Scripture: Luke 4 v 5 - 7:
"And the devil, taking Him up into an high mountain,
shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 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. If Thou therefore will worship me, all shall be thine."
Jesus Christ was sent into the wilderness to confront
Satan. He had fasted 40 days to have the spiritual build up to overcome His
enemy in a world the devil controlled. Jesus created this world and gave
dominion of it to Adam, who through sin and disobedience, gave control of it to
Satan.
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." That is the truth that overthrows every lie
the devil can tempt you with.
The kingdoms in contention are not earthly but spiritual.
In Daniel 10, Jesus wanted to break through to Daniel to answer his prayers but
the demonic king over Persia withstood him for 21 days. He had to call on the
Archangel Michael, the guardian of the Jews, to help Him get through the
barrier. But He succeeded. When we are struggling for answers we need to use
the power Jesus won for us to pull down the spiritual, unseen barriers that are
blocking our blessings. You cannot prophesy them away. You must confront those
evil spirits with God's Word and power.
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, plus
the death on the Cross, if you submit to me and worship me. You want all the
kingdoms so 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.
Those are the real kingdoms he rules. Jesus has given us the power to
get out but we need to use it to overcome Satan for ourselves.
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.