When we look at Matthew 4 or any of the gospel accounts to Jesus' temptation, there are obvious things that we know Jesus went through when he had completed his fast. Three things in particular are mention, that is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. We also know that our King conquered all three of these areas.
As it is, each of the above mentioned areas represent the three aspects of man's life, that is the physical, soul or mental and the spiritual aspects. As a result of Jesus being tempted in these three areas, over every area of man's life, he has made it also possible through His death on the cross and resurrection possible for you and I to be conquerors in these areas.
Lets therefore take a closer look at these areas...
The Lust of the flesh, is obviously things of the flesh or physical man which cause us to sin. Whilst the word for lust in the Greek is in itself not a negative word but is neutral, when it is used in conjunction to those things which overtake us, sexual immorality and fornication for example, it is consider negative and the cause to sin. In Romans 13:14 Paul commends us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh. In other words not to be in a state that our flesh chooses for our lives or our outcomes. In fact Galatians 5:16 tells us to "walk in the spirit" as opposed to fulfilling the lusts of the flesh.
The Lust of the Eyes, in my understanding refers to the soul or mental state of man. Matthew 6:22 tells us the eyes are the window or lamp to the soul. That can therefore mean that what we set our eyes on or gaze upon has an effect upon our soul. In turn our eyes are a reflection of our souls and their state. Job declared that he would look not lustfully upon any woman. In this particular example we see lusts of the eyes referring to coveting that which is not ours. Giving therefore to God which is God's and not desiring things that do not belong to us. In a similar fashion, one of the Ten Commandments was to have no "graven images before me" as seen in Exodus 20:4.
The Pride of Life, refers to man thinking more highly of himself than he should. We also know that "pride comes before the fall" (Proverbs 16:18). Pride therefore is a precursor to sin and the fall of man. Adam and Eve rebelled before God as they perceived they could be "like God" as Satan told them. Proverbs 8:13 tells us that the "fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance". The book of Philippians tells us that our Lord stepped down from his rightful position to become man, he humbled himself for you and I and became one of us.
Christ has conquered every area of life, including sin, death, sickness, disease and all the powers and authorities and right now sits at the right hand of the Father making his enemies and ours his footstool. As believers we must revel in this knowledge of what He has done for us!
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