Remember Where You Come From

Luke 3:21 – 4:13

Growing up as a preacher’s son, I’ve moved around a lot.  Alton is the longest I’ve ever lived in one place.  When people ask me where I’m from, it feels like a complicated answer.  I usually just tell them of the place where I went to high school and met my wife then go on to share about my parents and where they grew up.  There is a lot more to the story of my origins and the people that have shaped me into the man I am today.  But the start for me and each of you actually goes back much further.  Mine is a story that has less to do with geography than it does with flesh and blood and Spirit.

In our focal text this week, we see Jesus at His baptism praying when a voice comes from heaven saying “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”  It’s notable that this truth is announced and known before we hear anything about Jesus beginning His ministry.  At the end of our focal text, we see Jesus being vigorously tempted to sin by the devil and resisting by being full of the Holy Spirit and knowing God’s Word.  Oh, how much that voice from heaven must’ve meant to Jesus as He remembered it in those wilderness moments.  In the middle of our focal text, we read about Jesus’ lineage and we see that Jesus is a son of Adam – a human being like us that will wrestle with fleshly desires yet overcome every time unlike us.  Oh, how much that voice from heaven must’ve meant to Jesus in all these things to remember who He is as the Son of God when the lies cast doubt. 

In our lives, we are tempted in alluring ways by the devil and the world’s lies.  We too easily forget just how much we need the true Word of God.  Several years ago, I heard people much wiser than me describe sin as boiling down to 4 source idols and it has rung pretty true for me.  Those source idols are comfort, power, control, and approval.  They come at us when we are not satisfied by the Word of God.  All of our deepest desires are satisfied in knowing Jesus for who He really is and what He really does.  Yet there are still times when we try to find satisfaction apart from Him.  Like manna to the people in Israel, we need to freshly hear and receive God’s Word in our lives each and everyday to overcome any lies and live for the glory of God.  The foundational lie is that we are our own creation.  But the truth of God’s Word is here to remind us where we come from as beloved sons and daughters of God so that we can trust Him to provide what is best for us.  We have every security in Jesus Christ.  Oh, how much that voice from heaven to Jesus still means for us today!  May we remember where we’ve come from so that when we struggle in our flesh, we will overcome by the power of His Spirit in our testimony to trust in the perfect blood of God’s Lamb.

Grateful & Hopeful in Christ,

Jon