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Luke 4:1-13 gives us a brief account of Jesus' own time of testing before his ministry truly began. As you read this passage and fully understand what is really happening it's shocking. These scriptures testify, yes of Jesus righteouness and power, but also the strategic way Satan tempted him, and the maliciousness in how he tempts us. Within this story lies a valuable insight into the epitome of wickedness within Satan and a true scope of what his intentions are.
The devil, taking Jesus up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in one moment of time. Satan says to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours" (Luke 4:5-7). Satan is incessantly seeking worship for himself. He manipulates events with all his power for this one end, to be worshiped as God Himself.
When we encounter the Tempter we must not be mistaken about this; he is looking for worship and will do whatever it takes to cause all to worship him. Can we even begin to imagine the absolute pride and wickedness which flows through his being, that he so insidiously tries to solicit worship from Jesus by offering Him authority to rule and govern the kingdoms of the world, “…if You will worship before me, all will be yours.” Satan’s abominable pride caused him to actually ask God to worship him.
Satan’s desire to be god is the governing force which motivates all of the evil expression of his kingdom. We see this through the endless suffering of humanity’s history, which has been since the first humans chose to disregard God by disobeying His words to them (Genesis 3). When this occurred, we were not only cut off from God in a very real way, we also empowered and enabled Satan to have authority over the earth. This is why he said to Jesus, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me.” How was it delivered to him? It was given to him when we cut ourselves off from God by agreeing with Satan’s lies. Humanity chose a destiny which was more in allegiance with Satan than it was with God. Undoubtedly, this was not understood. Nevertheless this choice would have eternal consequences.
"Whereby man was given authority over the earth to rule and govern it" Psalm 115:16. The very authority which was rightfully ours was actually given over to Satan... by our disregard. The one act of sin enabled him to spread his evil influence into the hearts of human beings, who are the very pinnacle of God’s creation. As men began to multiply upon the earth, Satan’s influence would continue to spread in every conceivable way. At every point, his intentions would be to steal the glory of God for himself.
If one were to look through the lens of human history up until now, it would seem as if there would never be an end to his destructive influence. However, as believers we know that has changed. Hope has been restored to the human heart. The original intentions of God to enjoy perfect fellowship with us and see the dominion of the earth back into our hands has been and will be fulfilled in Jesus.
The temptation of Jesus was part of the crucial process where He was gaining back the glory of God for the human family by resisting Satan, and standing firmly on the word of God. Jesus, in his extreme weariness due to being in the desert on a forty day fast, endured the temptations of comfort and power as an easier way offered by Satan. Jesus, however, having a firm hope of God in Himself for humanity, stayed true to His mission on earth, "…For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil" 1 John 3:8.
As Jesus submitted to God in obedience, we must also. When we choose to sin we actually empower Satan’s kingdom. When we choose righteousness we see the kingdom of God advanced through our lives, which weakens Satan’s kingdom. We must cut off allegiance to Satan in every way possible by following the way of Jesus who is our Savior, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me…." John 14:21.
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