Are We There Yet
I love New Years. I love the start of things. With it can bring new vision. New beginnings. New focus.
There have been years when I’ve made New Years resolutions. There have been years where I’ve kept resolutions all year long. And then, there have been years where I’ve broken my New Years resolution within the first couple of weeks. And then there have been years where I haven’t made any resolutions. My resolution was to not make any resolutions.
Whatever the case may be for you this year, one thing is true about resolutions… They typically are all about ourselves. And while that’s not a terrible thing, we as a Granger Students and Young Adults staff want to challenge you to possibly think a bit differently this year… What if we, instead of only making or asking ourselves what our own New Years resolutions are, what if we asked God to give us His resolutions… What if we made…
God resolutions
One of the many things that is clear when we look at the life of Jesus, is that Jesus was all about listening to and obeying God. Jesus, with His whole life, His whole being, wanted to do what His Father wanted Him to do. The Son of God, wanted to do His Father’s will. And over the next four weeks, we’re going to take a look at a few God resolutions… Looking at what God had for the life of Jesus to see what might God have for our lives as well.
God is up to something.
I love wondering about things. Wonder is a gift that God has given me. It’s not on the list of spiritual gifts, but it’s definitely a gift from God in my life. I wonder about all kinds of things. When we were in Charleston, SC, I walked around that city and wondered what it was like when George Washington walked those streets. As a kid, when we went to the Baseball Hall of Fame, I wondered what it was like when Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and the rest of the greats walked those streets.
I’ve wondered what it was like to be Walt Disney just before he built Disney World. I’ve wondered what it must be like to be the president of the United States. I wonder about all sorts of things. If you see me walking around this place, it’s almost certain that I am in wonder mode. It comes natural to me. It’s how ONE came to life. And when I read Scripture, I often wonder what it was like to be in the situation i’m reading about.
As I thought about this message tonight, it hit me. As much as I wonder, I’ve never really wondered about the start of Jesus’ ministry. If I’m honest, I’ve never given it much thought. Maybe you’re like me. I kinda skip right past it. Not because I want to. But because it’s easy to. It’s easy to jump to the miracles He performs.
Turning water into wine is more exciting. Walking on water is more eye catching. Raising the dead is more breathtaking. It’s so easy to gloss over the beginning. But the beginning of anything is too important to miss. Because…
God is up to something
So, in this new year… in all of our new beginnings, let’s look at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry on earth…
Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?” But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize him. After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” – Matthew 3:13-17
You see, the start to Jesus’ ministry on earth is quite different than how I would start. I’d walk up like, “I’m here! Holla at ya boy! Let’s get this party started!” But Jesus’ first act of His public ministry wasn’t an announcement of His presence… it was an act of obedience to God.
Because God was up to something.
When Jesus came to John to be baptized, John was like, “What? Why you coming to me?” Look at Jesus’ response:
“…it should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires…”
Jesus’ primary concern was being obedient to God’s will. At the beginning the heart of Jesus was obedience to God because Jesus knew that...
God was up to something.
Jesus didn’t pull up to a party and turn water into wine. He didn’t show up healing people. He knew and understood the God resolution for humanity and He simply obeyed His Father.
And God’s response? “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” We need to see this statement. We need to remember this statement because of what comes next. We might think that after Jesus is baptized and God makes this statement about Jesus that Jesus would then start ministering to people, right? I mean, isn’t that why He came… to heal people spiritually? To restore humanity back to right relationship with God?
The answer is yes to each of those questions. But Jesus didn’t jump straight into ministry from this mountain-top experience. There was one more thing Jesus had to go through before He started his public ministry. Check this out…
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, satan! For it is written: ‘worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. – Matthew 4:1-11
In Mark’s Gospel, it says...
The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, where he was tempted by satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him. – Mark 1:12-13
For some of us, we might see this as a detour. I mean, we’ve got work to do. We’ve got things to do. Why go through something this hard!?
As our kids were growing up, we’d take roadtrips to different locations. Shoot, just a couple of years ago when we flew to Phoenix and then drove to the Grand Canyon, our kids would ask multiple times, “Are we there yet?” I did it as a kid. Our kids, and even I at times, just want to get to our destination so bad that we miss what we could see on the way. We miss out on the relationships we could be building during the ride.
And as I read and look at these passages of Scripture, I wonder how many of us look at this and think, why? Why did He have to go through something so hard? And then we look at what we’re currently going through, or what we’ve gone through, and we say to God, “Ok! Enough! Are we there yet?” And we want to rush through the hard things we’re facing or have faced and we miss what God is trying to teach us… We miss out on the relationships that God wants us to build.
And so, when we look at these passages, we might be tempted to think the same thing… but Jesus is on mission and knows that what He’s going through has purpose because He knows...
God was up to something.
And as we look at these passages, there are things we can learn because in our lives, the temptations we face from satan, can a lot of times be masked by what we think are hard times.
First, our hard time or temptation we face, will come after what might be viewed as a mountain-top experience. Check this out:
The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, where he was tempted by satan for forty days. Mark 1:12-13
You see, Jesus had just come from what could be viewed as a mountain-top experience. He was fulfilling scripture when John baptized Him and His Father announce who Jesus was and how He loved Jesus and the joy Jesus brought Him.
I cannot begin to tell you how many times I’ve experienced a hardship or a temptation after experiencing a mountain-top experience. When I was offered this job and accepted this position, a huge mountain-top experience, the next few months was filled with what I would consider satan, the enemy, whispering lies to cause me to question my calling.
Many times, I wanted to just get past what was going on. I just wanted to rush through it. But in rushing through it, I would have missed what God wanted to teach me… That ultimately, the only thing that matters is that I’m listening and obeying Him. And that, as I stay in the Scripture, to trust in the vision He’s giving me.
Secondly, our temptation we face oftentimes comes when we are exhausted or hungry... When we are worn down. We see it in these passages with Jesus…
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry. - Luke 4:1-2
It’s in the times when we are the most tired that the devil knows we are at the most susceptible in the temptations and hardships he throws at us.
As I look back over the times when I’ve been most susceptible to hardships and/or temptations, it’s when I’ve been tired… When I haven’t gotten enough sleep or when I’ve just had a long run of busyness. It’s when the devil came at Jesus at the start of His ministry. And it’s when the devil came at Jesus towards the end of His ministry.
I believe this is one of the biggest reasons why it’s so important to rest. It’s one of the biggest reasons why God designed a rhythm of work six days and rest one. It’s one of the biggest reasons why God designed a sabbath. So we could rest and… and this is a big and… and focus our attention on Him.
So your hardships or temptations will come one, after a mountain-top experience. Two, when you’re exhausted and run down. And three, our hardship or temptation oftentimes come within our greatest desire.
Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “i will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.” - Matthew 4:8-9
Many times, our temptations we face come at the point of our greatest desire at the time. But here’s the thing, the enemy doesn’t have the power or authority to give the thing that will fill that desire. Sure, there are temporary things that we can chase. But ultimately, the enemy, the devil doesn’t have what we need to fill that desire. Only God himself is able to fill that need. Jesus knew that. And Jesus was able to overcome His hardship… His temptation.
Jesus stayed on mission. Jesus knew what the God resolutions were. And He was able to stay on mission and not rush past His hardship or fall to the temptations of the devil because Jesus combatted the battle of His mind with Scripture.
Time after time we see Jesus respond to the devil…
When the devil tempted Jesus to turn a stone into a loaf of bread, Jesus’ response was: ... But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’” - Matthew 4:4
When the devil told Jesus that he would give Him all the kingdoms of the world, Jesus responded: “The Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” - Matthew 4:10
And when the devil took Jesus up to the highest point of the temple to throw Himself off to see if God would send angels to catch Him, Jesus replied back: “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’” - Matthew 4:7
And after all of that, after 40 days and 40 nights of temptation and hardship, the Bible says that...
When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came. - Matthew 4:11
You see, when Jesus faced this hardship… When Jesus was tempted… The greatest weapon to get Him through was God’s Word…
And it’s the same for us. As we face our hardships… The temptations we face… Our greatest weapon to get us through is the Bible… God’s Word. The point of the hardship isn’t that we rush through to get to the other side… To ask, “Are we there yet God!?” The point of the hardship is that we lean on Scripture to learn what God wants to teach us. For me, when I’ve gone through a hardship or temptation, especially in this last year, it’s to learn that I can depend on and trust God more with my life.
It’s to learn that, as i read God’s Word, He’s there to comfort me and lead me even more. But that only comes as I read His Word. That’s my challenge for you all as you’re in your hardship or your temptation… Or maybe before you’re in next hardship or temptation, dive into god’s Word so that as you’re in it, God can use it to battle the enemy’s attack on your mind… And so you can say… I wonder what God is up to.
