Triumph Over Temptation
By Ellen G. White
THE coming of Christ to our world was a great event, not only to this world, but to all the worlds in the universe of God. Before the heavenly intelligences He was to take upon Himself our nature, to be tempted in all points like as we are, and yet to leave an example of perfect purity and unblemished character. Satan and his angels exulted as they discovered that the Son of God had taken upon Himself the nature of man, and had come to be man's substitute, to engage in the conflict in our behalf. The human family had been overpowered by the deception of the enemy; "for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," and the enemy hoped that Christ also would become a victim to his seductive wiles. Satan gloried in the opportunity of besieging the Son of God with fierce temptations. Because He had taken upon Himself the nature of man, Satan deemed that his victory was certain, and with every malignant device in his power he strove to overcome Christ. The steadfast resistance of Christ to the temptations of the enemy brought the whole confederacy of evil to war against Him. Evil men and evil angels united their forces against the Prince of Peace. The issues at stake were beyond the comprehension of men, and the temptations that assailed Christ were as much more intense and subtle than those which assail man as His character was purer and more exalted than is the character of man in his moral and physical defilement. In His conflict with the prince of darkness in this atom of a world, Christ had to meet the whole confederacy of evil, the united forces of the adversary of God and man; but at every point He met the tempter, and put him to flight. Christ was conqueror over the powers of darkness, and took the infinite risk of consenting to war with the enemy, that He might conquer him in our behalf. The Redeemer of the world clothed His divinity with humanity, that He might reach humanity; for, in order to bring to the world salvation, it was necessary that humanity and divinity should be united. Divinity needed humanity, that humanity might afford a channel of communication between God and man; and humanity needed divinity, that a power from above might restore man to the likeness of God. Christ was God, but He did not appear as God. He veiled the tokens of divinity, which had commanded the homage of angels and called forth the adoration of the universe of God. He made Himself of no reputation, took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. For our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich. He humbled Himself to pass through man's experiences, and He would not turn aside from the plan by which salvation could come to man. Knowing all the steps in the path of His humiliation, He refused not to descend step by step to the depths of man's wo, that He might make expiation for the sins of the condemned, perishing world. What humility was this! It amazed the angels. Tongue can never describe it. Pen can never portray it. The imagination can not take it in. Sinless and exalted by nature, the Son of God consented to take the habiliments of humanity, to become one with the fallen race. The eternal Word consented to be made flesh. God became man. His Heroism of Suffering Reproach
But He stepped still lower; He humbled Himself to bear insult, reproach, accusation, and shameful abuse. In the world which He made, which was sustained by the word of His power, there seemed to be no room for Him. He had to flee from one place to another until His life-work was accomplished. He was betrayed by one of His followers, and denied by another. He was mocked and taunted. He was crowned with thorns, and forced to bear the burden of the cross. He was not insensible to ignominy and contempt; He submitted to it, but He felt its bitterness as no other being could feel it. Pure, holy, and undefiled, He was yet arraigned as criminal before the eyes of the world. From the highest exaltation the adorable Redeemer took step after step in the path of humiliation. He Suffered It All for Man
He consented to die in the sinner's stead, that by a life of obedience man might escape the penalty of the law. He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death. And what a death! It was the most shameful, the most cruel — the death upon the cross as a malefactor. He died not as a hero in the eyes of man, loaded with honors; He died as a condemned criminal, suspended between the heavens and the earth — died a lingering death, exposed to the tauntings and revilings of a debased and profligate mob. "All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head." He was numbered with the transgressors, and even His kinsmen according to the flesh disowned Him. He was forced to see the sword pierce the heart of His mother — He beheld her sorrow. He expired amidst derision. But all His sufferings were counted as of small account in consideration of the result He was working out in behalf of man, and for the good of the whole universe. He expired on the cross exclaiming, "It is finished;" and that cry rang through every world, and through heaven itself. The great contest between Christ, the Prince of Life, and Satan, the prince of darkness, was practically over, and Christ was Conqueror. His death answered the question as to whether there was self-denial with the Father and the Son.