Giant Killer Series - Giant Untruth
Jesus wins where we fail.
After His baptism in Matthew 3:13-16, Jesus rose from the water. The sky opened, revealing a dove-like form of the Holy Spirit which descended on Him. God the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
The next verse says, Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
This was no accident or mere coincidence; this is a carefully planned sequence of events presented by the author. For it was in the wilderness that Jesus was tempted by the devil not to believe the words of His Father (words that were spoken just a verse prior). Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness shows us a beautiful picture of Jesus succeeding where we fail. While Jesus prevails in believing the precious words of His Father, we often forget:
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
At the root of every sin we commit is the failure to believe these words. At the source of deceit lies the belief that God does not care for us deeply.
Every day we repeat to ourselves the lies Satan has placed in this world to capture our hearts. Here are just a few of the thousands of lies we hear from the world and repeat to ourselves daily:
"This new ____ will make me happy."
"If I could just have ____, I would truly be happy."
"God is not enough."
"If I could just do ___, then I would be happy."
"I’m in complete control of my life, and I know what I’m doing."
Behind these lies is one grand lie: "My Heavenly Father does not love me."
The Bible puts this matter to rest once and for all. God does love us, and the irrefutable truth is found in Him sending His Son to this earth to die for us while we still hated Him.
In The Giant Killer, the brave knight Fides undertakes an epic battle against the Giant Untruth. To battle the fierce giant, the honorable knight must hold up the sword of the Word given to him by his king to expose the lies of the enemy.
Christians must daily hold up the truth of God’s Word against the falsehoods of the world and disprove them. This way they can uncover and expose the enemy’s lies.
It is worth mentioning that Jesus’ temptation was not outside the will of God. Matthew says Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. Facing trials and temptations does not necessarily mean we are outside God’s will. Our adversary, the devil, is shrewd and uses whatever tricks he can to trip us up and discourage us. He tempts us to sin, and then if we sin, he points to our sin and accuses us. Appropriately, his name means “adversary" or "accuser.” Satan has no love for man—quite the opposite. He despises and hates humankind. Unlike Satan, God allows us to be tempted so that He may demonstrate what is real in our lives.
In Matthew 4, God used the temptation of Jesus to show that Jesus’ relationship with His Father was absolute and unbreakable. Most of all, it proved that God loved Jesus just as He loves us today. May we never forget His promises!
Colin Smith
Best Lamplighter picks on Honesty and Integrity:
