Scripture and Ellen G. White on the
Absolute Deity of Christ
Adapted From a Study by
Irwin Roy Gane
http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/trinity/gane-thesis/e-gane14.htm
Irwin Gane’s
writing is in this color print. My comments
will be in this color. All emphasis in this color,
or this color, is
by Ron.
In this chapter the purpose of the writer is to
trace in brief outline the teachings of Ellen G. White on the pre-existence and
Deity of Christ. The two fundamental questions to be answered are, (1) did
Ellen G. White support the view of the Adventist Arians that there was a time
when Christ did not exist and, (2) did she concur with their teaching that
Christ as God, was, and is, subordinate to the Father?
Ellen G. White stated categorically many times that
there never was a time when Christ did not exist. He was not brought into
existence by the Father either by a process of creation or of eternal
generation. He has always been with the Father. He did not have a beginning.
The following are just a few of the many quotations that could be cited as
proof that this was her view:
“But the life of Christ was
unborrowed. No one can take this life from Him. "I lay it down of
Myself." (John 10:18), He said. In Him was life, original, unborrowed,
underived.” E. G. White, Selected Messages, Book One (Washington, D. C.:
Review and Herald Publishing Association, l958), p. 296. Citing The Signs of
the Times, April 8, 1897.
“He is the eternal self-existent Son.” E. G. White, Evangelism (Washington, D.
C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1946), p. 615. Citing Manuscript
101, 1897.
“But while God‘s Word speaks of the humanity of Christ when upon
this earth, it also speaks decidedly regarding His pre-existence. The Word
existed as a divine being, even as the eternal Son of God, in union and oneness with His Father.” E. G.
White, Selected Messages, Book One (Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald
Publishing Association, 1958), p. 247. Citing Review and Herald, April
5, 1906.
“Christ is the pre-existent, self-existent Son of God. . . . In
speaking of his pre-existence, Christ carries the mind back through dateless
ages. He assures us that there never was a time when he was not in close
fellowship with the eternal God.” E. G. White, Evangelism (Washington,
D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1946), p. 615. Citing The
Signs of the Times, August 29, 1900.
“Christ shows then that, although they might reckon His life to be
less than fifty years, yet His divine life could not be reckoned by human
computation. The existence of Christ before His incarnation is not measured
by figures.” The Signs of the Times, August 29, 1900. Ibid., p.
616. Citing The Signs of the Times, May 3, 1899.
“From eternity Christ has been man’s Redeemer.” E.G. White, Testimonies for the
Church, Vol. IX (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association,
1909), p, 220.
The Adventist
Arians had seen the THREE PERSONS position as destructive of the truth of the
atonement, but in 1898 Ellen G. White demonstrated that their own view produced
that unfortunate result. She wrote:
"In consenting to become man, Christ manifested a humility
that is the marvel of the heavenly intelligences. The act of
consenting to be a man would be no humiliation were it not for the fact of Christ’s
exalted pre-existence.” E. G. White, Selected Messages, Book One (Washington, D.
C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1958), p. 243. Citing The
Youth’s Instructor, October 13, 1898.
Thus it was "Christ’s
exalted pre-existence" that rendered the incarnation a humiliation and qualified Christ to
atone for human sin. Beings whose existence was purely derived could never have
paid the price of human redemption.
Note by Ron:
The Testator was DIVINE ONLY when He made the Testator's Testament (Covenant):
Heb 9:16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be
the death of the testator.
Heb 9:17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no
strength at all while the testator liveth.
The Testator
was not Incarnated when He made the Testator's Covenant. The Testator had to be
God to Testate the Everlasting Covenant. The Testament is of no force while the
Testator lives. Something about the Testator had to "die" FOREVER,
for the wages of sin is eternal death, NOT THREE DAYS IN A TOMB. The humanity
of Christ lives. So the death of His humanity could not atone for sin. What He
"died" to eternally was being DIVINE ONLY. He retains His humanity
forever says Scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy. Ellen White said that divinity
did not die on the cross. Humanity could not atone for our sin because Christ's
humanity was not the Testator, and His humanity is alive.
"He (Christ) suffered the death which was ours, that we might
receive the life which WAS
His." Desire of Ages, p. 25 1 Cor. 11:24-265, cf. John 6:53,
54, Titus 3:5, 6.
· What death was ours? Eternal
death for the wages of sin is just that.
· What life was His? The life He
gives to us is His ETERNAL LIFE, His Holy Spirit DIVINE NATURE (ONLY) life.
That is what was Testated for us.
· The human life of Christ died
for only three days. That is not the penalty for the wages of our sin.
·
At Christ’s baptism His Holy Spirit came down to Him in the form of a
dove. He could have returned to that former existence as being DIVINE ONLY,
until when just before He died on the cross, He committed His DIVINE HOLY
SPIRIT to the Father as a gift for us--eternal life, the highest good, crowing
gift that heaven can bestow. That was the second death of His Divine life--the
first death being at His Incarnation and by death I mean no more existence IN
HIS DIVINE ONLY LIFE ALONE, WHICH HE HAD POSSESSED FROM ETERNITY. HE COULD HAVE
RETURNED TO THAT DIVINE ONLY EXISTENCE JUST BEFORE HE DIED ON THE CROSS, but
that would have annulled the Atonement. End note by Ron.
“Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. He
was with God from all eternity, God over all, blessed forevermore….” E. G. White, "The Word
Made Flesh," Review and Herald, LXXXIII (April 5, 1906), 8. Cited
by 5 BC, 1126.
“The only way in which the fallen race could be restored was
through the gift of his Son, equal with himself,
possessing the attributes of God. Though so highly exalted, Christ consented to
assume human nature, that he might work in behalf of man, and reconcile to God
his disloyal subjects.” E. G. White, "Imperative Necessity of Searching
for Truth," Review and Herald, LXIX (November 8, 1892), 690.
“Yet the Son of God was the acknowledged Sovereign of heaven, one in power and authority with the Father.” E. G. White, The
Great Controversy (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing
Association, 1888), p. 495.
“To save the
transgressor of God’s law, Christ, the one equal with
the Father, came to live heaven before men, that they might learn to know
what it is to have heaven in the heart.” E. G. White, Fundamentals of
Christian Education (Nashville, Tenn.: Southern Publishing Association,
1923), p. 179. Citing Review and Herald, November 17, 1891.
Some have regarded this equality with the Father as having been
conferred upon Christ. His is said to be a delegated authority, hence He is not
the supreme God in the same sense as is the Father. This, of course, could not be
true since "Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense."
E. G.
White, "The Word Made Flesh," Review and Herald, LXXXIII
(April 5, 1906), 8. Cited by 5 BC, 1126.
But those who have
propagated this view find what appears to be support for it in The Spirit of
Prophecy, Volume 1:
"The great Creator assembled the heavenly host, that He might
in the presence of all the angels confer special honor upon His Son. The Son
was seated on the throne with the Father, and the heavenly throng of Holy
Angels was gathered around them. The Father then made known that it was
ordained by Himself, that Christ His Son should be equal with Himself, so that
wherever was the presence of His Son, it was as His own presence. The word of
His Son was to be obeyed as readily as the word of the Father. His Son He had
invested with authority to command the heavenly host. Especially was the Son to
work in union with Himself in the anticipated creation of the earth. His Son
would carry out His will and His purposes, but would do nothing of Himself
alone. The Father’s will would be fulfilled in Him.” E. G. White, The Spirit
of Prophecy, Vol. I (Battle Creek, Steam Press of the
Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association, 1870) pp. 17, 18. Ibid., p. 18.
There followed
considerable altercation between the angels supporting Lucifer and those
supporting Christ. The loyal angels sought to convince the disloyal of the
justice of God:
“They clearly set forth that Jesus was the Son of God, existing
with him before the angels were created; and that he had ever stood at
the right hand of God and his mild, loving authority had not heretofore been
questioned….” Ibid., p. 18.
There are two
interpretations to this whole passage. One is that of the Arians who would
contend that the Father had conferred supreme power and authority equal to His
own upon Christ. The other is that the passage refers to an announcement to the
angels of a situation that had existed from the ages of eternity. According to
this latter interpretation Christ had always been in the position of complete
equality with the Father as the supreme Sovereign of heaven, but because of the
defection of Lucifer and because of his subtle insinuations a special
reiteration of Christ’s exalted position was necessary. The very fact that the
loyal angels urged the unchanged status of Christ as an argument for accepting
the Father’s announcement proves that the announcement was not the inauguration
of something new, but a definition and declaration of the position which Christ
had always sustained.
That this is the
only tenable interpretation of the passage is effectively demonstrated by
reference to a parallel passage in Patriarchs and Prophets:
"The
exaltation of the Son of God as equal with the Father was represented as an injustice
to Lucifer, who, it was claimed, was also entitled to reverence and honor. If
this prince of angels could but attain to his true, exalted position, great
good would accrue to the entire host of heaven; for it was his object to secure
freedom for all. But now even the liberty which they had hitherto enjoyed was
at an end; for an absolute ruler had been appointed them, and to his authority
all must pay homage. Such were the subtle deceptions that through the wiles of
Lucifer were fast obtaining in the heavenly courts.
There had been
no change in the position or authority of Christ. Lucifer’s envy and misrepresentation, and his
claims to equality with Christ, had made necessary a statement of the true
position of the Son of God; but this had been the same from the beginning.” E. G. White, Patriarchs
and Prophets (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association,
1890), pp. 37, 38.
This passage is in complete agreement with the former one. The
Spirit of Prophecy, Volume 1, was published in 1870 and Patriarchs and
Prophets in 1890, but the view of the question as presented in both is
identical. The proclamation by the Father of the position of the Son was a
necessary restatement of a situation that had never been otherwise. If Ellen G.
White had intended to convey that Christ was elevated by the Father to His
position of equality she would have been contradicting her other utterances to
the effect that "Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. he
was God from all eternity, God over all blessed forevermore….” E. G. White, "The Word Made Flesh," Review
and Herald, LXXXIII (April 5, 1906), 8. Cited by 5 BC, 1126.
CHRIST EQUAL WITH THE FATHER DURING THE
INCARNATION
There is no
intimation in the writings of Ellen G. White that when He took on human nature,
Christ ceased to be God equal with the Father. On the contrary she abundantly
testifies to Christ’s complete equality with the Father at every stage of His
earthly existence. As a babe in the manger He was still the mighty God:
"How wide is the contrast between the divinity of Christ and
the helpless infant in Bethlehem’s manger! How can we span the distance between the
mighty God and a helpless child? And yet the Creator of worlds, He in whom was
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, was manifest in the helpless babe in the
manger. Far higher than any of the angels, equal with the Father in dignity and glory and yet wearing
the garb of humanity! Divinity and humanity were mysteriously combined, and man and God
became one.” E. G. White, "Child Life of Jesus," The Signs of
the Times, (July 30, 1896), 5.
Note by Ron: It is a mystery that Ellen White
says we will study for eternity--how man and God became ONE, yet two separate
personalities, to wit:
"Cumbered
with humanity Christ could not be in every place personally, therefore it was
altogether for their advantage that He should leave them to go to His Father
and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit
is Himself divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He would
represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit.” E.G. White, (Manuscript
Releases Volume 14 (No’s 1081-1135) MR No.1084. We know there were TWO
PERSONS to the Godhead BEFORE the Son's INCARNATION. So if IN THE INCARNATION
another person was produced--THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST, OR GOD COME IN THE
LIKENESS OF SINFUL FLESH, THAT MAKES THREE PERSONS.
A common retort
is to cite that the Spirit moved over the waters in Genesis 1. Of course it
did, because the Divine Nature of Christ was His Holy Spirit which He shared
with the Father as THE ONE ETERNAL SPIRIT. Both their spirits moved over the
waters because they both created--the Father created through the Son. For
example, they both created man in their image. End note by Ron.
As a child Christ
was still the mighty God equal with the Father:
"What opposites meet and are revealed in the person of Christ!
The
mighty God, yet a helpless child! The Creator of all the world, yet, in a
world of His creating, often hungry and weary, and without a place to lay His
head! The Son of man, yet infinitely higher than the angels! Equal with the
Father, yet His divinity clothed with humanity. . . .” E. G. White, "God Manifest in the
Flesh," The Signs of the Times (April 26, 1905), 8.
To the Jews “He [Christ]
‘announced himself to be the self-existent one.’ E. G. White, The Desire of Ages
(Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Publishing Association, 1898), p. 469.
He "claimed equal rights with God in doing a work equally
sacred, and of the same character with that which engaged the Father in Heaven." E. G.
White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Publishing
Association, 1898), p. 469.
“Christ claimed equality
with the Father and the prerogatives of Deity in the highest sense.” E. G. White, The Desire of Ages
(Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Publishing Association, 1898), p. 469.
“The mysterious unity that existed between Christ and the Father
prior to the incarnation was retained during the Saviour’s life on earth. God was still one God: "From all
eternity Christ was united with the Father, and when he took upon himself human
nature, he was still one with God. He is the link that unites God with
humanity." E. G. White, Selected Messages, Book One (Washington,
D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1958), p. 228. Citing The
Signs of the Times, August 2, 1905.
Note by Ron: Some folk are pretending to understand all about
the Godhead, when Ellen White said that we will study the issue of the
Incarnation for eternity. That is an endless amount of data we are not privy to
on this issue. But nevertheless, Ellen White said that what we are given we may
understand. However, it is a mystery how Christ was fully divine and fully
human in one person and yet His divine Holy Spirit was divested from and
independent of His human personality.
"Cumbered
with humanity Christ could not be in every place personally, therefore it was
altogether for their advantage that He should leave them to go to His Father
and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is
Himself divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He
would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit.” E.G.
White, (Manuscript Releases Volume 14 (No’s 1081-1135) MR No.1084.
“If I have told you earthly
things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly
things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from
heaven, even the Son of man which IS IN HEAVEN. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:12-15 KJV) END NOTE BY RON.
“Christ gave up heaven for the period of His
earthly ministry, He veiled His glory in humanity, He chose not to use certain
aspects of His divine power and knowledge, but He was still the supreme Sovereign of the
universe:
But although Christ’s divine glory was for a time
veiled and eclipsed by His assuming humanity, yet He did not cease to be God when He became
man.
The
human did not take the place of the divine, nor the divine the human. This is the mystery of godliness. The two
expressions "human" and "divine" were, in Christ, closely
and inseparably one, and yet they had a distinct individuality. Though Christ
humbled Himself to become sin, the
Godhead was still His own. His deity could not be lost while He stood faithful and true to His
loyalty. Surrounded with sorrow, suffering, and moral pollution, despised and
rejected by the people to whom had been entrusted the oracles of heaven Jesus could yet speak of Himself
as the Son of man in heaven. E. G. White, "Christ Glorified," The
Signs of the Times, XXV May 10, 1899), 2. Cited by 5 BC, 1129.
“What a subject for thought, for deep, earnest
contemplation! So infinitely great that He was the Majesty of heaven, and yet
He stooped so low, without losing one atom
of His dignity and glory!” E. G. White,
"Tempted In All Points Like As We Are," The Signs of the Times,
XXIV (June 9, 1898), 2.
DID CHRIST USE HIS OWN DIVINE POWER DURING THE
INCARNATION?
Ellen G. White lays it down as an unvarying rule that Christ never
performed miracles on His own behalf. His divine power was not employed to alleviate His own suffering, to supply His
own needs or to overcome temptation. In these respects Christ remained as a man entirely
dependent upon His Father. Speaking of the temptation in the wilderness
Ellen G. White wrote, "Neither here nor at any subsequent time in his
earthly life did he work a miracle in his own behalf." E. G. White, The
Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association,
1898), p. 119.
In reference to His overcoming temptation she wrote, "he overcame in human nature, relying upon God for
power." E. G. White, "After the Crucifixion," The Youth’s
Instructor, XLIX (April 25, 1901), 130.
The question
arises as to whether Christ used His own divine power in working miracles for
others. Was this miracle working power His own or was it given Him by the
Father as it was later conferred upon the Apostles? Ellen G. White wrote:
“The
world’s Redeemer was equal with God. His authority was as the authority of God.
He declared that he had no existence separate from the Father. The authority by
which he spoke, and wrought miracles, was expressly his own, yet he assures us
that he and the Father are one.” E. G. White, "Christ Revealed the
Father," Review and Herald, LXVII (January 7, 1890), 1.
On the other hand
the following apparently contradictory statement appears in The Desire of
Ages:
“In all that He did, Christ was co-operating with His Father. Ever
He had been careful to make it evident that He did not work independently; it
was by faith and prayer that He wrought His miracles.” E. G. White, The
Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association,
1898), p. 536.
Note by Ron: Because Christ and the Father are ONE in
substance--SPIRIT--God is a Spirit says Scripture, the authority was His own
because He is ONE WITH the Father, and what one of them desires is the same
mind as the other. The authority of ONE is the authority of the other because
they are ONE GOD. End note by Ron.
This latter statement appears in the chapter,
"Lazarus, Come Forth." This chapter presents the raising of Lazarus
as the most convincing evidence of Christ’s divinity. Throughout the chapter
the impression is given that the power of Christ manifested in this remarkable
way was not in any sense derived, but His own inherent power as God, the
Life-giver. Mary and Martha were not alone in their time of trial when Lazarus
was sick unto death. "Christ beheld the whole scene, and after the death
of Lazarus the bereaved sisters were upheld by his grace." E. G. White, The
Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association,
1898), p. 528.
The author proceeds:
“Had He restored him from illness to health, the miracle
that is the most positive evidence of His divine character would not have
been performed.
Had Christ been in the sickroom, Lazarus would not have died; for
Satan would have had no power over him. Death could not have aimed his dart at
Lazarus in the presence of the Life-giver. Therefore Christ remained
away.” E. G. White, The Desire of
Ages (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1898), p.
528.
This miracle was
to be the greatest evidence to the skeptical contemporary Jew of the Deity of
Christ:
“This crowning miracle, the raising of Lazarus, was to set the
seal of God on His work and on His claim to divinity.” E. G. White, The
Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association,
1898), p. 529.
This miracle which Christ was about to perform,
in raising Lazarus from the dead, would represent the resurrection of all the righteous dead, By His word and His works He
declared Himself the Author of the resurrection.” E. G. White, The Desire of Ages
(Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1898), p. 530.
But how could all this be true unless the power Christ displayed in
raising Lazarus were His own power as God, equal with the Father? How do we
reconcile the statement that it was by faith and prayer that Christ performed
His miracles with the apparently contradictory one that "The
authority by which He spoke, and wrought miracles, was expressly His own"? E. G.
White, "Christ Revealed the Father," Review and Herald, LXVII
(January 7, 1890), 1.
The Desire of Ages provides us with
other evidence of Christ’s use of His own underived, divine, miracle working
power. For instance, the chapter "Thou Canst Make Me Clean" deals
with Christ’s forgiving and healing the paralytic who was let down through the
roof of the house. Ellen G. White speaks of the Saviour’s previous work for
this man:
“The Saviour
looked upon the mournful countenance, and saw the pleading eyes fixed upon Him.
He understood the case; He had drawn to Himself that perplexed and doubting
spirit. While the paralytic was yet at home, the Saviour had brought conviction
to his conscience. When he repented of his sins, and believed in the power of
Jesus to make him whole, the life-giving mercies of the Saviour had first blessed
his longing heart. Jesus had watched the first glimmer of faith grow into a
belief that He was the sinner’s only helper, and had seen it grow stronger with
every effort to come into His presence.
Now in words that fell like music on the sufferer’s ear, the
Saviour said, "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." E.
G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press
Publishing Association, 1898), p. 268.
The power
manifested here was not such that any man is able to derive from God. Under no
circumstances can mere man forgive sins. The Saviour used His healing power on
this occasion as evidence of His power to forgive sins. Prior to this he
had exercised His divine power to bring conviction to the heart of this soul.
Here we have Christ using His power as the Deity for a lost and physically ill
individual. The healing power that Christ displayed was the identical power
that He used in the original creation of man:
“It required nothing less than creative power to restore health to that decaying body. The same
voice that spoke life to man created from the dust of the earth had spoken life
to the decaying paralytic.” E. G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain
View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1898), p. 269, 270.
On the other hand The
Desire of Ages contains indications that some of Christ’s miracles were
performed by faith in and dependence upon His Father rather than by the
exercise of His own authority as Deity. For instance when He stilled the storm
on Galilee He is said not to have done so by exercise of His own power:
“When Jesus was awakened to meet the storm, He was in perfect
peace. There was no trace of fear in word or look, for no fear was in His
heart. But He rested not in the possession of almighty power. It was not as the
"master of earth and sea and sky" that He reposed in quiet. That
power He had laid down and He says, "I can of mine own self do nothing."
John 5:30. He trusted in the Father’s might. It was in faith—faith in God's
love and care—that Jesus rested, and the power of that word which stilled the
storm was the power of God.” E. G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Cal.:
Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1898), p. 336.
In one instance we have Christ using His underived, creative power
to heal a dying paralytic. In another instance the power of the Father,
available to Christ because of His faith, was the source of the miracle.
Whatever conclusion is drawn must take two factors into account. First, all
Christ’s miracles were performed by "faith and prayer." The statement
in The Desire of Ages declaring this is a general one.” E. G. White, The
Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association,
1898), p. 536.
It comes within a
chapter which narrates the raising of Lazarus, a miracle which above all others
was evidence of Christ’s power as Deity. Then even this miracle was in some sense performed
by "faith and prayer." Second, some of Christ’s miracles resulted
from the exercise of His own power as God. Others resulted from the exercise of
the Father’s power in response to Christ’s faith.
The present writer
concludes that Christ’s use of His divine was always within the context of
faith in the Father. In some instances the power He used was His own, but He
had accepted the limitations of man and thus imposed upon Himself limitations
in regard to the direction of its use. As man He was a dependent human being.
On occasions He exercised His own creative power, that which was His as God,
which was "unborrowed and underived," and which in the beginning He
had used in the creation of the world. The direction as to the use of this power
came from the Father because Christ had accepted the limitations of humanity. Perhaps the
fact that the stilling of the sea was the Father’s act in response to Christ’s
faith, rather than an instance of exercise of Christ’s own authority as Deity,
is to be explained by the fact that the miracle was to some extent for His own
benefit and, as previously pointed out, never did He perform a miracle for His
own benefit.
At all events the
evidence is overwhelmingly opposed to the view of the Adventist Arian that the
divine in Christ during the incarnation was an inferior divinity entirely
subordinate to that of the Father.
WHAT HAPPENED TO CHRIST’S DEITY WHEN HE DIED?
This question was
a crucial one for the Adventist Arian. He rejected Trinitarianism because it taught
that the divine in Christ did not die, but that it ascended to the Father when
the human Christ expired on the Cross. The
Arian saw this as an inadequate human sacrifice. He believed the Deity did die. This was possible because the divine in Christ
was an inferior delegated divinity. It would have been impossible, so the Arian
declared, for the supreme Father to have died in this way.
Ellen G. White
emphasized on a number of occasions that the Deity did not die:
“Humanity died; divinity
did not die.” E. G. White, Selected Messages, Book One (Washington,
D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, l958), p. 301. Citing The
Youth’s Instructor, August 4, 1898.
Note by Ron: The Testator was Divine ONLY when the Testament was
made.
"The darkness rolled away from the
Saviour and from the Cross. Christ bowed His head and died. In His
Incarnation He had reached the prescribed limit as a sacrifice, but not as a redeemer."
E.G. White Manuscript Releases Volume Twelve, p. 409.
In
Christ’s INCARNATION ALONE He had reached the prescribed limit as a sacrifice
WITHOUT THE CROSS. How so? Because the prescribed limit as a sacrifice was
DEATH OF THE TESTATOR, THE DIVINE HOLY SPIRIT PERSON OF THE SON OF GOD.
Divinity could not die, so what the Son “died to” in fulfillment of the
prescribed limit of a sacrifice--DEATH OF THE TESTATOR, was to die to His
former estate of being DIVINE ONLY, and becoming combined with humanity
FOREVER. The cross sacrifice did not result in FOREVER DEATH. The wages of our
sin is ETERNAL DEATH. That is why something about the Testator’s death must be
eternal for while He liveth, the Testament is of no force:
Hbr
9:16 For where a testament [is], there must also of necessity be the death of
the testator.
Hbr
9:17 For a testament [is] of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the
testator liveth.
"The
Incarnation of Christ was an act of self-sacrifice; His life was one of
continual self-denial. The highest glory of the love of God to man was
manifested in the sacrifice of His only-begotten Son, who was the express image
of His person. This is the
great mystery of godliness. It is the privilege and the duty of every
professed follower of Christ to have the mind of Christ. Without self-denial
and cross bearing we cannot be His disciples." E.G. White, Selected
Messages, Book 2, p. 185. End note by Ron.
“The Deity
did not sink under the agonizing torture of Calvary, yet it is
nonetheless true that "God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life." E. G. White, Manuscript 140, 1903. Cited by 5
BC, 1129.
Note by Ron: The only life that could atone for sin was the
Divine life of the Testator. The life that is proffered to us is the Divine
Nature eternal life of the Son, not the humanity of Christ.
"He
(Christ) suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life
which WAS His." Desire of Ages, p. 25 1 Cor. 11:24-265, cf. John
6:53, 54, Titus 3:5, 6. End note by Ron.
“When Christ
was crucified, it was His human nature that died. Deity did not sink and die;
that would have been impossible.” E. G. White, Letter 280, 1904. Cited by
5 BC, 1113.
“Deity did not die. Humanity died, but Christ now proclaims over
the rent sepulcher of Joseph, "I am the resurrection, and the life."
E. G. White, Manuscript 131, 1897. Cited by 5 BC, 1113.
It is true that there are certain statements in the writings of
Ellen G. White which may appear to teach otherwise. For instance, "nature
sympathized with the suffering of its author. The heaving earth, the rent
rocks, proclaimed that it was the Son of God who died." E. G. White, Testimonies
for the Church, Vol. II (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association,
1869), p. 211. Some would interpret this to mean that the divine in Christ
died. Since it was the Deity who was the Author of nature, it was the Deity who
was suffering and dying. The following page of the same work refers to the "sacrifice which was made by the Majesty of
Heaven in dying in man’s stead." E. G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. II
(Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1869), p. 212.
Note by Ron: The Majesty
of Heaven that died occurred when the Son died to His former pre-Incarnated
state of being DIVINE ONLY, to become combined with humanity forever after His
Incarnation, to wit:
"By His life and His death, Christ has
achieved even more than recovery from the ruin wrought through sin. It was
Satan's purpose to bring about an eternal separation between God and man but in
Christ we become more closely united to God than if we had never fallen. In taking our nature, the
Saviour has bound himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken.
Through the eternal ages He is linked with us. 'God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son.' [John 3:16]. He gave Him not only to bear
our sins, and to die as our sacrifice He gave Him to the fallen race. To assure us of His immutable
counsel of peace, God gave His only Begotten Son to become one of the
human family forever to retain His human nature. This is the pledge that God will fulfill His word.
'Unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government shall be
upon His shoulder.' God has adopted human nature
in the person of His Son, and has carried the same into the highest heaven. It is the 'Son of man' who shares the throne of the
universe. It is the 'Son of man' whose name shall be called, 'Wonderful,
Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of Peace.' [Isa.
9:6]. The I Am is the Daysman between God and humanity, laying His hand upon
both. He who is 'holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,' is not
ashamed to call us brethren. [Heb. 7:26 2:11.] In Christ the family of earth
and the family of heaven are bound together. Christ glorified is our brother.
Heaven is enshrined in humanity, and humanity is enfolded in the bosom of
Infinite love." The Desire of Ages, 25.
Christ a man
Forever (Bible on)
22By so much was Jesus made a
surety of a better testament.
23And they truly were many
priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:
24But this man, because he
continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
25Wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to
make intercession for them.
26For such an high priest became
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher
than the heavens;
27Who needeth not daily, as
those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for
the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
28For the law maketh men high
priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the
law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore. Hebrews 7:22-28.
THIS WAS THE FOREVER SACRIFICE
OF THE SON OF GOD, THE TESTATOR--the act of “dying” to His former state of
being DIVINE ONLY, to forever being combined with humanity. The Incarnation was
DEATH to the Son of God being DIVINE ONLY, and when He offered up His Divine
soul to the Father just before He died on the cross, that was the second and
final death to His former state of being DIVINE ONLY. He could never thereafter
return to that state.
Earlier in the same work Ellen G. White wrote, "the divine Son
of God was fainting, dying." E. G. White, Testimonies for the Church,
Vol. II (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1869), p.
206.
One suggested reconciliation of the apparent contradiction between
these two sets of passages would be that Christ did not die in the normal sense
of the term. His life was not taken from Him, for He possessed a divine self.
He gave up His life voluntarily. E. G. White, Desire of Ages (Mountain
View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1898), p. 484. Therefore He
was really and absolutely dead in His human and divine natures, but the act of
giving up His own life is to be regarded as something distinct from death.
Therefore, some would suggest, it is still true to say that the Deity did not
die."
The present writer
objects to this position on the grounds that the Deity is immortal and
therefore cannot die in any sense. It is impossible for an immortal being to give up life. Immortality is
deathlessness. To argue that the Deity did not die, but was in fact dead, is to
involve oneself in unnecessary manipulation of language. If as Ellen G. White says, it was impossible for Deity to
die then undoubtedly she meant just that.
Christ during the incarnation was a God-man. He is referred to many
times in the writings of Ellen G. White as the divine Son of God, and as the
Majesty of Heaven. These terms are used to refer to the God-man. The human element of Christ’s nature was not divine and
had never existed in heaven. But since Christ was God in human flesh, terms which technically
refer only to His divine nature are used to refer to the total Being including
His human nature. "Majesty of Heaven" technically refers to the
divine, but Ellen G. White uses it to refer to the totality of His existence
including the human. It would not therefore be incorrect for Ellen G. White to
use the terms "divine Son of God" and "majesty of heaven"
in the untechnical sense when speaking of the death of Christ. The very name
"Christ," when used to refer to His earthly existence, involves both
the human and the divine. She speaks of Christ being hungry, thirsty and
weary.” E. G. White, Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press
Publishing Association, 1898), p. 118.
Note by Ron: This is how and why the Incarnation produced
another person to the Godhead--the human person of Christ’s nature had never
existed in heaven before. The Trinity Doctrine totally denies the Incarnation process
whereby another person (human person of Christ) was added to the Godhead--and
this human person was not ETERNAL. This is why the Trinity Doctrine is
blasphemy. It bypasses the Incarnation by saying that the Godhead consists ONLY of three
co-ETERNAL persons. Tell me friend, WHERE IS THE INCARNATION PRODUCED
HUMANITY PERSON OF THE GODHEAD TO BE FOUND IN THREE CO-ETERNAL PERSONS? This is
why and how the Trinity Doctrine sweeps away the entire Heavenly Incarnation
Sanctuary/Atonement Sacrifice, AND THEREBY THE ENTIRE CHRISTIAN ECONOMY, while
the dumb-dog ministering brethren (Isaiah 56:10-12 and 5T 211) have looked on
and did not see how Kellogg’s pantheism did the same thing in the Alpha, THAT
THEY HAVE DONE IN THE OMEGA HERESY (The Trinity Doctrine).
Sanctuary Gone Atonement Gone -- "In a
representation which passed before me, I saw a certain work being done by
medical missionary workers. Our ministering brethren were looking on, watching
what was being done, but they did not seem to understand. The foundation of our
faith, which was established by so much prayer, such earnest searching of the
Scriptures, was being taken down, pillar by pillar. Our faith was to have
nothing to rest upon--the
sanctuary was gone, the atonement was gone." E.G. White, The Upward Look, 152.
How did
Kellogg’s pantheism do away with the Sanctuary and the Atonement? It taught
that the Holy Spirit was in every living thing from Creation. If that were
true, then why would we need the Incarnation sacrifice in order to receive the
Holy Spirit soul of the life of Christ as a gift of the Incarnation, for we
would already have the Holy Spirit in us from creation as would all living
things!
The
Trinity Doctrine results in the same end by saying that there are THREE
CO-ETERNAL PERSONS to the Godhead, without factoring in the humanity person of
Christ, WHICH IS A SEPARATE PERSON divested from His Divine HOLY SPIRIT HIMSELF
and independent thereof. Both the Alpha heresy of pantheism and the Omega
heresy of the Trinity Doctrine, render the heavenly Incarnation Sanctuary
Atonement GONE. The Trinity Doctrine does this by teaching THREE ETERNAL
PERSONS, which totally omits the Incarnation sacrifice that resulted in another
PERSON, the NON-ETERNAL humanity of Christ, which the Father adopted into the
Godhead.
"Cumbered
with humanity Christ could not be in every place personally, therefore it was
altogether for their advantage that He should leave them to go to His Father
and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit
is Himself divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He would
represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit.” E.G. White, (Manuscript
Releases Volume 14 (No’s 1081-1135) MR No.1084.
"Christ
declared that after his ascension, he would send to his church, as his crowning gift, the
Comforter, who was to take his place. This Comforter is the Holy
Spirit,--the soul of his life, the efficacy of his church, the light and life of
the world. With his Spirit Christ sends a reconciling influence and a power
that takes away sin.
In
the gift of the Spirit, Jesus gave to man the highest good that heaven could bestow....
The
Spirit was given as a regenerating agency, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of
no avail....
It is
by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer
becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given his Spirit as a
divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and
to impress his own character upon the church." E.G. White, Review and Herald Articles, May 19,
1904, vol. 5, p. 42.
Christ Made His Testator’s Soul, His Holy Spirit an
Offering for Sin
“Christ had
stooped to take upon Himself man's nature; He was to bear an infinite weight of
woe as He should make His soul an
offering for sin; yet angels desired that even in His humiliation the
Son of the Highest might appear before men with a dignity and glory befitting
His character. Would the great men of earth assemble at Israel's capital to
greet His coming? Would legions of angels present Him to the expectant
company?” The Great Controversy, pp.
313, 314.
How was His
Testator’s Soul made an offering for sin? He died to that DIVINE ONLY SOUL OF
HIS LIFE to become combined with humanity FOREVER. He is a man priest forever:
Hbr
7:24 But this [man],
because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
The Humanity of Christ Adopted by the Father Into the Heavenly
Godhead
"By His life and His death, Christ has
achieved even more than recovery from the ruin wrought through sin. It was
Satan's purpose to bring about an eternal separation between God and man but in
Christ we become more closely united to God than if we had never fallen. In taking our nature, the
Saviour has bound himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken.
Through the eternal ages He is linked with us. 'God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son.' [John 3:16]. He gave Him not only to bear our sins, and to die
as our sacrifice He gave Him to the fallen race. To assure us of His immutable counsel of
peace, God gave His only Begotten Son to become one of the human family
forever to retain His human nature. This is
the pledge that God will fulfill His word. 'Unto us a child is born unto us a
son is given and the government shall be upon His shoulder.' God has adopted human nature
in the person of His Son, and has carried the same into the highest heaven. It
is the 'Son of man' who shares the throne of the universe. It is the 'Son of man' whose name shall be called,
'Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of
Peace.' [Isa. 9:6]. The I Am is the Daysman between God and humanity, laying
His hand upon both. He who is 'holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from
sinners,' is not ashamed to call us brethren. [Heb. 7:26 2:11.] In Christ the
family of earth and the family of heaven are bound together. Christ glorified
is our brother. Heaven is enshrined in humanity, and humanity is enfolded in
the bosom of Infinite love." The Desire of Ages, 25.
End note by Ron.
In these instances
obviously the emphasis is on the human aspect of his nature, the term
"Christ" being used in the sense of the total Being. Just so, when she
speaks of the death of the "majesty of heaven" it would appear she is
using the term in an untechnical, accommodated sense. Since elsewhere she
categorically denies the possibility of the Deity dying it seems reasonable to
conclude that when she speaks of the death of the "divine Son of God"
she is using the general term which, in this particular context, has special
reference to the death of the human in Christ.
Ellen G. White
explains at least in part what happened to the Deity element of Christ’s nature
when He died on Calvary:
“When He closed His eyes in death upon the Cross, the soul of
Christ did not go at once to heaven, as many believe, or how could His words be
true—"I am not yet ascended to my Father"? The Spirit of Jesus slept in the tomb with His body, and did not wing its way to heaven,
there to maintain a separate existence, and to look down upon the mourning
disciples embalming the body from which it had taken flight. All that comprised
the life and intelligence of Jesus remained with His body in the sepulcher; and when He came forth it was as a whole being; He did
not have to summon His spirit from heaven.” E. G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol.
III (Battle Creek, Mich.: Steam Press of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing
Association, 1878) pp. 203, 204.
Note by Ron: Ellen White said it was impossible for the DIVINE
SPIRIT to die. Just before Christ bowed His head on the cross, He commended His
Spirit into the hands of the Father. So it must
have been His human spirit that slept in the tomb. It cannot be assumed
from the above statement that Ellen White is referring to Christ’s Holy Spirit.
Jesus later told His disciples that He would have to go to heaven to send them
His Holy Spirit because it was that Spirit that came down to Him at His baptism
and it was that Divine Holy Spirit soul of His life that He commended to the
Father just before He bowed His head and died on the cross. He said the Father
would send it. So Ellen White cannot be referring to His Holy Spirit, but
rather His human spirit as “sleeping” in the tomb with His human body. When we
die, our spirit returns to God, but the human spirit of Christ, says Ellen
White, slept in the tomb. (See SDA teaching on the State of the Dead): http://crossbearer-brian.tripod.com/id170.htm)
The body returns to dust and the spirit
returns to God. The Bible does not say the soul returns to God, but the Spirit.
Eccles. 12:7 Then
shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto
God who gave it.
Luk 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Certainly,
it was “God” who raised His body (Rom. 10:9, 1 Pet. 1:21), and Jesus is God.
But Scripture also teaches that the Father raised Him (Gal. 1:1; Eph. 1:17,
20). Even the Holy Spirit is said to have raised Him (Romans 8:11). So, the act
of raising Jesus from the dead was not the operation merely of one person
within the Godhead, but was a cooperative act done by the power of the divine
substance. The fact that the Bible teaches that God raised Jesus from the dead,
and that Jesus raised Himself is yet another testament to Christ’s divinity. This is another MYSTERY element
of the Incarnation and the death of Christ’s humanity. Erwin Gane makes
this same conclusion below. However, just as the Holy Ghost of Christ sired
Christ in the womb of Mary, it could have also raised Him from the dead. It is
my personal belief that because the Holy Ghost of Christ and the ONE ETERNAL
SPIRIT of the Father are indeed ONE, they both raised Christ from the dead, and
thus fulfilled Christ’s saying that He would raise Himself in three days.
End note by Ron.
The
precise condition of the Deity aspect of Christ’s nature during the brief
period of His incarnation in the tomb is undoubtedly one of the deepest
mysteries of the Gospel. The Arians were right in denying that the divine Christ ascended to
heaven when the human expired on the Cross, but they were wrong, according to
Ellen G. White, in postulating the death of Deity.
Note by Ron:
The Arians may not have been right in denying that the divine nature Holy
Spirit of Christ ascended to heaven when the human expired on the Cross. We
should not be dogmatic on aspects of the Godhead that are deep mysteries that
we will study for eternity. End note by Ron.
As further
evidence, the circumstances of the resurrection may be cited. Ellen G. White
speaks of Christ as a prisoner in the tomb. Only the Father could release Him:
“He who died for the sins of the world was to
remain in the tomb the allotted time. He was in that stony prison house as a
prisoner of divine justice. He was responsible to the judge of the universe. He
was bearing the sins of the world, and His Father only could release Him.” E.
G. White, Manuscript 94, 1897. Cited by 5 BC, 1114.
Note by Ron: Only the Father could release Him, but the release
and the raising from the tomb could have been two different things. This is
another mystery we should set on the shelf until God decides to divulge its
meaning to us. End note by Ron.
It was the angel who called Christ in the name of the Father to
rise from the tomb.” E. G. White, Manuscript 115, 1897. Cited by 5 BC,
1110.
“It was the "spirit
which raised Jesus from the dead." E. G. White, "Beware of
Imitations," The Youth’s Instructor, XLIII (February 7, 1895), 44.
But nonetheless
Jesus came forth "to Life that was in Himself:"
When the voice of the angel was heard saying,
"Thy Father calls Thee," He who had said, "I lay down My life,
that I might take it again," "Destroy this Temple and in three days I
will raise it up," came forth from the grave
to life that was in Himself. Deity did not die. Humanity died, but Christ now proclaims over the
rent sepulcher of Joseph, "I am the Resurrection, and the Life." In His divinity Christ possessed the power to break the
bonds of death.” E. G. White, Manuscript 131, 1897. Cited by 5 BC, 1113.
Note by Ron: There is nothing to prevent the
words: “came forth from the grave to life that was in Himself,” from meaning
life that was in His divine self in heaven. Ellen White’s cumbered statement
clearly defines two persons, two personalities associated with the Son of God.
End note by Ron.
The passage
clearly implies that Christ’s coming forth "to life that was in
himself" was in view of the fact that "Deity did not die."
How then is answered the objection of the Adventist Arian that the
sacrifice was a purely human one and therefore no atonement for human sin? Any
answer can only be tentative and partial for here we are delving into the deep
mysteries of the atonement. Ellen G. White wrote of the intense suffering of
Christ in view of the separation from His Father, resulting from human sin
being laid upon Him. Twice before Calvary He almost died as a result of the
imputation of human guilt and the consequent separation from His Father. These
two occasions were in the wilderness of temptation and in Gethsemane. E. G.
White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Publishing
Association, 1898), pp. 131, 693.
Note by Ron: The Lord has shown me that the humanity of Christ
could not atone for sin of and by itself. It was the Incarnation sacrifice of
Christ’s forever death to being DIVINE ONLY, that atoned for man’s sin. That
sacrifice resulted in another person to the Godhead--the humanity of Christ.
The Trinity Doctrine is blasphemous because it does not account for this added
person at the time of the Incarnation. All it accounts for is THREE CO-ETERNAL
PERSONS BEFORE THE INCARNATION. All the kings dumb-dog watchmen (Isa. 56:10-12,
5T 211) from the early church Fathers on down, have not been able to see and
understand this fact, which is really quite empirical when you think about it.
In the case of the Adventist Alpha heresy, dim witted leaders didn’t have the
spiritual discernment to see how Kellogg’s pantheism did away with the need for
the Sanctuary and the Atonement. Thus, the Trinity Doctrine and Kellogg’s
pantheism sweep away the entire Christian economy in one fell swoop, and all
the kings men are non-the-wiser! End note by Ron.
Finally this separation broke the heart of the
Son of God:
“The sins of the
world were upon him, also the sense of his Father’s wrath as he suffers the
penalty of the law transgressed. It was these that crushed his divine soul. It
was the hiding of his Father’s Face—a sense that his own dear Father had
forsaken him—which brought despair.” E. G. White, Testimonies for the Church,
Vol. II (Mountain View Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1869), p.
214.
The separation of Christ from the Father involved the separation of
absolute God from absolute God. It involved the temporary severing of the
mysterious unity that is God. Of the Gethsemane experience Ellen G. White
wrote, "as Christ felt His unity with the Father broken up, He feared that in His human nature He
would be unable to endure the coming conflict with the powers of darkness." E. G.
White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. II (Mountain View Cal.: Pacific
Press Publishing Association, 1869), p. 686.
Finally the
severing of this divine unity broke the heart of the Son of God:
“But now with the
terrible weight of guilt He bears, He cannot see the Father’s reconciling face.
The withdrawal of the divine countenance from the Saviour in this hour of
supreme anguish pierced His heart with a sorrow that can never be fully
understood by man. . . .
It was the sense of sin, bringing the Father’s wrath upon Him as man’s
substitute, that made the cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the
Son of God.” E. G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. II (Mountain
View Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1869), p. 753.
“The severing of the mysterious divine relationship between Father
and the Son involved suffering far greater than death, suffering which all
heaven knows to have been an abundant provision for the guilt of a lost race.”
Revelation 5:11, 12.
What mere man has the
temerity to demand the death of the immortal Deity to the infinite price paid
for human redemption?
Note by Ron: It
is not “mere man” that made the Testator’s Testament--the Everlasting Covenant.
It is that Testament that demands the death of the Testator--immortal Deity, to
“die to something” FOREVER. The only thing the Son died to FOREVER was being
DIVINE ONLY. He ceased His theretofore eternal existence AS DIVINE ONLY HOLY
SPIRIT, to become forever human as well. By this fact, the Incarnation ALONE, WITHOUT
THE CROSS, met the prescribed limit as a sacrifice:
"The darkness rolled away from the Saviour and
from the Cross. Christ bowed His head and died. In His Incarnation He had reached the prescribed limit as
a sacrifice, but not as a redeemer." E.G. White Manuscript
Releases Volume Twelve, p. 409.
In His
Incarnation, the act (ALONE) of His coming in human flesh, without His human
death on the cross, He reached the prescribed limit as a sacrifice, which is
DEATH OF THE TESTATOR--a permanent death to something. He permanently died to
being DIVINE ONLY.
Why can’t God’s
watchmen (Isaiah 56:10-12 see this? There are at least three reasons:
1.
Because of unbelief (5T 211) they lack spiritual discernment to
see it. This is why they could not see the serious implications of Kellogg’s
pantheism; that it totally destroyed the need for the Sanctuary Atonement by
which the Holy Spirit gift was made possible to indwell us--was indeed given to
us as Heaven’s “highest good, crowning gift.” It destroyed the need for the Incarnation
Sanctuary/Atonement sacrifice by teaching that at creation the Holy Spirit of
God was invested into every living thing--pantheism, thus, if we already had
the spirit of God from our creation, we wouldn’t need the Incarnation sacrifice
that made that GIFT OF ALL GIFTS POSSIBLE!
2.
Because of the same unbelief (5T 211) SDA leaders cannot
understand (Isaiah 56:10-12). They cannot see the implications of the Trinity
Doctrine which destroys the Incarnation Sanctuary Atonement. How does the
Trinity Doctrine destroy the Sanctuary Atonement? By teaching that there are
three CO-ETERNAL PERSONS TO THE GODHEAD, when in truth it was the Incarnation
that produced THE THIRD PERSON--God come in the likeness of human sinful flesh.
That person NEVER EXISTED BEFORE THE INCARNAITON. That human person was adopted
by God into the Godhead of heaven and sits on the throne with God, as God. If
there were THREE CO-ETERNAL PERSONS before the Incarnation, then there would
needs be FOUR after the Incarnation--the fourth being the humanity of Christ or
God come in the likeness of human sinful flesh. And that is not the case. There
are only THREE PERSONS.
3.
The third reason why men from the early church Fathers on down
to today, cannot see the simple empirical facts stated above, is because as in
science there is a lot of pride and rivalry amongst ecclesiastical leaders. If
they as INDIVIDUALS don’t discover a truth, they won’t accept it! It’s just
that simple! They regard themselves with such pride and self-esteem, that they
think if a new teaching was true, THEY WOULD HAVE SEEN IT WITHOUT HAVING TO BE
TAUGHT IT!
For example, many Adventists have arrogantly told me personally
that if God has anything for them, He will show it to them personally! They’re
not going to take anything from anyone else! Do you see a direct collision
factor with that kind of thinking relative to the God specified gifts to the
church? Such persons are mocking and/or downright rejecting God’s methodology
in giving certain gifts to certain individuals in the church. God has shown me
in vision that He has worked on His plan of giving specific gifts to certain
individuals for the express purpose of exposing pride in those who reject
persons He has given gifts to. Pride is so serious that it paves the way to
destruction. End note by Ron.
CHRIST EQUAL WITH THE FATHER AFTER THE
INCARNATION
The writings of
Ellen G. White contain no suggestion that since the incarnation Christ has been
delegated a subordinate position in the courts of heaven. There is no
intimation that as God He resigned forever any of the prerogatives of God when
He died for the sins of man. On the contrary, in unmistakable language it is
stated that Christ was restored to His former position in heaven. Referring to
Christ’s prayer recorded in John 17:1-5 Ellen G. White wrote:
“He is praying to His Father in regard to a glory possessed in His oneness with God. His prayer is
that of a mediator; the favor He entreats is the manifestation of that divine glory which was possessed
by Him when He was one with God. Let the veil be removed, He says, and let My
glory shine forth—the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” E. G.
White, "Christ Glorified," The Signs of the Times, XXV (May
10, 1899), 2. Cited by 5 BC, 1146.
Note
by Ron: Below is the meaning of the word glory G1391 as used to describe the glory of God in 1CO 11:7, using
Strong’s Concordance.
|
For G1063
a man G435
indeed G3303
ought G3784
not G3756
to cover G2619
his head, G2776
forasmuch as he is G5225
the image G1504
and G2532
glory G1391
of God: G2316
but G1161
the woman G1135
is G2076
the glory G1391
of the man. G435
|
1.
opinion, judgment, view
2.
opinion, estimate, whether good or bad concerning
someone
1.
in the NT always a good opinion concerning
one, resulting in praise, honour, and glory
3.
splendour,
brightness
4.
of the moon, sun, stars
5.
magnificence, excellence, preeminence,
dignity, grace
6.
majesty
1.
a thing belonging to God
1.
the kingly majesty which belongs to him as
supreme ruler, majesty in the sense of the absolute perfection of the deity
2.
a thing belonging to Christ
1.
the kingly majesty of the Messiah
2.
the absolutely perfect inward or personal
excellency of Christ; the majesty
3.
of the angels
1.
as apparent in their exterior brightness
7.
a most glorious condition, most exalted state
8.
of that condition with God the Father in
heaven to which Christ was raised after he had achieved his work on earth
9.
the glorious condition of blessedness into
which
This prayer for
the complete restoration of His former status in heaven was answered:
“Thus the prayer
of Christ was answered. He was glorified with the glory which He had with His
Father before the world was. . . .
No words can describe
the scene which took place as the Son of God was publicly reinstated in the
place of honor and glory which He voluntarily left when He became a man.
Note by Ron: We
must be ever cognizant of the eternal sacrifice of the Son of Man--that of
sacrificing the soul of His Life, His Holy Spirit soul in that He would not
exist as that SOUL (ONLY) ever again. Christ’s humanity cumbers His Divine
Nature Holy Spirit. What does that mean? It means that Christ’s humanity does
not in and of itself possess the attributes of His Holy Spirit such as the
OMNI’S--omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience. Some might think that at
times when it “appeared” that Christ had possession of the omnipresent
attribute, such as when He saw Nathaniel under the tree praying, that He
possessed the gift of omnipresence. But His Holy Spirit in heaven showed Him
such things, because Ellen White says that His humanity cumbered the OMNI’S.
Christ’s
humanity exists forever and He was not reinstated to His preIncarnation
DIVINE ONLY ESTATE. His honor and glory which He voluntarily left when He
became a man were reinstated.
"Cumbered with humanity
Christ could not be in every place personally, therefore it was altogether for
their advantage that He should leave them to go to His Father and send the Holy
Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is Himself divested of
the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He would represent
Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit.” E.G. White, (Manuscript
Releases Volume 14 (No’s 1081-1135) MR No.1084.
End note by Ron.
And today Christ, glorified, and yet our brother, is our Advocate
in the courts of heaven.” E. G. White, "Christ Glorified," The
Signs of the Times, XXV (May 10, 1899), 2. Cited by 5 BC, 1146.
There are repeated
declarations in the writings of Ellen G. White to the effect that Christ’s
position today is one of complete equality with the Father and of supreme
authority in heaven and earth. As previously intimated Christ’s oneness with
the Father was broken up because of sin, but
this oneness was entirely restored. Today Christ stands in precisely the same
relationship to the Father as He did before the incarnation:
“God is the Father of Christ; Christ is the Son of God. To Christ
has been given an exalted position. He has been made equal with the Father. All
the counsels of God are opened to his Son.” E. G. White, Testimonies for the
Church, Vol. VIII (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press Publishing
Association, 1904), pp. 268, 269.
Note by Ron: It is the humanity of Christ that has been adopted
by the Father into an exalted position and made equal to the Father. His Divine
Nature Holy Spirit has forever been ONE ETERNAL SPIRIT with the Father. End
note by Ron.
“According to His promise He had sent the [HIS] Holy Spirit from
heaven to His followers, as a token that He had, as priest and king, received
all authority in heaven and on earth, and was the Anointed One over His
people.” E. G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, Cal.:
Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911), p. 38.
Note by Ron: Notice in John 14 that when the Comforter is sent,
Jesus says of He and His Father (in context), “WE WILL COME” One cannot come
without the other because THEY ARE ONE ETERNAL SPIRIT--ONE GOD.
Jhn 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he
will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and
make our abode with him.
End note by Ron.
Ellen G. White effectively answered Uriah Smith’s contention that
Christ is the Alpha and Omega only in a subordinate sense. She wrote,
"Christ Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the Genesis of the Old
Testament, and the revelation of the new." E. G. White, Manuscript
33, 1897. Cited by 5 BC, 1092.
Note by Ron: Jesus says four times in Revelation that He is the
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. End note by Ron.
In commenting on
Revelation 1:18-20 Ellen G. White stated:
“These are wonderfully solemn and significant statements. It was
the Source of all mercy and pardon, peace and grace, the self-existent,
eternal, unchangeable One, who visited His exiled servant on the isle that is
called Patmos.” E. G. White, Manuscript 81, 1900. Cited by 5 BC, 955.
Of course these
verses in Revelation have obvious reference to Christ. He then is the
"self-existent, eternal, unchangeable one." That being so, a change
in His status as God is manifestly an impossibility.
Note by Ron:
The Son of Man did change His status as God ONLY, to come as a God/Man in human
sinful flesh. Ellen White says that He was fully divine and fully human. So
that did involve a change in status as regards the FULLY HUMAN aspect of
Christ. That change was essential to meeting the prescribed limit of a
sacrifice in the Incarnation. End note by Ron.
CHRIST EQUAL WITH THE FATHER AFTER THE END
Some of the Adventist
Arians used 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 as evidence that at the end Christ assumes a
subordinate position to the Father. Unfortunately Ellen G. White makes no
comment on the central problem of the passage, but nowhere does she give any
hint that a change in the status of the Son will be effected at the end of
time. On the other hand, she does say much about the exalted position Christ
will occupy at the conclusion of the millennium:
Note by Ron:
1Co 15:24
Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God,
even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and
power.
1Co 15:25 For he must
reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy
that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27 For he hath
put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under [him,
it is] manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28 And when all
things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject
unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
The following verse refers to Christ, THE LAMB, as being Lord of
lords and King of kings.
Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them:
for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him
are called, and chosen, and faithful.
The Lord showed me long ago that any statement of Scripture that
would place Christ as subservient to the Father refers to the humanity of Christ,
while Christ in His twofold PERSON of Holy Spirit and God/Man, will be Lord of
lords and King of kings.
End note by Ron.
“In the presence of the assembled inhabitants of earth and heaven
takes place the final coronation of the Son of God. And now, invested with
supreme majesty and power, the King of Kings pronounces sentence upon the
rebels against His government, and executes upon those who have transgressed
His law and oppressed His people.” E. G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy
Vol. IV (Battle Creek, Mich.: Review and Herald Publishing Co., 1884), p. 480.
There can be no
reasonable doubt that the King of Kings who at the conclusion of the Millennium
is invested with supreme majesty and power before the assembled hosts of the
saved and the unsaved is Jesus Christ the Son of God:
“As if entranced, the wicked have looked upon the coronation of the Son of God. . . . They
witness the outburst of wonder, rapture and adoration from the saved; and as
the wave of melody sweeps over the multitudes without the city, all with one
voice exclaim, "Marvelous are Thy works, Lord
God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of Saints." (Rev l5:3) and falling prostrate, they
worship the Prince of Life.” E. G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy Vol. IV
(Battle Creek, Mich.: Review and Herald Publishing Co., 1884), p. 484.
“The hour has come when Christ occupies His rightful position and
is glorified above principalities and powers and every name that is named.” E.
G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy Vol. IV (Battle Creek, Mich.: Review
and Herald Publishing Co., 1884), p. 486.
Nowhere in the writings of Ellen G. White is
there any suggestion that Christ adopts a position subordinate to the Father at
any time subsequent to His coronation. As a suggested interpretation of 1 Corinthians
15:28 the present writer would offer the following. The text cannot refer to
the subordination of the human in Christ to the Father. According to 1
Corinthians 15:24 the change that takes place comes at "the end." The human in Christ is subordinate
now just as it has always been since the birth of the Saviour. This change does not occur at
the "end" or "when all things shall be subdued unto Him."
Since
the Son is co-equal with the Father, "in the Father," and the
"express image of the Father," He is included in "God" who
is "all in all." God cannot be subject to God. Therefore Christ
cannot be subject to the Father, in the ordinary sense. The Son becomes
"subject unto Him" in the sense that the Son ceases to carry out a
distinct mediatorial work for man, and all that He bought back by the vicarious
sacrifice is now entirely subordinate to God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The
distinctive work of the Son ceases and God becomes "all in all." The
Son is no longer a separate functionary within the Deity and the plan of
redemption is acknowledged to have been the achievement of a unified God.
~rwb