Tempted in All Points Like as We are

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«In all things it behooved Him to be made like unto his brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered, being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.»

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Christ came to this world, and clothed his divinity with humanity, taking upon Him the nature of man. He came to pass through the experiences of humanity, to pass over the ground on which Adam had fallen, to redeem his failure, to meet and conquer the adversary of God and man, that through his grace man might be an overcomer, and finally have a place with Him upon his throne. He took the field of conflict, and on this atom of a world the controversy between Christ, the Prince of life, and Satan, the prince of darkness, was to be waged. By transgression man had become the child of evil, the captive of Satan, the enemy of God. Satan misrepresented the character of God, and man, who had been made in the divine image, doubted his Heavenly Father’s love, distrusted his word, and set himself in stubborn unbelief and rebellion against his requirements.

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Christ came to represent the character of his Father, to win man back to his allegiance to God, to reconcile man to God. He proposed to meet the foe and unmask his arts, that man might be able to make choice of whom he would serve. Satan had been Lucifer, the light-bearer, the sharer of God’s glory in heaven, and second to Jesus in power and majesty. In the words of inspiration he is described as the one who «sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.» But Lucifer had perverted the beauty and power with which he was endowed by the Creator, and his light had become darkness. When through his rebellion he was cast out of heaven, he determined to make man his victim, and the earth his kingdom. He cast the blame of his rebellion upon Christ, and in determined hatred of God, sought to wound Him through the fall of man. In the happiness and peace of Eden, he beheld a vision of the bliss that he had forever lost, and he determined to excite in the hearts of God’s creatures the same bitterness that he himself felt, so that their songs of praise and thanksgiving might be turned to reproach against their Maker.

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Though God had endowed man with all things for his joy, and the inhabitants of Eden knew nothing of evil, yet they resisted not the insinuations of the arch-deceiver, but fell from their uprightness, and tasted the bitterness of transgression. Peace was gone, love had fled; and in place of union with their Creator, they felt a sense of guilt, a dread of the future, a nakedness of soul. Such is the consequence of breaking the just commands of God, but «in keeping of them there is great reward.»

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The fall of man filled all heaven with sorrow, and the heart of Jesus was moved with infinite compassion for the lost world, the ruined race. He beheld man plunged in sin and misery, and knew that he had not moral power to overcome in his own behalf the power of his unsleeping enemy. In divine love and pity He came to earth to fight our battles for us; for He alone could conquer the adversary. He came to unite man with God, to impart divine strength to the repenting soul, and from the manger to Calvary to pass over the path which man would travel, at every step giving man a perfect example of what he should do, presenting in his character what humanity might become when united with divinity.

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But many say that Jesus was not like us, that He was not as we are in the world, that He was divine, and therefore we cannot overcome as He overcame. But this is not true; «for verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. . . . For in that He Himself hath suffered, being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.» Christ knows the sinner’s trials; He knows his temptations. He took upon Himself our nature; He was tempted in all points like as we are. He has wept, He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. As a man He lived upon earth. As a man He ascended to heaven. As a man He is the substitute of humanity. As a man He liveth to make intercession for us. As a man He will come again with kingly power and glory to receive those who love Him, and for whom He is now preparing a place. We should rejoice and give thanks that God «hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom He hath ordained.»

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Those who claim that it was not possible for Christ to sin, cannot believe that He took upon Him human nature. Christ was actually tempted, not only in the wilderness, but all through his life. In all points He was tempted as we are, and because He successfully resisted temptation in every form, He gave us a perfect example. Through the ample provisions made in our behalf, we may become partakers of the divine nature, and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. Jesus says, «To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.» This, the beginning of our confidence, we must hold steadfastly unto the end. Jesus can enable us to resist Satan’s temptations; for He came to bring divine power to combine with human effort.

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Jesus said, «I and my Father are one.» He speaks of Himself as well as the Father when He speaks of omnipotent power, and claims for Himself perfect righteousness. In Christ dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily. This is why, although tempted in all points like as we are, He stood before the world untainted by the corruptions that surrounded Him. We also are to become partakers of that fulness, and only in this way shall we be enabled to overcome as Christ overcame. —