Although Christ was suffering the keenest pangs of hunger, He withstood the temptations. He repulsed Satan with scripture, the same He had given Moses in the wilderness to repeat to rebellious Israel when their diet was restricted, and they were clamoring for flesh meats, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). In this declaration, and also by His example, Christ would show man that hunger for temporal food was not the greatest calamity that could befall him. Satan flattered our first parents that eating of the fruit of the tree of life [The tree here referred to is obviously the tree of knowledge and not the tree of life. The phrase “of life” is patently a printer’s error. It is not found in the first appearance of this article, in The Signs of the Times, July 9, 1874, nor in the reprint in pamphlet form, titled Redemption; or the Temptation of Christ in The Wilderness, 42.—Compilers.] of which God had forbidden them would bring to them great good, and would ensure them against death, the very opposite of the truth which God had declared to them. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17). If Adam had been obedient, he would never have known want, sorrow, or death. (1SM 277.1) MC VC

If the people who lived before the Flood had been obedient to the word of God, they would have been preserved, and would not have perished by the waters of the Flood. If the Israelites had been obedient to the words of God, He would have bestowed upon them special blessings. But they fell in consequence of the indulgence of appetite and passion. They would not be obedient to the words of God. Indulgence of perverted appetite led them into numerous and grievous sins. If they had made the requirements of God their first consideration, and their physical wants secondary, in submission to God’s choice of proper food for them, not one of them would have fallen in the wilderness. They would have been established in the goodly land of Canaan a holy, healthy people, with not a feeble one in all their tribes. (1SM 277.2) MC VC

The Saviour of the world became sin for the race. In becoming man’s substitute, Christ did not manifest His power as the Son of God. He ranked Himself among the sons of men. He was to bear the trial of temptation as a man, in man’s behalf, under the most trying circumstances, and leave an example of faith and perfect trust in His heavenly Father. Christ knew that His Father would supply Him food when it would gratify Him to do so. He would not in this severe ordeal, when hunger pressed Him beyond measure, prematurely diminish one particle of the trial allotted to Him be exercising His divine power. (1SM 278.1) MC VC

Fallen man, when brought into straightened places, could not have the power to work miracles on his own behalf, to save himself from pain or anguish, or to give himself victory over his enemies. It was the purpose of God to test and prove the race, and give them an opportunity to develop character by bringing them frequently into trying positions to test their faith and confidence in His love and power. The life of Christ was a perfect pattern. He was ever, by His example and precept, teaching man that God was his dependence, and that in God should be his faith and firm trust. (1SM 278.2) MC VC

Christ knew that Satan was a liar from the beginning, and it required strong self-control to listen to the propositions of this insulting deceiver, and not instantly rebuke his bold assumptions. Satan expected to provoke the Son of God to engage in controversy with him; and he hoped that thus, in His extreme weakness and agony of spirit, he could obtain advantage over Him. He designed to pervert the words of Christ and claim advantage, and call to his aid his fallen angels to use their utmost power to prevail against and overcome Him. (1SM 278.3) MC VC