Incarnate Jesus allowed himself to be led by the Holy Spirit to the desert. He took the spiritual battle into the desert of enemy territory. His body was very weak from 40 days of fasting. The Book of Luke records:
“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him,
“If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
But Jesus answered him, saying,
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”
Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him,
“All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
And Jesus answered and said to him,
“Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him,
“If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”
Luke 4:1-12
Satan’s temptation of Jesus was textbook enemy strategy.
Satan tempted Jesus with “the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life.” (1 John 2:16) My friend, we need to know his strategy so we are ALWAYS one step ahead of him. In the Basic Bible Concept video on Spiritual Warfare, we learned the strategies of the enemy. Satan is an immoral adversary. He has no rules, and he has one goal:
To prevent humanity from reconciling to God, knowing His goodness, and from glorifying Him.
The gloves are off—he uses the same strategy against us that he used against Jesus.
What are Satan’s strategies against humanity?
- Deception: Satan knows the TRUTH about GOD will attract people so he deceives people about WHO God really is. Genesis 3: 1-6
- Seduction: He knows sin destroys us and turns us away from God: Satan draws us to live “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” Ephesians 2:2-3
- False religions: Any belief that deviates from God’s Word. “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” 2 Corinthians 11:12-15
- Force and intimidation: We should expect this from a world culture dominated by our enemy because “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus WILL suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12
Satan first appealed to the legitimate physical hunger of Jesus. And although Jesus was likely starving; He was full of the Spirit.
We are often just the opposite—full stomachs and empty spirits.
Satan also tempted Jesus with the pride of life. Ah, my friend, pride is sneaky. The pride of our life is reflected in what we worship—what we think about and dream about most. Consider where you place your greatest passions or what you value the most. This is what you worship. If it is anything less than God, you are trusting in a god who cannot fight this formidable enemy. In fact, you are more vulnerable than a child in a fight with a Hamas terrorist. Pride is the powerful enemy and it conquered one of the most beautiful and wise creatures ever made.
Satan fell from heaven because He craved worship—he became possessed by his own wisdom and pride.
“Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor…”
Ezekiel 28:17
My friend, to bring the battle to the enemy we MUST be spiritually mature. We must develop the critical attitudes of Christ; we must be ready to fight, and donned with the full armor of God; and we are commanded to “take up the whole armor of God, that [we] may be able to withstand in the evil day.” Ephesians 6:13 The first piece of armor mentioned is “truth” which is God’s Word. This is the weapon Jesus used to battle Satan. He answered each temptation with the Word. We NEED the breastplate of righteousness; we NEED to know how to present the gospel of peace; we NEED our shield of faith in God; we NEED to know our salvation is secure; we NEED to be armed with the sword of the Spirit; we NEED to be praying always; and we NEED to be watchful! Ephesians 6:13-18
When we are armed with the truth—our circumstances don’t interpret scripture—scripture interprets our circumstances.
Jesus used His Word to battle Satan’s temptation. He did not use some elaborate spiritual power which is inaccessible to us. Rather, Jesus fought this battle as a Spirit-filled, Word-of-God-filled man. The same Divine resources He used—He has made available to us. We can effectively resist temptation in the same way Jesus did. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we will answer Satan’s seductive lies by shining the light of God’s truth upon them.
Satan’s ultimate goal is to rule the universe for his own glory and to satisfy his own pride. (Isaiah 14:12-14) We are warned not to be puffed up with pride lest we “fall into the same condemnation as the devil.” (1 Timothy 3:6) Satan’s end is the bottomless pit. (Revelations 20:2) one day he will be remembered no more.
“I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you. All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; You have become a horror, and shall be no more forever.”
Ezekiel 28:19
Satan’s motivation is selfish pride; God’s motivation is selfless love. God wins. Our life WILL reflect one OR the other. It’s impossible to do both.
