We continue our sermon series on the Gospel of Luke as Chris C shares a message titled “God Became One Of Us (Part 2)” from Luke 4:1-13. Join us for our Sunday service as we celebrate, worship, and take communion together.
Worship is led by Scot & Rachelle Galloway of our Glasgow Church worship team.
Message Summary & Reflection
We are doing the second part of our “God became one of us”.
We start in Luke 4:1-13. This setting is happening right after Jesus had been baptised and was full of the Spirit. Here Jesus gives us a model of how to cope with temptation. He was just starting his ministry and just when it seems to be going well, Satan came to tempt him.
Satan does the same with us. When we seem to have had a victory and we are full of the Holy Spirit, that is exactly the time we will be attacked and tempted in our spirit.
Satan attacks us when we are close to God, and he does it for a season, not just for a fleeting moment. Do not be fooled into thinking you are so close to God that you are immune to Satan’s attack.
Temptations are always present particularly when something good is happening.
The following three points give us a pattern of how to respond to temptation.
- The Temptation To Forget God. Luke 4:1-4
Satan knew exactly who Jesus was and was trying to call on his pride. Deuteronomy 8:1-14 – This warning is where Jesus went when Satan tried to tempt him. Jesus went to scripture. We should too. - The Temptation To Take The Easy Path. Luke 4:5-8
Satan knew the scriptures well. He knows what God promised Jesus. Ps 2:7-8 – Satan tried to offer Jesus a shortcut. But shortcuts have consequences. If Jesus had taken shortcuts we would all be lost. Shortcuts fail to deliver the blessings God has in store for us. We deliberately have to choose the hard way. Jesus paraphrased Deuteronomy 6 to protect his own heart. - The Temptation To Play Games With God. Luke 4:9-12
The Rabbis of the time were waiting for a prophecy to be fulfilled. They believed the Messiah would appear and create a spectacle at the pinnacle of the temple. Satan used the scripture from Malachi 3:1 to try and entice Jesus, but yet again Jesus goes back to Deuteronomy 6.
As Satan tried to tempt and entice Jesus, so he very much wants to try and entice and tempt us.
We overcome by remembering Deuteronomy 6 “ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
Jesus can relate to anything we go through. He is our model for overcoming.
Satan will leave if his schemes do not work. Though he will come back at opportune times if we resist the temptation to forget God, resist the temptation to take the easy path and resist the temptation to play games with God, Satan will have no power over us.
Remember, God has already won the battle!
Scriptures Shared In This Message
This message will focus on the scriptures featured below:
- Luke 4:1-13
