SEEKING JESUS

The Last Temptation of Jesus

In this post we continue with our presentations on the temptations of Jesus. Remember that our mission is to gain additional insight into spiritual warfare and how we can adequately prepare for these battles. Let’s pick up with the third tempatation of Jesus in the wilderness by looking at the following verse:

And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Luke 4:9-11

Again, this is more cunning trickery from the devil, who is so bold to even use the true Word of God in an attempt to deceive Jesus into aborting His life, identity and purpose. One thing to remember here is that God has always given man the freedom to choose. Even in the Garden of Eden there was always choice. In the Garden the poor choice of taking the advice of the devil did not protect Adam from the consequences of his decision. In like manner, a poor choice by Jesus would have also removed the protection of God. So the question must be is the scripture true? Yes, the scripture is true for all who do not fall for the temptations of the devil and sin.  Therefore, the angels will protect Him from accidents but not from poor choices.

Based on this remember the following key points. Never choose sin even when cleverly presented alongside scripture that seems to support it. Never choose to give up on you life, mission or vision and never do anything proposed by the devil.

In addition, when you are tested please remember that you will be totally alone. There will be no help from angels, God or anywhere else. Think about it, If you’re not alone, then who is being tested? How will God know that you are ready to go to the next level or not? Also consider that the angels only came to the support Jesus after His temptation, not during it. Jesus came to the earth as a man to defeat the devil. This battle is not one that can be won by angels but only by Jesus the man. Do not choose the trickery of the devil but rather, choose the truth of the word of God. This is what Jesus did when He answered: 

And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from Him for a season. Luke 4:12-13

It is up to you to defeat the devil and pass the test. Remember that the reason you are here is to choose. You will not get help in times of testing. Even Jesus was alone when He hung on the cross:

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46) 

This passage clearly demonstrates that Jesus was alone on the cross as He took the punishment of the world upon Himself. It is here that the final temptations came to Him. Let’s look at some of them:

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.'” Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing. Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. (Matthew 27:38 – 44)

This was in fact the last temptation of Christ; to come down from the cross, to deny His identity, mission and vision. The last temptation of Christ proposed that He give up on us, the forgiveness of our sin and our destiny in the kingdom of heaven with God. The last temptation of Christ was to ignore what the Father told Him to do in favor of the devils desires. The last temptation taunted Jesus to quit just before the ransom for our restoration had been paid. It was a challenge to abort the work that only a man could do and to demonstrate the power of God from the cross. It was more trickery by the devil to defeat the mission of Jesus and to keep us under his dominion. 

In looking at this last temptation of Christ we must ask, what have we learned? First of all, we are responsible for not giving in to the temptation of the devil. This is what Jesus did as He refused to recant His identity and His mission.

In addition, we learn that we will be all alone when tested and that we are responsible for our choices. After all, how will God know that He can trust you to if you do not make the correct choices that prove that you are living the truth that He has put into you? Jesus had to be obedient to the Father even to death. In being faithful to the Father Jesus proved that He was obedient and worthy to go on to the next level, which was to sit at the right hand of the Father. Remember, resist the devil and he will depart from you. 

Jesus is our Model for Victory in Spiritual Warfare

If we seek to model our lives after the life of Jesus it is imperative that we know who we are in God and what His mission is for us. After all, Jesus knew who He was and what His mission was. Therefore, it is imperative that we hear His voice and that we live and act in accord to what He tells us. Remember, Jesus even went to His death to do the will of the Father.

In addition, we must be ready for the battle with the devil that will erupt when we contemplate taking that first step in the direction that God is leading us. Therefore, it is critical that we know the scriptures and can leverage them in response to any testing or attack by the enemy. For most people this requires a substantial investment in time. It requires time to search the inner self for the answers to the question: “Who did God create me to be and what does He want me to accomplish in my life time?”

In addition, it requires a great deal of time just to get an in depth understanding of the scriptures like the ones presented in our previous postings about the temptations of Jesus. It takes time spent with the Holy Spirit to get insight into what devil is attempting to get Jesus to do. One thing is certain, if the devil tried it with Jesus, he will try it with you and me. He is here to get us to deny who we are and to abort the mission God gave us to accomplish here on this earth.

Through out the ministry of Jesus, starting immediately after His baptism in the Holy Spirit, and ending at His crucifixion on the cross, the devil continued his quest to get Jesus to deny that He was the Son of God and His mission on this earth. Why would we think that it would be any different with us? Here is a scripture that presents the last temptation of Christ, the one that occurred as he hung on the cross: 

And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’“ Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing. (Matthew 27:39-44)

Sounds like more of the same temptations from the devil to me. Deny who you are and give up the reason you came and we will believe you. Right!

In fact, isn’t this exactly what the crucifixion was all about? If Jesus would only change His mind about who He said He was, then everything would have been fine. I suspect that at any point on His way to crucifixion that the Jews would have relented, if He would have only lied and said, “I am not the Son of God.”

But Jesus would not deny the truth about who He was and He would not abort what the Father had given Him to accomplish. The crucifixion was all about getting Jesus, the Savior of the World, to give in to the pressures of crucifixion. Those who crucified Him tried everything to get Him to recant but they failed. They could not trick it out of Him by way of integration and false witnesses[i]. They could not beat it out of Him with a scourging[ii] of forty lashes with a Cat of Nine Tales. They could not embarrass it out of Him by dressing Him up in royal clothing and mocking Him as a false God[iii]. They could not shame it out of Him by having a legion of men spit into His open wounds. They could not exhaust it out of Him by forcing Him to carrying His cross until total exhaustion[iv]. They could not disgrace it out of Him by nailing Him to His cross, or by taking His close or by hanging Him openly with criminals. They could not get Him to change His mind about who He was and the reason He was there, even under the threat of death by hanging on the cross. For Jesus knew the scripture. He knew what the Father said about Him[v] and He knew why He came to earth[vi]. Nothing, not even death, humiliation or suffering was going to overcome that, and nothing did.

What does all of this teach us who seek to conform ourselves to the life model that Jesus left us? Know who you are in God and what He wants you to accomplish on this earth (be like Him) and never compromise it, no matter what testing comes your way. This blog is designed to help you get insight into these things but I will tell you that the answers to this question are already inside of you. You were born with them. God created you with a purpose in mind. Learn to hear the voice of God through the Holy Spirit and be obedient to His voice and never compromise.

Secondly, know that the devil is here to defeat us. He hates us and wants to have dominion over us forever. His weapons are lying and deceiving. He will try to trick you into denying your true identity in God and your true purpose. Never let the lies and trickery of the devil deceive you into denying your true destiny. Choose the calling of the Holy Spirit and reject the call of the world.

If you seek to model your life after Jesus you should know that the devil will pull out all the stops in getting you to deny your identity, purpose and mission. In addition, the devil will use the things of this world to attract you away form the leading of the Spirit. To defeat the devil you will have to turn you back on money, power, fame, recognition, influence, appetites, adultery and the lust for all the things of the world. 

Jesus and the Ultimate Temptation

In our previous posting we presented how Jesus was tested prior to entering His ministry. We looked at how the devil attempted to trick Jesus to denying His purpose in this world and to forfeit His identity as the Son of God. We then provided a high level summary that communicated how the devil had previously been successful in deceiving Adam into forfeiting his purpose (of having dominion over the earth) and his identity (as the son of God). We concluded that with the serious consequences associated with our choices that we must be on guard for similar trickery by the devil who wants us to also give up our identity (sons and daughters of the living God) and our purpose in life.

In today’s posting we will continue to look at the testing of Jesus that occurred just prior to His entering into ministry. In that regard we are picking up where we left off, with more trickery by the devil. He was now going to attempt to bribe Jesus with everything he had; all the kingdoms of the world in a moment in time. Here is the scripture for your review:

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.’“ (Luke 4:5-8KJV) 

For Jesus to defeat the devil He had to remain free from sin and therefore, free from all lust for the things of the world. After all, Adam’s desire for the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil exposed man’s desire to know evil since everything good was already available in the Garden of Eden. This desire to know evil was the opening needed for the demonic attack which was capitalized upon by the devil. But Jesus had no desire for the things of this world. He was victorious over the temptation and His victory defeated all the evil in our world. He took dominion of the earth back from the devil. His victory is that He never once disobeyed the Father and He continuously challenged the evil of this world with the truth that only comes from the Father.

It is interesting to note that in the above scripture that the devil admits that the entire world had been delivered to him. This is a direct substantiation of his victory over Adam. Man had made his choice for evil in the Garden and as a result became mortal, having to live under the domination of the devil. He therefore would know and do evil. As a result, man’s destiny was that he would die in sin and suffer the bondage of the devil in hell. It is from this fate that Jesus came to save us. His victory in spiritual warfare is to save us from the devils grip. Prior to Jesus every person who died went to hell and suffered the torment of Satan. The fact that Jesus descended into Hell is communicated in the following verse:

Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” (Now this, “He ascended”; what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)  (Ephesians 4:8-10)

Jesus came to earth to set the captives free by being the price of our salvation. By setting the captives free we mean that all the righteous people who had died prior to Jesus were previously held in Hell by the devil. Jesus descended into Hell and was victorious over Satan and set these people free. That meant that David, Daniel, Samuel, Isaiah and all the profits of the Bible who lived prior to Jesus died and went to hell and were only released after the victory of Jesus on the cross.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;  and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:50-53)

Jesus rebuked the devil after he had offered Him the entire world and everything in it. If the devil had been successful then Jesus would have forfeited his God given identity, Him mission on earth, and the world of mankind would have been lost. This is exactly what the devil wants from you. To rob you of your God given identity, your mission on this earth and the impact God wants you to have on the world.

In our next posting we will discuss how to prepare for spiritual warfare and the testing of the devil.

Jesus Enters Spirtual Warfare

In our previous posting we looked at the sequence of events that led to the ministry of Jesus. The first event was His baptism in the Jordan River, where He was empowerment by the Holy Spirit and God’s voice was heard proclaiming Him to be His Son. Next, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness where He was tested for 40 days and nights while abstaining from food and water. We identified how His fasting weakened His flesh but at the same time brought Him closer to God. From this we concluded that perhaps we all could rely less upon ourselves and more on God in the circumstances we find ourselves in.

A major point in all of this is that the devil will attempt to deceive us into deneing our identity and purpose in this life, just like he did with Jesus in the examples that will follow in this posting. So let’s pick up where we left off to see how the devil attempted to trick Jesus in this way.

Jesus has been tested while fasting for 40 days and nights, is hungry and exhaustd and yet, more testing comes:  

And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. Luke 4:3

The devil’s statement is an insult and a direct challenge to Jesus’ idenity as the Son of God (as recentyly declarded by God at His baptish). The devil’s strategy was to place Jesus in a no win situation. Logically, the Son of God would not be suffering of hunger and thirst in the wilderness when He had the power to eliminate His suffering. The devils trap however, stems from the fact that he knew that God could not intervien. Since man lost his dominion to the devil in the garden, only a man could win it back. Jesus had to come as a man, not God. Let me explain:

On one hand, if Jesus doesn’t turn the stone into bread as the devil suggests (doing what the devil suggests is always a bad idea) then how can Jesus be the son of God as He claims? On the other hand if He turns the stone into bread then He has come to the earth as God and not as a man. This would then disqualify Him from His mission. All of this requires even more explanation, which is provided below.

Man was created in the image and likeness of God and was given dominion over the earth and the things in it. Despite this, man was defeated by Satan in the garden of Eden and as a result Satan took dominion over the earth, including man. To restore man to his intended place of dominion in the garden, another man would have to be victorious over Satan.   

To set a necessary foundation we present the following passages:

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. (Genesis  1:26-30)

This next passage tells the rest of the story:

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;   but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’“ Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”;  therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis  2:7- 3:24)

Man was made in the image and likeness of God and all the creatures of the earth were subject to him, including the devil (who took the form of a serpent). However, when the devil decieved Eve into eating the fruit of Tree of Good and Evil against the commandment of God, all dominion ceased for man and he was cast out of the garden. In these actions the devil gained a spiritual warfare victory over man and took dominion over the earth and everything in it. It was as they say, to the victor goes the spoils.

So, getting back to the testing of Jesus in the wilderness, we now understand that man was defeated by the trickery of the devil in the garden. Since man lost His access to the garden and His dominion over the earth, it would take another man to restore what had been lost. Therefore, Jesus came to earth taking the form of a man and giving up His deity. Therefore, to command the stone to become bread would have required an act of God. If it was performed by Jesus then He would have been disqualified from his mission (to save the world from the dominion of the devil). But if He is the Son of God, how is it that He is alone and starving in the wilderness? Seemingly in a trap, Jesus replys with a spiritual response in defeating this temptation:

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’  (Matthew 4:4)

The key word in Jesus’ response is, “Man.” Man shall not live by bread alone. In this statement Jesus states that He is man. And Jesus the man, being empowered by the Holy Spirit was victorious in this battle of spiritual warfare, simply by using the Word of God as His weapon.

Jesus was tempted by the devil in a seemingly innocent way, but one that had grave consequences. In the balance were His identity (as the Son of God) and His mission (to free us all from the bondage of the devil). Jesus was able to resist this temptation because He knew the Father proclaimed Him to be His son and that the Holy Spirit had led Him into the wilderness for testing. This testing was necessary to determine if He was ready to move forward in His ministry to save us all from death.   

If this type of testing can happen to Jesus then it can happen to us also. Therefore, it is critical that we know who we are in the Lord and what our mission is. It is critical to know scripture and what the enemies’ strategy is as well. This information can be found by moving into the Truth, the passageway into the Holy Place of God. It is a place of prayer where God enlightens us with this information and prepares us for spiritual warfare. It requires a deper relationship with God to develop than most ever achieve. If you care to learn more please follow the following link and brouse through all of the subcomponents under it:

https://possessthevision.wordpress.com/seeking-jesus/passing-from-the-way-and-into-the-truth/

Jesus is Victorious in Spiritual Warfare

In our previous posting we presented the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan River. As this event transpired, God’s voice was heard proclaiming Jesus to be His son. In addition, the Holy Spirit was visibly seen descending upon Him and then immediately led Him into the wilderness for testing. Interestingly, these activities were the precursors to Jesus entering into His public ministry. Therefore, anyone of us who seeks to enter into the ministry of Jesus should play close attention to the sequence of activities that follow.

In addressing the temptation of Jesus by the devil in the wilderness, we will receive insight into the goals and tactics of the enemy in spiritual warfare. It is very important that we understand these as they are the very goals and tactics that the devil will deploy agains us as well. Therefore, this knowledge will help us prepare for the battles ahead. Prior to getting into specific examples however, we will first provide you the big picture of what the battle is all about.

Fundamentally, the devil wants to rule over you because he hates you with a perfect hatred. He hates you with a passion and wants to see you suffer in pain under his dominion of torture. As he is extremely sadistic, your downfall and pain will bring him a demented pleasure. However, in order to achieve his demented plans, he must be successful in separating you from God and the promises that God has given you. His goal is to separate you from the purpose for which God created you, because he knows that the achievement of your purpose will bring about his defeat. In this regard he does everything he can to get you to choose the evil of this world (which is all he has to offer) over the good that God has stored up for you. In his attempt for victory over you the devil deploys trickery, lies and deception to trick us into abandoning our identity, destiny and mission.

The point of all this is that if this is what the devil attempted with Jesus then he certainly will try it against you as well. In this regard God has given us a model of what to expect when we seek to enter into the mission that He gave us. We will present the scriptures that demonstrate how the devil tried on several occasions to get Jesus to forfeit His destiny as the Son of God, as the Christ, and His mission to reunite us with the Father. To do this Jesus had to break the dominion that the devil had won over us in the Garden of Eden. So, as we delve into the scriptures regarding spiritual warfare, please take note of the devils tactics as they are likely to be deployed against you when the time comes to enter into the ministry that God created you for.

So, with that said, let us start by looking at the Bible reference that identifies how the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness for testing. This testing was designed to validate His worthiness for ministry.

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. Luke 4:1-2 

Jesus fasted to strengthen himself spiritually for the battle. While this weakened Him physically it also severed His attachment to the things of the flesh and as a result, heightened His spiritual awareness and closeness to the Father. 

In patterning our lives after Jesus we should also separate ourselves from our flesh in times of testing. This is very important because your testing will make you to choose between the desires of the flesh and the leading of the Spirit. Therefore, if you are in a fleshly state how will you resist the temptations of the flesh? However, if you are in a spiritual state through fasting and prayer, you can resist the temptations of the flesh[i]. 

In our next posting we will look at the devils attempt to get Jesus to turn a stone into bread, and gain an understanding of what this meant and why this is so important.