By Derl G. Keefer
Jesus leaves the exhilarating experience of the baptism with its positive manifestations to retreat into the wilderness, there tested and tempted by Satan who is the very essence of everything God opposes. The personification of evil opposes the fact that the Father wants to love the world through Jesus. Satan wants Jesus to use his power to become a dictator force obliterating every aspect of goodness.
Lloyd Ogilvie comments, “We begin the Christian life with the liberating experience of God’s grace penetrating to the depth of our souls. But he does not leave us there. The wilderness temptation follows as surely as night follows day . . . He will not leave us half-healed; excited but unchanged. He knows that unless we are liberated at the core we cannot stay alive. We cannot live anew life with old values, motives and attitudes. God wants more than a foot in the door of our hearts; he wants to come live in us and take complete control of our total being.”2
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Through the temptations of life I can have victory through Jesus Christ and the life I live will have substance . . . quality of living!
III. The Substance of my worship is a testimony of God in my life. Mark 1:14-15.
The Scripture moves from the temptation scene to Galilee. The preceding events of this chapter move the reader from the baptism to the temptation to the main event . . . the testimony of truth that the messiah is now present and repentance and belief are necessary for a life of ultimate substance — Salvation! The components of salvation include:
a. The good news of truth. Until Jesus came people guessed and groped after God, but when Jesus came they could know God in his fullness.
b. The good news of hope. Defeatism and pessimism rules, but when Jesus comes he brings hope to life through victory and a positive outlook for eternity. Henri Nouwen wrote, “The person of hope lives in the moment with the knowledge and trust that all of life is in good hands.”3
c. The good news of peace. “Peace is not the absence of tension; it is the presence of Jesus.” (Jarrell W. Garsee).4
d. The good news of promise. Jesus is ready to give his word to us, but we must be ready to accept it.
e. The good news of eternal life. As the old Richard and Karen Carpentar song says, “We’ve only just begun.” Christians understand that we are marching to eternal life that lasts forever!
f. The good news of salvation. It is life that is victoriously lived over conquered sin.
g. The good news is truly a testimony to God.
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Sermon brief provided by: Derl Keefer, Adult Development Ministries Coordinator in the Sunday School Department, Nazarene World Headquarters, Kansas City, MO
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NOTES
1. C.B.F. Hallock, Five Thousand Best Modern Illustrations (New York: Richard Smith, Inc., 1931), 758.
2. Lloyd Ogilvie, Life Without Limits (Waco: Word Books, 1975), 26.
3. Wallis Metts, editor, Inspiration for Daily Living (Lincolnville, Illinois: Publications International, LTD, 1999), 17.
4. Come Ye Apart Magazine (Kansas City: Nazarene Publishing House, December-February, 1997-1998), 31.