When Resistance is not Futile

By:  Dale Weckbacher

James 4:7

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

NKJV

For those of you who are Star Trek fans, the Borg philosophy that resistance is futile is familiar.  For those of you who are not fans, let me explain. 

The Borg is an alien race who all rally around a collective of thought and purpose.  They resemble Democrat and Republican drones that rally around their party establishment’s agenda.  One of the things all of the Borg say is “Resistance is futile.” 

This campaign is becoming a campaign of insurgent candidates who dare to resist the agenda of borgish party establishments.  Candidates like Trump, Cruz, Carson, and even to some extent Bernie Sanders are leading establishment candidates in polls, striking terror in the hearts of Democrat and Republican establishments.  Their fear is the current resistance is not going to be futile and may cause them to lose their power.

Jesus came to earth to bring us salvation through his death on the cross, followed by his glorious resurrection.  In the course of his ministry, Jesus resisted the religious establishment of his time but the most important resistance in the ministry of Jesus was his resistance of the devil at the very start of his ministry.

Matthew 4:1-11 records this initial encounter with Satan and provides us lessons on what to resist and how resistance becomes effective and not futile. 

1)      Resisting the lust of the flesh (Matthew 4:1-4) – After fasting forty days, Jesus was extremely hungry.  Granted Jesus is the Son of God and God Himself (John 1:1); however, his fleshly yearning for food at this point meant that the temptation to create food from the rocks was very real.  However, had Jesus commanded the rocks to become bread, he would have lost all connection with the people he came to save who did not have the ability to perform such a miracle.  Instead, Jesus demonstrates fortitude by resisting his fleshly yearning for food and quotes from Deuteronomy 8:3 reminding Satan that it is more important to partake of the Word of God and live in obedience to it than to satisfy the yearnings of the flesh.  In our daily lives, we encounter many temptations of the flesh that would satisfy our fleshly hunger; however, this satisfaction is only temporary.  Long-term satisfaction only comes through resisting lusts of the flesh and obedience to the Word of God.

2)      Resisting the pride of life (Matthew 4:5-7) – After resisting the temptation of the flesh, Satan takes Jesus up to the pinnacle of the Temple and asks Jesus to throw himself off so everyone could see the angels come down and rescue Him.  As the Son of God and God Himself, Jesus could have performed this miracle in the eyes of everyone and no doubt, the people would have proclaimed him King.  However, Jesus mission in his first coming was to bring salvation from sin to everyone and had he prematurely established His earthly Kingdom, we would be relegated to permanent death in our sins.  In this election year we will hear numerous egotistical advertisements from candidates touting to be the answer to all the world’s problems.  We have just experienced seven years of narcissistic leadership from the Obama Administration promising hope and change to solve all of the world’s problems, only to see it fail.  This is the main reason I am supporting Cruz this election for I see in him a heart that understands the only answer to all of our problems is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and that he is only a tool to lead those that would elect him to office.

3)      Resisting the lust of the eyes (Matthew 4:8-11) – The final temptation targets the lust of the eyes.  Jesus knows that he will ascend to the throne and establish His kingdom here on earth.  However, before that he must suffer death by crucifixion and resurrection demonstrating His mastery over death in order to rid our hearts of sin.  With this final temptation, Satan is targeting Jesus fleshly desire to circumvent His death by showing him what he will be ruling over and prematurely giving it to Him.  Satan had the power to do this for when Adam and Eve sinned; they did hand over the keys of this planet to Satan.  Thankfully, However, Jesus resisted this lust of the eyes for had he made a pact with Satan to achieve his Kingdom instead of following His Father’s plan; we would be relegated to eternal death in our sins.  In our daily lives, our eyes are constantly bombarded with temptations and in this election year, they will be bombarded with advertisements from candidates seeking our vote.  We must, as Jesus did, resist these temptations and live lives that please God and vote for candidates supporting Godly values. 

Thankfully, Jesus resisted these temptations and went on the fulfill Genesis 3:15, bruising the serpent, Satan’s head on the cross.  James 4:7 reminds us as believers to continue resisting the devil as Christ did, reminding us that when we do, the Devil will flee from us.  This is why we as believers in Jesus Christ must continue resisting the slide of our cultures and nations to anti-Godly philosophies, encouraging them to return to Godly principles, which have a proven track record.