Comparison and Competition

Over the past several months, I have found a tendency in my life to compare myself with other Christians. I’ve taken the picture of the Christian life as a race and run with it (excuse the cheesy pun). I’ve turned this life into a race where I’m competing with other Christians to finish the race first.

“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.” – I Corinthians 9:24 (NASB)

This verse has been the catchphrase for VBS as well as many a motivational sermon. I have to wonder if Paul is experiencing life at a different level than we have. What is he trying to win? Is it salvation? Is it favor? I know for years this verse has scared me into doing more so that I can maintain my salvation, or create good standing with God. Even though I know by standing with Him is safe, I don’t want to risk getting to the end and have Him turn to me with a look of disapproval and tell me I wasn’t fast enough. So I run faster, I preach louder, I pray harder… and I burn out.

How does Paul not burn out? His motivation has to be something other than fear as mine often is. All through I Corinthians 8 & 9, Paul describes the lengths he goes to to share the gospel. He describes the rights he gives up so as to not be a stumbling block to any. I don’t see fear in Paul’s writing as he describes the reward he receives. He isn’t fighting to maintain salvation or good standing. I believe he is living from a place of fully affirmed identity in Christ.

“What then is the [actual] reward that I get? Just this: that in my preaching the good news (the Gospel), I may offer it [absolutely] free of expense [to anybody], not taking advantage of my rights and privileges [as a preacher] of the Gospel. For although I am free in every way from anyone’s control, I have made myself a bond servant to everyone, so that I might gain the more [for Christ].” –I Corinthians 9:18,19 (AMP)

Paul has found his passion. Paul says that his reward is that he may present the Gospel free to everybody. When your reward is the very work that you do, you’ve found your passion. When I was wrestling through this picture of life as a marathon here is Jesus’ response to me:

“Stop living your life like it’s a race where you’re competing with other Christians to finish first. You’re not designed to hold back others. The ‘race’ is all about knowing me. Knowing I’ve finished everything. The end goal isn’t Heaven, it’s the cross. The goal of finish line is rest, not death.”

So operating under the idea that the prize is not salvation or heaven, we find that the appeal Paul is making is to grasp the fullness of the cross. The Amplified version puts the end of I Corinthians 9:24 like this: “…that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours.”

Paul is urging his brothers and sisters, just as he still urges us today to lay hold of this gracious revelation of the cross so that in it we might find our passion. Paul isn’t urging competition in the church to motivate us to do better, he is calling us to be the God breathed intricate magnificent creations that we were made to be.

In Switzerland, I had the opportunity to take a week long bike trip across the country (no big deal). One of my favorite moments on the whole trip was when our trip leader Frans (who was an absolute biking stud) would come back from the top of a grueling hill and begin pushing (literally pushing) those that were in the back up the hill. For Frans, this trip wasn’t about flexing his muscles and proving he was able to finish first. Frans had done this before. Frans had the revelation of the finish line and his goal was now to get others to the finish line. May we receive the full revelation of the cross and be empowered to bike back down the hill to bring others into the truth and grace of Jesus Christ.

The Renovation is Complete

Those are the words I heard Him whisper to me as I was lying in bed the other night. “The renovation is complete.” After hearing that, I caught a glimpse of a house. I saw the huge living room with a two-story high ceiling and a wall of windows looking outside. To the right I could make out a loft area with a kitchen beneath it. It was an awesome house. So much of it is what I want in a house. Then I heard Him say, “It doesn’t matter what the house used to be like. The renovation is complete.”

So what do you do with a house that’s been completely paid off and completely renovated? Well, you enjoy it! You don’t look around for things to make it better. It’s finished. Everything you want in a house is there. So, you go plop down in your newly furnished living room and take a nap. That’s what I would do.

Then I heard Jesus say, “This isn’t just your house, this is you. Come rest in who you are.” There was nothing to be done. I was just free to lie down on the couch and take a nap. It feels so unproductive, yet isn’t it what we want? I’ve spent the past fifteen years of my life trying to do renovations on my house. Satan has been there putting in his two cents on the project too:

“Oh, Ryan, people won’t like that room, let’s lock that door. Oh, those windows let people see in too easily, lets pull the curtains. Those colors are too bold, let’s cover those up with this wallpaper. That fire is dangerous, you might burn your whole house down, let’s put that out.”

And I’ve listened. I’ve pulled the curtains, covered up the colorful walls, put out the fire, and locked the doors to the rooms I don’t think other people will like. And what I’ve come out with is a bunker instead of a home that is “safe” but also terribly boring. I’ve created a toned down version of myself that fits in. But the problem is I wasn’t made to look like everybody else. My relationship with God wasn’t designed to look like yours. My strengths aren’t the same as your strengths. My house looks different than yours.

Satan’s suggestions have been subtle, but directed attacks on my identity. They have been attempts to clip my wings and stamp out my passion. He has tried to rob me of my place as a son in the Kingdom. Try as he might though, my place in the Kingdom isn’t up for grabs. My identity isn’t hanging in the balance. I’ve been hidden in Christ and He’s been hidden in me. It’s a union that is spectacularly irreversible.

In the past several months, Jesus has been walking around taking down the blinds, relighting the fire in the fireplace, tearing down the wallpaper, and unlocking the doors to the places I’ve long held shut-up. And as He walks around, He looks at me with a smile that melts my shame and says, “Child, I love these windows. I chose those colors just for you. You love that fireplace. Oh, and that room that you’ve locked up, that’s one of my favorites.” There’s nothing for Him to fix in the house, just places to be uncovered.

So in this season Jesus has not been calling me forward to a place of newness; He’s been calling me backwards to the cross where newness was made complete. So wherever satan has told you to pull the curtains, I dare you to let the Son in. Your renovation is complete.

Glory

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in my sight and I have known you by name.’ Then Moses said, ‘I pray You, show me Your Glory!’ –Exodus 33:17,18

       

The glory of God is often times such a vague, distant term. When Moses asked God to show him His glory, God responds by saying, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you…” (Exodus 33:19). God’s glory is the fullness of His goodness. Often it is taught that the reason we were created is to glorify God. In the context that it is most often used, I completely disagree with that statement. It is often used to mean “giving credit to God.” God did not design you to give credit to Him. He didn’t create mankind so that we could tell Him how awesome He is. You were purely and solely designed to experience the fullness of His goodness. The way we experience that is only through relationship with Him.

                

Moses’ cry was not for God to show Him how awesome He was so He could go tell everyone. Moses was simply acting on the innate desire that all humans have to experience the fullness of God’s goodness, to experience His glory. Look what happens after Moses has an encounter with the glory of God:

                

“It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him.” –Exodus 34:29

                

The only way glorify God is for you to experience it, and when you experience it your face glows with His glory. Glorifying God is not a submissive obedience where you agree to tell everyone you know about His goodness (a goodness that many of us have never experienced). It isn’t giving credit where credit is due. It is experiencing His goodness and letting your face and your life shine with the goodness that is His glory!

                

“So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.” – Exodus 34:30

                

When we walk in the constant goodness of God and our lives begin to glow, it’s going to frighten people. God’s goodness invokes fear in many of us because it breaks down our defenses that we’ve worked so hard to build up. These defenses are often based on feelings of not being good enough and in places where we haven’t measured up so we believe we don’t deserve His goodness. Let me tell you though that God’s goodness has never been about us deserving it. Adam and Eve were created in His goodness to enjoy His goodness. God begins pouring His goodness on you before you even have a chance to screw it up. Adam and Eve chose independence, claiming that if they could know what was right and wrong, they could help God out, therefore earning and deserving His goodness.

Our fleshly response to God’s goodness is always one of striving and effort. His goodness is so far beyond everything that we deserve in ourselves that we strive to somehow balance His goodness with our service. Let me assure you that no amount of service will even budge the scales in your favor. His goodness is infinite and your service is finite. Your good works are only a drop in the ocean of His grace and goodness. By claiming independence and the ability to earn God’s favor, we actually demean God’s glory by trying to contain it to something feasible and attainable.

The wonderful kicker of it all is that on the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished.” Once and for all God destroyed the battle between your goodness and His. At the cross, God caused the fullness of His goodness to be placed in you, so that rather than striving for a goodness of your own, you now carry His glory and His goodness.

                

“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.” – John 17:22,23

                

Do you see it? Jesus is the full outpouring of God’s goodness. Christ in you is the hope of glory.

                

“…that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” – Colossians 1:26,27

                

God’s goodness is found fully in Jesus who lives in you. So are we designed to glorify God? Absolutely. But, glorifying God is not giving Him credit or worshipping Him. Don’t hear me wrong, giving God credit and worship are good things, but they are not first and foremost your purpose in life. They are the natural outflowing of having God’s glory fully present in you. Christ in you is the hope of glory. He is the fullness of glory. So rather than trying to figure out ways to glorify God with your life, rest in the truth that He has already been fully glorified in you at the cross and enjoy the ride that is sure to follow!

               

                

Obedience

Obedience is an effect, not a cause. Many Christians (including myself) have lived as though obedience were the cause. Certainly we wouldn’t claim obedience brings salvation, but what about a good life? What about a good relationship with God? Obedience is not a catalyst that brings change in your relationship with God, relationship with God is a catalyst that brings change in your obedience. I firmly believe that if you live your life with the idea that obedience has any effect on your relationship with God, you will live absent of peace, joy, and the abundant life of rest that Christ came for. I can say that, because that’s how I’ve lived most of my life, and for the majority of life I’ve lived striving for something I’ve already been given.

As I was growing up, my obedience came from wanting to avoid consequences. Disobedience was the cause that brought about a negative effect. If I started fighting with Luke, maybe I would have to go to my room. At school, if I pulled a friends chair out from underneath them (sorry Hannah) I had to move my clothespin. At college, if I study hard I get good grades. It’s a pretty simple system. Do good, get good. Do bad, get bad. So isn’t that how God relates to us? Sow obedience; reap good relationship. Sow disobedience; reap ‘not-so-good’ relationship. Sorry, but that’s Buddhism. God doesn’t operate under a system of Karma. At salvation you received His Righteousness in Christ Jesus, and God now is only able to relate to you according to His Righteousness that has been given to you. He cannot relate to you according to your sin because He has once and for all dealt with sin at the cross.

But doesn’t God desire our obedience in response to our salvation? This idea has permeated our thinking saying that obedience is the thing God desires most. It’s not. You are. You are the object of the His affection. You are His beloved. Just as a husband desires his bride, so Christ desires you. As you strive for obedience, you are like the wife that lives her life only to serve her husband rather than to spend time with him. If the husband wanted a maid, he could have hired one. He wanted a bride though, and as the bride of Christ, His call to you today is one of intimacy not of service. And beyond that, His call to intimacy isn’t a precursor to His call for obedience. His motivation for intimacy is for intimacy. He desires relationship for relationship. He has no ulterior motives. To live as a slave is to mock the cross of Christ. He did not die on the cross to receive a mob of slaves, but to receive His beloved bride.

Am I saying that obedience should not be a point of focus in your life? Yes. An obedience focused life is one not focused on Christ. Growing up, we learn a system where obedience brings rewards and disobedience reaps punishment. The purpose of this system is first and foremost protection, not relationship. As a child if I have no punishment for running out in the street, I will continue to run out into the street. Once again, this system isn’t designed first and foremost for relationship.

As I’ve grown up and I’ve come out of a rewards/punishment based system, my parents have become two of my best friends. The purpose of the ‘karma’ based system was to protect me and bring me to relationship. The law was there to protect me when I was a child. Now that I’ve grown up I don’t need this law to protect me and I’m free to walk in intimate relationship with my parents. And I can tell you this; there are no two people that I respect more now because I know them as friends. When they ask me to do something, it is no longer even a choice, it just happens. Beyond that, they rarely have to ask, because I know what blesses them. I become free to pour that out on them because I love them, not because I want to earn favor or rewards. It is not me trying to obey for relationship. It’s intimate relationship expressing itself in love.

“But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” – Galatians 3:23-27

God’s doesn’t want you close to Him so He can order you around easily. He wants you sitting on His lap because there is nothing He loves more than having your head leaning up against His chest, just resting. When you feel the way His heart beats for you, you become free to love Him back. I would make a claim that obedience isn’t hearing and doing, but knowing and resting. If you can keep yourself from doing it, it’s not Christ living through you, it’s you striving for something you already have. Jesus didn’t have to fight with Himself to heal the sick and raise the dead. His twelve disciples couldn’t have held Him back from raising Lazarus from the dead because His desires were one with the Father’s desires and His desires burn far brighter than the desires of your flesh. When you walk in relationship with the God of the universe, your Spirit comes alive and puts to death the desires of your flesh, so that obedience is no longer a choice, but an expression of something much deeper.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” – Galatians 5:16

Self-Effort

“The secret is that grace deactivates our pride. Removing the law from our lives means our self-effort is no longer prodded to control behavior. The law excites human effort. It encourages us to depend on resources outside of Christ. But unconditional acceptance deactivates human effort and allows the Holy Spirit to be all that he wants to be through us.” – The Naked Gospel

I have lived so much of my life with this unsaid understanding that God was so upset that I couldn’t measure up that in His frustration He sent Jesus so He didn’t have to be frustrated all the time. Ridiculous, I know, but I would challenge you to think about what you see as the Father’s reason for sending Jesus. I would dare to say that a large majority of the church lives with a skewed view of the Father.

The original sin in the garden was not that we couldn’t measure up. It wasn’t that we failed to be good enough. It was that we tried. We chose self-effort over rest. We chose performance over relationship. We chose knowledge over intimacy.

Adam and Eve’s plea may sound noble, “Wow think how good we could be if we knew what was good and what was evil. We could do everything right then. God would really love us then.” Did you know you weren’t designed to know right and wrong? You weren’t designed to know that murder was wrong. Do you know why?

One of the best illustrations I’ve heard is one of two glass buildings. Two young boys are walking down the street and pass the first one without a second thought. When they come up to the second glass building they see a sign with bold letters that says, “Do not throw rocks at glass building.” Well you can imagine what happens next. It didn’t take them two seconds to find the biggest rock around at chuck it through the glass building.

In the same way Paul writes:

“What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.” – Romans 8:7-8

So why would God institute a law, when without the law sin is dead. It seems insane. How could a good God create something that gives sin an opportunity? It lies in our choice. If God had wanted robots, He would have created us without choice, but also without relationship. Have you ever tried talking to your computer? It typically isn’t a very meaningful conversation (neglecting Apple’s SIRI). God didn’t want computers though, He wanted friends. God didn’t want slaves He wanted children. So instead of programming us, He gave us the right to choose. In the garden we asked God to program us instead. We chose self-effort. We wanted to know how to handle a situation before it came up. If situation a, b, and c are true, then respond with action a.

It turns out programming doesn’t work real well on anything other than a computer or a robot. Seeing as we are neither of those, when we chose to know right and wrong instead of knowing God, we chose failure. You weren’t designed to succeed on your own. That is a huge shot to our pride, but a huge relief in the grand scheme of things. You aren’t a failure for not being able to follow the law. You were never intended to.

Andrew Farley poses this question in “The Naked Gospel”, “Many agree that the ceremonial law, restricting everything from diet to wardrobe, is not for Christians today. Indeed, few Christians attempt to follow those regulations. But should Christians still look to the Ten Commandments as their moral guide? The Ten Commandments are a ministry of death.

“But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.” -2 Corinthians 3:7-9

I want to go back to why the law was created. It wasn’t created to give us a chance to perform for righteousness. It wasn’t God’s “Plan A” that failed so He sent Jesus. Jesus was always the plan and the law was part of that plan. Adam and Eve chose self-effort in the garden and we have been choosing it ever since. The law came so that we would recognize the futility of our own performance. The law came to show us our inability to measure up. People still weren’t getting it when Jesus came on the scene. This is when Jesus shows the purpose of the law:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.” – Matthew 5:27-30

Jesus is speaking to people under the Law. Jesus is saying, “Let me show you what my righteousness truly requires, and see if you still think you can really perform for it?” We had to understand the futility of our own attempts and lay down our prideful self-righteousness, before we could accept Jesus death on our behalf. As long as you can do it on your own, you don’t need Jesus.

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.” – Galatians 5:1-3

You don’t need Jesus when you can keep the law. Paul is speaking to the Galatians who had accepted Christ’s freedom and righteousness, yet found themselves faced with the Law. The law is much easier to accept than Christ, because the goodness of Christ far supersedes what you believe you deserve. After accepting grace, they had returned to self-effort for righteousness. I hear them saying, “Well God wiped our slate clean, but now we have to be circumcised to stay clean.” I’ve lived with that idea for most of my life. God wiped my slate clean, and now I have to make sure it stays clean. God didn’t clean your slate, He took it away.

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – II Corinthians 5:21

You are the righteousness of God in Christ. That isn’t a temporary thing that is maintained by the Law. You are dead to the law and alive to Christ (Romans 7:4-6).

Here is the key to all of this. You have to understand that the law that you are dead to is so much for than the 600+ laws in the Old Testament. The law you are dead to is the law of sin, the law of self-effort. The institution of the law was so that we could see the futility of our own attempts and to stop trying. Regardless of how many good Christian principles you apply to your life, they will never bring life.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” – John 10:10

The abundant life Jesus came to bring isn’t one of principles, rules, and behavior modification. You will never apply enough principles, follow enough rules, or modify your behavior enough to bring life. Jesus is the life He came to bring. I’m done striving on my own, trying to satisfy my God who is already completely satisfied with me. Where do I stand with Him? I am His righteousness in Christ Jesus. No longer am I a failure. Unable to succeed by myself, I’ve completely succeeded in my Jesus.

Source of Identity

Identity, identity, identity. It’s a word I’ve heard repeatedly in the last two years, increasingly in the last year. At first it sounded like a fancy Biblical term for something I didn’t get, but the more I understand about identity, the more I find it is incredibly central to God’s heart for me. So, what exactly is identity?

Identity is defined as “the distinguishing character or personality of an individual.” In the past year God has been repeatedly speaking into my life about how awesome I am. I know what you’re thinking, “Ryan has gone off the deep end, let’s take a moment to pray for him, pride is ruling in his life.” Spare the prayers, and let me elaborate. Most of us live a life focused so much on our failure that we never walk in the victory Jesus won at the cross. Several thousand years ago, God sent the Israelites a law that showed them how inadequate they were to live up to God’s expectations. A couple thousand years ago, God sent His Son to show us how adequate His Son was to live up to His expectations. Then in a turn no one really expected, God offered us that adequacy in His Son, Jesus.

So to say that you’re a failure, a loser, a liar, a sinner, is demeaning the cross of Christ. Kris Vallotton says it like this, “How does demeaning the painting glorify the painter? How does demeaning the creation glorify the creator?” Where do we find an identity that isn’t a failing losing lying sinner? We find it at the cross.

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” – Galatians 2:20

Here Paul is reminding us that we no longer identify with our failing losing lying sinning self, because we identify in both his crucifixion and his resurrection. We were made alive to Christ. We were restored into the fellowship that we were designed to walk in. No longer based on our sinful self’s attempt to be righteous, but through Christ’s perfect life and righteousness that has been given to us.

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Corinthians 5: 21

“So that we might become the righteousness of God in Him…” This isn’t a ‘sinner saved by grace’ mentality. Yes we were sinners, and we are saved by grace. But we no longer identify with our sin; we are identified instead with His righteousness.

I’ve heard this message repeatedly, but the question I continue to struggle with is this, “Am I really good? I’ve heard so long that I’m worthless.”

So this morning instead of ignoring it, I let God answer. As He often does, He took me back to the garden to see what His original design for us was. Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden. There was perfect relationship and that was enough for them. Their identity was totally wrapped up in their relationship with God. It wasn’t until they sinned that they had anything else to identify with. After sinning, they broke relationship with their best friend, their lover, and their God, and became “sinners.” There is no relating to God when we are identified with sin. If you have accepted Christ into your life, you are no longer a sinner. The Christian is no longer identified with His sin, but identified with His Savior.

So as was His original design, I’m no longer identified by my own actions, but I am identified by my Savior. I no longer live as a single man, but one totally intertwined with Christ. We are no longer separate entities that I can say, “I’m bad, but Christ is good.” To say I’m bad is to say Christ is bad, and to say Christ is good is to say I’m good.

“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” – Colossians 3:3

Stop trying to separate yourself from Christ. At the cross He forever joined you to Him, hidden in Him. Let yourself realize how awesome you now are because you’re in Jesus.  When the Father looks at you He sees Christ and when He looks at Christ He sees you. As John Eldridge puts it, “You are not your sin; sin is no longer the truest thing about the man who has come into union with Jesus. Your heart is good.” As long as you identify with your sin, you will live as though you’re a sinner. When we truly learn to identify with Christ, we will together with Christ leave an impact on the world that hasn’t happened in 2000 years.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” – John 14:12

Truth Trumps Temptations

For the past year or so, my quiet times have consisted mostly of journaling, listening to worship music, and the occasional Bible reading. I discovered last year that by forcing myself to read my Bible every morning I was actually distancing myself from Daddy, because I was doing it to appease Him, to force Him to bless me and grow me. So last year I gave up Bible reading for my quiet times and I saw an incredible growth in my relationship with Him. Growth didn’t come from setting down my Bible; it came from setting down my religious idea that told me reading my Bible was required for relationship.

                

Through that, God has begun stirring up a desire to dive into my Bible on occasion, where I will sit down and read the story of Joseph, or read through Galatians. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does I find it is incredibly refreshing. In the past week God has been challenging me to renew my mind by filling it with His words. So this morning, not out of obligation, but out of desire I dove into Matthew.  I wanted to see how Jesus lived from His relationship with Dad. I didn’t make it very far before God started bringing revelation. I came to the temptations of Jesus and couldn’t move past without processing, thus this note I’m writing.

                

I’ve heard several teachings on the temptations of Jesus recently, but the one thing that really stands out is how immediately after Jesus is baptized He is taken into the wilderness to be tempted. As Jesus comes out of the water, Daddy affirms His identity:

“After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in who I am well-pleased.’” – Matthew 3:16-17                

Jesus’ sonship was affirmed by His Daddy. This is the place God wants to bring us all to before sending us out. Many of us try to dive into our ministry before knowing our place as sons. I’m not saying God won’t work in ministry before you know your place as royalty in the Kingdom, but I do think you miss out on a lot of the life and freedom God has for you to walk in. As soon as Jesus’ identity was affirmed, it was attacked and tested. Don’t think satan doesn’t want to steal from you the affirmation that you receive from God. But also don’t think that God won’t use satan’s attacks to assure you even more of your place as a Son of the King.

                

Satan attacks Jesus at three places: His focus, His identity as Lord, and His loyalty to the Father. Satan attacks Jesus at His very basic needs first, testing if He truly knows that the physical realm is a sub-plot to the spiritual realm. Jesus responds by saying:

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)

Jesus confirms that He knows His physical needs are not ultimate. Satan attacks there first because it is our most vulnerable point. It is so easy for us to get caught up in the physical and I believe that is also why God affirms that first.

                  

The next attack comes at His identity. Satan comes at Him saying:

"If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down…” –Matthew 4:6

Do you know your identity? How sure are you of being God’s son? I think after God moves us from the physical to the spiritual; He takes us into our place as sons, our royalty.  Many Christians never move past physical temptation because they never realize the truth that the physical realm is a shadow of the spiritual realm. When we do begin to gain power over physical temptations and turn our focus to the spiritual, our identity takes center stage. God begins affirming who we are in Him, as sons and royalty in His kingdom. Satan also begins attacking at that place, reminding you of your past, trying to get you to identify with your sin rather than with your Savior. I think this is the place that so many Christians get burnt out. We move out of the physical into the spiritual only to find the battle intensified and the wounds deeper. The wounds of identity run deepest because they pull us back from the heart of the Father. When you identify with your sins rather than your Savior, you pull back from the Father because you find yourself dirty and worthless. You will never rest in the Father’s arms as long as you see yourself being unworthy of His love. This is why God affirmed His identity as a Son before sending Him into the desert.

                  

The final attack came on Jesus’ loyalty to the Father:

“All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” – Matthew 4:9              

Notice that the attack on loyalty comes after the attack on identity. Royalty bestows loyalty. I find that I have lived most of my life trying to be loyal to a God that I haven’t known as Father. The amount of loyalty you have to God the Father is dependent on the amount of revelation of identity you’ve experienced in your life. I don’t see God calling Jesus to obedience before He solidifies Jesus’ identity as a Son.  Obedience without identity brings burn-out and a twisted view of the Father. I think too many times we rush into ministry because the world needs us without first finding out who we are. That is the place where we have ministry focused on performance rather than on love. We are trying to earn our place in the Kingdom rather than living and loving from the place we already have.

“Then the devil left Him...” – Matthew 4:11                  

I see satan running away here, not in frustration but in fear. Satan knows He is beaten, because Jesus was secure in His focus, His identity, and His loyalty. I believe this is the place that we start our ministry from. This is the place where we go on the offensive. Jesus moves into ministry immediately out of this place as satan tucks tail and runs to get away from this Son of the King.

                  

Satan doesn’t know what to do with someone who the physical has lost power over, who knows their sonship, and who is loyal to the King of Kings.