy except that tree of good and evil, yet she was not satisfied by it. Are we also like Eve? When we face difficult situation, we tend to think we are let down by God. But God never promised us that difficulties of life will never come. What God has assured is that if we are faithful to Him, He will be with us and deliver us from those trials. Read Exo 18:19, Deu 11:13, 1 Sam 12:14, Deu 4:6-8 to see how God promises His mercies and grace daily in a life of Christian. If God is good and gracious of us, what does He expect of you, Christian? David was not promised by God that he would never face Goliath but on the contrary he was promised that God will be with him even when he is facing Goliath. Are we having the faith of David?

Verse 2-3, we look at this reply of Eve: “"We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
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.'"  If you see Gen 2:17, we look at the commandment of God, “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”. But Eve added an extra saying they were prohibited from touching it also. She added her own words as a commandment of God. God never said she will die when she touches the fruit of it. Many times, we fall into sin because these ‘extra words’ and traditions of men and think it’s God’s word.  And so many false teachers also make us fall into sin by the same technique. This technique has been continually followed by Satan till now. During reformation, Catholic church said, “Bible + Church Tradition” as God’s word. Luther opposed it and said “Bible alone” is sufficient for godly living and reformation was born because of it. But even now there are false teachers in India, who sell ‘prayers’ for 2000 bucks in the name of ‘prayer partner’. Where is it given in Scripture that we should ‘sell’ prayers for money? Are we like Eve to believe in these ‘extras’? Bible says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2Ti 3:16-17)”, Scripture is sufficient for ‘God’s man to be competent and equipped in every good work’.  Jesus said, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." (Joh 14:21). Only those who obey God’s (and only God’s) commandment, he really loves God. This also means that those who obey these ‘extras’ are not loving God.

Verse 4 to 7, where in Verse 5, Satan lies saying “They will be like Gods”. Satan is a liar. And Eve falls for his temptation easily. Here we notice that Eve found that fruit to be a ‘delight’ to her eyes. Many times, sins are too tempting for our eyes. We think that those sins are so nice and good but in reality they are bad and destroy our lives. Are we delighting in those mirages of sinful pleasures and leaving the ‘living waters which will never be emptied’? We see Adam not in the whole plot. But he takes the fruit from Eve and eats. Maybe he would have watched the entire conversation and maybe he would have observed whether Eve dies immediately as soon as she ate the fruit. And he might have ‘scientifically’ concluded that Eve did not die and so he would have also tried a bite of it. But in reality, as God promised, they received the curse and they immediately faced spiritual death and eventually physical death. Are we like Adam, doing sin just because other sinners are ‘enjoying’ life? Are we lying because the other liars are not punished? Are we lazy because our friend is also lazy? Are we thinking that they are not facing the curse of God, so we can also do sin? Let us not forget that their wrath is coming soon (Psa 73)

We find that Adam and Eve failed miserably and fell in the trap of Satan. Thankfully, the Second Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, born as a human in virgin womb, overcame similar temptations of Satan (Mat 4:1-11) like our first parents faced and lived a life of complete obedience and died on the cross facing all the wrath of God for our sins and imputed His righteousness on us, so that we can live forever glorifying God (Rev 4:11). We don’t have first Adam as our spiritual father, but Christ, the last Adam, as our father (1Cor 15:45-50). And He had defeated our enemy Satan in the cross and is now seated in the right hand of Father and ruling all things with absolute authority. We are not serving Satan like our fathers but Christ. We are not slaves to sin but to righteousness. And in righteousness do we have real freedom (2Cor 3:17). Are we free in Christ? Did you really experience the freedom which Christ gives you? If not, repent. Turn to Jesus lest you die as a slave to Satan and sin. May God bless you all.

If you have liked this article, you can also read Overcoming habitual Sins

What can satisfy Tendulkar?

Indians are fond of cricket. Last week, Sachin Tendulkar, one of the India's famous cricketer, retired after playing for Indian cricket club for 24 years. He has a huge fan club all over the world for his style of cricket. Some consider him as one of the finest cricketer ever. He has tons of records under his belt as achievement. For some, cricket and Sachin are synonymous. I would like to share some of the excerpts of his famous last speech before retirement:


" My life, between 22 yards for 24 years, it is hard to believe that that wonderful journey has come to an end, "

It is hard for anyone to end a successful career. There are millions of fans all over the world who are sad that their hero is retiring. If they are sad about the fact that they won't see Sachin playing his fancy shot, we don't know how Sachin would be feeling for the retirement of the sport which he enjoyed playing the most. And cricket is something which has satisfied Sachin till now. But after retirement, he would definitely miss cricket. 

Like Sachin, we also tend to look for something to be satisfied. For some it is financial success, for others it is promotion or even watching a favorite movie maybe. But just like how Sachin felt after retirement, all of us have that feeling of emptiness after we have achieved that end. We may look for infinite satisfaction after achieving that feat. But unfortunately, we won't be satisfied. Those objects has not brought us infinite satisfaction.

"Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man. 
(Pro 27:20)"

God knows about us better than we do, because He created us. The phrase 'eyes of man' is a figurative way to describe about our longings of our mind to get satisfied by something of this world. Those objects of satisfaction maybe getting through IIT/ MBBS, placement in good company, distinction in exams, earning millions of money, marrying the one whom you have loved, promotion in job, getting a sports car etc. Each and everyone of us would have had a caricature of our own as a end for that longing. But we would never be satisfied. Still, we cheat upon ourselves thinking that we are satisfied by it, but in reality we are all broken. Do you want to know the reason why?

"for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. 

(Jer 2:13)"

No finite things can satisfy man. The verse above describes the need of man to be satisfied by an infinite object. From whom can we get this infinite satisfaction?

"Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 

(Joh 4:13-14)"

God is good. Since God is good, if He has created us to be satisfied only by an object which is infinite, won't He give the object which we need? He did give, by sending His only son, who is God himself (Joh 1:1) to us, for the sake of us. Jesus, God the son, became human being like us, 2000 years ago, obeyed completely all the precepts, which Holy God required of us, for His children' sake and took on the punishment on the cross, and died, so that His children can live infinitely in the presence of God, glorifying Him forever.

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 

(Psa 16:11)"

Only in the presence of God, we will find infinite pleasure just as the verse says. To be in the presence of God, we need to become His children. To be His children, we need to be righteous. How can we be righteous in the presence of God? 

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 

(Eph 1:7)

Who is called 'the righteous'? Only those who are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, can be called His children, who will inherit the infinite satisfaction from God. 

What Sachin needs is Jesus Christ, who can give him infinite satisfaction, much more than what he had achieved in cricket. Like him, are you still searching for the infinite object in the world to be satisfied? Do you want to be satisfied with joy and pleasure forever? Come to Jesus. Repent of your sins. Trust in His Name. He is mighty to save. 

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" 

(Joh 7:38)"

If you have liked this, you can also read Gravity and Human life

What is the greatest need of man?

This is the question of this hour? We live in a society which thinks God doesn’t exist.  He may exist in a figment of an individual’s imagination but not a reality. But if that’s the case then why most of us are afraid of demons? I have not seen a single person who watched a horror movie without any sense of spookiness or fear. Why is that so universal? If God doesn’t exist, so does the demons? Why is there a contradiction?
Just like anything else, Bible has got the answer for that.

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, (Rom 1:21-22)”

Paul clearly shows their reason behind this contradiction. It is their foolishness. Though God has shown clearly through the majesty and the intricacy of His creation, yet most of the people refuse to acknowledge Him or give thanks to Him because they are all evil and darkened in their heart.

So we know the reality of the existence of God. But do we need God? If yes, why?

“for In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.' (Act 17:28)”

We need God for everything. Even the breath we take is under His control. God says even the fall of a sparrow is in accordance to His will (Mat 6:26). We need God for our very existence.

It is imperative to that we need God for our very being. If that’s the case then, what does He expect of us?

“The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. (Psa 34:15)”

God demands righteousness from man. Righteousness is defined as being blameless before the Lord (Job 1:8) and complete obedience of His laws.

But because of the fall of Adam, sinfulness has come across the entire human race. We have imputed sinfulness since birth (Psa 51:5). Because of it we won’t be pleasing God or be able to do so by our own (Rom 8:7) Since God is just, He demands punishment to satisfy His justice. God is also infinite and almighty, so he demands infinite and worst form of punishment for the transgressors of His laws. (Mat 25:46). If you slap me, the punishment you get maybe another slap. But if you slap Dr. Manmohan Singh, then you may probably end up in jail. How much more infinite wrath would God demand of our sins?

What is the consequence of it? Eternal death, which is separation from the presence of God into condemnation for our sins (Rev 20:14)

What is the greatest need of man?

Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. (Psa 32:2)

David says man can be called blessed only when God does not count his sins. How can Just God count dispose the sins of a man? It is possible when someone else takes the punishment for the sins of His people. He should be infinite to take up the wrath of the infinite God. He should also be Holy and blameless, since he has to be substituted for the sake of his sinful men. He should be none other than God Himself.  God the son, Jesus, (John  1:14)  took on human flesh by virgin birth (Mat 1:23), lived in complete obedience to God by confirming to His precepts (1Pet 3:18) by dying on the cross so that  “he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2Cor 5:21). And God showed that He approved Lord Jesus by glorifying Him and lifting Him from the tomb on the third day and now seated in the right hand with all authority under his hand (Mat 28:18-20)

This Jesus now is, not seated in Heaven as a loner begging people to come to heaven, but as a righteous King who demands repentance from sin and trusting in His name.

“Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psa 2:12)”

You people who call yourselves as Christians. Why do you believe in Jesus? Do you think he is a lucky dime that will get you worldly success? Or a mantra for your financial security?  Do you think Jesus died on the cross so that you would become a billionaire? Where is it given in Scripture? Whom do you trust? The Bible or Dr. Paul Dinakaran/Sam P Chelladurai/Joyce Meyer/Benny Hinn/Joel Osteen/T.D.Jakes etc. If you say the latter, then just as those guys give you promises from Scripture, hear what God promises you, really. 

Promises are something which God says will happen for sure if you do something. Since you love money and love those who promote love of money, here are the promises for it from Scripture:

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. (Ecc 5:10)

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Mat 6:24)”

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1Ti 6:10)”

And God does prophecies what will happen to you if you continue in this evil. Hear His words:

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. (Jas 5:1-5)

Repent!

If you liked reading this, you can also read Gravity and Human life