“Yea, hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Gen 3:1).
An interesting point to note is that generations will come and go, fashion and technology will come and go but Satan never changes his template of temptation.
No matter how things may get complicated in our society as humans evolve, behind the curtain of change is a simple template of temptation: satanic curiosity and a deception to doubt God’s will for us.
A closer examination of the temptation of Adam, Eve, and Jesus reveals an unchanging pattern: the temptation to doubt the will of God and to entice by curious questions in our mind concerning the commandments of God.
With Adam and Eve, the curious question with the aim to instigate disobedience was “ Yea, Hath God Said?
In their context, the subtle Satan, in a bid to instigate temptation to doubt God’s commandments said: Yea, hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Gen 3:1).
Attempting to draw Jesus away from his divine mandate Satan came with the same original intent to instigate doubts saying: “ If you are the son of God”.
In Jesus’ context, Satan assailed his divine identity with stinging words with an intent to make him stumble ahead of the exercise of a mandate as Messiah. The word “ If” saw Satan using the same template to tempt Jesus to doubt his divine identity and by extension cause him to stumble concerning his divine assignment. But Satan failed miserably in this regard.
Whenever Satan assails us with doubt concerning God’s will and promises for our lives, he is only attempting to push us away from God- reliance on self-help. This was the classic result of the Garden of Eden. And we should know that self- reliance at the expense of God comes with a costly consequence.
In each heart, in each generation, this same questioning template rages on and hasn’t changed. Satan’s original template of enticing minds and generations away from God remains the same.
He is still whispering to many minds saying “If your condition remains sickly, then God never really said you will be healed from your sickness”.
“If your finances remain paralyzed and your future remain uncertain then God never really said you should wait on him for solutions but that you should help yourself in whatever way you can”.
How do we respond to Satan’s old and unchanging template of temptation to sin? How do we deal with his instigation and inquisition? How do we combat his “Ifs”?
We would do well against this old but subtle curriculum to look at Jesus’ reaction as the best example to follow.
When Satan posed the same questions let’s look at the difference between the reaction of Adam and Eve and that of Jesus.
While Adam and Eve stumbled over what God said and succumbed to temptation, Jesus continually affirmed the sufficiency and authority of God’s Word and stood firm. He met every doubtful If with “it is written”.
The moment we begin to master the word of God and affirm it in every situation, that same moment we will begin to destroy every dubious idea and question that Satan may raise in our minds. Someone has correctly said that God’s Word is like a sword. It cuts through the doubts of the devil.
But if we lack sufficient knowledge of the word of truth how can we succeed in pulling down the doubts of Satan? The Bible, talking about the efficacy of the word of God says: “
“His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one can resist God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what”. (Hebrews 4:12-13 MSG).
Jesus being God knew the efficacy of the word in eternity and our temporal world and therefore deployed it against Satan successfully.
Unfortunately, Adam and Even had eyes only for the temporal enticement of Satan and fell from grace, plunging the entire humanity into ruin until Jesus the Messiah came to the global crime scene to restore and uphold God’s will.
How are you dealing with doubts in your mind? Are you resorting to self-help or God- reliance? If you are relying on God are you affirming his word in your life or just relying on your willpower?
It’s time to raise the banner of the word of God in faith against every satanic inquisition in our lives. It is time for us to stand firm and fight like conquerors, who God says we are. This is not the time to quit like cowards but the time to move forward like champions.
The Philistines knew a thing about quitting and the devastating consequences. Before fighting the Israelites on an occasion they had encouraged themselves by saying: “ Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!” ( (1 Samuel 4:8).
Likewise, if we as the children of God don’t properly know and handle the word of God against this ancient satanic inquisition we can only be slaves to Satan’s doubts, stumbling from one Ill-advised decision to another, and being enslaved by sin and fear.
It is time to vanquish every old template of Satan harassing our lives and fight like the champions that we are. Fight with the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
Readings
Matthew 4:1-11
2 Corinthians 10: 3-6.
