Good Morning Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I know we all have questions of God concerning things we read in His Word. I’ve had many and will have many as the years pass. What I love about our Father is He is willing to answer our questions. He purposely sent us the Holy Spirit to teach us. Jesus gave us several verses telling us this much, two of which follow:
John 14:26
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 16:13
Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come.
Jesus, the Father in the flesh, makes it clear to us the Holy Spirit (the Holy Ghost is another name for the Holy Spirit as is the Spirit of Truth) has been sent by the Father, in Jesus’ name, to teach and guide us into all Truth.
One question I had at one time had to do with what happened to Jesus after His baptism in the River Jordan by John The Baptist. In Matthew and Luke’s account, Jesus is LED by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights. Satan appears to Jesus to tempt Him three times that we read of in Matthew and Luke.
I never understood why our Father would allow His Son to purposely be led to be tempted by Satan. God never purposely leads us into temptations by Satan, so why would He allow His Son to suffer this? It took a few weeks for me to receive the revelation and understand it. If this has been a question of yours, then enjoy the answer from our Father.
Jesus represents the second coming of man, the first Adam being flesh and the second Adam being Spiritual.
I Corinthians 15:45-47
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [Jesus] was made a quickening spirit.
46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
If we go back to Genesis, what was the last thing that occurred before Adam and Eve fell into sin and the curse came upon them? They were tempted by Satan and failed. Let’s look quickly at Genesis 3. Satan came to Eve and said to her in Genesis 3:1:
Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Notice what Satan did. He told Eve a lie to start the conversation by questioning God’s Word: “hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” God plainly told Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:16-17 they may eat of every tree in the Garden with exception of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan went on to tell Eve that God lied when He said if you eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall surely die. We see that as soon as Eve and Adam eat the fruit, they die Spiritually, immediately, and then their physical bodies began to die slowly.
There is SO MUCH that could be taught in Genesis 2 and 3, but for the sake of a brief email, I must limit the topic. We’re discussing why Jesus was tempted immediately upon being baptized and receiving the Holy Spirit. We’re told in I John the three types or categories of sin in this world.
I John 2:16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Notice Genesis 3:6:
Genesis 3:6
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Taking I John 2:16, let’s categorize the sins of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:6. “Saw that the tree was good for food” is the “lust of the flesh.” “That it was pleasant to the eyes” is the “lust of the eyes.” And “a tree to be desired to make one wise” is the “pride of life.”
Now, let’s go to Luke 4:1-13. Look at the three temptations of Jesus:
Luke 4:3
And the devil said unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
This is the temptation of the “lust of the flesh.”
Luke 4:5-7
5 And the devil, taking Him up into an high mountain, shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said unto Him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7 If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine.
This is the temptation of the “lust of the eyes.”
Luke 4:9-11
9 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:
10 For it is written, He shall give His angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee:
11 And in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone.
This is the temptation of the “pride of life.”
If you will notice, Satan tempted Jesus with the same categories of sin he tempted Adam and Eve: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And he tempted Jesus in the same order he tempted Adam and Even. Notice how Jesus responded to each temptation:
Luke 4:4
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God.
Luke 4:8
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind Me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.
Luke 4:12
And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Jesus didn’t argue with Satan, didn’t accuse Satan, and didn’t pray or beg God. He decreed or declared the Word of God to Satan for each temptation. And what was the result of Satan’s temptations of Jesus? We find it in Luke 4:13:
Luke 4:13
And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from Him for a season.
Jesus modeled for us how we defeat Satan when he comes against us in any temptation. You MUST USE THE WORD OF GOD in faith. Jesus told US we’re to SPEAK to the mountain in Mark 11:23, not speak to or beg God. What are we to speak? The Word of God. If you don’t know it, you’re unarmed, and Satan will rob you of your physical and spiritual inheritance on this earth.
So why was Jesus tempted immediately after His baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit? Jesus, “the last Adam” had to pick up where “the first Adam failed” and carry on becoming the perfect sacrifice, without spot or blemish, to redeem the lineage of the first Adam from physical and spiritual destruction and everlasting death.
If you’re someone who loves to study God’s Word, take the three categories of sin, and compare the Children of Israel, upon their Exodus from Egypt and travel through the wilderness, finding the three occasions where they committed the same three categories of sin: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
I pray all of you had, and are having, a wonderful Thanksgiving Holidays. We all have so much to be thankful for and so much more to receive with thankfulness from our Father.
In Christ,
Larry