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The Purpose Of Christ's Temptation

(Mark 1:12-13) “And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.” In the above verse the Word of God mentions twice that Jesus after his baptism was directed or driven immediately by the Holy Ghost into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil. The wilderness is a picture of the place of testing just as it was for Israel in the wilderness after coming out of Egypt. For as the Jew immediately was driven into the wilderness for a purpose, so are we after salvation driven by the Spirit to the place of testing to teach us about faith and God’s Word. God directed Jesus to fast for 40 days not to prove that he could but rather to bring him to his weakest point as an example to us that even when weak and discouraged we can have faith in times of testing. For the power of Jesus over Satan was not found in his human flesh but rather in His Father’s Word. For when we are frightened and alone, God wants us to see that His angels are always close at hand ministering and protecting us from the Devil and his wild beasts. God’s Word will never fail us or let us down.

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