Scripture: Luke 4 v 1 - 8.
After Jesus' baptism in the Jordan He was full of the
Holy Ghost, Who led Him into the wilderness. Jesus was now ready to meet and
defeat the Prince of this world. It is an important procedure for us to follow
- be saved; be baptised; be filled with the Holy Spirit and then you can defeat
the enemy.
In verse 5 the devil took Jesus up a high mountain and
showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. The devil said to Him - All this
power will I give You, and all the glory of them - because these kingdoms are
all mine - and whoever I want to give it to, I can. All You have to do to get
them is bow down and worship me.
Notice that Jesus did not disagree that all the kingdom's
of the world were under Satan's control or ownership instead He answered him
with "Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."
Jesus knew that through His death on the Cross and
resurrection as He stated in Matthew 28 v 18: "All power is given unto Me
in heaven and in Earth." But in the wilderness Satan was telling Him, I
can spare you all the pain and agony of taking on the sin of the world if you
submit to me and worship me. You want the kingdoms that's what You will get in
exchange for Your submission.
Satan was acknowledging that the only person on Earth who
was a threat to him was Jesus. He had greater power and authority than the
devil. Demons were already trembling at the presence of Jesus. It would only
get worse as His disciples were given power to heal and cast out demons.
Thereafter all Christians had the potential to do
likewise when the power of the Holy Spirit came upon them. This was the
ultimate threat to Satan's control of the world - that we would rise up in the
power of God and block him at every turn.
His only weapon left is bluff, lies, rumour and more
lies. But if you fall for those lies you are trapped back into his power where
he can exert fear and control over you through sin, alcohol, sex, drugs,
gambling, sickness, fear, rejection, bitterness, feuds, war, hate, famine,
money, death, worry and doubt.
Jesus has won the supreme victory for us and its not enough
to just accept our salvation, we must use it effectively so others may stop
being victims and become victorious over every circumstance. We must walk the
walk and talk the talk in the glory of His resurrection, wherein we were
transformed from a death sentence to everlasting life. Let us be glad and
rejoice in it!!
Prayer: Father God open our eyes to see and understand
the great victory that was won for us 2000 years ago. Let us put away childish
things and walk in newness of life, making up for lost time and challenging the
defeated, weaponless, armourless devil with the name of Jesus Christ and the
power of His Blood. In Jesus' name. Amen.