From Temptation to Attack

Archangel Michael v. Satan

Hebrew 4:15, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."

Oswald Chambers used this scripture as a daily devotional I read. In it he says, "Until we are born again, the only kind of temptation we understand is that mentioned by St. James - "Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." But by regeneration we are lifted into another realm where there are other temptations to face, viz., the kind of temptations Our Lord faced. The temptations of Jesus do not appeal to us, they have no home at all in our human nature. Our Lord's temptations and ours move in different spheres until we are born again and become His brethren. The temptations of Jesus are not those of a man, but the temptations of God as Man. By regeneration the Son of God is formed in us, and in our physical life He has the same setting that He had on earth. Satan does not tempt us to do wrong things; he tempts us in order to make us lose what God has put into us by regeneration, viz., the possibility of being of value to God. He does not come on the line of tempting us to sin, but on the line of shifting the point of view, and only the Spirit of God can detect this as a temptation of the devil."

I think what is lacking in the revelation is one, this process of "regeneration" which can also be called sanctification is not instantaneous. In fact, the process never ends while alive on the earth. And even post salvation, the temptations of man, the lust of the flesh, and lust of the eyes continue to pull on us. But, there comes a point in the "regeneration" that we are no longer influenced by lust. There is a point when selflessness is much more pleasurable than selfishness. I have yet to experience the place where pride is no longer at work, but the work of Satan to dislodge our path moves from temptation to attack. There is a place in Christ where you have the character and power of Christ within you so that the "normal" temptations, those attempts to be lured away from the path are of no effect. This is the temptation Jesus experienced after the temptations of humanity in the wilderness. He was attacked and experienced the temptation to act outside the will of God. He certainly was tempted to counter the attack.

Satan's only objective is to move man from the path of God. If he cannot lure you off it, then he will try to force you off with an attack. It is here that we hold fast. "Hold fast until I come." Jesus said in Revelation 2:25.

I can't help but think of Jesus on the cross. Here was Satan, thinking that he was killing the Son of God. But Jesus just was. All He did was be Christ, and God turned what Satan intended for evil into the ultimate sacrifice.

Stand, stand firm, hold fast... that is what Jesus did in the attacks. That is what we should be doing. It is standing firm that fulfills James 4:7 where it says, "submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."