The Rescue

Not without hindrance was the Commander of heaven to win the souls of men to His kingdom.  From the time when He was a babe in Bethlehem, He was continually assailed by the evil one.  The image of God was manifest in Christ, and in the councils of Satan it was determined that He should be overcome.  No human being had come into the world and escaped the power of the deceiver.  The forces of the confederacy of evil were set upon His track to engage in warfare against Him, and if possible to prevail over Him.

At the Savior's baptism, Satan was among the witnesses.  He saw the Father's glory overshadowing His Son.  He heard the voice of Jehovah testifying to the divinity of Jesus.  Ever since Adam's sin, the human race had been cut off from direct communion with God; the intercourse between heaven and earth had been through Christ; but now that Jesus had come "in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3) the Father Himself spoke.  He had before communicated with humanity through Christ; now he communicated with humanity in Christ.  Satan had hoped that God's abhorrence of evil would bring an eternal separation between heaven and earth.  But now it was manifest that the connection between God and man had been restored.

Satan saw that he must conquer or be conquered.  The issues of the conflict involved too much to be entrusted to his confederate angels.  He must personally conduct the warfare.  All the energies of apostasy were rallied against the Son of God.  Christ was made the mark of every weapon of hell.

Many look on this conflict between Christ and Satan as having no special bearing on their own life; and for them it has little interest.  But within the domain of very human heart this controversy is repeated.  Never does one leave the ranks of evil for the service of God without encountering the assaults of Satan. The enticements which Christ resisted were those that we find it so difficult to withstand.  They were urged upon him in as much greater degree as His character is superior to ours.  With a terrible weight of the sins of the world upon Him, Christ withstood the test upon appetite, upon the love of the world, and upon that love of display which leads to presumption.  These were the temptations that overcame Adam and Eve, and that so readily overcome us.

Satan had pointed to Adam's sin as proof that God's law was unjust, and could not be obeyed.  In our humanity, Christ was to redeem Adam's failure.  But when Adam was assailed by the tempter, none of the effects of sin were upon him.  He stood in the strength of perfect manhood, possessing the full vigor of mind and body.  He was surrounded with the glories of Eden, and was in daily communion with heavenly beings.  It was not thus with Jesus when He entered the wilderness to cope with Satan.  For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, and in moral worth; and Christ took upon Him the infirmities of degenerate humanity.  Only thus could He rescue man from the lowest depths of his degradation.

(I am sure that if you consider your life, you will see where Satan has had many controversies with Christ over who is going to be the Lord of your life.  Christ or Satan.  I can surely see many times that Christ lost the battle and many times when He gained the battle and as the years have gone by, they are still battling for my soul and I believe Christ is the winner now, not to say that I don't succumb to Satan, but Christ is always there to lift me up.  Praise the Lord that He was the overcomer for us.  We have the assurance that because He overcame in His life, He will be the Victor in ours. Will you let Him be the Victor in yours?  I hope so.  Grandma Joan)  Thoughts taken from the Desire of Ages chapter 12.