Dear Reader,
The following study
will reveal how the Son of God became the Son of Man in A NEW SENSE at the time
of His Incarnation.. It will explain how a form of the
Son of God was in heaven whilst He was also a Son of Man on earth. This is a
strictly Bible based concept.
"(See EGW on John
:1-3, 14). The Son of God in a NEW SENSE.--Christ
brought men and women power to overcome. He came to this world in human form,
to live a man amongst men. He assumed the liabilities of human nature, to be
proved and tried. In His humanity He was a partaker of the divine nature. In
His incarnation He gained in a NEW SENSE the title of the Son of God. Said
the angel to Mary, 'The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God.' While the Son of a human being, He became
the Son of God IN A NEW SENSE. Thus He stood in
our world--the Son of God, yet allied by birth to the human race." E.G.
White Comments, SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 5, p. 1114.
John 3:13 alone,
proves what we have been teaching about the Son of God laying aside His Holy
Spirit life and soul for us. In this verse, Jesus is speaking face to face with
Nicodemus, and He tells Nicodemus that the Son of Man is in heaven. In this
short study we will compare the Interlinear Greek--English New Testament with
ten different translations of the Bible, and then compare an Ellen White
statement with a commentary from Adam Clarke's Commentary.
Here are the TEN
Translations of John 3:13 from the following address:
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of man which is in heaven. King James Version
And no one hath
ascended into heaven, but he that descended out of heaven, [even] the Son of
man, who is in heaven. The American Standard Version
No one has ascended
into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in
heaven. The Hebrews Names Version
No one has ascended
into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in
heaven. World English Bible
And no one has gone up
into heaven, save he who came down out of heaven, the Son of man who is in
heaven. 3:13 The Darby Translation
And no man hath
ascended to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of man
who is in heaven. Webster's Bible Translation
et nemo ascendit in caelum nisi qui descendit de caelo Filius hominis qui est in caelo The Latin Vulgate
and no one hath gone
up to the heaven, except he who out of the heaven came down -- the Son of Man
who is in the heaven. Young's Literal Translation
And no man hath
ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is
in heaven. The Douay-Rheims Bible
And no man hath ascended up to Heaven, but He that came down from Heaven,
even the Son of Man who is in Heaven. Third Millennium Bible
The following is the
actual word for word Translation of John 3:13, from the actual Greek:
"And no one has
gone up into the heaven except he who out of the heaven came down, the Son of
man who is in the heaven." The Interlinear Greek--English New
Testament--Published by George Ricker Berry.
Here is what Adam Clarke's
Commentary has to say on John 3:13. It is essentially the same thing Ellen
White says:
"Which is in
heaven.--Lest a wrong meaning should be taken from the foregoing expression,
and it should be imagined that, in order to manifest himself upon earth, he
must necessarily leave heaven; our blessed Lord qualifies it by adding, the
Son of man who is in heaven; pointing out by this, the ubiquity or omnipresence
of his nature; a character essentially belonging to God; for no being can
possibly exist in more places than one at a time, but He who fills the heavens
and the earth." Adam Clarks Commentary on John 3:13, Vol. 5, pp 532,
533.
“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.
The essential meaning
in both statements is the same. Christ's omnipresence was cumbered or
circumscribed by His humanity, so His first estate Holy Spirit life remained in
heaven and was commended to the Father as a gift to be given to us after the
Father's acceptance of Christ's sacrifice upon His return to heaven, at which
time Christ still had to pray the Father that His (Christ's) Holy Spirit Divine
Nature be sent to us as a regenerating agency.
"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 [HIS LIFE--THE SOUL OF HIS LIFE], 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 [on the cross] 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.
Now you know what was
laid aside at Christ's Incarnation as a regenerating gift to restore man into
the Image of God. It was the very first estate life and soul of the Son, the
Holy Spirit. This is the Divine Nature which Scripture solicits us to partake
of.
"In giving us His
Word, God has put us in possession of every truth essential for our salvation.
The storehouse of the unsearchable riches of Christ is open to heart and hand.
Thousands of men and women have drawn water from the wells of salvation, yet
the supply is not diminished. These men have not exhausted the grand and holy
themes of the Word of God. Thousands more may engage in searching out the
mysteries of salvation. When the life of Christ and the character of his
mission are dwelt upon, rays of light will shine forth, and at every fresh
attempt to discover truth, something that has never yet been unfolded will
be revealed. 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; and, looking to heaven, with its unnumbered years, he
will exclaim, 'Great is the mystery of godliness.'" E.G. White, The Signs
of the Times, 04-18-1900, Article Title Christ and Nicodemus, pr. 11.
We see from the
following verses that it was the Spirit of Christ that raised Him from the
dead. Where was that Spirit of Christ while He was dead in the tomb for three
days and nights? It was in heaven, John 3:13, just as it was in Heaven while
Jesus was speaking face to face with Nicodemus in John 3:13. What spirit dwells
in us? It is the Holy Spirit life and soul of Christ. It is the Holy Spirit
Divine Nature of Christ. It is that same Spirit which Christ laid aside at His
Incarnation, that raised Christ. That is why He could say the He would raise
Himself.
“Therefore
doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it
down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment Have I received of my
Father." John 10:17.
"But if the
Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit
that dwelleth in you." Romans 8:11.
"And Jesus, in
turn, was conceived of the Spirit (Matt. 1:8-21), baptized by the Spirit (Mark
1:9, 10), led by the Spirit (Luke 4:1), performed His miracles through the
Spirit (Matt. 12:24-32), offered Himself at Calvary through the Spirit (Heb.
9:14, 15) and was, in part, resurrected by the Spirit (Rom. 8:11)." SDA's
Believe, 27 Fundamentals, p. 62, col. 2.
What you have just
witnessed in this study is a fulfillment of something that has never yet been
unfolded. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Thank you
Jesus. Thank you Father.
God bless,
Ron
Beaulieu