“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).

Let’s not miss the full gravity of what’s happening here:

Who was led?

Jesus.

Who led Him?

The Spirit.

Where did the Spirit lead Jesus?

To the wilderness.

Why did the Spirit lead Him there?

To be tempted by the devil.

Jesus knows how to play offense. He’s not on the defense; He’s on the attack. He didn’t wait for Satan to come to Him, but instead took the fight to the devil. Now here’s the thing:

You could look at this text and say, “I should be more like Jesus. I’m not charging into enemy territory. I spend my whole life simply fending off his attacks rather than actually engaging Him. It’s time to stop playing defense and get on offense.” That is a well-purposed resolution. No doubt it’s true – we spend too much of our time on the defensive, trying to hold back the forces of darkness instead of pushing back the forces of darkness.

But that view must be informed with this: The whole reason we can play offense at all is because of Christ in us, the hope of glory. He’s the true champion. He took the fight to the devil and won. Because He did and because He lives in us, we are already more than conquerors in Christ.

Why can we play offense, too? It’s because greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. Because He is strong. Because He is victorious.

Not because we are in and of ourselves.

The logic goes like this: Jesus plays offense. Jesus lives in us. Therefore we play offense.