We’re in a message series called “Spiritual Warfare.” Our warfare is a battle between obeying God and obeying Satan. Behind every significant decision in your life is a choice to obey God or the devil.
How does this play out? As a believer, God is speaking to you through His Spirit as you ponder a decision in life. But there is something else going on with every decision. Satan is seeking to inject his direction and ideas into your mind. He can do that in a number of ways.
Satan can directly tempt you in your mind. Or he may use something that you read or watch. Or he may use a friend or relative to tempt you to follow his guidance. Oftentimes, the obvious choice is the wrong one, the one that Satan is pitching to you. He’s hoping that you don’t take the time to pray and find out what God is saying. So, it comes down to a choice. A choice to follow God and reject the temptation. Or a choice to follow Satan and reject God’s direction.
When you choose to follow God’s direction, the result is blessing in your life. When you choose to follow Satan’s direction and sin, the result is curses upon your life.
1 John 2:16 (NIV2011) For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
The world here is the domain of Satan and the three things mentioned here are the three major types of temptations. The lust of the flesh is a temptation to satisfy physical needs in an ungodly manner. The lust of the eyes is a temptation to satisfy emotional needs in a way not pleasing to God. Finally, the pride of life is a temptation to satisfy our spiritual needs in something other than God Himself. These are the types of temptations we must learn to overcome in spiritual warfare.
Today, our message is entitled “The Serpent’s Strategy.” We’re going to go back to the book of Genesis, the first book in the Bible. We’re going to examine Satan’s strategy as the serpent in the first temptation in the history of mankind. God had created Adam from the dust of the earth and had given him a command.
Genesis 2:16-17 (NIV2011) And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
God had placed Adam in the beautiful garden of Eden, a perfect paradise. He could eat from all the trees in the garden, except for one. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was deadly. If you ate from it you would certainly die. Next God created Eve from Adam’s rib as a helper suitable for him. God then instituted marriage between one man and one woman for all time.
Genesis 2:24 (NIV2011) That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
Let’s now take a look at the serpent’s strategy to attack the first marriage and cause sin and death to enter paradise. The tool that Satan used was temptation.
Message Audio, Outline & Study Guide
Spiritual Warfare Message Series
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I found this very interesting and very well written