“For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” (Hebrews 3:3-6). There are perhaps few ironies greater than Satan offering to give Jesus all of the kingdoms of the Earth, and the glory thereof, if He would only fall down and worship Him. Not only were the kingdoms of the earth not Satan’s to give away, but they were in fact Christ’s. Christ built all things. As the Creator of the earth and all of its kingdoms, they all belonged uniquely to Jesus Christ. And what’s more, Jesus had come to Earth on a special mission to redeem, or buy back, all of His creations through the Atonement, after which they would doubly belong to Him. Christ wisely told Satan that He would not be fooled into thinking of Himself as a stranger or even a servant, but that He knew that He was the Son of the household, and all that the Father had already belonged to Him, and Satan could not sell or offer to Him that which was already His. We, also, are not strangers nor servants of the house. We are of Christ’s household. We never need to feel like interlopers imposing on the hospitality and goodwill of a longsuffering and begrudging host. Satan will try to trick us into thinking that we have to somehow buy into his secret combinations and compromise our morals and stab each other in the back to get ahead in a zero sum game where only the most ruthless and self-centered worshipers of violence and greed can claw their way to the top. Satan will try to convince us that if we do not have this or that blessing right now, then we must make a deal with the devil to get it. We can sell our birthright for a mess of pottage if we want, but we are children of the household and we have access to as much pottage or even finer fare as we want without having to sell away our birthright to the devil or anyone else. All that the Father has has been promised to us. If we hold fast to the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end, then we will see that even the best that Satan had to offer us will pale in comparison to the very least of our inheritances from our Father. Let’s stop trying to buy that which already belongs to us. Let us wait with patience for our inheritance instead of demanding it up front like the prodigal son only to waste it all away on riotous living. Satan would have us believe that if we have left the house and attempted to disown ourselves from our Father, that the best we could hope for is to return as strangers and beggars and servants, no longer belonging to or welcome as children in our Father’s house. But if we have sold ourselves to the devil, Christ will ransom us back and put a ring on our finger and a robe on our back and shoes on our feet and kill the fatted calf to rejoice and welcome us back into His household. Satan will try to coerce us into worshiping him by selling us what is already ours by right. Christ would pay any price to bring us back home to be a part of His household and His family so that we can inherit all that our Father has.
