Here Satan spread the world before Christ in the most attractive light and intimated to Him that He need not endure so much suffering to obtain the kingdoms of the earth; Satan would yield all his claims if Christ would but worship him. Satan’s dissatisfaction first commenced in heaven because he could not be first and highest in command —equal with God, exalted above Christ. He rebelled and lost his estate; and he, and those who sympathized with him, were turned out of heaven. In the wilderness he hoped to gain advantage through the weak and suffering condition of Christ, and obtain from Him that homage which he could not obtain in heaven. But Jesus, even in His faint and exhausted condition, yielded not to the temptation of Satan for a moment, but showed His superiority and exercised His authority by bidding Satan: “Get thee hence”—or, Depart from Me. Satan was baffled. He then studied how he could accomplish his purpose and receive the honor from the human race which was refused him in heaven and by Jesus upon earth. Could he have succeeded in tempting Christ, then the plan of salvation would have failed, and he would have succeeded in bringing hopeless misery upon mankind. But that which Satan failed to effect in coming to Christ he has accomplished in coming to man. {1T 293.3}

Her bredte Satan verden ud for Kristus i dets mest tiltrækkende lys og antydede at han ikke behøver at udholde så megen lidelse for at få jordens riger; Satan ville opgive alle sine krav hvis Kristus blot ville dyrke ham. Satans mishag begyndte første gang i himlen, fordi han ikke kunne blive den højeste i rang - (294) lige med Gud, ophøjet over Kristus. Han gjorde oprør og mistede sin rang; og han og dem som sympatiserede med ham, blev kastet ud fra himlen. I ørkenen håbede han at benytte sig af Kristi svage og lidende tilstand og få den hyldest fra ham, som han ikke opnåede i himlen. Men Jesus gav, ikke engang i sin udmattede og afkræftede tilstand, op for Satans fristelse et øjeblik, men viste sin overlegenhed og udøvede sin myndighed ved at påbyde Satan: »Vig bort«? eller, forlad mig. Satan var forbløffet. Han undersøgte da hvordan han kunne udrette sin hensigt og få æren fra menneskeslægten, som han fik afvist i himlen og af Jesus på jorden. Havde han haft held med at friste Kristus, så ville frelsesplanen falde og det ville lykkes ham at bringe håbløs ulykke over menneskeheden. Men det som mislykkedes for Satan, da han kom til Kristus, har han udrettet ved at komme til mennesket.