Away from Me, Satan!

JESUS, THE SINNER'S SUBSTITUTE: First Sunday in Lent, March 1, 2020

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." That's good advice for just about every situation in life. We rarely succeed at anything we do the first time we do it. But over time, with effort and practice, we get much better. Eventually, we even become proficient!

When Adam faced the devil, he became an example of someone who did not at first succeed. In fact, he failed miserably. Not only did he shirk his God-given leadership responsibility, but willingly participated in his wife's sin. When God questioned him about his behavior, he was quick to blame his wife, and even blame God!

Adam's sorry story brought life changing ramifications, and not just for Adam. The entire human race was disaffected by Adam's disobedience. Paul explains just how devastating that first sin was to all humans. It opened the door to death, and death opened the door to condemnation.

The way we’re all wired, we’d like another shot at the devil. “Just try to fool me this time! I’m ready for your tricks.” There is a part of us that thinks that when we resist temptation, that evens our account with God. We failed once; we succeeded once — no more condemnation, right? Wrong. The old adage fails us. There is no amount of trying again that will ever even our account with God. One sin condemns us all.

Enough already with the first Adam! We need a substitute Adam, a second Adam, a better Adam — someone who doesn’t fail the first time, or any time. That’s who Jesus is! He also faced the devil’s temptations. In fact the devil tempted Jesus far more stringently than Adam. Jesus faced Satan for 40 consecutive days. By the end, Jesus sent the devil packing, “Away from me, Satan!” Satan slithered away, soundly subdued by the sinner’s substitute, Jesus Christ.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” is good advice for just about everything in life, but it’s lousy advice for religion. How about this? “If at first you don’t succeed, trust, trust in Christ.” He’s your second Adam. He’s the sinner’s substitute. He’s your Savior.

► Readings:

• Genesis 3:1-15: Satan overcomes Adam and Eve by temptation.

• Romans 5:12-19: Jesus, the "second Adam".

• Matthew 4:1-11: Jesus overcomes Satan's temptations with the Word.

• Psalm: 130

► Sermon theme on Matthew 4:1-11: "Away from Me, Satan!" (Sermon Video) (Sermon transcript)