Did you know when were created by God, the original creator and designer of man, He created us with a specific order and proper alignment?
When you understand the power of knowing this exact order and this exact alignment, and what happened when we were thrown out of alignment due to the sin in the Garden of Eden, you will unlock a new level of understanding and power to take dominion over yourself and your life.
We have a mandate from Jesus Christ that we are to occupy and expand. He tells us in Scripture to do business until he returns. In order to take territory in life, we must first take internal territory. The most important battle is over yourself from within, which is the soul life. This is what comprises the mind, will, and emotions that we must strive every day to put in the right order.
Salvation is free, you are saved by the blood of Christ, but Jesus commands all of his disciples to pick up their cross and follow him. Part of picking up our cross and daily obedience to Christ is learning to die daily to your natural appetites, impulses and the cravings of the flesh.
Your Sphere of Influence
As you walk that out in daily life and as you take internal territory within your heart, submitted to the Lord of your life, you will grow, expand, and be qualified to take dominion in your sphere of influence.
What do I mean by sphere of influence?
I'm talking about that place that you're planted, where you work right now, your family, that current season of life -- that is the sphere of influence. As you take dominion and rise above and serve with excellence the people around you in that sphere you're planted in and that you are called to, you will see promotion.
You will go from one season to the next, and you will move into your right assignment following God.
In my book, The Standard, I break down various dimensions of the life of Jesus, and one of those dimensions is self-mastery; what Jesus did on a daily basis, submitting his flesh, submitting the desires and cravings of his flesh, and yes, Jesus was in a human body.
It says in scripture that Christ was tempted in every way that we are as men (see Heb 4:15). So there's no temptation that you have undergone that Jesus has not been faced with, and we know that Jesus overcame all sin and overcame all temptation. That is what he calls us to do and he empowers us to do it.
The Mutation of Man
In episodes 20 and episode 21 of the Raising the Standard podcast I talked about the mutation of man, how man was created in a specific order, the proper order, the proper alignment to man, which we can see in scripture is spirit, soul, and body. At the fall, when Adam and Eve sinned, our constitution was changed. We were rearranged, we were thrown out of order and into chaos.
There was a mutation that took place, and our soul, our mind, will, and emotions has now enlarged and taken the place of where our spirit was.
I bring this up because the reason we have a propensity to sin and why we are still battling sinful cravings as Christians is often misunderstood. In order to understand how we are tempted, why we are tempted, and why men give in to sin, it's critical to understand the way we were originally designed. What happened at the fall when the enemy deceived man into sinning threw us into chaos and we mutated.
There's this fight against God's purposes in man, and the enemy is constantly working in the most perverted way to reverse that order, and it's the reverse of everything God creates.
Satan Is a Counterfeiter
Everything the enemy does is a counterfeit of what God does. We see in the Genesis account that God created us with a specific order. This is also confirmed in 1 Thessalonians 5.23, where the apostle Paul prays for that church and says, "'I want you to prosper spirit, soul, and body.'"
That is the order, one, two, three; spirit, soul, body.
What we are now going to unveil below and what we now are going to see when we dissect the anatomy of a temptation is how when Satan tempts us it's the exact opposite order of what God intends for us to be.
We are working against multiple enemies. Satan is God’s enemy, and Jesus told us that the enemy roams about to and fro like a lion, seeking whom he can devour (1 Peter 5:8). When the Lord prayed for Peter, Jesus said, "The enemy has sought to sift you like wheat.” (Luke 22:31)
So we know that Satan wants to annihilate us.
He wants to separate us from our God-given purpose and our God-given mandate and destiny.
The Anatomy of a Temptation
In Genesis 3 we see the temptation of Adam and Eve at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And when Satan tempts Eve, notice the exact statement he makes to her:
Isn't it good?
Satan also tells her her eyes will be opened.
He presents something that has to do with the five senses in human nature. First is our sight. One of your five senses will be open and you will be like God.
Eve then gets Adam to come on board and they both fall. We know this story, but let’s just pause at the “you will be like God” lie. This age-old deception is prevalent in a lot of new age mysticism, cults, and false denominations. Multiple world religions promise that you will be like God and that you have the answers within you.
Satan is still telling it today, speaking to this drive and inner ambition within humans to discover divinity within, telling us we can unlock limitless potential on our own.
There’s nothing new under the sun in that regard.
We See Something That Appeals to Our 5 Senses
Satan will say to Eve that the tree offers fruit that is good; it's good for the body. It serves a physical purpose. So we have something that's going to appeal to a human fleshly craving and appetite, another one of our five senses.
And then lastly, we see an appeal to the intellect that if you eat this, it will make you wise.
So to recap so far, it's good to the touch, it's good for your sight, it's good to look at, and your eyes will be opened.
We see that the anatomy and the order of this temptation is the exact opposite order than what God created man for. He created a spirit to be in ascendancy, governing over our soul, our mind, will, emotions, and our body.
And here we see Satan make the attempt and offer the temptation; first appealing to the fleshly appetites and human cravings, the sight, the smell, the feel, the touch. He starts with the body and he goes into the soul, the exact opposite order than the order we are created in.
Satan gets access to Eve and ultimately Adam through the soul life, through that life of the mind, will, and the emotions. That was the open door that Satan came through and brought sin into Adam and into Eve and by extension, into the world.
The Temptation of Jesus
You know the story: Jesus fasts for 40 days at the outset of his ministry in the wilderness. We know he's spending that time in prayer, and during the course of those 40 days, at the conclusion of his fast, he's hungry and tired. He is in a human body, after all, so you can imagine what 40 days without food would be like.
Again, we see the temptation comes in the exact opposite order from what God mandated the proper order of man. Satan came to Jesus in this physically vulnerable and weakened state, tempting him body, soul, and spirit.
So the first thing Satan does to Jesus is he says, “aren't you hungry?”(body). He appeals to the need for hunger and nutrition and challenges Jesus to turn rocks into bread.
Next, he's trying to pull Jesus out of his rightful position as a son, and trying to get him to throw himself off a cliff that you are who you really say you are, touching his pride and ego (soul). the appeal to Jesus's mind, will, and intellect.
Jesus Does Not Take The Bait
He is a strong savior. He is a brave man and he is our model. He is an overcomer and he defeats Satan. And he defeats him by saying, it is written, you shall not test the Lord (Matt 4:7). Jesus is the living word. He knows the word; he is the word made flesh, and that is how he overcomes the enemy in this temptation.
There's still one element left that Satan will bring to Jesus. And this is a temptation that has to do in the spiritual realm.
“I will give you all the kingdoms of this world if you will worship me.” (spirit)
This is an assault on the spirit.
When the enemy attacks you, he will always attack you at the flesh first. This is the first level of attack. If he can't get you here, he will elevate the attack and appeal to your soul, the pride of life, intellect, your thirst for knowledge, your thirst for status, your ambition, your selfishness.
Many men fall here.
Can you identify a temptation in your life?
Can you identify an area of struggle or a battle that you're facing? Which realm does it have to do with? I want you to look at this strategically because the enemy is strategic. He's watching, he's constantly monitoring and waiting for an opportune time to pounce like a lion.
He's also been around for a long time, and he's a keen observer of human nature.
He's observed many, many men.
Satan has observed human behavior for thousands of years; he knows the patterns, the cycles, and the behaviors of men.
The devil offers corruption, a counterfeit and a perversion of everything in the kingdom of God. He is very familiar with God's ways, operating principles, his word, and he works in direct opposition to the things of God, including God's order, spirit, soul, and body.
You are designed for a purpose. You have a destiny to fulfill. You have an assignment and a mandate on your life to take territory, and this is why you're under attack. This is why you face temptation. This is why you struggle, and we overcome through the Holy Spirit within us. And every day as you yield and as you surrender to the spirit of God and allow him to take more territory within you, you will be empowered and equipped to take more territory in your life.
What's The Solution?
If you find yourself facing a temptation, or find yourself in a struggle, surrender to God. Spend time with him. The more time you spend building yourself up in the spirit, uniting your human spirit with the Holy Spirit through reading the word, meditating on it, with prayer and worship.
As you spend time with God and walk with him, as you let him and allow him to take more ground within your heart, within your life, within your soul realm and you allow him to fill you with the things of his word and the things of his kingdom, he grows within you, and you WILL take territory.
You are equipped to defeat the enemy, to rise up and take territory in life.
