What is Temptation?

At the church where I serve, we are nearing the celebration of Easter. In less than three weeks, we will celebrate an event from history that provides all of humanity the opportunity to be rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God so that we can experience the forgiveness and the relationship with God that we were created for. Easter weekend remembers and reflects on the significance that the death and resurrection of Jesus has for all humanity.

We celebrate Easter because Easter reminds us of who God is, what God has done, and what God has promised to do. Easter reminds us that Jesus is God-in-a-bod, who came to earth to live the life that we were created to live but refused to live, and then allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. Easter is a reminder of an empty tomb that provides the evidence that Jesus was who He said He was, and that God accepted Jesus willingness to live the life we refused to live and die the death we deserved to die so that we would have the opportunity to live in relationship with God as followers of Jesus.

And Easter is a reminder to followers of Jesus of the example that Jesus gives us. You see, Jesus shows us what it means to be truly human. Jesus provides an example of what a life lived in relationship with God and in relationships with others is to look like. Jesus provides humanity the example of what it means to be truly human and sets the standard for us to follow as His followers.

And part of that example involves how we are to respond to temptation. Because this morning, the timeless reality is that we all face temptation.  The timeless reality is that, as followers of Jesus, we are called to say no to temptation and say yes to Jesus. But that is easier said than done, isn’t it. I mean, if we are brutally honest, we all struggle against temptation. I know I struggle against temptation. And I am betting that we all struggle with temptation.

And in the midst of those struggles against temptation, wouldn’t it be great if we could consistently respond to temptation like Jesus responded to temptation? After all, Jesus never gave in to temptation. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to do the same thing?

Now you might be thinking to yourself “Well Dave that sounds great, but you are not Jesus and I am not Jesus, so how could we possibly get to the place where we would not give in to temptation? How could we possibly get to the place where we consistently responded to temptation like Jesus responded to temptation?

If those questions are running through your mind, I am so glad that you are reading this, because here is the thing: What if I told you that, as followers of Jesus, that Jesus has given us all that we need to overcome temptation? What is I told you that Jesus demonstrated how to respond to the temptations that we can face in a way that says no to that temptation and yes to a life that reveals and reflects the obedience of Jesus in the face of temptation? What if I told you that the reason why we give into temptation is not because we do not have what we need to overcome temptation, but that we do not access what we have already been given to overcome temptation?

So, for these weeks leading up to Easter, we are going to spend our time together asking and answering four questions when it comes to temptation. We are going to ask and answer the questions “What is temptation?”, “Where does temptation come from?”, “What are the core temptations that we all face?”, and “How do we overcome temptation?”

And my hope and my prayer is that God would move in our heads, our hearts, and our hands as we answer these questions in a way that results in us living a life that consistently says no to temptation and yes to a life that reveals and reflects the obedience of Jesus in the face of temptation.

Today I would like for us to ask and answer the first question, which is “What is temptation?” Temptation, simply put, is an enticement towards evil. Temptation is an enticement to take a God-given desire beyond its God-given design. You see, the letters that make up the Bible clearly reveal the reality that everything that was created by God is good when engaged in or used in a way that is according to God’s design. However, what temptation does is take something that God has created to be good and engage in God’s creation in a way that is outside of God’s design.

The most obvious example in our culture today involves the issue of sexuality. God created sex and clearly communicated through the letters that make up the Bible that sex is a gift from God when it is exercised in the right context, which is a covenant relationship involving one man and one woman for one lifetime. What temptation does, however, is to entice us to exercise our desire to engage in God’s gift of sexuality outside of God’s design for sexuality.

Temptation entices us to say "I know that Bible says, but". Temptation entices us to say "I know what would Jesus do, but I don't want to do what would Jesus do". Temptation entices us to take a God-given desire beyond God-given design in a way that results in us rebelling against God’s design.

Now, with the definition of temptation in mind, we are ready to tackle the second question, which is “Where does temptation come from?” Tomorrow we will begin to tackle that question…