Matthew 4:1~11
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. God is life and his life is the source of life for all mankind. He created man with his life and breathed the breath of life into him and man became a living being, Adam (Genesis 2:7). But man broke the commandment of God and he was destined to perish along with the devil. Even though man was formed to have a body and soul, he doesn't acknowledge it. Man just lives to gratify his sinful desire, but his soul will be thrown into the fiery hell according to how he has lived his life. This is tragic (1 John 3:8, Revelation 20:10). Man should take responsibility for his body and soul while he is alive, but he irresponsibly uses up his time by following his sinful desires. He doesn’t know that he is neglecting his life. How sad it is. God gave his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, and his life for those who have lost their lives. God lets us discover our sin by his righteous word, through which he lets us realize we are destined to perish both spiritually and physically. He lets us know the working of the devil who makes us suffer us eternally, and forgives all our sin by letting Jesus take up the cross for us (Mark 10:45, Philippians 2:5~8). Man even couldn’t have known that he couldn’t deal with the working of the devil, unless Jesus loved him even to the point of his death on the cross. He does not know about his destruction due to sin, because he only lives to gratify his sinful nature. God has given man the mission that he should live only for the glory of God by holding the word of God. All those who were considered to be great, those who had great possessions, honor and power all died in time, for they had forgotten their purpose and mission given by God. They are the most unfortunate ones before their Creator (Jude 6~7, Jude 10~13, 2 Peter 3:7). Dear brothers and sisters, we should repent of our sin according to the word of God. And let us give thanks to the Lord, for he has saved us from the devil and hell by the working of his blood shed on the cross. We should put God's word before bread. Let us not put the word of God to the test, but rather trust him. Let us worship only him instead of the glory of the world. Let us overcome the working of the devil and sin by the word of God, and be a man of blessing by carrying out the mission given by God as a created being and giving thanks to God who has given us the glory of victory both in heaven and on this earth.