The first temptation, always Satan's first attack

In Matthew 4:1 we read,   Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

After his official anointing in John 3, he was led into the wilderness to be tempted. After having the Holy Spirit come and rest on him, after being praised by God as his son who was doing well, then, he is tempted. We often think that when we are tempted, we have done something wrong. While it may be true that we have put ourselves in a situation or condition to be vulnerable to temptation, it is not necessarily the case. Being tempted is not sin. We don’t outgrow temptation. We don’t become so mature and spiritual that we cannot be tempted.  It may be, and should be, that the same things do not tempt us that did at one time. You begin to realize, Oh, I have no interest in the thing that enticed me a few years ago, or a few weeks ago…….   Do not ever think that you are beyond being tempted.   BUT, when tempted, don’t be condemned. Learn how to stand strong.

Satan began his temptation assault with, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."  

What is the temptation? 

Satan wants to create the question, “ Are you who you think you are? Are you the person that God said you are? Did you really hear God’s voice…did God really say???”

This was the first strategy in tempting Jesus, and the first temptation he comes with every time. Satan tempts us to question the very things that God has spoken.

We see that in the very first temptation, in Genesis 3:1 Did God really say?  

Jesus’ answer was immediate and certain.

Matthew 4:4  But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”  (Deut 8:3)

The word translated “word” here is the Greek word rhema, usually considered to be the current, personal spoken word of God. 

Not the written word, the scripture, but the spoken, breathed word of God that is personal and individual. That is the word that gives life,that sustains life. 

What word had Jesus just received from God? 

Matthew 3:17  and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

That is the very word that Satan called into question. Jesus said, I will live by that word, hold onto that word, believe and live by that word of God.

The word that the Father had spoken affirmed their relationship.

Satan asked, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."  Satan temps Jesus to question who he is. God has just spoken to him, affirming that Jesus is his beloved son, who he is pleased with. 

Satan questions that very fact. So, IF you are the Son of God, make yourself some bread.  I mean, you haven’t eaten in 40 days, you’re hungry, you can take care of this is you really are who you think you are.

Is there anything wrong with making bread from stones????  That is not really the point.

We can become very hung up on sin, on doing the right thing and not doing the wrong things.  That is not the issue here. The issue is, “would Jesus trust his father, stand strong in his relationship, live by the very personal word of God.”  Jesus passed the test by living by God’s “rhema” word.

This is the answer. We can stand strong against temptation and live in victory when we cling to our Father, hear his voice, believe and hold fast to the words he speaks to us, and value our relationship with Him above everything else.