“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.” [1]
You will not hear many sermons in which a snake is central to the message. And it is especially true that you won’t hear many sermons during the Advent Season in which that ancient serpent is the focus of the message. The message today will be an exception to what is undoubtedly the rule. While we may hear the odd sermon about the old serpent, the devil, for the most part sermons in which the devil figures prominently are few and seldom heard in the sacred precincts of contemporary churches.
Few people are enamoured of serpents. Candidly, it does seem that most people can tell themselves that snakes don’t mean to harm them, but somehow the message never seems to reach the feet. There are some snake handlers who make a valiant effort to encourage us to appreciate snakes and to ensure us of the necessity of these creatures in our world. Nevertheless, while most of us will grudgingly agree there may be an ecological benefit of the presence of snakes, few of us wish to invite them into our home. There is a dark mistrust of snakes deep within the heart of most people. That mistrust must be overcome before any of us could ever become an apologist for herpetology.
I wonder if the origin of our deep mistrust of serpents lies buried deep in the history of mankind. I wonder whether the guise adopted by the wicked one when he tripped up our first mother, and through her brought the race into ruin, is the basis for our almost universal fear of serpents.
TEMPTATION — We have all heard the story describing the seduction and subsequent fall of our first mother. We may tell ourselves that we wouldn’t have fallen for that line, but we fall for other, less subtle lines. “If only he (or she) was my spouse, I would be happy.” “If I only had that job, I would earn enough to give regular gifts to my church.” “If I could just live in a bigger house, I could invite the neighbours to join me in church.” Where do such fantasies originate? Certainly not from the Spirit of Christ, Who teaches us to say, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” [PHILIPPIANS 4:11b].
Prompting His servants to reveal the mind of the Lord resident in their life, the Spirit of Christ has also ensured that all who follow the Master have been taught that, “Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content” [1 TIMOTHY 6:6-8].
Allow me to cite one further instance when the Spirit of the Lord has endeavoured to instruct us as His people to avoid falling into the trap of thinking that wealth is the answer to the great needs we imagine in our life. We read in the Letter to Hebrew Christians, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” [HEBREWS 13:5]. And we yet find ourselves in a mad race to accumulate more money, even sizing our perceived stature against others by how much they earn. It is one of the first questions we ask when we meet someone: “How much do you earn?” And if we aren’t asking, we are silently judging one another by the toys we have squirreled away in our houses and garages.
We cannot blame God for the temptations that rise up before us in our lives. James cautions each of us who are Christians, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” [JAMES 1:13-15].
Think about that! No one can say, “I can’t help myself; God made me this way!” No one can accuse God, saying, “Why did You make me this way?” No one can blame God because they have embraced the sinful behaviour that characterises the life they are now living. We choose evil, and we are powerless to turn from evil until we receive the power of the indwelling Spirit of God who empowers us to live holy and pure lives. To be sure, the old nature is very much with us, and we are still susceptible to stumbling when we take our eyes off the Saviour. Nevertheless, God’s power is available to each one who is born from above, enabling that twice born child of God to walk in power.
SINNING — “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” [GENESIS 3:6]. We don’t know what the fruit was that the woman ate, since that tree is no longer available to mankind. After our first parents rebelled, God drove them out of the Garden, as we read in the third chapter of Genesis.
“Then the LORD God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—’ therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life” [GENESIS 3:22-24].
Though we may not explain the reason for the presence of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it is evident that the fruit of that tree was never meant for man to eat. He was given the fruit of all the other trees, with the exception of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. Therefore, it is reasonable to understand that these two trees are no longer available to us today.
I am compelled to emphasise one absolutely essential fact—being tempted is not sin. While certain thoughts flitting through your mind may cause you to feel embarrassment, to experience the hot blush of shame that the thought could even arise, that thought is not sinful of itself. It is when you harbour the wicked thought that it is transformed to become sin. Temptation is not sinful; it is the action that arises from temptation that is sinful. Temptation assumes that it is an inducement to engage in an act that violates the will of God. And transgressing the will of God is sinful. Whether it is an act that goes against God’s will, or whether it is the omission of an act that God commands, we violate the holiness of the Living God when we surrender to temptation.
Satan is identified throughout Scripture as “the serpent.” You may recall that the Revelator writes in the Apocalypse of “that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan” [e.g. REVELATION 20:2]. Paul, likewise, warned against the serpent as deceiving Eve through his cunning [see 2 CORINTHIANS 11:3]. The basis for this characterisation of the evil one, besides the fact that this foe of the Faith exhibits serpentine characteristics, is found in the account of the Fall of our first parents. Read that first verse of the third chapter once again. In the first verse of the third chapter, we read, “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”’” [GENESIS 3:1]. From earliest childhood, Canadians have some familiarity with Adam and Eve, at least in summary fashion. They know that a snake enticed Eve to sample forbidden fruit (though most Canadians think it was an apple) which in turn led to rebellion against the Creator.
What Canadians don’t always know is that the serpent was more than just a snake. Snakes don’t normally speak to people. Should a snake ever address me I am certain that I would vacate the premises even quicker than my legs would otherwise carry me from the vicinity of that critter. I spent my childhood and early working days in areas with a variety of snakes—copperheads, black snakes, hognose snakes, rattlesnakes, and others. I must interject that I am not afraid of snakes, it is just that I have little information to convey to them. My mind realises that they are actually frightened of me, but my legs have somehow failed to receive that same message. Obviously, in the account before us, this serpent is more than just a snake.
The fact that Eve was not startled assists us in understanding what is going on. We know that Adam and Eve conversed with God in the garden. It is apparent that they were used to speaking with God, and it would not be out of line to assume that even conversation with angels would not have been thought an exceptional event. We also know that the Covering Angel, Lucifer, was in the Garden of Eden [cf. EZEKIEL 28:13]. Since sin is the source of death and there was no death until the Fall, we know that the Eden in which this powerful cherub walked was likely the same Eden wherein Adam and Eve resided. When we read that the serpent “was more crafty than any other beast of the field,” we would naturally conclude that the serpent refers to the father of lies, Satan.
Wait a minute, Preacher! Are you actually going to speak about Satan in an Advent sermon? Aren’t you supposed to speak about a baby in a manger and shepherds startled out of their nighttime reverie by the sudden appearance of angels? Don’t they give courses in seminary about making people feel good during the Advent season? Were you absent when this subject was covered? One of the advantages of not having seminary training is that I avoided the courses people assume were required in order to receive appointment to the pastoral office.
If we will actually understand the Christmas message, we will need to realise the desperate situation confronting mankind. We need a Saviour because Eve and Adam sinned! Thus, we must grapple with this verse. Either this was a snake used by Satan to house his person, or God is referring to the true character of the devil. Since he is identified as the dragon and the serpent in Scripture, I would assume that God is speaking of Satan’s actual character. Reviewing the account before us, I would not argue with you that this was actually a snake. It would appear that by this means God is revealing to us the true character of the enemy of souls when he identifies him as the serpent. We are being introduced to the fallen angel who opposes God and seeks to destroy souls.
Focus on this exceptional verse to discover the source of evil and to witness the destructive power of evil. The verse is required reading for us so that we may each be forewarned against succumbing to the enticements of the wicked one and so that we will be spared the execution of wrath which must fall on those who buy into the tempter’s lie. We are not wiser than our first parents, though we do have powerful protection in the strong covert provided through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, though we should be wary of the enemy, we need fear neither his power nor his seductive words. Explore with me the evidence revealing the snake in our garden.
The serpent is introduced abruptly. His appearance is sudden, even startling. There has been no hint of trouble in the narrative of creation to this point. Though God had said when surveying the man in his environment that it was not good for him to be alone, He had just as quickly provided a companion who made man complete. We would now assume that all was good in God’s creation. We are informed that all the various animals were present, including those which move along the ground [see GENESIS 1:24-25]. Still, we have not actually witnessed the presence of a serpent … yet.
“The serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made” [GENESIS 3:1a]. This is nothing save a statement of fact that God made the serpent. The words lead us to understand that the snake, and especially the enemy who is described as the serpent, were alike created by God. This should not be taken to mean that God is responsible for evil, neither does it explain the origin of evil. That explanation will need to come from elsewhere in the Word of God. The text will state only the origin of human sin and guilt. Evil springs forth fully developed in this verse, though we cannot begin to appreciate the horror of that evil until we have at last encountered the full effects of its presence. The ruin of the race and the destruction of intimacy with the Creator await the verses which follow. We can only anticipate the full bloom of sin with something approaching horror.
Can you readily recognise the face of evil? Is the music you listen to or the television you watch actually harmless fun? How many Christians fall into sin through such seemingly innocuous activities as casting a horoscope? Is a Ouija board actually evil? Can it really be dangerous to consult tarot cards? Dear people, for every individual who finds such diversions to be harmless fun there is another who is mentally deranged through such pursuits or who is tormented by demonic powers admitted to that life through these very practises. For the most part, Christians are aware that Satan is the father of lies and they know that those who think to use him and his power will themselves be deceived and used by him. If it is easy to categorise the occult and the weird as evil, what about the world system within which we live? It is even possible that among the morally stunted individuals voicing support for Hamas are Christians!
Though many pastors will be called upon at one time or another to minister to those held in thraldom by demonic powers, evil is far more prevalent then to be restricted to the occult and to worship of that which is clearly satanic. Evil is seen in the paralysing systems of destructive power in society, in the slanderous world of lies, deceit, and defamation of others, which is so prevalent throughout our decaying culture. Evil lies in shifting the blame, in aggression, and in the law of retaliation and revenge which disfigures so much of international life. Evil, according to Paul, is witnessed in dissension and falsehood in the Church [see 2 CORINTHIANS 11:12-13]. Evil pervades our world, the culture in which we live, and evil constantly threatens the churches.
You may well ask, “Who is this tempter? How did he come to be in the Garden?” To answer this, recall that God created all things. Among those beings created by the Lord God are the angels of heaven. We know this to be so because in COLOSSIANS 1:16 we are informed, “By him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”
You may also recall that NEHEMIAH 9:6 teaches us, “You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.” Thus, the Bible acknowledges that though the angels are powerful beings, they are created by the will and by the Word of the Living God.
Though powerful, angels were not created by God’s hand as was man. Moreover, the angels serve man, and not vice versa. Paul challenged the Corinthians when he asked, “Do you not know that we are to judge angels” [1 CORINTHIANS 6:3]? Remember that “[Angels are] all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” [HEBREWS 1:14].
Among the angels of heaven, none were more powerful nor were any closer to God than was the one identified as “Day Star, Son of Dawn.” God, through Isaiah, speaks of this creature and of his being cast out of heaven.
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’”
[ISAIAH 14:12-14]
This powerful angel actually plotted to replace God on the Throne of Heaven. According to Isaiah he has “laid the nations low,” and he seems to actually have attempted to displace God from the throne of heaven.
Isaiah speaks of an angel who was thrown out of heaven itself because of his pride. This angel plotted to replace God Himself. As consequence of this self-exaltation he was cast out of heaven and thrown to the earth. His rebellion touched the angels themselves and one-third of the angels followed him in rebellion against the Living God. No doubt this historic event was what Jesus referred to in LUKE 10:18 when He said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” John writes in REVELATION 12:3-4 of the rebellion led by this powerful angel and the impact on the hosts of heaven. “Another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.”
The fact that this malevolent being has laid the nations low is worthy of our attention for it speaks of destruction and ruin this fallen angel brings to all the earth. He is the author of sin, producing sickness and death. He lays snares for men and places wicked purposes in the hearts of men, blinds their minds and harasses them. He accuses men before God and resists the servants of God. He manipulates the nations.
Of this powerful enemy of the soul, God has detailed how he came into being.
“You were the signet of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
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.
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.
You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created,
till unrighteousness was found in you.
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.
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.”
[EZEKIEL 28:11-17]
These verses indicate that Satan was perfect in wisdom and beauty when God created him. He was in Eden, adorned with every imaginable beautiful stone. Identified as the “Guardian Cherub,” this beautiful creature guarded the mercy seat of God. He was the recipient of special attention from the Creator. Some hold that this creature may well have been the leader of the choirs of heaven. The words translated “settings” and “engravings” in VERSE THIRTEEN, are obscure words. They could be translated “tambourines” and “flutes.” If this alternate reading is accepted, then musical instruments being created simultaneously would indicate musical leadership.
Okay, this may be more than you wanted to know about Satan. Nevertheless, this is the enemy. We cannot know why God permitted the rebellion to go to the extent that it did, nor why He did not slay this slanderer of the saints when rebellion first broke out in his heart. We do know that Satan even now has access to the throne of God and that before God he accuses the people of God day and night. And that information is hard for us to reconcile with what we know of our Father. We know that Satan does not live in a palace in hell—he stands before God, slandering God’s holy people.
I must take a moment to tell you that though our foe is powerful, more powerful than we can imagine, he is not omnipotent. He does have power to hold men in darkness and in bondage [cf. ACTS 26:18]. Our enemy possesses great cunning and deceit. However, when a child of God resists the devil, he flees. This must assuredly be his one great fear. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” [JAMES 4:7]. Do not imagine that you can speak lightly of this foe of righteousness, for even our Lord spoke of him as “the ruler of this world” [JOHN 12:31]. Paul would later reveal the wicked one as “the god of this world” [2 CORINTHIANS 4:4].
Those deluded individuals who think they honour God through speaking arrogantly against Satan need to consider the words of Jude who warned against such arrogance. Jude has written, “Relying on their dreams, [these people] defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you’” [JUDE 8-9].
Satan is a defeated foe and his end is certain. He shall at the last be cast into the lake of fire. REVELATION 20:7-10 speaks of that fate which is already pronounced for Satan. “When [the Millennial reign of Christ is] ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
We are encouraged by Paul’s glorious statement of our freedom in Christ. “You, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” [COLOSSIANS 2:13-15]. Our Saviour disarmed the fallen angels, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. The wicked one is a defeated foe!
DELIVERANCE — If Satan is a defeated foe, why does he yet exert such power when he assails the saints? What is sometimes difficult for us to accept is that though he was defeated at the cross, Satan is still powerful. God, for His own reason, has chosen to permit Satan to continue in this world for a little while. Therefore, we who follow the Risen Lord of Glory must adopt the instruction given by the Apostle.
The Apostle Paul instructs those who are followers of the Risen Lord of Glory, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,” [EPHESIANS 6:10-18].
We who are known by God are now engaged in a great battle, but this is not a battle that is fought as physical battles are fought; this battle is fought in the realm of the spiritual. The enemy we must face are not seen, but the enemy is nevertheless quite real; and this enemy is far more powerful than any of us could ever imagine. Elsewhere, Paul reminds us, “Though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” [2 CORINTHIANS 10:3-5].
If we will avoid being duped into accepting evil as innocuous and even as desirable, if we will avoid stumbling into rebellion against the True and Living God, we will need to understand who we are fighting and familiarise ourselves with the weapons God has entrusted to us in this great conflict. We will need to put on the panoply God has provided and train ourselves in the use of the weapons He has entrusted to us.
In these early chapters of Genesis, the Hebrew language presents a play on words which is not apparent in English. In the opening verse of our text, you will recall that the serpent is described as “more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.” The Hebrew word that is translated “crafty” is the Hebrew word ‘arûm. Reading the Hebrew immediately before our text, I note that the man and his wife were said to be “naked,” [‘arôm see GENESIS 2:25]. The two words are similar in sound: ‘arûm [crafty] and ‘arôm [naked]. The first readers would understand that Adam and Eve thought that through eating the fruit of that tree they would become wise [see GENESIS 3:6], but they were instead shown to be naked [see GENESIS 3:7, 10]. Now, focus on that word “crafty” [‘arûm]. The word can be either positive or negative. The use of this word in and of itself is ambiguous. The wordplay that I pointed out links the serpent’s shrewdness with the woman’s deception, finally resulting in the self-consciousness of human nakedness. This is the reason the woman is said to be deceived.
Satan does not appear in his full dress as evil to the woman, just as he does not appear in full dress as evil to us. Recall how we are told that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” [2 CORINTHIANS 11:14]. The voice of temptation does not come to us as the voice of evil. Satan does not appear as the cause of human failure, but rather as that which faces all mankind with the reality of their trust in God. The tempter appears within God’s creation, and not from outside of the creation. The man and the woman were created with freedom, and that freedom included the freedom not to trust God. Satan exploits that freedom through deceiving the woman. Though the serpent lies behind the fall of our first parents, I must emphasise that Satan is not the cause of the Fall. The woman was deceived and the man chose to join her in rebellion. Freedom not to trust God becomes the doorway to the loss of freedom. The man and the woman are here faced with that choice by the tempting voice of the serpent.
“Did God actually say…?” The question which the serpent posed is an utter travesty of God’s original generous permission [see GENESIS 2:16]. In the Hebrew tongue, the opening words of the serpent’s query convey scepticism, or at the very least a sense of surprise. This scepticism carries through to the remainder of the serpent’s question, “you shall not eat from any tree in the garden?”
You will notice by contrasting GENESIS 3:1 with GENESIS 2:16 that the serpent has reworked God’s command in significant fashion by negating what was actually said and by expanding the scope of the command. He also omitted the freedom which the Creator had included in His command, and he employed the plural, bypassing the singular which was used in the original command. Lastly, he moved the key clause (of every tree) at the end of the sentence instead of at the beginning. The nuance of liberality is robbed as the serpent refashioned God’s words for his own agenda.
Satan has the power to destroy, but he has no power to build. Before the Fall there was one will in the universe—God’s. After Satan’s rebellion there were two wills—God’s and Satan’s. After the Fall there were four wills—God’s, Satan’s, Adam’s, and Eve’s. With the birth of each succeeding child there was the introduction of one more will into the world until today there are billions of wills expressed in our world. This accounts for the constant tension and confusion witnessed in our world.
There is an exception to this devastating rule of multiplication of collective wills. In Christ, and only in Christ, the faithful are once again submitted to the will of God and that one will reigns. This is the reason we are to submit to one another as the will of God is revealed among us and as we seek His will through the Word He has given. This is the reason we are to seek unity in the Body. This is the reason the church is not a democracy and is instead a spiritual Body of which Christ is the head.
Why do you imagine that the sin of slander among the saints of God is so terrible in the eyes of God? It is because that particular sin destroys instead of building up. Why do you imagine that exaltation of “self,” identified as presumptuous sin throughout the Word of God, is so scandalous among the people of God? It is because the presence of that particular sin returns the church to conflict arising from multiple wills and removes her from the harmony resulting from submission to the One great will of the True and Living God. Distortion of the grace of God, speaking against the gracious gifts that God gives, including fellow saints who are added to the Body, is denial of the will of God reigning among His people in exchange for the exaltation of the multiple wills of those who are worldly.
It is hurtful in the extreme to see people leave a fellowship; but I speak the truth when I tell you that it is more hurtful still to surrender to the exercise of multiple wills within a church instead of uniting under the one will of God. This is the seductive power of evil. Those who left are not necessarily evil people, but they permitted themselves to be seduced by evil. Like Peter trying to circumvent the will of God they need to be rebuked. They need to hear the words which Jesus addressed to Peter. “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” [MATTHEW 16:23].
It is neither unkind nor severe to warn you that if you refuse to submit to the revealed will of God or if you haven’t the willingness to submit to one another you are a stumbling block who does not have the things of God in mind. You will have demonstrated through your exaltation of self that Christ is not ruling your life. You will have set yourself up to be rebuked shortly, for you will have embraced wickedness, having been seduced by the power of evil. The church is not a political party to be manipulated, nor is it an organisation to be controlled. The church is the precious creation of Christ through His sacrifice and the people of God are to be united under His will. Just so, the Christian life is a life which demonstrates a sweet spirit of submission. That submission is to be demonstrated toward one another because we are submitted to the One will of the Father who loves us and who has redeemed us.
I plead with the people of God to see in the text before us that exaltation of your own will, exaltation of your best thoughts over the clearly revealed will of God, is evidence that you have surrendered to the satanic lie. To be seduced by Satan is to rebel against the Father of Lights. To rebel is to invite God’s punishment; to invite His punishment is to defy Him. Let us never surrender to such folly.
Christians must never ignore nor underestimate the foe, but neither must the Christian overestimate the enemy. Though the enemy roars and endeavours to frighten us, we must remain focused on the Lord our God. Though the wicked one makes every effort to terrorise us, we must not surrender to our fears but instead resort to Christ our strong defender. Our Lord is our strength and He is our wisdom. He limits Satan and at the last has ensured that this slanderer is a defeated foe. Satan may tempt us, but he cannot tempt us beyond what we can endure. Our Saviour shall always prepare the way of escape for us [see 1 CORINTHIANS 10:13].
As we submit to the will of God and seek the harmony of His Spirit, we are able to stand against the wiles of the foe. As we draw on Christ’s strength and as we appropriate His wisdom we are equipped to conquer the evil one and to hold the ground which Christ purchased with His own blood. Neither Adam nor Eve sought this resort to the strength of the Lord, and they succumbed to the lure of evil. Though you and I are far weaker than they were, we can nevertheless stand because we stand in the power of Him who defeated Satan through the cross.
And though it seems forgotten in the rush of modern life, this is the message of Christmas. Christ redeems us by His blood and He keeps us by His might. Are you a Christian? Have you trusted in Christ the Lord? If not, you are assuredly a victim of the evil one; and you must one day give an answer to Christ Jesus the Lord, your Creator. Our invitation is this day to receive the life which is yours in Christ and to be born into the Family of God through faith in this risen, living Son of God. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
