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Resisting Satan

Luke 4:1-13

An event in the Judean wilderness, just after the baptism of Jesus, replayed the contest between Satan and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-7). The first perfect man, Adam, lost that first contest, plunging the world into the darkness of sin. To redeem creation, God sent the second perfect Man, the "last Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45), to try again. The first meeting was in God's pristine, primal garden; the second was in the dry, barren wilderness, a reminder of what Satan's first victory had done to creation. In the second match—between Satan and Jesus—to the victor would go the spoils. If Jesus did not resist Satan's temptation there would have been no need for the cross or resurrection because there would have been no perfect sacrificial Lamb to die for the sins of the world (John 1:29).

Satan offered Jesus three things, appealing to the same three basis drives that Adam and Eve considered: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. For Adam and Eve, the temptation was the taste of the forbidden fruit, the beauty of the fruit, and the opportunity to "be like God," knowing good and evil. For Jesus, the temptations were satisfying His fleshly hunger with bread (Luke 4:3), being shown the kingdoms of the world that He could rule (verse 5), and the pride of calling on God to save Him from harm (verse 9).

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