The story of the Bible begins with God creating a beautiful world and then
sharing it with all of his creatures.
And he appoints Adam and Eve to rule it on his behalf.
And God gives them access to his wisdom and life but then tells them that
there’s one tree they can’t eat from because it will lead to death.
So they have a choice about how to rule with God.
This kind of feels like a test.
Well, that’s because it is a test.
But isn’t that kind of cruel for God to test them?
Well, not all tests are bad.
Let’s say there’s a king who chooses you to fulfill
a royal task because he wants to know if you are trustworthy.
Well, I guess that’s a test, but really it’s an opportunity to do something important
and noble.
Right.
But then let’s say there’s a rebel who hates the king and you, and he
tries to convince you that you would be better off not doing what the king
asks.
Well, the rebel is setting a trap.
Right, so a test could be an opportunity or a trap.
And the difference is whether the one testing you has your best
interest in mind.
I see.
And both types of tests appear in the beginning of the Bible.
God tells them to eat of the tree of life and not the
forbidden tree.
Yeah.
This is God’s test of loyalty.
God wants to rule the world with humans as his partners, which means they will need
to trust his wisdom over their own.
But then a rebel comes and tests them to eat of that other tree.2
Right.
The rebel seizes this opportunity and twists it, so he can lead the
humans into exile and ultimately death.
He turns the test into a trap.
But after the humans fail, God promises that one day a human will come
who will pass the test and defeat the snake.
And as the story moves on, God gives a couple, named Abraham and Sarah,
an opportunity to trust him by leaving their family behind to go to
a new land, where God will use them to restore his blessing to all people.
So this is a test.
And at first things go well, but Abraham quickly fails.
He lies to protect himself, and then he and Sarah scheme to get a son their own way by
abusing one of their servants.
Definitely not passing the test.
But God doesn’t give up on Abraham.
He gives him one final opportunity, a test to prove his loyalty.
God asks Abraham to go up onto a hill and offer
his son as a sacrifice.
I can’t imagine a more intense test.
And Abraham does it.
But in the last moment, God stops him and provides
a substitute animal in the place of his son.
God then says he will fulfill his promise through Abraham’s family because
he passed this test.
So Abraham passed this test, but he hasn’t proven to be a fully trustworthy
partner.
We’re still waiting for someone who can pass the ultimate test.
Yeah, and as the family of Abraham grows and becomes a nation, God continues to test them.
Like when the Israelites wander in the wilderness for forty years.
They have lots of opportunities to trust in God to provide water or daily
bread.
But they instead blame God and even say that he trapped them in the desert to kill them.
And so the rest of Israel’s story in the Hebrew Scriptures is pretty much the
same.
The Israelites don’t trust in God and his promise.
They’re not loyal, and eventually the whole nation fails.
So humans have an amazing opportunity to partner with God, but no one
is really qualified.
And so all of this brings us forward to Jesus.
There’s a story where Jesus goes into the wilderness for forty day and forty
nights without food or water.
Ah yes, the wilderness!
And there he meets a sinister creature who tries to
trap him.
But Jesus trusts in God’s wisdom.
And he passes the test.
Then later there’s a story about Jesus going to pray with some friends, and
God commissions him to go up to Jerusalem and give up his life.
And so he goes.
And on the night of his arrest, Jesus took his friends and
went to a garden.
And he told them to pray because tonight, he said, is “the great test.”
And he prayed to God, “Please let this test pass from me.
But not my desire; rather, may your desire be done.”
In this garden, Jesus shows us what passing the test looks like.
He trusted in God’s wisdom, he loved others more than
himself, and he confronted evil with good.
Even though it cost him his life.
Right.
Jesus offered his own life as a sacrifice to cover for all of the failed
tests of his people Israel and of all humanity.
Jesus passed the ultimate test on behalf of us all.
This is amazing, but that doesn’t mean everything is going to be great in our
lives.
I mean, let’s be honest.
We’re going to face our own tests every day.
Right.
Jesus said every generation of his followers would have their own
tests that will force them to trust God in radical new ways.
And these tests can be difficult and often painful.
But remember, a test from a good God is an opportunity.
This is why James, a leader in the early Jesus movement, said
that we should be grateful when we face tests and trials because they offer
us a gift.
It’s an opportunity to surrender to God’s wisdom and to become
more like Jesus, the one who loved us and who passed the test on our behalf.