· Perhaps you have seen them at the mall or at your favorite discount store. None of them will be hard to find; retailers want you to buy these impulsive gift items. With catch phrases like, “One size fits all” or “The perfect gift for everyone Santa’s list” we are led to believe that these gifts will solve our dilemma providing the best solution to our gift buying woes. I wonder how many of these “ideal gifts” end up either just collecting dust, stored in attics or given away at next Christmas’ “white elephant gift exchange.”
Is there really a “One size fits all,” “perfect gift for everyone”? I know of only one. THE PERFECT GOFT IS GOD’S GIFT, THE GIFT OF CHRISTMAS. . . JESUS!
If you have opened God’s gift of love to you and received Jesus as God’s full expression of love to you, then I want to ask you a question. HAVE YOU APPROPRIATED GOD’S GIFT? That is have you applied the righteousness you have receive in Christ to your daily life. Or putting it another way, have you put on God’s gift and discovered that “one size really does fit all?”
Over the past five weeks we have studied Christ’s temptation in the wilderness in a series called “Faith to Stand.” Satan came against Jesus with all of hell’s fury, deadly deception designed to destroy Christ, but Jesus withstood Satan’s evil attack. With every temptation Jesus pushed back the enemy’s attack and overcame in victory!
With Christmas drawing near you may think it strange to think about Jesus overcoming Satan’s temptation in the wilderness. Is it even relevant to the Christmas story? Yes! If Christ had not been born as a baby in Bethlehem’s stable, then His overwhelming victory over Satan in the wilderness would have no application to our lives today.
· Now if by chance you are not familiar with the story of Christ’s birth at Christmas you can read about it in the Bible. It’s found in chapters 1 and 2 of the books of Matthew and Luke. Contrary to popular opinion Christmas is not the story of Santa who travels down from the north pole to deliver gifts each year. Christmas is the story of how God came down to earth in the person of His Son Jesus.
I have one simple goal for the message today: BECAUSE JESUS WAS VICTORIOUS OVER SATAN, YOU TOO CAN WALK IN VICTORY. You can have faith to stand against Satan’s attack and win. You don’t have to be defeated; you can appropriate God’s gift and be victorious!
+ 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (NIV)
Take a moment and think about these three truths contained in 1 Corinthians 10:13.
1. Regardless of the temptation you may face, it is common to man– that is each of us face the same kinds of temptation. Now don’t miss this. Through the incarnation, Jesus became both fully God and fully man. Therefore as a man, Jesus faced the same temptations that you and I face–all temptation is common to man.
1 John 2:16 categorizes temptation in three ways: “the cravings of sinful man” is like Jesus’ temptation to turn stones to bread; “the lust of his eyes” parallels His temptation to rule the kingdoms of the world; and “the boasting of what he has and does” corresponds to Christ’s temptation to leap from the highest point of the temple. Temptation is common to man. Jesus has been tempted in every way just like us, but He remained pure and free from sin (see Hebrews 4:15).
2. You will face temptation; Paul said, “when you are tempted.” Don’t be surprised when Satan seeks to entice you–EXPECT IT. Remember Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil; Christ’s temptation was not a surprise (see Luke 4:1, 2).
3. You can overcome temptation. God is faithful to empower you to stand; rather than being defeated we can be victorious. Temptation is used by Satan to entice us to do evil; God however allows the devil’s schemes as a test. God equips us to pass the test! Just as Jesus overcame Satan in the wilderness and did not sin, God seeks to display or prove His righteousness in us as we live holy lives.
Alright if we are to be victorious and overcome the enemy’s advances in our lives, then HOW DO WE DO IT? How is it possible for you and me to be free from the entanglements of sin? Not just to be forgiven of our past sin, but to live a holy life and remain unstained by sin.
Our sin is forgiven when we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior believing that He bore our sin when He died upon the cross. But that is only the first step of victory over sin. We must then appropriate His righteousness in our daily lives. This empowers us live a victorious life free from sin.
Now someone may say, “Wait a minute pastor how can we ever be totally free from sin. God knows we’re going to fall into sin, but He lovingly convicts us of our sin in order that we might ask for His forgiveness.”
And I say, “You’re absolutely right!”
+ 1 John 1:8-10 8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (NIV)
John was not writing to pagan sinners here. He writing to believer; John continues in the opening verses of chapter 2 saying:
+ 1 John 2:1-2 1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (NIV)
We cannot put on a self-righteous pride claiming that we are “done with sin.” Whenever we do that it separates us from the rest of the world that Jesus died to save. We must never forget that we are all sinners–sinners saved by grace!
Yes , any of us may fall prey to temptation and sin; however, we should increasingly be more and more like Jesus and walk in victory over Satan. Genuine repentance is not just to say we’re sorry, but it is to turn away from our sin with the desire to walk in righteousness. When we sin we need to quickly acknowledge our sin and again receive God’s gift of forgiveness; however, I want us to see how that’s possible to be victorious over sin. That’s our goal this morning: victory!
Is it even fair to say that we can follow Christ’s example and overcome the attack of the enemy? Jesus was both full God and fully man; we’re certainly not God! If it is impossible for us to have victory over sin and the enemy then God has lied to us! God doesn’t lie! So how can we reach our goal following Christ’s example and live in victory?
In order to get to that point that I need us to think about a difficult question. Theologians have argued over this question for centuries and not been able to come to an agreement. So why ask the question? I believe that how you answer this question may affect your ability to receive God’s help to overcome temptation in your own life.
The Question: COULD JESUS HAVE SINNED? Was it even possible for Jesus to yield to temptation and fall into sin?
The view that says it was possible for Christ to have sinned is called “peccability.” This means “ability not to sin.” The opposing view which says it was impossible for Christ to have sinned is called “impeccability” meaning “inability to sin.” Put more simply some say, “ JESUS WAS ABLE NOT TO SIN,” while other say “JESUS WAS NOT ABLE TO SIN.”
I believe that Jesus could have sinned, but he was able not to yield to temptation and fall into sin. Now don’t turn me off if you believe it was impossible for Jesus to have sinned. My desire is not to try to prove a theological view; we could spend all day looking at the various arguments made by those in either the “peccability” or “impeccability” camp. Rather, MY DESIRE IS TO SHOW THAT THOSE WHO ACCEPT TEH POSSIBILITY THAT CHRIST COULD HAVE SINNED PLACE THEMSELVES IN A BETTER POSTITION TO RECEIVE HIS HELP TO OVERCOME TEMPTATION IN THEIR OWN LIVES.
Think about this. WHEN YOU OR I FACE TEMPTATION WE ALL AGREE THAT IT IS POSSIBLE FOR US TO SIN. Now if it were impossible for Christ to have sinned, then He would be so different from any of us that I would have a hard time believing that he could help me let alone believe that he understands and identifies with me in my temptation.
+ Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin. (NIV)
For me it really doesn’t get any simpler than that; Jesus was tempted in every way just like us. When we are tempted we have the capacity to either yield to the temptation and sin, or we can overcome the temptation passing the test and letting God’s glory and righteousness be seen in us.
Jesus was tempted in every way like us; that means not only did He face the same kind of temptations, but Christ also had to pass the test because the possibility to sin was real. Praise God that He not only can feel our pain because He has endured temptation, but Jesus can also empower us to overcome temptation because He was victorious over sin.
Someone may say, “Slow down Pastor Greg; Jesus is God and it is impossible for God to sin because God is holy.”
To this I respond, “You’re right again!”
This brings us to the Christmas story; I told you that it was relevant to Christ overcoming temptation. Christmas shows us the mystery of the incarnation–God in the flesh. Jesus was made to be like us, and yet He was very much unlike us. Through the incarnation Jesus was fully God and fully man. Understand that this was not humanity that discovered a divine nature, rather it was the eternal God who clothed Himself within humanity. The creator took on the nature of His creation.
We’re told how this all happened, but it still remains a profound mystery.
+ Luke 1:35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (NIV)
+ Matthew 1:22-23 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"–which means, "God with us." (NIV)
The birth of Jesus was unlike the birth of any other man in all of human history. Conceived by the Holy Spirt and born of a virgin the eternal Son of God clothed Himself in human flesh. Jesus is fully God and fully man. His birth was so unique that the angel said that this child would be “the holy one.” That’s very different from the birth of anyone else.
+ Psalm 51:5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. (NIV)
Regardless of how perfect a baby may appear at birth, no matter how innocent it may appear, every child is conceived in sin. None of us are made sinners because of our sin. On the contrary we sin because we are born sinners. Every human child born is sinful at its birth.
All that is except one child–the Christ child born to the virgin Mary. The Christ child, Jesus, is the Holy One! He is Immanuel, God with us. Fully God and fully man.
Jesus is ONE PERSON with TWO DISTINCT NATURES. Within these two natures we can see mysteries that are hard for any of us to understand.
It may sound as though I am talking out of both sides of my mouth–that I’m contradicting myself. What appears to be a contradiction is the profound mystery of the incarnation. Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human; two distinct and very different natures joined together as one.
We can see the dual natures of Jesus in different ways.
· As God Jesus is omnipotent–that is He is all powerful. By His word the world and all that exists was created from nothing, and yet Jesus, the Creator, who displayed His mighty power while He walked this earth through many miracles was also at times tired and needed to sleep because He was also human (John 1:3, 10:25, 4:6; Matthew 8:24).
· As God Jesus is omniscient–that is He is all knowing. Jesus saw Nathanael sitting under a fig tree before Philip urged him to come and see that Jesus was the Messiah (John 1:45-49). As God Jesus knew the secret thoughts of those around Him (Mark 2:8), and yet the because Jesus was also human the Bible also tells us that He grew in knowledge and wisdom (Luke 2:52).
Why should it be surprising to us that because of Jesus’ dual natures that the same kind of profound mystery can be seen when we think about whether or not Jesus could have sinned? As God it is impossible for Him to sin, because He is absolutely holy, and yet during His life on this earth as a man it was possible for Jesus to have yeilded to temptation falling into sin.
Within this so called paradox we are able to find strength through Christ to overcome sin. Let me illustrate it for you like this. (Now stay with me because this is the central focus of this message: because Jesus overcame temptation we too can be victorious over the attacks of the enemy.)
· I’ve brought some string and chain to illustrate these very different natures. The string represents human nature; the string can be attached to something but it’s weak and can be easily broken. The chain on the other hand represents the divine nature; the chain can likewise be attached to something, but it has a greater strength. With all of our combined energy we could pull on the chain but it would not break. (Now someone is thinking, but I have a bolt cutter that will easily cut the chain. Granted, but nothing external can be used to try and break the chain–only our own power and that which is within the chain can be used to try and break it.)
· In Christ these two very distinct and different natures are joined as one; the string is interwoven within each link of the chain. Now let me ask you a simple question: Is the chain weakened by the string, or is the string strengthened by the chain? The answer is obvious; we could pull with all our might but neither the chain or the string would be broken.
That’s the mystery of Christ’s incarnation. Both the divine and the human natures are joined in Christ so that on the one hand it is impossible for Christ to have sinned and on the other it was indeed possible.
Someone would again interrupt me and say, “Now just like the string is strengthened by the chain making it unbreakable, Christ’s human nature is empowered by the divine nature and therefore Jesus was not able to sin.”
This time I politely respond, “I’m glad you’re hear today because you’re thinking with me, but this time I think your are wrong.”
THE STRING COULD STILL BE BROKEN IF IT WERE TO BE SEPARATED FROM THE CHAIN, AND LIKEWISE IF THE DIVINE AND HUMAN NATURES OF JESUS WERE TO BE SEPARATED, THEN JESUS IN HIS HUMANITY COULD INDEED HAVE SINNED. Now tell your neighbor to pay attention because this is the very center of Satan’s temptation as well as the key to our understanding how we can be helped by Christ to overcome temptation.
Within each temptation Satan not only wanted to create a schism or separation within the Godhead to forever separate the Son from the Father and the Spirit; Satan also wanted to rip apart the incarnate Christ dividing the divine and human natures of Jesus. Now it was impossible for Satan to separate the incarnate natures of Christ. Satan could not use some magical bolt cutters to make Jesus sin; the devil could only use his devilish deception and that which was within Christ to try to lead Jesus into sin.
Putting it simply, ONLY JESUS COULD SEPARATE HIS DIVINE AND HUMAN NATURES. The divine nature of Christ could not sin, but Jesus’ humanity was faced with a life and death choice. Would the humanity of Christ remain united with the divine or would Jesus place the desires of the human nature ahead of the divine and forever shredding the unity of the incarnation?
Jesus chose victoriously! Throughout eternity past Jesus had shared in a loving relationship with the Father and Holy Spirit. As the incarnate Son of God, Jesus maintained those loving relationships and steadfastly placed His human nature under submission to the divine nature within Him. That’s worth repeating because some of you may have missed it: Jesus, God in the flesh, lived daily in a loving relationship with His Father and the Holy Spirit, and in turn Jesus chose to place His human nature under the control of His divine.
Therein lies our key to victorious living.
· Think again about the chain and the string that has been joined together and the string that is unattached. By itself the individual string is unprotected and can be easily broken. However if we were to wrap this single string around the string which has been interwoven with the links of the chain, then the string is again strengthened by the chain and cannot be broken. Only if the string separates from the other is it again vulnerable.
Do you see the parallel? Individually we are separated from Christ and dead in our sins. We are powerless to overcome Satan; we are just broken strings. However, when we receive God’s indescribable gift made available to us through His Son Jesus, then we are joined together in Him–the string is wrapped around the other which is interwoven with the chain.
+ Ephesians 2:4-6 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and SEATED US WITH HIM IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS IN CHRIST JESUS. (NIV)
+ 1 Corinthians 1:30 It is because of him that you are IN CHRIST JESUS, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. (NIV)
Because we are joined to Christ and made alive through Him we are empowered to say no to sin. Now we can overcome the attack of the enemy and live victoriously! Satan can pull us, shake us, or hit us; the devil can hit us with his best shot, but he is powerless to destroy us. The string cannot be broken. As the Apostle Paul says to the Romans:
+ Romans 8:37-39 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)
Satan is powerless to separate you from Christ and as long as you maintain your loving relationship with Jesus you are empowered to live in victory.
___________________________
Portions of the series "Faith to Stand" are drawn from the book: FAITH UNDER FIRE, Steven J. Lawson, 1995. By the way, I find it interesting to read Laswon’s final chapter as he holds to the veiw that Jesus could not have sinned (impeccability). Although we hold to different theological viewpoints we both use the same illustration to make different points. The incarnation is a mystery!
