"But Christ was steadfast. He overcame in behalf of the race, that He might rescue them from the degradation of the Fall. Christ's experience is for our benefit. His example in overcoming appetite points out the way for those who would be His followers and finally sit with Him on His throne. 4T 29.1"
"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
The EGW passage speaks of Christ's overcoming temptation and setting an example. Hebrews 4:15 speaks of Christ being tempted in all points like we are. The connection is thematic, focusing on Christ's experience of temptation and its relevance to believers.
"Christ suffered hunger in the fullest sense. Mankind generally have all that is needful to sustain life. And yet, like our first parents, they desire that which God would withhold because it is not best for them. Christ suffered hunger for necessary food and resisted the temptation of Satan upon the point of appetite. Indulgence of intemperate appetite creates in fallen man unnatural desires for the things which will eventually prove his ruin. 4T 29.2"
"And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred."
The EGW passage directly refers to Christ's hunger and temptation, referencing the event described in Matthew 4:2. It expands on the significance of this event in relation to appetite and temptation.
"Man came from the hand of God perfect in every faculty of mind and body; in perfect soundness, therefore in perfect health. It took more than two thousand years of indulgence of appetite and lustful passions to create such a state of things in the human organism as would lessen vital force. Through successive generations the tendency was more swiftly downward. Indulgence of appetite and passion combined led to excess and violence; debauchery and abominations of every kind weakened the energies and brought upon the race diseases of every type, until the vigor and glory of the first generations passed away, and, in the third generation from Adam, man began to show signs of decay. Successive generations after the Flood degenerated more rapidly. 4T 29.3"
"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
The EGW passage builds upon the principle established in Genesis 1:31 that God's creation was initially perfect. It uses this as a starting point to discuss the subsequent decline of humanity due to indulgence and sin. The connection is direct and foundational.
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"
Both passages discuss the introduction of sin and its consequences on human health and longevity. Romans 5:12 establishes the principle of sin entering the world through one man and its resulting death, while the EGW passage elaborates on the gradual decline in human vitality due to sin and indulgence over generations. The EGW passage amplifies the consequences of the principle introduced in Romans.