Luke 4 :3-4
And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Satan's temptation with Adam and Eve and with Jesus have the same nature and philosophy. Though these two events have a time gap of almost 4000 years, satan's deception has the same ingredients and thought patterns. Let us look into these two events of temptation and understand the underlying deception in it. Keep in mind, satan has no creative ability, since he is cut off from the creator, all he has in his arsenal is the same old deception of "Thou shall create your identity by your own self effort". Satan tempted Adam and Eve to create their identity of likeness to God by eating the forbidden fruit. Adam, the representative of the human race, yielded to temptation and sold the human race to the mindset of " Thou shall live by the fruit from the knowledge of good and evil" The whole world is running by this fallen mindset and that is why the devil is called God of this world.
All religions of the world preach, teach and train their believers to live by the knowledge of good and evil, not knowing that this a God forbidden way of living. Sad to admit that majority of the Christians also live by the fruit of their knowledge of good and evil, or living by their conscience. A true Christian is someone who lives by the indwelling presence of God in him, or we can say living by the life of Jesus in us. Knowing this truth, Paul say in Galatians 2:20 " I have been crucified with Christ, It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives through me.....................". Preaching and teaching of the gospel is not about the knowledge of good and evil, it is about "Living by the life of Christ in us".
On a careful study, we can observe different stages of this deception. The first stage is where devil questions you whether you believe your identity based on the Word of God, if you don't know your God given identity, he will suggest you to do something to create an identity by your own self effort. The second stage is applicable only if you pass the first stage of the temptation. In this second stage, he will provoke you to prove your identity by what you can do. If you do anything based on his suggestions, you are under his deception.
Stage 1 -Eve - To test whether she knows her God given identity.
From Eve's answer (Gen 3:2-4) to the serpent, it is very clear that she never understood the commandment properly. God never told them that if they touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they will die. Eve only had information knowledge about the commandment, but Adam had the revelation knowledge about the commandment. The revelation knowledge is something that we get directly from God, not from others. Since Eve did not know her true identity, serpent tempted her to create her identity [be like God] by eating the fruit from the knowledge of good and evil.
[NB:If you are a believer, satan always tempts you to become something what God already created you to be, so it always looks attractive, wise and godly. Example: He will tempt you to fast to become holy, he will tempt you to give to get rich, he will tempt you to become perfect by your discipline. Fasting, giving and disciplining are not sin's by their actions, but if your motive behind these actions are to become holy, rich and perfect, then you are under deception. Just believe in the perfection of our creator and His creations].
"Thou shall create your identity by your own self effort" - Adam and Eve trying to become like God by eating the forbidden fruit [Gen 3:4-7].
ADAM AND EVE FAILED AT THE FIRST STAGE OF TEMPTATION.
Stage 1- Jesus - To test whether Jesus know His identity.
This temptation is immediately after Jesus heard from heaven, that he is the beloved son of God, whom the father is well pleased. Satan tempting Jesus by asking HIM "Do you believe what you heard from heaven" [Luke 3: 22]. Jesus knew His identity very well through the Word and voice of God, so He defeated devil by answering him through the Word of God.
Stage 2 - Jesus - If you believe your identity from the Word of God, prove it by what you can do.
Satan tempting Jesus If you believe what you heard, from the Word of God, prove your identity by commanding the stone to become bread [Luke 4:3].
JESUS OVERCAME ALL THE STAGES OF TEMPTATION.
Satan is still using the same age old deception and deceives the 21st century believers by questioning our identity in Christ Jesus, and if we are confident about our identity, he will be in a pursuit after us to challenge our faith in our identity. The warfare we face in our present day Christian life is to "Believe and stay in our god given identity" or "Create our identity by our performance based on the knowledge of good and evil". Satan tempt many born again believers to create or prove their identity by what they can do for God, so many are busy in praying, fasting, giving and doing all good things. Don't misunderstand me, I am all for fasting, praying, giving and doing all good works, but let it come out as fruit because of your belief in our God given identity.
The preachers and teachers of the Word must build new covenant believers in their identity in Christ Jesus and create the awareness of the deception in creating our identity by what we do to God. My friend, spend your time in the Word of God and discover your identity in Christ. Satan's deception is to put doubts in your identity in Christ. If you are rooted and built up in Christ Jesus, all satan's challenges against your true identity will be out of the window.