From a dear friend:
From the earliest moments of my being introduced to Jesus as Savior and Redeemer, at the age of 30, I had a ‘knowing’ that this was all about a spiritual redemption of a carnal and soulish being; me. I couldn’t necessarily communicate that or elucidate it, but the knowing was there. Don’t ask me why I ‘knew’, because I can’t tell you. But out of that came the understanding that Yashua was showing to us all that we were dealing with spiritual forces and spiritual realities that were hidden or overshadowed because of the power of our dominant ‘living soul’. Genesis Chapter One is the story of God, or Elohim, or however one best identifies with their Father in Heaven, communicating the idea and intent of equipping ‘adam’, a living soul, with the ability to hear spirit truth, and then yield his carnal appetites to the authority of Spirit Truth. The pageant seemed to indicate, and then prove throughout the history of the Old Testament, that until ‘adam’ unites with his Spirit Identity, the only thing ‘adam’ can create or reproduce is chaos.
Every step of the way of ‘adam’ attempting to yield his appetites to Spirit Truth is contested and tried and complicated by the power of the soul, which is the mind of ‘adam’. That powerful ‘soulish’ mind of ‘adam’ is synonymous with what the word ‘satan’ communicates to me. ‘satan’ is simply that which is adversarial, and contradictory, to the Holy Spirit of Truth in Love. To me, the agenda of ‘the satan’ is to not lose control of the authority of the carnal and soulish mind. The carnal (soulish) mind simply does not want to have to give up its ‘life’ and appetites. My own understanding, then, is that the gospel is the God Pageant of bringing the carnal, soulish appetites of ‘adam’ into the benevolent authority of the Holy Spirit of Truth in Love.
The soul/mind of ‘adam’ is the battleground, and that is the battle. In that battleground pageant, Yashua manifests on the behalf of us all the extent of the battle, and the extremes to which the battle can be waged. The word ‘Christ’, from its roots as ‘Messiah’, means to willingly bow the knee in humility and service to the Holy Spirit of Truth in Love. That is exactly the meaning of the root verb from which we get ‘messiah’; to willingly bow the knee in allegiance to the Holy Spirit of Truth in Love. Yashua, as the Christ, shows us how the battle unfolds in all of us that set out to bring all of our appetites into willing submission to the Holy Spirit of Truth in Love.
Yashua, Jesus if you prefer, is called the ‘last adam’. [1 Corinthians 15:45-47] I think that is better understood as ‘the last of adam’. And the Greek language, and the Hebrew language, support that understanding. Yashua, as the ‘last of adam’, dies to the satanic demands of soulish carnality, and is resurrected as Christ,The Anointed Servant, a quickening (Life giving) Spirit. Indeed, I believe all of the New Testament is explanatory of the God Pageant of us being allowed to die to the control of the carnal appetites of ‘adam’, and being resurrected into union with the Life Giving Holy Spirit of Truth in Love. Yashua demonstrated the unfolding of that pageant on our behalf. We are allowed to partake of the victory in the pageant by faith; and the on-going satanic struggle of acting out this Truth in our own lives on a daily basis, again by faith in the Truth of the Pageant.
So, did Yashua have a personal encounter with a separate entity known as ‘the devil’ (diabalo; the diabolical one) or was he being tempted, to the ultimate degree, by his own human (carnal/ soulish) nature? He was ‘son of adam’. Hebrews Chapter 2 tells me that he was, as ‘adam’, in every way identical to those he came to rescue. And as ‘Son of Adam’ he also illustrated that he was ‘Son of God’; just like you and me. Heb. 2:16-18 are specifically important to me; as well as Heb. 5: 5-9. Also, Philippians 2:8. These verses all convince me that Yashua had to overcome every soulish and carnal and human temptation that is common to all of us. [Isaiah 7:14-16] The only ‘devil’ that makes me do evil is my own carnality and soulish appetites. And our Brother showed us the way out of that satanic carnal control. ‘Tis the Son of God in me that overcomes the son of adam. And the Son of God is the Holy Spirit of Truth in Love’’. And that Son of God is a gift to us received only by faith; a gift from Our Father in Heaven.