What the devil tempted Jesus with two thousand years ago, and what he tempts us with today, are cheap counterfeits. God has His own kingdom; no nation in this world can compare. God has His own power; no amount of political, cultural, or social influence can compare. God has His own glory; no exaltation of earthly beings can compare. These are nonnegotiable to the Christian faith. One of the Bible’s dominant narrative themes—uniting Old Testament and New Testament, prophets and disciples, prayers and epistles—is the admonition to resist idolatry at all costs. Jesus frames the decision in
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