Enduring Temptation and Reversing the Curse

By Danny Saavedra

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’”—Matthew 4:1–4 (NIV)

Following His baptism, an incredible moment that signaled the beginning of His ministry, which would ultimately end at the cross, we’re told “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

Why was this the first place the Spirit took Him? Because it was the next step in reversing the curse of Adam. What do I mean? Romans 5:12 (NIV) says, “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people.” In order to reverse the curse of Adam, in order for “God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ” to “overflow to the many” (Romans 5:15 NIV), Jesus had to endure the same temptation and overcome it. It had to happen for the same reason He needed to be baptized: “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15 NIV).

So now, let’s look at the first temptation Jesus endured. After fasting for 40 days and nights, being hungry and vulnerable physically, “that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan” (Revelation 12:9 NIV) showed up to tempt Jesus: “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Is hunger wrong? Is it sinful to feel hunger? Obviously not. Often the temptations Satan throws at us aren’t “go murder 1,000 people.” It’s more subtle and even centered on natural, normal human needs. For example, sexual fulfillment isn’t sinful or unnatural, right? It’s given by God to serve very specific functions from God—propagation of the human race, a picture of oneness between Christ and the church, and the deep, intimate, beautiful bond of husband and wife. But Satan twists what is natural and godly and turns it into a perversion of its intended, godly function and purpose and tempts us to seek natural fulfillment apart from the spiritual, apart from God and His design.

With Adam and Eve, he tempted them with the notion that they’d be “like God.” Is being like God bad? No. It’s a wonderful thing to desire to be like God, to become godly, to be conformed to His image. But they sought to do so by means that were outside of God and His design. The desire to be “like God” was thus perverted to a desire to be God, to achieve godliness apart from God, and in direct rebellion to God’s commandment. The truth is Adam and Eve were already “like God” because they were made in His image and likeness. But more than that, they had direct, physical access to God and His presence, to seeing, hearing, and learning from Him. This is the only true path to becoming like God—intimacy and relationship with Him. Jesus knew this and showed us this in the way He responded to the temptation.

Jesus shows us that the only true source of life and godliness comes from the very Word of God, from devotion and obedience to Him, His will, and His Word. This is what Adam and Eve should have said. “We don’t need a fruit God told us will harm us to be like Him. We need Him and His Word to be like Him!”

Friends, because Jesus reversed the curse, we now have the same Spirit in us that Jesus did and the same power to resist Satan and walk in intimacy, devotion, and obedience to God.

Pause: How does Christ’s statement and His response to Satan change your perspective on life?

Practice: As you encounter temptation today and every day, remember where true satisfaction, fulfillment, godliness, and purpose come from! Remember that, “Man shall not live on bread” or whatever temptation you’re being driven toward “alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Pray: Jesus, thank You for reversing the curse. Thank You that You are a High Priest who can “empathize with our weaknesses,” who “has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet [You] did not sin.” Thank You for doing everything I could not and making me right with the Father. Thank You for giving me true LIFE, BREAD, GODLINESS, and SATISFACTION. Help me not to be distracted by the cares of this world or deceived by the devil’s twisting of natural, normal things which You created to serve Your purposes, to glorify You, and to draw me deeper into relationship with You. Help me to instead keep my mind and heart focused on You and Your will. Please fill me with an ever-increasing appetite for Your Word and Your presence above the material. Amen.