The temptation to believe in evil as real is common to all mankind. The Apostle Paul said, in his letter to the Romans (7:19, 21), "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do," and, "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." Material sense, or the carnal mind, seems continually to be urging upon mortals the acceptance of its false beliefs, even while Truth and Love are calling upon them for obedience. When the former is heeded and material sense prevails, sin results, with discord, perhaps as disease, ensuing. Whereas, when Truth and Love and good are obeyed, evil is seen to be powerless, and harmony is maintained.
Christ Jesus proved that it is possible to resist the temptations of evil, whatever their nature. In the epistle to the Hebrews (4:15) it is written of him that he "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." The Way-shower had the carnal mind to contend with, as we have; material sense suggested its falsities to him, as it does to us, but he resisted its every suggestion through his understanding of and obedience to spiritual law. This meant deepest consecration on his part to Truth and Love and good. How often must he have withdrawn himself from others, to be alone with the Father, in order to affirm the truth of spiritual being and to deny evil and its supposititious power! As he realized in these sacred moments his at-one-ment with perfect Mind, temptation fled, and he went forth once more to pursue his work of healing and regeneration, with the assurance that he was in possession of unlimited divine power.
The Master was the most spiritually-minded man who ever lived on earth, even as he was the humblest. Never in the New Testament do we read of his doing anything for self-aggrandizement. Always it was the Father's will—the Father's good will —he sought to do, in works of helpfulness and healing. His mission was to reveal God to mankind as the perfect Father, who ever cared for His children with love that is infinite, and to make known the true status of man as the son of God, reflecting or expressing God continually. Jesus knew the perfection of man as the divine image, and the demonstration of perfection was the goal he set himself and mankind, as possible of attainment.
