Mat 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
Mat 4:6 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.
Mat 4:7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
The temptations of Christ have been covered and probed and dissected time and again. Yet a thought occurred to me.
Do you know that the Rabbis of Jesus day had an idea that when the Messiah would appear He would appear on the pinnacle of the Temple and descend into the courtyard from the pinnacle unhurt. This would tell them that he was truly from God.
They had a fantasy picture built of what they thought instead of what God had told them in the scriptures.
It is telling that satan took Christ to the pinnacle of the Temple and set Him up to fulfill the ideas of man.
He sought to circumvent the plan of God by instant gratification and immediate reward.
Christ could have descended right then and there from the pinnacle and have had all the rewards that man had to offer. He could have foregone the pain and death of the cross by accepting the offer of satan.
Do you realize what that would have meant?
He would have fulfilled man's thoughts and been a king on earth and would have been their "promised" Messiah.
Their promised Messiah.
This would have doomed all the rest of us for eternity. Satan offered something in the immediate, that would have made God's chosen people very happy, very jubilant. Christ would have been King and Savior but for a select few.
Christ could have accepted the short cut, He was God after all and He could see what was coming.
This was the start of His ministry, He could have bypassed all the pain, all the machinations of the Pharisees and Sadducees, all the obstacles, all the drudgery of the day to day as He set about to bring God's Will to man. He could have avoided the rejection of the people, the unbelief, The pain of the cross, the total rejection of God. All of that He could have avoided and been installed as Savior King right then and there.
Satan was playing a game that was most serious as is his temptations sent our way.
He didn't just try to circumvent God's Will for that day but for the rest of eternity.
Satan is aware that hell is set aside for him, he is aware that there is coming a day when he has to answer for his pride. He will have to lose one day and he knows it.
He is not all powerful, all knowing. Satan is a created being just as we. He is more powerful than us, but he is not God or Jesus's equivalent.
He may not be God but He is several steps ahead of us on the food chain.
He tried to set up Christ in a kingdom on earth thus circumventing God's plan.
He tries daily to circumvent God's Will in our lives. He provides us with alternatives to God's Will and makes them look all cozy and comfortable.
He (satan) has a plan for us that is not God's will, but he is in the moment for that is all he can see like us. God has a plan and He wants us to wait on Him, to be like Him.
Satan will try to tell us we can achieve that today if we but fulfill man's plan, or his plan.
If Christ had accepted satan's offer we would have been doomed. In declining the offer He set the world up for salvation. He fulfilled God's plan leaving the Way open for us 2000 years later.
Daily we must refute satan and his immediate gratification, for therein may we lose future generations.
God has a plan and if satan can knock you off that plan then he has won the day. Who knows who might never be reached because we gave in to the temptation of the now.
We often think of temptations as a "in the moment" kind of thing. When in reality all we do and say is a fight for today and for tomorrow.
For your testimony can be ruined, stopping your ability to reach future generations for awhile while you repair your walk and relationship with God and man.
Your life can be ruined by disease, car accidents, etc because you gave in to momentary temptation.
God can still use you but will you be as effective?
Satan knows that he must defeat us, daily. He knows he can not defeat God. Christ knew this and refused to give in to temptation not just for the sake of that day, but for the future of your soul.
Mat 4:6 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.
Mat 4:7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
The temptations of Christ have been covered and probed and dissected time and again. Yet a thought occurred to me.
Do you know that the Rabbis of Jesus day had an idea that when the Messiah would appear He would appear on the pinnacle of the Temple and descend into the courtyard from the pinnacle unhurt. This would tell them that he was truly from God.
They had a fantasy picture built of what they thought instead of what God had told them in the scriptures.
It is telling that satan took Christ to the pinnacle of the Temple and set Him up to fulfill the ideas of man.
He sought to circumvent the plan of God by instant gratification and immediate reward.
Christ could have descended right then and there from the pinnacle and have had all the rewards that man had to offer. He could have foregone the pain and death of the cross by accepting the offer of satan.
Do you realize what that would have meant?
He would have fulfilled man's thoughts and been a king on earth and would have been their "promised" Messiah.
Their promised Messiah.
This would have doomed all the rest of us for eternity. Satan offered something in the immediate, that would have made God's chosen people very happy, very jubilant. Christ would have been King and Savior but for a select few.
Christ could have accepted the short cut, He was God after all and He could see what was coming.
This was the start of His ministry, He could have bypassed all the pain, all the machinations of the Pharisees and Sadducees, all the obstacles, all the drudgery of the day to day as He set about to bring God's Will to man. He could have avoided the rejection of the people, the unbelief, The pain of the cross, the total rejection of God. All of that He could have avoided and been installed as Savior King right then and there.
Satan was playing a game that was most serious as is his temptations sent our way.
He didn't just try to circumvent God's Will for that day but for the rest of eternity.
Satan is aware that hell is set aside for him, he is aware that there is coming a day when he has to answer for his pride. He will have to lose one day and he knows it.
He is not all powerful, all knowing. Satan is a created being just as we. He is more powerful than us, but he is not God or Jesus's equivalent.
He may not be God but He is several steps ahead of us on the food chain.
He tried to set up Christ in a kingdom on earth thus circumventing God's plan.
He tries daily to circumvent God's Will in our lives. He provides us with alternatives to God's Will and makes them look all cozy and comfortable.
He (satan) has a plan for us that is not God's will, but he is in the moment for that is all he can see like us. God has a plan and He wants us to wait on Him, to be like Him.
Satan will try to tell us we can achieve that today if we but fulfill man's plan, or his plan.
If Christ had accepted satan's offer we would have been doomed. In declining the offer He set the world up for salvation. He fulfilled God's plan leaving the Way open for us 2000 years later.
Daily we must refute satan and his immediate gratification, for therein may we lose future generations.
God has a plan and if satan can knock you off that plan then he has won the day. Who knows who might never be reached because we gave in to the temptation of the now.
We often think of temptations as a "in the moment" kind of thing. When in reality all we do and say is a fight for today and for tomorrow.
For your testimony can be ruined, stopping your ability to reach future generations for awhile while you repair your walk and relationship with God and man.
Your life can be ruined by disease, car accidents, etc because you gave in to momentary temptation.
God can still use you but will you be as effective?
Satan knows that he must defeat us, daily. He knows he can not defeat God. Christ knew this and refused to give in to temptation not just for the sake of that day, but for the future of your soul.
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