CENTRAL TRUTH: Christians can live victoriously because Christ has defeated Satan.
MEMORY VERSE: Submit yourselves, then, to god resist the devil and he will flee from you.
------- James 4:7.
LESSON TEXT
Mathew 4:1-4, 11; Luke 10:17-20; 1 Peter 5:8-9.
Mathew 4:
- Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Luke 10:
17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” 18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
1 Peter 5:
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
INTRODUCTION
Believers sometimes become apprehensive on hearing the name Satan. This is because Satan is considered by those believers as so powerful. Satan may be powerful but we serve a God and Savior who is more powerful. Our lesson today will help us understand how Christ defeated Satan and the authority we have through Christ to overcome all his attacks.
LESSON
After His baptism, Jesus was led by the spirit of God into the desert to be tempted by the devil for a period of time. This may seem strange. But the temptation was necessary to demonstrate His moral capability to deliver mankind from sin, the work for which He came into the world. Remember that Adam failed to have dominion on earth because he yielded to sin when tempted by the devil. His failure resulted in the devil having dominion over mankind. The Greek translation of the word ‘’tempt’’ has two meanings: ‘’to test or prove’’ or ‘’to solicit someone to do evil’’. The Holy Spirit tested Christ to prove His moral fitness to redeem mankind but the devil sought to lure Him to do evil by the temptation. Despite Jesus inability to sin, the temptation was very real. When Jesus had successfully resisted Satan’s temptations, the devil left Him. We can deduce from the temptation of Jesus that the devil can attack those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit, but he is powerless when we resist him with the Word of God. Remember that when the enemy comes like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him (Isa. 59:19). We are also given example of victory over Satan by Christ in Luke’s account of the commissioning of ‘’the seventy-two’’ in Luke 10. When the seventy-two (72) disciples encountered Satan in spiritual warfare they discovered that when they relied on the power of Christ, demonic powers had to flee. They returned with joy, exclaiming, ‘’Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name’’ (Luke 10:17). The authority Jesus gave the seventy-two disciples when He sent them out gave them victory over demons. Jesus explained further that although Satan’s downfall is assured through His victory, the actual working out of that defeat will happen through our obedience to His word. He delegated to His followers is absolute power over the enemy, Satan.
The apostle Peter in his letter (1 Peter 5:8, 9) admonishes us, believers to be confident in the power Christ has given us against Satan. James also wrote that we must resist the devil and he will flee from us, Satan does not stand a chance because Christ has already defeated him.
LIFE APPLICATION
Jesus defeated Satan in the wilderness. Jesus also defeated Satan once and for all when He took our sins to the cross. Satan will certainly attack us, but because Christ had defeated him in the wilderness and on the cross, we must no longer live in fear of his attacks because Christ delegated His power over Satan to us when He gave us the Holy Spirit. We can therefore go into spiritual warfare confident of victory because of the authority and power given to us by Jesus Christ.
DIALY BIBLE READING
Monday: Satan’s Defeat Foretold. (Genesis 3:13-15).
Tuesday: Satan’s Fall. (Isaiah 14:12-15).
Wednesday: Satan Rebuked. (Zechariah 3:1-7).
Thursday: Satan Resisted. (Luke 4: 1-12).
Friday: Try the Spirits. (1 John 4:1-4).
Saturday: Satan Cast Down. (Revelation 12:7-12).