A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day – June 13, 2019
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45)
The more I walk with the Lord, and the more I read and study His Word, the more I think that the main theme of the entire Bible is spiritual warfare. It’s about us knowing who our enemy is and teaching us how to fight. From Genesis to Revelation God is revealing to us how the enemy (as the father of lies) comes to kill, steal, and destroy and how Jesus (the way, the truth, and the life) was sent to teach how to resist and defeat him. It’s all about putting on the full armor of God and fighting the good fight of faith. It’s about recognizing the power and authority we have been given by God and how to execute both. It’s about knowing who we are in Christ Jesus!!!
We all know that the first garden experience in Eden was not good. Eve was deceived by the serpent and Adam went along with his wife. The serpent (the father of lies) basically called God a liar when he told Eve that they would not surely die if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil like God had warned. What the serpent was doing was trying to convince Eve that God was not as good as she thought He was and that God was surely holding back on them. The serpent is still doing that today!
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:3-5)
So it was that the first battle was lost. Adam and Eve bought into the lies of the enemy and much was lost. However, did you know that there was a second Adam and a second garden-like experience? Jesus was the last Adam and He too, just like the first Adam, had to face the lies of the enemy in a garden-like experience. Only this time, the results were different. Jesus (the Son of Man) showed us how to defeat the enemy. He showed us that we are still in a spiritual war and that we have to resist the enemy with the Word of God. He showed us the power of prayer and fasting. He showed us that God is not a liar and that He is good all the time but we must believe it, even in the most trying of times.
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. (Matthew 4:1-11)
That’s how it’s done folks and that has never changed!!! The enemy has never changed, but neither has the Word of God and our responsibility to recognize the warfare and resist the enemy. Notice that the enemy even tried to put doubt into the mind of Jesus as to who He was. Satan knew who He was. Do you know who you are in Christ Jesus?
