Satan’s Advice – Part 2

As I wrote in my last post, I saw this tweet the other day and my jaw dropped…

http://twitter.com/#!/milesmcpherson/status/118837790699036672

It isn’t that I haven’t heard these types of insights before. Maybe I needed to hear this. Maybe it truly was different than anything I have heard, especially lately. Maybe God intended to prep me for something. For whatever reason, this quote is going on my office wall.

I got to thinking about Satan’s view of man. When a person receives Christ, we submit to the One that the Devil despises, and he therefore despises us and wishes to trip us up. Not that he has to work very hard. We are all fallen, and our Adamic nature pops up at the most inopportune times. But Satan and his demons are always there to lend the flesh a hand.

But what about the fact that, when we sin, we develop a relationship with Satan? I certainly believe it can be said that, when we rebel and do that which God rejects, that action is associated with the one who embodies that rejection. The first rebel. The one who thought he was higher than God Almighty. As believers, we are not in collusion with Satan when we sin. But we certainly are not partnering with a sinless God when we do, either.

Satan tried to give Jesus advice in the wilderness in Matthew 4. Jesus had just been baptized, but before He could begin His earthly ministry, God the Father decided He should be tested. So, the Spirit took Jesus to the wilderness, where He spent 40 days without food. After this time of fasting, Satan came to tempt Him.

The first temptation had to do with His need for food. Satan’s advice was to go against the will of God and feed Himself by making rocks into bread.

The second temptation was meant to persuade Jesus to pursue His own notoriety. He advised Jesus to jump off the highest part of the temple in full view of the people and have angels catch Him before He hit the ground.

Finally, Satan tempted Jesus to give in to a desire for power. He offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, if Jesus would only bow down and worship him. This advice, of course, would allow Him to rule the world without going to the cross first.

Naturally, Christ in His sinless perfection rebuked Satan and did not take his advice.

When we think of advice, we think of something that someone else tells us for our own good. Is that what Satan was doing? No. Because he is a deceiver. Jesus was better off rejecting temptation, obeying His Heavenly Father, and ultimately glorifying God by sacrificing Himself on the cross. We get to experience eternity with Him because of that sacrifice. Win win win.

Do you know Jesus?