Before the foundations of the world were laid, Christ,
the Only Begotten of God, pledged Himself to become the Redeemer of the
human race, should Adam sin. Adam fell, and He who was partaker of the
Father's glory before the world was, laid aside His royal robe and kingly
crown, and stepped down from His high authority to become a Babe in Bethlehem,
that by passing over the ground where Adam stumbled and fell, He might
redeem fallen human beings. He subjected Himself to all the temptations
that the enemy brings against men and women; and all the assaults of Satan
could not make Him swerve from His loyalty to the Father. By living a sinless
life He testified that every son and daughter of Adam can resist the temptations
of the one who first brought sin into the world.
Christ brought men and women power to overcome. He came to this world in human form, to live a man amongst men. He assumed the liabilities of human nature, to be proved and tried. In His humanity He was a partaker of the divine nature. In His incarnation He gained in a new sense the title of the Son of God. Said the angel to Mary, "The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). While the Son of a human being, He became the Son of God in a new sense. Thus He stood in our world--the Son of God, yet allied by birth to the human race.
Christ came in human form to show the inhabitants of the
unfallen worlds and of the fallen world that ample provision has been made
to enable human beings to live in loyalty to their Creator. He endured
the temptations that Satan was permitted to bring against Him, and resisted
all his assaults. He was sorely afflicted, and hard beset, but God did
not leave Him without recognition. When He was baptized of John in Jordan,
as He came up out of the water, the Spirit of God, like a dove of burnished
gold, descended upon Him, and a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt.
3:17). It was directly after this announcement that Christ was led
by the Spirit into the wilderness. Mark says: "Immediately the spirit driveth
him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days,
tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts" (Mark
1:12, 13). "And in those days he did eat nothing" (Luke
4:2).
When Jesus entered the wilderness He was shut in by the Father's glory. Absorbed in communion with God, He was lifted above human weakness. But the glory departed, and He was left to battle with temptation. It was pressing upon Him every moment. His human nature shrank from the conflict that awaited Him. For forty days He fasted and prayed. Weak and emaciated from hunger, worn and haggard with mental agony, "his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men" (Isa. 52:14). Now was Satan's opportunity. Now he supposed that he could overcome Christ.
There came to the Saviour, as if in answer to His prayers, one in the guise of an angel of light, and this was the message that he bore: "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread" (Matt. 4:3).
Jesus met Satan with the words, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). In every temptation the weapon of His warfare was the Word of God. Satan demanded of Christ a miracle as a sign of His divinity. But that which is greater than all miracles, a firm reliance upon a "Thus saith the Lord" was a sign that could not be controverted. So long as Christ held to this position, the tempter could gain no advantage.
A familiarity with the Word of God is our only hope. Those who diligently search the Scriptures will not accept Satan's delusions as the truth of God. No one need be overcome by the speculations presented by the enemy of God and of Christ. We are not to speculate regarding points upon which the Word of God is silent. All that is necessary for our salvation is given in the Word of God. Day by day we are to make the Bible the man of our counsel.
From all eternity Christ was united with the Father, and
when He took upon Himself human nature, He was still one with God. He is
the link that unites God with humanity. "Forasmuch then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of
the same" (Heb.
2:14). Only through Him can we become children of God. To all who believe
on Him, He gives power to become the sons of God. Thus the heart becomes
the temple of the living God. It is because Christ took human nature that
men and women become partakers of the divine nature. He brings life and
immortality to light through the gospel.
Quotes are taken from books written by
Ellen G. White and King James Bible