5The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
8Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
The second weapon Satan used and continue to use today is the lie that he owns the world and he is prepared to share it with us. He strikes at our ego - "I can give you power over the world!"
Firstly, we must know that God is in control, even of this fallen world. Satan cannot offer any thing as he does not own any of it. He has NOT been given anything as he claims. He is simply lying.
Secondly, Satan is very willing to offer rewards if we sell our soul to him. What he offers - power, wealth, pleasure and so on, may be real but are temporal. The end that awaits those who worship him is eternal death!
How did Jesus rebuke Satan?
Jesus did not attempt to argue with Satan about who owns the world. It didn't matter. Jesus simply refused to validate Satan's fraudulent claims by worshiping him. Jesus had only one thing in His mind - to fulfill the mission that He was assigned. Similarly, we must also remember that we are to worship and serve our God only.
Many times, we spend too much time taking to Satan .... remember Eve's conversation with him. Nothing good will ever come out with a conversation with father of all lies. So instead, let's follow what James 4:7 says - "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
God bless.
Steven
1 John 5:19: "We know that we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one."
ReplyDeleteAlso in Luke chapter 6 it is stated "for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to."
Think about this. Would that offer have been a temptation to Jesus if Satan was not the ruler of these kingdoms? Jesus did not deny that all these worldly governments were Satan’s. Surely, Jesus would have done that if Satan was not the power behind them. Yet, nowhere does the Bible say that either Jehovah God or Jesus Christ is ruler of this world. In fact, Jesus specifically referred to Satan as “the ruler of this world.” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11)