If Ye Continue In The Faith Grounded And Settled, And Be Not Moved Away From The Hope Of The Gospel - Part 2141

Shortly after Jesus was water baptized, He was led up of the spirit into the wilderness and tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If T/thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." But He answered and said, "It is written -- man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4)

Herein is a critical understanding -- that the devil did not understand Jesus to be God manifest in the flesh, or that, "to wit, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself." (II Corinthians 5:19; I Timothy 3:16) Rather, the devil thought Jesus to be an heir only. wherein if the heir is dead, the devil would receive all the inheritance. We see the same thought process within one of the many parables Jesus told -- wherein "when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, "This is the heir; come, let us kill h/Him, and let us seize on h/His inheritance." (Matthew 21:38; Mark 12:7; Luke 20:14)

Who is the inheritance? You and I, that the Lord God Almighty loved so much -- indeed, beyond measure that He willingly -- His humanity -- endured the cross. But I digress. So, next, the devil takes Jesus up into the holy city, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him, "If T/thou be the Son of God, cast T/thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning T/thee: and in [their] hands they shall bear T/thee up, lest at any time T/thou dash T/thy foot against a stone." Note that Jesus said unto him, "It is written again -- Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."

Again, for a third time, "the devil takes Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and shews Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto Him, "All these things will I give T/thee, if T/thou wilt fall down and worship me." Then saith Jesus unto him, "Get thee hence, satan: for it is written, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Then the devil left Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto Him." (Matthew 4:1-11)

As scripture reveals other places, the devil was convinced that Jesus was only an heir -- a son -- and  therefore in killing Him, the devil would gain the world, and everything and every one within. Note how flawed the devil's thinking -- to believe that everyone has a price. Still, in this context, the devil was determined that if he could convince Jesus to desire the things of this world, the devil would gain the world, and all things within.

We see a further understanding of this in Paul's writings to the church in Corinth -- "which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known [it], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." (II Corinthians 2:8)

In this context, we are so privileged because we can understand how much the Lord God loved us to have become our Saviour. "After the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared ..." (Titus 3:4-7)

Yes, displayed for all the world to behold -- the love and mercy of our Lord God -- a love so great and powerful, so abundant that satan (the destroyer of people's lives, a murderer of innocent hearts, a deceiver in all things honest, true and just) could never have understood. (John 8:44)

Continuing, the tempter said to Jesus,  "All these things will I give to t/Thee if you will fall down and worship me." Of course, satan who is the self appointed prince of this world was a liar from the very beginning. Indeed, as Jesus declared, "the father of all lies." Had satan known that Jesus was the Great I AM in the flesh, personally delivering to His people His free gift of salvation, he would never have encouraged anyone to crucify Jesus. 

For clarity, note that Jesus did not hide His identity from satan. Rather, satan was fooled by the earlier example of Abraham offering his son for sacrifice. So even though Jesus essentially told satan who He was, satan was fooled because to him, the greatest love story on earth, wherein God was manifest in the flesh so that He could redeem His beloved creation from our sins was outside of satan's scope. Outside because satan does not understand love -- only destruction after wooing the unlearned into his lies concerning "all these things." 

Nevertheless, even in the wilderness Jesus stayed the course, continuing to tell satan that he shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Note that Jesus told satan again that he shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve. And that we should not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. As Jesus said so often -- I AM He - "I AM the Bread of Life! he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believes on Me shall never thirst." (John 6:35)

"For the bread of God is He which [cometh/came] down from heaven, and [gave/gives] life unto the world." (John 6:33, 48)

Similarly, Jesus said, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." (John 6:51)

Thus, we need to know that our souls are not for sale at any price, and that the love of God our Saviour has made us overcomers and conquerors in all things. He is the one and only absolute in a world where the devil tries to convince us there is no absolute. Ponder on these things today, knowing that Jesus not only will save His people from their sins but is still inviting all of us to turn our hearts to Him and behold His majesty.

Indeed, Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords, Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the ending. (Revelation 1:8)

Stand in the offering plate.