THE THREE PRONGED ATTACKED
It is for this reason the enemy crafted a three pronged attack in Eden, and the nature of that attack has not changed over all these thousands of years. In truth this attack cannot change because it is the only strategy that will work to enslave human beings. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life are the only weapons in his arsenal.
In 1stJohn 2:15-16 tells us that all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. All that is in the world is a very telling statement. Every form of sin in the world can be classified into one of these three categories.
1) The lust of the flesh deals mainly with the emotions of man and is used to enslave his body through his biology; sex, drugs, physical violence etc.
2) The lust of the eye deals with man's intellect. A person can't eat, smoke, or have sex with an expensive car but person can lust after it. They can be very different things for different people but whatever the intellect deems valuable it can lust after.
3) The pride of life deals mainly with the will of man and is used to subdue man’s spirit. It is designed to render man’s spirit impotent and only able to sometimes raise small protest through our conscious. Through the willfulness of man we ignore how God leads.
It is by this three pronged attack that the soul was invaded like a house and plundered of its resources.
THE THREE PRONGED ATTACK AND JESUS
In Luke 4: 1-13 we see this three pronged attack attempted on Jesus.
-In verse 3 we find the enemy tempting Jesus with the lust of the flesh. Jesus had not eaten for forty days and the enemy was telling him to break his fast and eat by turning stones to bred. The biology, the body, of Jesus was being tempted.
-In verse 5 through 7 we find Jesus being tempted with the lust of the eye. The enemy showed him all of the kingdoms of the world and its possessions. Those were not things that would appeal to the immediate needs of a hungry man but they would appeal to his eye because his intellect could deem them desirable.
-In verse 9-11 the enemy led him to Jerusalem and a high part of the temple; and told him to jump off. This temptation was the pride of life because the Jews were looking for a messiah to return to Jerusalem, and the temple in dramatic miraculous fashion. The Jews would have recognized, at least for their own purposes that Jesus was from God. The pride of life tempted Jesus to ignore the spirit of God and be recognized as religiously important. Consider that they were in a mountainous region and that there were any number of cliffs where Jesus could have put God to the test, but it was more important that he did it at the temple for the recognition it would bring.
The example that Jesus gives to us is that for all three temptations his answer was the word of God. A Christian trying to live for Christ without knowing the word is opening himself up for the basic deceptions of this world and constant failure.
Next week:
EDEN AND THE ORIGIN OF THE THREE PRONGED ATTACK
Poet Ntwadumela's Voice
It is for this reason the enemy crafted a three pronged attack in Eden, and the nature of that attack has not changed over all these thousands of years. In truth this attack cannot change because it is the only strategy that will work to enslave human beings. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life are the only weapons in his arsenal.
In 1stJohn 2:15-16 tells us that all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. All that is in the world is a very telling statement. Every form of sin in the world can be classified into one of these three categories.
1) The lust of the flesh deals mainly with the emotions of man and is used to enslave his body through his biology; sex, drugs, physical violence etc.
2) The lust of the eye deals with man's intellect. A person can't eat, smoke, or have sex with an expensive car but person can lust after it. They can be very different things for different people but whatever the intellect deems valuable it can lust after.
3) The pride of life deals mainly with the will of man and is used to subdue man’s spirit. It is designed to render man’s spirit impotent and only able to sometimes raise small protest through our conscious. Through the willfulness of man we ignore how God leads.
It is by this three pronged attack that the soul was invaded like a house and plundered of its resources.
THE THREE PRONGED ATTACK AND JESUS
In Luke 4: 1-13 we see this three pronged attack attempted on Jesus.
-In verse 3 we find the enemy tempting Jesus with the lust of the flesh. Jesus had not eaten for forty days and the enemy was telling him to break his fast and eat by turning stones to bred. The biology, the body, of Jesus was being tempted.
-In verse 5 through 7 we find Jesus being tempted with the lust of the eye. The enemy showed him all of the kingdoms of the world and its possessions. Those were not things that would appeal to the immediate needs of a hungry man but they would appeal to his eye because his intellect could deem them desirable.
-In verse 9-11 the enemy led him to Jerusalem and a high part of the temple; and told him to jump off. This temptation was the pride of life because the Jews were looking for a messiah to return to Jerusalem, and the temple in dramatic miraculous fashion. The Jews would have recognized, at least for their own purposes that Jesus was from God. The pride of life tempted Jesus to ignore the spirit of God and be recognized as religiously important. Consider that they were in a mountainous region and that there were any number of cliffs where Jesus could have put God to the test, but it was more important that he did it at the temple for the recognition it would bring.
The example that Jesus gives to us is that for all three temptations his answer was the word of God. A Christian trying to live for Christ without knowing the word is opening himself up for the basic deceptions of this world and constant failure.
Next week:
EDEN AND THE ORIGIN OF THE THREE PRONGED ATTACK
Poet Ntwadumela's Voice
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