From Handbook to God’s Promises
What kind of drama do you enjoy? A spine-tingling nail-biter that keeps you awake half the night? How about a white-knuckle espionage spy thriller? Or perhaps you prefer a nineteenth-century love story filled with eloquence and intrigue. But perhaps the greatest drama ever written was penned by a doctor who lived in the first century AD. It may never be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, but when it comes to drama of the highest order, the story of the temptation of Christ is unparalleled.
With only 250 words and two characters, the potential for drama would seem slim. But the plot is the clincher. For the first thirty years of Jesus’ life, Satan remained on the sidelines. But as Jesus began His public ministry, the antagonist came to the fore. Several thousand years earlier, Satan had been successful in causing the downfall of the only other sinless people ever to walk the planet—a couple named Adam and Eve. Now another sinless One—a second Adam—had come on a mission to restore Adam’s fallen race. Jesus, the Word made flesh, came to present the words and works of God to the sons and daughters of Adam in order to lead them back to God. Hanging in the balance was nothing less than the salvation of the entire human race. There was no understudy in this drama. Should Jesus fail and yield to the wiles of the devil, humanity would be doomed.
Three times Satan offered the second Adam enticements, and three times the Word made flesh answered with the written Word of God. His life and God’s Word are inseparable; who He is and what He says demonstrate the will of God. And the battle was and is won! The second Adam has gained back what the first Adam lost.
Did you realize that your spiritual destiny hung in the balance in a Judean desert some two thousand years ago? The next time you pray, offer a word of thanks to Jesus for being the leading Man in the greatest high-stakes drama ever played out.
God’s Promise:
The Word of God, written and living, is the key to spiritual victory.
