The Issues of the Incarnation and
Regeneration
"This
idea of Incarnation is the central doctrine of all Paul's teaching. It is his remedy for sin, his basis of hope for the past and the
future. As God was in Christ, so Christ, by the Holy Spirit, will be in his
people, changing their hearts, transforming their lives,.
and making them fit for the very presence of
God." E.G.
White, Review and Herald, 11-15-1898.
If the idea of the Incarnation is the CENTRAL DOCTRINE of all Paul’s
teaching on THE GOSPEL, and the remedy for sin and the hope for the past and
the future, how is it that some are
falsely teaching that we cannot understand the Incarnation? Then they claim to
be giving the gospel to the world! How can one give
the gospel to the world if he/she can’t understand the Incarnation--the central
doctrine of the gospel?
Some dishonest and deceptive individuals are
teaching that we cannot understand the subjects of regeneration and the
Incarnation, and should avoid the study of these matters just because Ellen
White says that we cannot in this life FULLY understand these issues. Is
that a proper course for us to take. Is that what
Ellen White intended as evinced by the full weight of evidence on these issues?
The Shoddy
Scholarship of Some Neophytes in the Word
Some very irresponsible persons
who claim to be teachers of the Word to God’s people, are so indolent that they
have typed the word INCARNATION into the White’s Estates program for Ellen
White’s writings and have taken ONLY the first quote out of 200 entries, and
have built a very false claim upon that ONE STATEMENT. That quote is as
follows:
"The Word of God, like the character of its
divine Author, presents mysteries that can never be fully comprehended by
finite beings. The entrance of sin into
the world, the incarnation of Christ, regeneration, the resurrection, and many
other subjects presented in the Bible, are mysteries too deep for the human
mind to explain, or even fully to comprehend. But we have no reason to doubt God’s Word because we cannot understand
the mysteries of His providence. In the natural world we are constantly
surrounded with mysteries that we cannot fathom. The very humblest forms of
life present a problem that the wisest of philosophers is powerless to explain.
Everywhere are wonders beyond our ken. Should we then be surprised to find that
in the spiritual world also there are mysteries that we cannot fathom?
..."{CSA 46.3}
The men in question call to mind the above
statement and then say why study AT ALL issues that we cannot FULLY comprehend?
That is a most foolish course when Ellen White says that the INCARNATION is the
central doctrine of Paul’s teaching on the Gospel! They totally ignore and
refuse to evaluate many other important statements on the issues of the
Incarnation and regeneration that we include in this document as very serious
contributions to the weight of evidence we are admonished to consider.
Is it proper heeding of the weight of evidence
formula (below) to take one statement on the issues of the Incarnation and
Regeneration, and to misinterpret that statement to mean that we should not
study and comment on those subjects at all just because we cannot now FULLY
know all there is to know on those issues?
Weight
of Evidence Formula: "1. Every word must have its
proper bearing on the subject presented in the Bible 2. All Scripture is
necessary, and may be understood by diligent application and study 3. Nothing
revealed in Scripture can or will be hid from those who ask in faith, not
wavering 4. To understand doctrine, bring all the scriptures together on the
subject you wish to know, then let every word have its proper influence and if
you can form your theory without a contradiction, you cannot be in error 5.
Scripture must be its own expositor, [interpreter] since it is a rule of
itself. If I depend on a teacher to expound to me, and he should guess at its meaning, or desire to have it so on account of his sectarian
creed, or to be thought wise, then his guessing, desire, creed, or wisdom is my
rule, and not the Bible." E.G. White, Second Advent Review and Herald,
11-25-84, pr. 24.
Dwell More on the Incarnation and Atonement.--“If
Christ is all and in all to every one of us, why are not
His Incarnation and His atoning sacrifice dwelt upon more in the churches? Why are not hearts and
tongues employed in the Redeemer's praise? This will be the employment of
the powers of the redeemed through the ceaseless ages of eternity."
E.G. White, Selected Messages, Book 3, p. 187.
"And the study of the Incarnation of Christ
is a fruitful field, which will repay the searcher who digs deep for hidden
truth."
E.G. White, The Youth's Instructor, Oct.
13, 1898.
Regeneration/Incarnation
"This idea of Incarnation is the central doctrine of all Paul's teaching. It is his remedy for sin,
his basis of hope for the past and the future. As God was in Christ, so
Christ, by the Holy Spirit, will be in his people, changing their hearts,
transforming their lives, and making them fit for the very presence of
God." E.G. White, Review and Herald, 11-15-1898.
The
term regeneration as generally used in Scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy,
refers to spiritual rebirth, the changing of hearts, the transforming
power of the Holy Spirit that can make us fit for the very presence of God.
The
term Regeneration as used in the theory of Regeneration, refers to physical rebirth of the
template of one’s character into a different live body for a real life
demonstration of the character template of every individual who ever lived, for
the Investigative Judgment process. The purpose of Regeneration is to prove three things:
1.
That Christ’s Judgment is fair and just.
2.
That the bride of all ages, the 144,000, is faithful even when tempted
under Satan’s most advanced art forms to tempt us at the end-time.
3.
That the character of all men developed in the former life is merely
replayed to prove to the universe that those who are either repentant or not
repentant. All the wicked merely continue the same character of non-confession
of sins and unrepentance that their master Satan and a third of the angels
exhibited to constitute their fall.
Why the Physical Regeneration
of All Men is Necessary on the Day of Atonement
Ellen
White and the professing Seventh-day Adventist church teach that we have been
in the antitypical Day of Atonement since 1844. According to the Sanctuary
Service, NO SINS EVER ENTERED THE SANCTUARY on the Day of Atonement. All
confessed sins had to go in BEFOREHAND, just before the Day of Atonement. So
the only way man’s sins could enter the Sanctuary BEFORE the Day of Atonement,
BEFORE 1844, is for ALL MANKIND to be PHYSICALLY REGENERATED ONE TIME INTO A REAL
LIVE PHYSICAL BODY for the Investigative Judgment. No sins ever entered the
Sanctuary on the Day of Atonement, so the only way our sins NOW could be
pardoned and cleansed, is that we are merely playing out the character we
developed (OR NOT) in our lives LIVED PRIOR TO THE DAY OF ATONEMENT and the
sins we committed and confessed are being mediated NOW in the Most Holy Place.
Christ is NOW pleading His blood for those PAST SINS of our PAST CHARACTER.
That is the real live Investigative Judgment. There is much
serious evidence for this truth that I will be presenting in the ensuing weeks
to come.
You
may not be aware of it, but many intelligent Adventist are aware of the problem
relative to the Day of Atonement and the Investigative Judgment, and because they
did not understand the solution, they have left the church in droves. Many SDA
ministers have left as well. A large group of Adventists have combined to
produce a very high quality magazine they call PROCLAMATION Magazine, and one
of their main platforms is problems relative to the Investigative Judgment and
the Day of Atonement. This is THE PRIME SHAKING ISSUE IN ADVENTISM SINCE 1844!
http://www.lifeassuranceministries.org/proclamationmag.html
So
the options you have are Regeneration, or leaving the message God gave to
Seventh-day Adventists. Were Adventism not true, what would be the
implications?
· There would be no
Philadelphian pure message (bride of Christ).
·
God’s promise of the
Gift of Prophecy to a true church would have failed, so the God of the Bible
would be false as well.
·
God’s WAY which is
in the Sanctuary would have failed--the cleansing of His Sanctuary would have
failed.
·
The Day of Atonement
would have failed by admitting sin into the Sanctuary on the Day of Atonement.
I fully believe in the 1844 Midnight Cry by the
Philadelphia state of the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3. After that
awakening cry by the Bride of Christ, COL, 405, 406, the 10 virgins went back
to sleep--“They all slumber and sleep during a “TARRYING TIME,” since 1844.
Then there is another final Midnight Loud Cry (Matthew 25), calling God’s
people out of Babylon.
The Incarnation
Cannot be Separated From the Atonement, the Purpose of
the Incarnation
“Christ
is the foundation of every true church. All who are brought to a new faith are
to be established on Him. The plain, simple truths of the gospel are to be kept
before minds. Christ crucified as the
atonement for sin is the great central
truth of the gospel, round which all truths cluster. To this great truth all
other truths are tributary.” {UL
85.6}
“Medical
Missionaries to Set Forth to Patients Christ’s Keeping Power—To
love God with all the heart, to be a partaker with Christ in His humiliation
and suffering, means more than many understand. The
atonement of Christ is the great central truth around which
cluster all the truths that pertain to the great work of redemption. The mind of man is to blend with the mind of Christ. This
union sanctifies the understanding, giving the thoughts clearness and force. He
who is thus united with Christ can do medical-missionary work that is excellent
in God’s sight. {12MR 59.2}
"The
transforming POWER OF GRACE can make me a partaker of the divine nature. On
Christ the glory of God has shone, and by looking upon Christ, contemplating
His self-sacrifice, remembering that in Him dwell all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily, the believer is drawn closer and closer to the Source of
POWER." E.G. White, Sons and Daughters of God, Entitled: We are Transformed by God's Grace, p. 124.
“The latter class had received the grace of God, the regenerating, enlightening power of the Holy Spirit, which renders His
word a lamp to the feet and a light to the path. In the fear of God they had
studied the Scriptures to learn the truth, and had earnestly sought for purity
of heart and life. These had a personal experience, a faith in God and in His
word, which could not be overthrown by disappointment and delay. Others
"took their lamps, and took no oil with them." They had moved from
impulse. Their fears had been excited by the solemn message, but they had
depended upon the faith of their brethren, satisfied with the flickering light
of good emotions, without a thorough understanding of the truth or a
genuine work of grace in the heart.
These had gone forth to meet the Lord, full of hope in the prospect of
immediate reward; but they were not prepared for delay and disappointment. When
trials came, their faith failed, and their lights burned dim.” The Great Controversy, p. 393.
“Without
the grace of Christ, the sinner is in a hopeless condition; nothing can be done
for him; but through divine grace, supernatural power is imparted to the man,
and works in mind and heart and character. It is through the
impartation of the grace of Christ that sin is discerned in its hateful nature,
and finally driven from the soul temple. It is through grace that we are
brought into fellowship with Christ, to be associated with Him in the work of
salvation. Faith is the condition upon which God has seen fit to promise pardon
to sinners; not that there is any virtue in faith whereby salvation is merited,
but because faith can lay hold of the
merits of Christ, the remedy provided for sin. Faith can present Christ's
perfect obedience instead of the sinner's transgression and defection. When the
sinner believes that Christ is his personal Saviour, then, according to His
unfailing promises, God pardons his sin, and justifies him freely. The
repentant soul realizes that his justification comes because Christ, as his
substitute and surety, has died for him, is his atonement and righteousness.”
{1SM 366.3, 367}
Incarnation
--Satan would Mystify: "This is a great mystery,
a mystery that will not be fully, completely understood in all its greatness
until the translation of the redeemed shall take place. Then the power and
greatness and efficacy of the gift of God to man will be understood. But the enemy is determined that this gift shall be so mystified that
it will become as nothingness." E.G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 7A, p. 444.
So all
who are trying to say that the subject of the Incarnation is too much of a mystery
to be understood, are siding with the enemy, Satan, in
determining that this gift shall be so mystified that it will become as
nothingness!
"As
the worker studies the life of Christ, and the
character of His mission is dwelt upon, each fresh search will reveal something
more deeply interesting than has yet been unfolded. The subject is
inexhaustible. The study of the incarnation of Christ, His atoning sacrifice
and mediatorial work, will employ the mind of the diligent student as long as
time shall last." Gospel Workers, p. 251. SDA Bible
Commentary, Vol. 7a, p. 444.
Each
fresh search on the life of Christ and the character of His mission, THE
STUDY OF THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST, HIS ATONING SACRIFICE AND MEDIATORIAL WORK,
WILL EMPLOY THE MIND OF THE DILIGENT STUDENT AS LONG AS TIME SHALL LAST!
"That God should thus be manifest in the
flesh is indeed a mystery and without the help of the holy
spirit we cannot hope to comprehend this subject. The most humbling lesson that
man has to learn is the nothingness of human wisdom, and the folly of trying,
by his own unaided efforts, to find out God." E.G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, 7a, p. 444. Review and Herald Articles, April
5, 1906.
The
direct implication is that with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can hope to
comprehend new degrees of knowledge on this subject which will employ the mind
of the diligent student as long as time shall last. What good would it do to
not be able to understand and discuss a PILLAR, LANDMARK DOCTRINE?
Ellen White said that the
Godhead, the personality of God and Christ is a pillar, landmark doctrine. How
could that subject be a PILLAR, LANDMARK DOCTRINE, and we are not even to
discuss it? What is the context of Ellen White's statement that we are not to
debate the personality of God? What is the little known weight of evidence on
this issue?
Is it not strange that there are
those who try to BRING IN theories that would remove the pillars of our faith
concerning the Sanctuary or concerning THE PERSONALITY OF GOD OR CHRIST, but we
are to know nothing about the personality of God and Christ, and cannot discuss
it? Does that make sense?
Godhead as a pillar doctrine
--
Personality of God and of Christ Landmarks: "Those who seek to remove the
old landmarks are not holding
fast they are not remembering how they have received and heard. Those who try
to bring in theories that would remove the pillars
of our faith concerning the sanctuary or
concerning the personality of God or of Christ, are working as blind men. They are seeking to bring in uncertainties and to
set the people of God adrift without an anchor." {MR760 9.5}
Ellen White to Kellogg in the
Alpha Heresy
"You
are not definitely clear on the personality of God, which is
everything to us as a people. You have virtually destroyed the Lord God
Himself." EGW letter 300 1903.
Did you get that?
THE PERSONALITY OF GOD IS EVERYTHING TO US AS A PEOPLE, YET SOME ARE TEACHING
THAT IT IS A MYSTERY UPON WHICH SILENCE IS GOLDEN! They are making the foolish error of confounding the nature of the
Holy Spirit with the personality of God. We can know much about the
personality of God from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. We know that God
is love. We know that His law is a transcript of His character of self-scrificing love. We know that He is subject to what He
requires of man by way of obedience to His law. We know His history of dealing
with man since the creation of man. That history reveals much about His
personality.
Ellen White warned not to get into debate with Kellogg on the issue of the Godhead and the personality of God, because he was so cunning and deceptive. She said she could not safely get into a discussion with him because he was so devious of mind and would confuse things so badly. Thus her statement that silence on the issue was golden when it came to debating or discussing it with Kellogg! These other statements condoning the study and how we might profit from it totally contradict the position of those who don't want to know the truth on the issue and are disobedient apostates who cannot understand it (spiritually discern it).
Remember, that in the Alpha, the MINISTERING BRETHREN (NO LESS) were looking on but could not understand what Kellogg's theories resulted in--the doing away with the Sanctuary/Atonement.
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.
What
was it about Kellogg pantheism that rendered the Sanctuary, the Atonement, AS
GONE? Pantheism does away with the necessity of the Heavenly Sanctuary Atonement,
because pantheism teaches that the Spirit of God is already in every created,
animate thing. So why would the Incarnation sacrifice in the Heavenly Sanctuary
Atonement be necessary in order for the Spirit of Christ to indwell us for the
purpose of overcoming sin, IF IT WAS ALREADY IN US from creation-- due to the
false teaching of pantheism?! Thus, the sanctuary, the atonement are rendered GONE!
"No
one can search the Scriptures in the spirit of Christ without being rewarded.
When man is willing to be instructed as a little child, when he submits wholly
to God, he will find the truth in His word. If men would be obedient,
they would understand the plan of God's government. The heavenly world would
open its chambers of grace and glory for exploration. Human beings would be
altogether different from what they now are, for by exploring the mines of
truth men would be ennobled. The mystery of redemption, THE INCARNATION OF
CHRIST, His ATONING SACRIFICE, would not be as they are now, vague in our
minds. They would be not only better understood, but altogether more highly
appreciated." E.G. White, Christ's
Object Lessons, p. 114. Vol. 7a, p. 441.
WHY
IT DOES NO GOOD TO DISCUSS OR DEBATE THE PERSONALITY OF GOD OR CHRIST WITH THE
UNREGENERATE
It does no good to try to discuss the personality
of God and Christ with the unregenerate because they believe that these issues
are impossible to understand. They misinterpret Ellen White’s statement that we
cannot FULLY understand these subjects now, to mean that we cannot understand
them at all NOW.
Today, neophytes in the Word are rendering the Sanctuary
and the Atonement as GONE by teaching that just because we cannot FULLY
understand the Incarnation Sanctuary/Atonement sacrifice IN THIS LIFE; we
should not even try to understand it at all! This is foolish turning away from
the full weight of evidence just because there are a few things we can’t make
plain.
“God
gives sufficient evidence for the candid mind to believe; but he who turns from the weight of evidence
because there are a few things which he cannot make plain to his finite
understanding, will be left in the cold, chilling atmosphere of unbelief and
questioning doubts, and will make shipwreck of faith.”—Testimonies for the Church 4:232, 233. (Italics author’s.){9MR
204.4}
NATURE
OF GOD A MYSTERY
Ellen White said that regarding the nature of God,
silence is golden. The nature of God is what he consists of. All we are told
about that is that He is a SPIRIT. That’s it! We know nothing more about his
essence and substance. So beyond that, SILENCE IS GOLDEN. But some misguided
individuals confuse God’s SUBSTANCE with His PERSONALITY. We can and do know
much about His personality, and Ellen White said that the personality of God
and Christ are pillar doctrines.
“The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and
whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. John 3:8.” {FLB
54.1}
“The
greatness of God is to us incomprehensible. "The
Lord's throne is in heaven" (Ps. 11:4); yet by His Spirit He is everywhere
present. He has an intimate knowledge of, and a personal interest in, all the
works of His hand. . . .” {FLB 54.2}
“It was
the Maker of all things . . . who created the human soul, with its capacity for
knowing and for loving. And He is not in Himself such as to leave the demands
of the soul unsatisfied. No intangible principle, no impersonal essence or mere
abstraction, can satisfy the needs and longings of human beings in this life of
struggle with sin and sorrow and pain. It is not enough to believe in law and force,
in things that have no pity, and never hear the cry for help. We need to know
of an almighty arm that will hold us up, of an
infinite Friend that pities us. We need to clasp a hand that is warm, to trust
in a heart full of tenderness. And even so God has in His Word revealed Himself.” {FLB 54.3}
Spiritual
things are spiritually discerned. The carnal mind cannot comprehend these
mysteries. . . . The
worldly-wise have attempted to explain upon scientific principles the influence
of the Spirit of God upon the heart. The least advance in this direction will
lead the soul into the mazes of skepticism. The religion of the Bible is simply
the mystery of godliness; no human mind can fully understand it, and it is utterly
incomprehensible to the unregenerate heart. {FLB 54.4}
The
nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men
having fanciful views may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction
on them; but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen the church. Regarding such mysteries,
which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden. {FLB 54.5}
What is
the meaning of the following statement by Ellen White?
Do Not Discuss God's Personality—“Never allow
yourself to be drawn into discussion regarding the personality of God. On this
subject, silence is eloquence. . . .” {11MR 318.4}
First of
all, in context, Ellen White is speaking directly to John Harvey Kellogg
regarding his views on the personality of God and Christ. Does Ellen White
apply this instruction to every Seventh-day Adventist? Absolutely not, and I
will prove this to you. Ellen White said that the personality of God and Christ
is a PILLAR, LANDMARK doctrine. Can we conclude that we are not to even discuss
an issue that is so important that it is designated as being a PILLAR, LANDMARK
doctrine?
A
possible meaning to the below statement is that Ellen White could have meant
that God told her not to be drawn into any discussion with Kellogg on this
issue, because she states elsewhere that he would so confuse and twist her
words that she could not reason with him on this issue. But Ellen White says
much on the personality of God and Christ, as does the Bible. For example, we
are told:
· God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten son…
· The law is a transcript of God’s
character.
· God is love.
· Ellen White’s cumbered statement
wherein she says that the Holy Spirit Himself (the Son of God in context--at
the Incarnation) divested His personality from the personality of His humanity
and became INDEPENDENT OF SUCH, 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.
· Is Ellen White speaking of the
PERSONALITY of the Holy Spirit and Christ’s humanity? Yes indeed!
Another
possible meaning of Ellen White’s statement is that we do not know the nature of the Holy
Spirit, meaning its essence or
substance.
That is what Ellen White may mean about not discussing the personality of the
Holy Spirit and God. But we know what we are told by the Bible and
the Holy Spirit gift to the church via Ellen G. White.
There
are indeed mysteries to the subject of the Godhead and the personality of God
and Christ, that we will study for eternity says Ellen
White. However, we can see from all the weight of evidence above that the
obedient and regenerate hearts will fathom more of the mysteries than others
and the study of the Incarnation ennobles the mind and gives a greater
appreciation of the great sacrifice Christ made in His Incarnation to FOREVER
FORFEIT HIS FORMER HOLY SPIRIT ONLY EXISTENCE and divest that existence from
His human personality. It is Ellen White who tells us He made that sacrifice.
All we have to do is believe it.
The
NATURE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD IS A MYSTERY: Nature means the following. We
don't know the fundamental qualities of God's Holy Spirit--what it consists
of--its essence or substance. That is what we are not to debate!
But we
can know and discuss what the Holy Spirit has given us to KNOW AND UNDERSTAND
and the obedient are given more than apostates who rationalize their apostasy
and/or deny that it even exists.
Chapter 19—The Incarnation
The Completeness of Christ’s Humanity
We cannot understand how Christ became a
little, helpless babe. He could have come to earth in such beauty that he would
have been unlike the sons of men. His face could have been bright with light,
and his form could have been tall and beautiful. He could have come in such a
way as to charm those who looked upon Him; but this was not the way that God
planned he should come among the sons of men.{3SM
127.1}
He was to be like those who belonged to the
human family and to the Jewish race. His features were to be like those of
other human beings, and he was not to have such beauty of person as to make
people point Him out as different from others. He was to come as one of the
human family, and to stand as a man before heaven and earth. He had come to
take man’s place, to pledge Himself in man’s behalf, to pay the debt that
sinners owed. He was to live a pure life on the earth, and show that Satan had
told a falsehood when he claimed that the human family belonged to him forever,
and that God could not take men out of his hands.{3SM 127.2}
Men first beheld Christ as a babe, as a
child....{3SM 127.3}
The more we think about Christ’s becoming a
babe here on earth, the more wonderful it appears. How can it be that the
helpless babe in Bethlehem’s manger is still the divine Son of God? Though we
cannot understand it, we can believe that he who made the worlds, for our sakes
became a helpless babe. Though higher than any of the angels, though as great
as the Father on the throne of heaven, he became one with us. In Him God and
man became one, and it is in this fact that we find the hope of our fallen
race. Looking upon Christ in the flesh, we look upon God in humanity, and see
in Him the brightness of divine glory, the express image of God the Father.—The
Youth’s Instructor, November 21, 1895.{3SM 128.1}
Christ Descended to the Level of Fallen Humanity
Christ has made an infinite sacrifice. He
gave his own life for us. He took upon his divine soul the result of the
transgression of God’s law. Laying aside his royal crown, he condescended to
step down, step by step, to the level of fallen humanity.—The Review and
Herald, April 30, 1901{3SM 128.2}
From the Jordan, Jesus was led into the
wilderness of temptation. “And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights,
he was afterward an hungred.
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command
that these stones be made bread” (Matthew 4:2, 3).{3SM
128.3}
Christ was suffering the keenest pangs of
hunger, and this temptation was a severe one. But he must begin the work of
redemption just where the ruin began. Adam had failed on the point of appetite,
and Christ must conquer here. The power that rested upon Him came directly from
the Father, and he must not exercise it in his own behalf. With that long fast
there was woven into his experience a strength and power that God alone could
give. He met and resisted the enemy in the strength of a “Thus saith the Lord.”
“Man shall not live by bread alone,” he said, “but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Verse 4).{3SM
128.4}
This strength it is the privilege of all
the tempted 129ones of earth to have. Christ’s experience is for our benefit.
His example in overcoming appetite points out the way for those to overcome who
would be his followers. {3SM 128.5}
Christ was suffering as
the members of the human family suffer under temptation; but it was not the
will of God that he should exercise his divine power in his own behalf. Had he
not stood as our representative, Christ’s innocence would have exempted Him
from all this anguish, but it was because of his innocence that he felt so
keenly the assaults of Satan. All the suffering which is the result of sin was
poured into the bosom of the sinless Son of God. Satan was bruising the heel of
Christ, but every pang endured by Christ, every grief, every
disquietude, was fulfilling the great plan of man’s redemption. Every
blow inflicted by the enemy was rebounding on himself.
Christ was bruising the serpent’s head.—The Youth’s Instructor, December 21,
1899.{3SM 129.1}
Was Christ Capable of Yielding to Temptation?
In your letter in regard to the temptations
of Christ, you say: “If he was One with God he could not fall”....The point you
inquire of me is, In our Lord’s great scene of conflict in the wilderness,
apparently under the power of Satan and his angels, was he capable, in his
human nature, of yielding to these temptations?{3SM
129.2}
I will try to answer this important
question: As God he could not be tempted: but as a man he could be tempted, and
that strongly, and could yield to the temptations. His human nature must pass
through the same test and trial Adam and Eve passed through. His human nature
was created; it did not even possess the angelic powers. It was human,
identical with our own. He was passing over the ground where Adam fell. He was
now where, if he endured the test and trial in behalf of the fallen race, he
would redeem Adam’s disgraceful failure and fall, in our own humanity.{3SM 129.3}
Christ Had a Human Body and a Human Mind—A human body and a human mind were his. 130He was bone of
our bone and flesh of our flesh. He was subjected to poverty from his first
entrance into the world. He was subject to disappointment and trial in his own
home, among his own brethren. He was not surrounded, as in the heavenly courts,
with pure and lovely characters. He was compassed with difficulties. He came
into our world to maintain a pure, sinless character, and to refute Satan’s lie
that it was not possible for human beings to keep the law of God. Christ came
to live the law in his human character in just that way in which all may live
the law in human nature if they will do as Christ was doing. He had inspired
holy men of old to write for the benefit of man: “Let him take hold of my
strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me”
(Isaiah 27:5). {3SM 129.4}
Abundant provision has been made that
finite, fallen man may so connect with God that, through the same Source by
which Christ overcame in his human nature, he may
stand firmly against every temptation, as did Christ. He was subject to
inconveniences that human nature is subjected to. He breathed the air of the
same world we breathe. He stood and traveled in the same world we inhabit,
which, we have positive evidence, was no more friendly to grace and
righteousness than it is today.{3SM 130.1}
His Attributes May Be Ours—The higher
attributes of his being it is our privilege to have, if we will, through the
provisions he has made, appropriate these blessings and diligently cultivate
the good in the place of the evil. We have reason, conscience, memory, will,
affections—all the attributes a human being can possess. Through the provision
made when God and the Son of God made a covenant to rescue man from the bondage
of Satan, every facility was provided that human nature should come into union
with his divine nature. In such a nature was our Lord tempted. He could have
yielded to Satan’s lying suggestions as did Adam, but we should adore and
glorify the Lamb of God that he did not in a 131single point yield one jot or
one tittle. {3SM 130.2}
Two Natures Blended in Christ—Through being partakers of the divine nature we may stand
pure and holy and undefiled. The Godhead was not made human, and the human was
not deified by the blending together of the two natures. Christ did not possess
the same sinful, corrupt, fallen disloyalty we possess, for then he could not
be a perfect offering.—Manuscript 94, 1893.{3SM 131.1}
The Reality of Christ’s Temptations—When the follower of Christ meets with trial and perplexity,
he is not to become discouraged. He is not to cast away his confidence if he
does not realize all his expectations. When buffeted by the enemy, he should
remember the Saviour’s life of trial and discouragement. Heavenly beings
ministered to Christ in his need, yet this did not make the Saviour’s life one
of freedom from conflict and temptation. He was in all points tempted like as
we are, yet without sin. If his people will follow this example, they will be
imbued with his Spirit, and heavenly angels will minister to them.{3SM 131.2}
The temptations to which Christ was subjected
were a terrible reality. As a free agent he was placed on probation, with
liberty to yield to Satan’s temptations and work at cross-purposes with God. If
this were not so, if it had not been possible for Him to fall, he could not
have been tempted in all points as the human family is tempted.{3SM 131.3}
The temptations of Christ, and his
sufferings under them, were proportionate to his exalted, sinless character.
But in every time of distress, Christ turned to his Father. He “resisted unto
blood” in that hour when the fear of moral failure was as the fear of death. As
he bowed in Gethsemane, in his soul agony, drops of blood fell from his pores,
and moistened the sods of the earth. He prayed with strong crying and tears,
and he was heard in that he feared. God strengthened Him, as he will strengthen
all who will humble themselves, and throw themselves, soul, body, and spirit,
into the hands of a covenant-keeping God.{3SM 131.4}
Upon the cross Christ knew, as no other can
know, the awful power of Satan’s temptations, and his heart was poured out in
pity and forgiveness for the dying thief, who had been ensnared by the
enemy.—The Youth’s Instructor, October 26, 1899.{3SM 132.1}
Christ’s heart was pierced by a far sharper
pain than that caused by the nails driven into his hands and feet. He was
bearing the sins of the whole world, enduring our punishment—the wrath of God
against transgression. His trial involved the fierce temptation of thinking
that he was forsaken by God. His soul was tortured by the pressure of great
darkness, lest he should swerve from his uprightness during the terrible ordeal.{3SM 132.2}
Unless there is a possibility of yielding,
temptation is no temptation. Temptation is resisted when man is powerfully
influenced to do a wrong action; and, knowing that he can do it, resists, by
faith, with a firm hold upon divine power. This was the ordeal through which
Christ passed.—The Youth’s Instructor, July 20, 1899.{3SM
132.3}
We May Overcome as Christ Overcame—The love and justice of God, and also the immutability of
his law, are made manifest by the Saviour’s life, no less than by his death. He
assumed human nature, with its infirmities, its liabilities, its
temptations.... He was “in all points tempted like as we are” (Hebrews 4:15).
He exercised in his own behalf no power which man cannot exercise. As man he
met temptation, and overcame in the strength given Him of God. He gives us an
example of perfect obedience. He has provided that we may become partakers of
the divine nature, and assures us that we may overcome as he overcame. His life
testified that by the aid of the same divine power which Christ received, it is
possible for man to obey God’s law.—Manuscript 141, 1901.{3SM
132.4}