"And behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ' This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.' Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." Matt 3:17-4:1
Jesus was approximately 30 years old when he was baptized by John the Baptizer. This was not an unusual age for a young rabbi to leave the tutelage of his master and to begin taking on disciples of his own. Jesus, however, was no ordinary young rabbi. At his baptism, we are told that the Holy Spirit came upon him like a dove and the voice of God from heaven identified him as His son. One would think that this was a moment of triumph to be followed immediately by a whirlwind tour of the known world to announce that salvation had come to all of humanity. Instead, Jesus was put into a confrontation with the enemy.
Beloved, there are many who feel that hearing, believing, repenting, confessing (Christ as Lord) and being baptized (for remission of sin and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit) is the goal and destination of Christianity and that the Lord will handle everything else after that. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it is upon becoming a child of God that one truly shows up on Satan's radar. By virtue of declaring allegiance to the Father of righteousness, a target is applied and the battle is engaged. For this reason, we must be hyper aware and hyper vigilant.
No one need fall to the fiery darts of the devil. Jesus is our example. Three times in the famous temptation narrative, Satan makes offers that appeal to the human lust of the flesh, lust of the eye and the pride of life and three times Jesus answers him with the word of God. He resisted Satan and Satan left him alone...for a while. When he tried again through Peter, he was again rebuffed until he was ultimately defeated on the cross of Calvary. To be sure, he lost that day, but he is still active and he is still targeting you. Misery loves company.
Rejoicing in the Lord,
Lee
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