About Jesus - Three Temptations - July 18, 2021
Matthew 4 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10 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.
11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
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See also Mark 1:12 & 13 and Luke 4:1-13
Some people read the story of the forbidden tree in the garden of Eden and say “Why would God attach so great a penalty to such a little thing as eating from a forbidden tree?”
How many kinds of fruit were created on the third day of creation week? Even if it was only dozens, there were more than enough kinds of food to keep Adam and Eve healthy. The same ideal existed in the garden of Eden as exists today. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. - I Corinthians 10:31
Faith is the evidence of things not seen. We can read God’s promises but only as we learn he can be trusted can we know he will do what he has promised. Presumption is Satan’s counterfeit of faith. How many people do you know who do things they themselves acknowledge to be wrong but who say “I’ll just ask God to forgive me”? What kind of a place would heaven or the new Earth be if inhabited by people who thus ignore God’s instruction?
Adam and Eve were given dominion over this planet, subject to the sovereignty of their heavenly Father. God the Father exercised that sovereignty through the Son. When Adam and Eve disobeyed the divine instruction, Satan claimed their dominion and claimed to not be subject to the Father and the Son. This claim was expressed in his offer to “give” the kingdoms of this world to Jesus on condition that Jesus acknowledge Satan’s claim to dominion of this world - i.e. that Jesus would exercise dominion subject to Satan’s sovereignty.
Few humans have been subject to a temptation exactly like that one but multitudes fall for a temptation to cut corners in business in the hope of gaining an advantage and thus make it easier to amass wealth. If we fail to see the folly of such temptations, we are in danger of losing something far more important. In Jesus’ case, his failure would have forfeited OUR loss of something far more important.