Satan’s Play Book

For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world. 1 John 2:16

Imagine you are a football coach and you got a hold of the opposing team’s playbook discovering that they only had three plays: a run to the left, a run to the right, and a run up the middle. If you suspect that with this knowledge your team would do well, you would be correct.

Satan’s Playbook

Our coach Jesus loves us so much, He has provided us with satan’s playbook which consists of (you guessed it) only three plays. 1 John 2:16 tells us what they are: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. We see these three enticements first displayed in Genesis 3:6 when satan tempted Eve.

So when the woman (1) saw that the tree was good for food, that it was (2) pleasant to the eyes, and a tree (3) desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

How does our Lord recognize these things? Hebrews 4:15 tells us…

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

When we realize that all temptation comes in only three basic forms, we can begin to understand how Jesus endured all that satan had to offer—everything satan throws at us, he threw at Jesus first. There are several places where the Bible records these attacks, but probably the clearest is found in Matthew 4:1-10. We see that satan first tries to appeal to our Lord’s flesh…

“If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 

Satan’s next challenge is to tempt Jesus with pride:

“If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down, ”

Then finally lust of the eyes: 

“took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.”

The temptation was real, but Jesus did not take the bait. We’re bombarded similarly. It would serve us all well to remember that, “The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”  In other words, God’s offerings are exceedingly better and they are everlasting.

Now That We Know

Knowing that every single temptation we face will fall into one of these three categories does not mean we won’t ever be duped again. However, when we know the plays beforehand, we will be better equipped to defend against them. We do that by being in the Word, being in prayer, and being in fellowship with like-minded Christians.