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Is It Essential, or Nonessential? by Elder Dennis Priebe Appearing in Our Firm Foundation, March 1991 We have experienced much
discussion and debate on the subject of the humanity of Christ. Too
much, in the minds of many. "Enough of the arguing," they say.
"It is time to concentrate on the essential thing - revealing a Christlike spirit to people around us." The
editors of Ministry and Adventist Review have called for an end
to debate on the nature of Christ. In
August 1989 the Biblical Research Institute of the General Conference issued
"An Appeal for Church Unity." In this document is the
following opinion: "The world church has never viewed these subjects
[nature of Christ, nature of sin] as essential to salvation nor to the
mission of the remnant church.... There can be no strong unity within
the world church of God's remnant people so long as segments who hold these
views vocalize and agitate them both in North America and in overseas
divisions. These topics need to be laid aside and not urged upon our
people as necessary issues." Many
of us would like to follow this counsel. We too are tired of the
seemingly endless debate and would like to get on to other topics. It
is discouraging to witness God's people being divided over a topic on which
there was essential unity for the first hundred years of our existence.
But a new situation has developed in the last forty years. New
interpretations of the humanity of Christ have been pressed to the forefront
of discussion. These interpretations have had their source outside
Adventism, largely coming from conservative, Protestant, Evangelical
scholars. We have been much impressed with their arguments and their
sincerity. These new interpretations have seemingly carried the day for
many Adventist scholars, and as a result, we have seen many articles and
books calling for a change in our historical understanding of the nature of
Christ. It is
somewhat ironic that when some protested the acceptance of these new
ideas within Adventism, and began using the same methods of communication
(sermons, books, articles, tapes) as the proponents of the views new at that
time, the stigma of divisiveness and agitation was placed on the protesters
rather than the innovators. But I suppose that the same phenomenon
occurred during the early Christian centuries when some Christians began
protesting the gradual change of sacredness from Saturday to Sunday. Irony
aside, the question before us is simple. Since the subject of the
humanity of Christ has become a divisive topic in the Seventh-day Adventist
Church, should it be laid aside for the sake of unity? Even if those
protesting the new interpretations feel that the weight of evidence is on
their side, is the topic "essential" to the mission of the remnant
church? I, for one, would be delighted to cease discussion instantly if
this topic is one of the interesting but nonessential subjects found in the
Bible. We will receive clear answers to many of our questions only
after this earth closes its history. Is this subject one of them? Over
the past ten years, the conviction has been deepening and intensifying upon
this author that the subject of Christ's humanity is indeed essential to the
mission of the remnant church. In fact, the success or failure of
Christianity itself may be tied directly to this subject[1]. Despite my
feelings of reticence to disregard the counsel of the previously quoted
appeal for church unity, too much is at stake here to be silent. If my
silence allows a new viewpoint to win the day by default, and this
contributes to the defeat of God's purpose in raising up a remnant movement,
then the luxury of being silent and avoiding stigma carries a price tag far
too high for my concience to pay. The
issue of Christ's humanity is significant to two vital aspects of Christ's
redemptive work. The first is
To put it simply, the
nature of Christ has significance to Christ as our substitute and to Christ
as our example. Did Christ meet Satan's challenge? When
Satan first challenged God's right to rulership, he chose God's laws as the
focal point of his attack. If God's rules could be shown to be faulty, then
it would also be clear that God's system of government was founded on a
faulty foundation, and this would be very persuasive evidence that God's
character itself was flawed. (For a thoughtful and insightful delineation of
these issues, I would suggest the chapter in The Desire of Ages,
entitled "It Is Finished.") When
Jesus came to earth, His most important task was to reveal the character of
God to fallen and unfallen beings, so that God could be completely cleared of
the charges brought against Him by Satan. When the Jews challenged Jesus'
mission, He responded, "He that sent Me is true; and I speak to the
world those things which I have heard of Him." John 8:26. In other
words, the real issue was not Jesus' mission, but the credability
of God Himself. On another occasion Jesus told Philip, "the words that I
speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He
doeth the works." John 14:10. Now Satan had charged
that
Since it is Charge B that
is not well understood by most Christians, including Adventists, we need to
review the evidence. Evidence For Charge B
"Satan, the fallen angel, had declared that no man could keep the law of
God after the disobedience of Adam. He claimed the whole race under his
control." Selected Messages, book 3, p. 136. "Satan
declared that it was impossible for the sons and daughters of Adam to keep
the law of God, and thus charged upon God a lack of wisdom and love. If they
could not keep the law, then there was fault with the Lawgiver. Men who are
under the control of Satan repeat these accusations against God, in asserting
that men cannot keep the law of God. Jesus humbled Himself, clothing His
divinity with humanity, in order that He might stand as the head and
representative of the human family, and by both precept and example condemn
sin in the flesh [Romans 8:3], and give the lie to Satan's charges." Signs
of the Times, Vol. 3, p. 264.
Satan's charge was clearly leveled against fallen
man's ability to keep God's law. It should be noted that Jesus voluntarily
humbled Himself to the level where He could meet Satan's charges as the
representative of the human family, which, except for Adam and Eve, have all
been fallen.
"He came to this world to be tempted in all points as we are, to prove
to the universe that in this world of sin human beings can live lives that
God will approve.... Satan declared that human beings could not live without
sin." Review and Herald, vol. 5, p. 120. Note again that Satan's
charge relates to human beings in this world of sin. Part of Christ's mission
consisted in 'revealing to the heavenly universe, to Satan, and to all the
fallen sons and daughters of Adam that through His grace humanity can keep
the law of God." My Life Today, p. 323. "Through Christ's
redeeming work the government of God stands justified. The Omnipotent One is
made known as the God of love. Satan's charges are refuted." The
Desire of Ages, p. 26.
Clearly, it was crucial to Christ's work of redemption that He refute the
charges Satan had made against the laws and character of God. Now, did Christ
refute only Charge A, or did He refute both Charges A and B? Only by refuting
both charges could Christ accomplish His redemptive work and fully reveal the
character of God. Only by refuting both charges could Christ stand as the head
and representative of the human family, legally and pursuasively
empowered to act as man's representative, to die for all men in their place.
Only by refuting both charges could Christ's death in our place, as our
substitute, have any validity in the court of the universe. If
Christ took Adam's unfallen nature, what would He have proved? That unfallen
men could obey God's law, thus disproving Charge A. If Christ took a nature
partly like Adam's and partly like mine, what would He have proved? That anyone
partly like Adam and partly like me (no one who has ever lived) could obey
God's law. Only if Christ took man's fallen nature could He refute Charge B.
Only by taking the place of fallen humanity could Christ fulfill His mission
as the Redeemer of the fallen race. And it would be crystal clear to the
watching universe that if fallen nature could obey God's law by grace, then
unfallen nature could obey easily. If
Jesus had sidestepped the ugliness of man's fallen nature, and had been given
a special dispensation of nature to be only partially like us, then who in
this universe has refuted Satan's charges? All men have sinned, so no fallen
being has refuted Satan. And if Satan has not been refuted to this day, what
right does Christ have to represent the human race? The horrible truth would
be that we are no closer to the final resolution of sin on this planet than
Adam was at the moment of His sins. The human race would stand condemned
without a Saviour. In
other words, Christ's taking man's fallen nature was essential to His mission
of refuting Satan's charges and standing at the head of fallen humanity. If
Christ is to be our legal ssubstitute, then it
could only be through the dangerous path of accepting our fallen nature as
His nature for the entire period of the incarnation. Can Human Beings Obey God's Law Perfectly? This issue here is really very simple.
Revelation 14:5 describes the last generation in these words, "And in
their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne
of God." Can God really carry out this promise? What real
tangible evidence do we have that this will happen? One
individual astutely observed some twenty-seven years ago, "Those who
teach that Christ took a superior human nature draw the logical conclusion
that it is impossible for the rest of mankind to perfectly obey the law of
Jehovah in this life." This is really a very logical and simple
deduction. If Christ was able to obey perfectly because of His perfect spirutal nature, then as long as we have imperfect,
fallen natures, perfect obedience is impossible. In that case, the
fulfillment of Revelation 14:5 is in real jeapordy.
Once
again, we are back to which charge Christ refuted. If Christ refuted
Charge A, He proved that the law can be kept perfectly after
glorification. If Christ refuted Charge B, He proved that the 144,000
can keep the law perfectly while living in fallen natures. If
Christ did not prove perfect obedience in a fallen nature, then the perfect
obedience of the final generation remains only a theoretical
possibility. But if Christ demonstrated that fallen nature can return
perfect obedience to God's law, then the victory of the 144,000 is much more
than a theoretical possibility. It becomes a promise based on real,
tangible, factual evidence. The
relation of Christ's obedience to our obedience is clearly revealed in the
following statements. "God requires of man nothing that is
impossible for him to do.... Christ kept the law proving beyond controversy
that man also can keep it." Review & Herald, vol. 4, p.
293. "Everyone who by faith obeys God's commandments, will reach
the condition of sinlessness in which Adam lived before his
transgression. Christ took upon Himself the nature of man, and by a
perfect life demonstrated the falsity of the claims of him who constantly
accuses those that are trying to obey God's law." Signs of the Times,
vol. 4, p. 253. God's promise of perfect obedience rests upon very
solid historical evidence, and no one need doubt its reality.
Inspiration has given us a strong warning also. "In our
conclusions, we make many mistakes because of our erroneous views of the
human nature of our Lord. When we give to His human nature a power that
it is not possible for man to have in his conflicts with Satan, we destroy
the completeness of His humanity." Seventh-day Adventist Bible
Commentary, vol. 7, p. 929. Make no mistake here. The power
of Adam's unfallen spiritual nature is a mighty power which is not possible
for us to have this side of the Second Coming. Are we in danger of destroying
the whole point of Christ's humanity, and thus nullifying His redemptive work
for man? To
summarize, the issue of the human nature of Christ is very essential
to Christ's victory in the great controversy and thus to the vindication of
God's law and character and the ultimate refutation of Satan's charges.
The human nature of Christ is very essential to the success of the
final demonstratation of liyalty
and obedience, through the grace of God, by those who live after the close of
probation. We cannot be silent at this crucial time in human history
when the truth and beauty of Christ's redemptive work are in real jeapordy of being blurred and even lost in a sincere but
misguided attempt to become more orthodox by evangelical standards. Let
us rather search for the unique Seventh-day Adventist understanding of the
gospel, the incarnation, the great controversy, and the issues at stake in
the final atonement cleansing of the sanctuary.
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