March 5, 2023 Lord’s Day Service

Jesus was Tempted by the Devil

(Matthew 4:1-11)

Overseer Sung-Hyun Kim

God
is absolutely perfect.
As He
revealed Himself through the Son (Jn 12:47-50),
God’s Son came according to the Father’s will (Jn 6:38-40).
God’s Son defeated the authority of hades
and He lives forever (Mt 28:18).
The universe (also called ‘hades’) is under the authority of the devil (Eph 2:1-3),
and the devil takes advantage of the Law as the ruler of death.
The devil’s work
is realism, telling us to leave the word and live on bread (Mt 4:3).
However,
Jesus easily overcame it and was not deceived by the devil.
The devil tempted Him by offering a sense of superiority (Mt 4:5-6),
but He was not deceived by the world’s honor or vanity (Jn 8:44).
The devil enticed Him with hades’ authority and glory,
but He eradicated the tempter by asserting that
the kingdom, the power and the glory belong only to the Father (Mt 12:29).
The devil’s weapon is simply worldly things.
But Jesus Christ received authority from heaven,
so He will judge the devil (Gal 6:3-10).

◎ The Holy Spirit is the Spirit who testifies to
what Christ did and said.
He drove Jesus into the wilderness.

◎ Jesus was victorious because He knew His duty.
Jesus came only to fulfill the Father’s will.
Jesus had to return to heaven.

◎ Jesus did not place any hope in the world,
but placed it in heaven, that is, the resurrection and ascension.
We must believe He is the resurrection.

※ The devil’s weapon is to entice the flesh.
Yet we buried the flesh and its desires by baptism.
Our spirits will follow the Lord.