But Himself He made void

a form of a slave taking

          Philippians 2:7

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I

            Introduction --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

II

            In the Old Testament ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6

III

            What Happened at Bethlehem? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17

IV

            In the Gospels ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22

V

            A Complete Savior--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------29

VI

            The Pauline Concept of the Incarnation ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40

VII

            The Incarnation According to John in HIs Epistles and the Revelation ----------------------------------------------------- 52

VIII

            Partakers of the Divine Nature ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 56

IX

            Conclusion ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 67

APPENDIX

            A- Theories of the Incarnation                                                                                                                      71

            B- Diagram Illustrating Science of Divine Culture                                                                                            77

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I

INTRODUCTION

        In the Bible the incarnation is referred to as a mystery. Paul wrote to Timothy stating - "No one would deny that this religion of ours is a tremendous mystery, resting as it does on the one who showed himself as a human being, and met, as such, every demand of the Spirit in the sight of the angels." ¹ But the word, mystery (), as used in the New Testament does not carry the concept of incomprehension that is often associated with the use of the word in English. Quoting J. A. Robinson, Moulton and Milligan state that "in its New Testament sense a mystery is 'not a thing which must be kept secret. On the contrary it is a secret which God wills to make known and has charged His Apostles to declare to those who have ears to hear it.'" ²

         It is true there are aspects of the incarnation which the human mind cannot fathom. "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?" ³ The "how" of what took place, when a Being of the Godhead, Who had existed from all eternity, ceased to be "in the form of God", and appeared in the "form of a slave" ⁴ can never be fully explained. However, the nature of the servitude that He accepted can be understood. The objective for which He came can be known, and the experience which He realized in humanity can be, in turn, re-experienced in everyone who by faith becomes one with Him. It is stated:      

Christ was invested with the right to give immortality. The life which He laid down in humanity, He now takes up and gives to humanity. [John 10:10, 6:54, 4:14 quoted]. All who are one with Christ through faith in Him, by the agency of the Holy Spirit, He carries through the science of that experience, which is life unto eternal life. ⁵

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This is simply the essence of what Paul stated was the riches of the glory of the great mystery which has been made manifest to the saints of God, namely, "Christ in you, the hope of glory."  ⁶  But in order to appropriate the "science of that experience", no hazy impression of the nature of the "life which He laid down in humanity" dare be permitted.

In 1903, the Lord's messenger, Ellen G. White, stated that the significance of Christ's incarnation lay in the fact that He became the "Pattern-man" for us all. She wrote:

When we want a deep problem to study, let us fix our minds on the most marvelous thing that ever took place in earth or heaven - the incarnation of the Son of God. God gave His Son to die for sinful human beings a death of ignominy and shame. He who was Commander in the heavenly courts laid aside His royal robe and kingly crown, and clothing His divinity with humanity, came to this world to stand at the head of the human race as the pattern-man. ⁷

Not only was man to have an Example and Pattern, but the false charges of Satan because of man's fall were also to be answered by Christ in the incarnation. On this point the same author wrote:

After the fall of man, Satan declared that human beings were proved to be incapable of keeping the law of God, and he sought to carry the universe with him in this belief. Satan's words appeared to be true, and Christ came to unmask the deceiver. The Majesty of heaven undertook the cause of man, and with the same facilities that man may obtain, withstood the temptations of Satan as man must withstand them.  ⁸

The gist of Satan's insinuation was that God was tyrannical for demanding death for the transgression of a law that man could not keep. But God did not alter His demands to meet the charges of the adversary. The standard set for man unfallen was to be the standard required of man fallen in sin. On this point the following two quotations are explicit:

The conditions of eternal life, under grace, are just what they were in Eden, - perfect righteousness, harmony with God, perfect conformity

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to the principles of His law. The standard of character presented in the Old Testament is the same that is presented in the New Testament. ⁹

The Lord now demands that every son and daughter of Adam, through faith in Jesus Christ, serve Him in human nature which we now have.  ¹⁰

        For Christ to meet the charges of Satan, and thus unmask the deceiver, and at the same time to become the Pattern-man for the human race certain laws had to be met by Him in His humanity. A law must not only be just in its very nature, but the application of the law must meet the requirements of justice. For example, can a teacher require of his students an assignment that it is impossible for them to do? In other words, the ones to whom the law is applied must have the ability to meet its demands. Either, after man sinned, the law had to be changed to meet man in his new condition, or else a way had to be found whereby power could be given to man.to meet the law's requirements.

        Secondly, the law of equivalence becomes operative. Again by simple illustration, when a teacher is challenged as to the inability of the students to do the work assigned, does the teacher answer this challenge by demonstrating that he can do it? No! To demonstrate the justice of his assignments, the teacher must show that one on the student's level is able to do that which was assigned. This is the very demand which Christ must meet in order to be a Pattern-man; and to meet it, He must accept the level and liabilities of man.

        The acceptance of these laws by Christ is clearly stated as follows:

He came not to our world to give the obedience of a lesser God to a greater, but as a man to obey God's Holy Law, and in this way He is our example. The Lord Jesus came to our world, not to reveal what a God could do, but what a man could do, through faith in God's power to help in every emergency.  ¹¹

        The study of the incarnation is simply the study of how and in what way Jesus Christ met the law of equivalence and the demands of justice. His life

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thus becomes the golden chain to which the anchor is attached which reaches "within the veil." ¹²  We are advised that this is to be our study:

The humanity of the Son of God is everything to us. It is the golden chain that binds our souls to Christ, and through Christ to God. This is to be our study. Christ was a real man; He gave proof of His humility in becoming a man. Yet He was God in the flesh. When we approach this subject, we would do well to heed the words spoken by Christ to Moses at the burning bush, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground" (Ex. 3:5). We should come to this study with the humility of a learner, with a contrite heart. And the study of the incarnation of Christ is a fruitful field, which will repay the searcher who digs deep for hidden truth. ¹³

        Over and beyond this, there is a broader aspect to consider. If Christ did give this demonstration to the world and to the universe, why did not the conflict cease then and there? Why has the warfare been prolonged? Why was it necessary for certain things to take place? ¹⁴  Is there another demonstration to be made? Does a correct understanding of the incarnation have a definite bearing on the group who in the book of Revelation are revealed as the 144,000?

        Let us say, for example, that we have a good working model of a machine a man has invented. It is perfect. It is needed. So the question is raised, "Can this working model be reproduced?" If it cannot, is there much value to it? But if the model can be reproduced, will not all other replicas operate with equal efficiency? Or to put the question squarely, can the image of Jesus be fully "reflected" in humanity?¹⁵  Is not therefore, the study of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, as it is revealed in prophecy, in the Gospels, in the Epistles, and in the Revelation, a basis for that righteousness by faith which permits the glory of God to tabernacle once more among men? Will not this be the final answer to the initial charge of Satan? Is not the incarnation the

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The revelation of His own glory in the form of humanity will bring heaven so near to men that the beauty adorning the inner temple will be seen in every soul in whom the Saviour dwells. Men will be captivated by the glory of an abiding Christ. And in currents of praise and thanksgiving from the many souls thus won to God, glory will flow back to the great Giver. ¹⁶

__________________________________________________________

¹ I Timothy 3:16 Phillips trans.

² James Hope Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, p. 420, Emphasis Robinson.

³ Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, July 30, 1896 (5BC:1130)

⁴ Philippians 2:6-7 Greek. 

⁵ Ellen G. White, Ms. 131, 1897, Andreasen Collection #2

⁶ Colossians 1:27

⁷ Ellen G. White, Ms. 76, 1903 (7BC:904)

⁸ Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, bk. 1, p. 252

⁹ Ellen G. White, The Mount of Blessing, p. 116 (1946 edition)

¹⁰ Ellen G. White, Our High Calling, p. 48

¹¹ Ibid.

¹² Hebrews 6:19

¹³ Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, bk. 1, p. 244

¹⁴ Revelation 1:1 - "must come to pass" - Greek, dei = "it is necessary".

¹⁵ Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 71

¹⁶ Ellen G. White, Christ's Object Lessons, p. 420

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II

IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

        The study of the incarnation in the Old Testament is the study of the humiliation of Christ as revealed in prophecy, in symbol, and in types.

        From times eternal a compact of peace had been devised between the Father and the Son should sin enter the universe, that "the man whose name is the Branch" would "grow up out of His place"¹  as the initial act of the redeeming process. When sin blighted the Edenic home, this compact was ,activated, and the Son of God announced to the angelic hosts that -      

He would leave all His glory in Heaven, appear on earth as a man, humble Himself as a man, become acquainted by His own experience with the various temptations with which man would be beset, that He might know how to succor those who should be tempted. ²

In the dialogue that followed between Christ and the angels, it was clearly enunciated that when the hour should arrive for His revelation in humanity, He "should take man's fallen nature, and His strength would not be even equal with theirs." ³

In Eden

        Our first parents received their first intimation of the Divine Plan for their restoration as they stood before the Creator hearing the sentence pronounced upon the enemy who had led them into sin. To the serpent, God said:     

I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. ⁴

        The hope of victory was prophesied to be the seed of the woman. However, it was not to be the seed of Eve as she stood innocent in Eden - there was no need of a Saviour then - but it was to be the seed of Eve who had just been corrupted by sin. That Seed who would accept the humanity of the fallen mother

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of all living, after four thousand years of continued transgression, wou1d bruise the serpent's head.

        The contrast between the human inheritance as it might have been, and what it was after sin entered this world is clearly set forth in the genealogical record of Adam. It states that "in the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him." But after Adam had sinned, the record reads, "Adam...begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth." ⁵ The only humanity that could be formed in Eve was the fallen, degraded nature that was hers as a result of sin. So "while Adam was created sinless, in the likeness of God, Seth, like Cain, inherited the fallen nature of his parents."⁶ The first gospel promise indicated that to this level "the Seed of the woman" would come in meeting the law of equivalence. How expressive are these words:

What love! What amazing condescension! The King of glory proposed to humble Himself to fallen humanity! He would place His feet in Adam's steps. He would take man's fallen nature and engage to cope with the strong foe who triumphed over Adam. He would overcome Satan, and in thus doing He would open the way for the redemption of those who would believe on Him from the disgrace of Adam's failure and fall. ⁷

A Revelation to Jacob

        A young man fleeing from his home to escape the wrath of his infuriated brother stopped for a night of rest. During the night he dreamed of a ladder "set up on the earth," the top of which "reached to heaven." On this ladder he beheld angels of God "ascending and descending."⁸  From the Lord who stood at the top of the ladder, Jacob received the promise which had been given to Abram and Isaac that "in thy seed shall all the families of earth be blessed."⁹ Awakened and startled he declared - "How dreadful is this place! this is none

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other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."¹⁰

        Centuries later, Jesus referred to Himself as this mystic ladder. He declared it to be He as "the Son of man"¹¹ - the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Becoming a part of humanity, meeting the law of equivalence, He set up on this earth the gate of heaven, the house of God. The results of that life, symbolized by the ladder, would reach to heaven. The communication broken by sin would again be restored to man; for in and through Christ, God would again commune with fallen mankind.

        Any attempt to sever the ladder from its base on earth, or to substitute other rungs than those established by Christ Himself, closes the gate of heaven and substitutes for the true house of God, a false temple edifice. The one and only true gate to heaven is the incarnate Lord. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and by Him only can man find access to the Father.¹²

        Several centuries before this experience in the life of Jacob, a group of people on a plain in the land of Shinar set up a base on earth by which they planned to reach heaven. They named it - Bab-el , the gate of God, or the gate to heaven.¹³ The Babylonian concept of the God of heaven is echoed in the statement of their wise men to Nebuchadnezzar that He is a God, "whose dwelling is not with flesh."¹⁴  If this be true, then man must build the base on earth to reach up to where God might be contacted. This basic difference of concept between the message of Babylon, which results in confusion, and the message of the "mystic ladder" in Jacob's dream has echoed from that day to this, whether it was literal or spiritual Babylon projecting their human doubts ind disbelief.

        The prophetic message of the Old Testament was that God would indeed dwell with man. He would become the seed of-Jacob, and He would set up the gate

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to heaven "on the earth." The clear message to Jacob in that night of loneliness is amplified in the continued revelation of God in the unfolding of the Bible record.

In the Times of Moses

        It has been long recognized that the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt is a symbol of the deliverance from the bondage of sin. When the hour came for God to initiate the deliverance from Egypt, He appeared to Moses in a burning bush in the region of Horeb on the backside of the desert.¹⁵ Moses was attracted by the unusual sight of a desert shrub burning with fire, yet not consumed. As he turned aside to see this phenomenon, God spoke to him, telling him that He had seen the bondage, affliction, and sorrow of the children of Israel, and that He now purposed "to come down to deliver them."¹⁶  God did not propose to work out their deliverance from where He was; but He would come to where they were to bring them freedom. When Moses asked for His name, God declared, "I AM THAT I AM." Gesenius translates this name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as "I shall be what I am."¹⁷   The same as He revealed Himself in the burning bush, so He would be when He would come down to deliver from the bondage of sin, and so He would ever be.

        The burning bush prefigured the incarnation. The scrubby, thorny desert shrub fitly represented humanity. Yet filled with the glory of God, it was notconsumed. In Jesus, divinity and humanity were to hold their place, neither to be assimilated by the other. This divinely planned combination is stated in clarity by the Spirit of Prophecy as follows:

In Christ, divinity and humanity were combined. Divinity was not degraded to humanity; divinity held its place, but humanity by being united to divinity withstood the fiercest test of temptation

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in the wilderness.¹⁸

The question is explained further from a different angle:  

Was the human nature of the Son of Mary changed into the divine nature of the Son of God? No; the two natures were mysteriously blended in one person, the' man Christ Jesus.¹⁹

        Later when God desired to dwell with the children of Israel in their wilderness wanderings, this same divine objective was revealed. He said to Moses, "Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them."²⁰ The wilderness tabernacle was covered with "rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of sealskins above,"²¹ - hardly a thing of beauty. But the interior was glorious golden plated furniture and wall boards; curtains with angelic symbolism woven in gold; and in the Most Holy Place, the ark of the covenant with its mercy seat of pure gold and the golden cherubim between which appeared the Shekinah glory. All was to reveal God's "purpose for the human soul."²² This, the Pattern-man was to exemplify. John summarized this concept in these words:     

And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth. ²³

        The supreme confrontation of the children of Israel with their God was at Sinai. Here God spoke, His voice not veiled in a human faculty. Israel trembled with fear. They requested Moses, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear.: but let not God speak with us, lest we die."²⁴  Referring to this incident, Moses in his rehearsal before the children of Israel of God's dealings with them in the wilderness prophetically described the nature of the coming Voice of God:

And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words into his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I command him.²⁵

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        The Coming One would be from among them, one like unto Moses. God would seek to instruct them by One who would meet the Law of Equivalence. If then they did not hear, He could in justice mete out sentence. This is plainly stated:    

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.²⁶

       The Israelites in their wilderness wanderings had still another representation of the nature of the incarnation. As they neared the end of their wanderings in the Sinai peninsula, the "soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way", and they murmured against God and against Moses because of the manna and the lack of water. The Lord then permitted the fiery serpents of the desert to come among them, and "much people died."²⁷  When in repentance, they recognized their sin, the Lord instructed Moses to erect a pole and place on it a serpent of brass, that all who would look might recover from the bites of the poisonous reptiles.

        This representation more than any other in the symbolism of the Old Testament specified the extent to which Christ would go to meet the Law of Equivalence. He who knew no sin would become sin itself, not merely to meet the penalty of transgression, thus accepting fhe wrath of God against the recorded sins of the world; but also He would clothe His Divine Person with the fallen human nature of man, that He might meet in that nature the forces which tempt man to sin. It is well stated:

As the image made in the likeness of the destroying serpents was lifted up for their healing, so One made "in the likeness of sinful flesh" was to be their Redeemer.²⁸

And again:

What a strange symbol of Christ was that likeness of the serpents

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which stung them. This symbol was lifted on a pole, and they were to look to it, and be healed. So Jesus was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He came as the sin bearer... ²⁹

In the Time of the Judges

        The book of Ruth pictures community life in Israel during the time of the Judges. The particular experience recorded symbolizes the close relationship Christ would sustain to the sons of men in working out their redemption. The Mosaic law required that if a property had been sold because of poverty or indebtedness, or if a man had sold himself into bondage to secure a debt, he could be redeemed, or the property repossessed by one who was "nigh of kin unto him."³⁰ The inheritance of Elimelech had been lost through the years of their sojourn in the land of Moab. But Boaz, a near kinsman , arranged to redeem that which had been lost, and by marriage to Ruth re-establish the title to the inheritance.

        Man through sin had lost not only his inheritance, but was himself in a bondage he could not break. Because of this --

The work of redeeming us and our inheritance, lost through sin, fell upon Him who is "near of kin" unto us. It was to redeem us that He became our kinsman. Closer than father, mother, brother, friend, or lover, is the Lord our Saviour.³¹

        During this period of Israel's history there were introduced into the human ancestral line of Christ two women not of the tribes of Israel. Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, became the wife of Salmon and the mother of Boaz, who in turn married Ruth, the Moabitess.³²  Christ was not only to be the Saviour of a chosen people, but He was verily to be the Son of man.

In the Book of Isaiah

        As would be expected, Isaiah in setting forth the gospel in prophecy

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touched upon aspects of the incarnation previously revealed, and noted further details regarding the humanity the Saviour would assume as the Son of man. He first presented the incarnation as a "sign" from the Lord. He penned:

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good.³³

        There can be no question but that the translators of the King James Version were influenced in their translation of this text by Matthew's quotes, for the word,'almah, rendered "virgin" is a Hebrew word meaning simply a young woman of marriageable age. The Hebrew word bethula, does mean virgin, and is used by Isaiah in five other places, so the conclusion is inescapable that if he had wished to denote the concept of a virgin in this Messianic reference, he would have used that word instead of 'almah.³⁴  The emphasis is that a woman would bring forth a son, and that that Son would be "God with us." It is this concept which Paul grasped when he wrote, "God sent for His Son, made of a woman."³⁵  Matthew in his quotes interpreted it in the light of the event - the woman was a virgin - but does not seek to lessen Isaiah's emphasis, for Matthew explains the meaning of Immanuel - "God with us."³⁶

        Isaiah would have us understand that this Child - the seed of the woman - would meet life's problems in common with every other child of humanity. He would need to choose the good, and refuse the evil. It would be God with us, at our level, setting an example in a way that we could understand. The Saviour would not be insulated from the forces that seek the perversion of man, but He would be a free moral agent to choose and to decide for Himself in His human environment.³⁷

        Not only does Isaiah recognize the nature of the humanity of the coming

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One, but stipulated that the One coming would be the embodiment of the character (name) of the "Mighty God and Everlasting Father."³⁸ This Son, the Divine One "is given us"; but He comes into humanity as a child - "Unto us a child is born." This child under the Messianic symbol of the Branch is declared to "grow out" of the roots of Jesse.³⁹ The incarnation would give to Christ an ancestral inheritance in humanity like all of the sons of men receive. As it is stated:

Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.⁴⁰

        Isaiah's great prophecy of the humiliation and suffering of the Lord's servant for sin in the fifty-third chapter is introduced by a statement regarding Christ's humanity. He wrote that the Suffering Servant would "grow up before him as a tender plant,and as a root out of a dry ground." ⁴¹  As a tender plant grows from one stage to another until it reaches maturity, so Jesus would develop from childhood to manhood in harmony with the laws of human growth - mentally, physically, and spiritually. But the "root out of a dry ground" presents another symbolism. There is little beauty in such a root, and so Isaiah noted - "and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." Commenting on these very verses, the servant of the Lord has written:

Think of Christ's humiliation. He took upon Himself fallen, suffering human nature, degraded and defiled by sin. He took our sorrows, bearing our grief and shame. He endured all the temptations wherewith man is beset. He united humanity with divinity: a divine spirit dwelt in a temple of flesh.⁴²

In Conclusion

        In prophecy, in symbolism, and in type, it was foretold that the One who was to come would accept man's fallen nature - meeting the Law of Equivalence.

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This Seed of the woman - who would be near of kin, like unto His brethren - would completely bruise the serpent's head. The Sin-bearer, becoming sin itself, would be lifted up so that those who would see Him in His true character might have life. He would set up on the earth, a "ladder" which would reach to heaven. Through His incarnate Self, a door of access would be opened for the sons of men to the throne of the Eternal.

__________________________________________________________

¹ Zechariah 6:12

²Ellen G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. I, p. 46

³Ibid.

⁴Genesis 3:15

⁵Genesis 5:1, 3

⁶Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 80

⁷Ellen G. White, "Redemption - No. 1", Review & Herald, Feb. 24, 1874

⁸Genesis 28:12

⁹Genesis 28:14

¹⁰Genesis 28:17

¹¹John 1:51

¹²John 14:6

¹³See Genesis 11:1-9

¹⁴Daniel 2:11

¹⁵Exodus 3:1-5

¹⁶Exodus 3:8

¹⁷William Gesenius, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament trans., Edward Robinson, 9th Edition, p. 384

¹⁸Ellen G. White, Selected messages, bk. 1, p. 408

¹⁹Ellen G. White, Letter 280, 1904 (5BC:1113)

²⁰Exodus 25:8

²¹Exodus 26:14 ARV

²²Ellen G. White, Education, p. 36

²³John 1:14 ARV footnote

²⁴Exodus 20:19

²⁵Deuteronany 18:17-18

²⁶Deuteronomy 18:19

²⁷Numbers 21:4, 6

²⁸Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 175

²⁹Ellen G. White, Letter 264, 1903

³⁰Leviticus 25:24-25, 48-49

³¹Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 327

³²Ruth 4:21, Matthew 1:5

³³Isaiah 7:14-15

³⁴See Problems in Bible Translation, pp. 152-157, sec., "The Meaning of 'Almah"

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³⁵Galatians 4:4

³⁶Matthew 1:23

³⁷Ellen G. White, Ms. 29, 1899 "He [Christ] was a free agent, placed on probation, as was Adam, and as is man."

³⁸Isaiah 9:6

³⁹Isaiah 11:1

⁴⁰Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 48

⁴¹Isaiah 53:2

⁴²Ellen G. White, Youth's Instructor. December 20, 1900 (4BC:1147)

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III

WHAT HAPPENED AT BETHLEHEM?

        Two of the Gospel writers give details concerning the birth of Jesus Christ while the third in a bold all-encompassing outline grasps the preexistence of Christ and focuses it on what took place at Bethlehem.

        Matthew relates the thinking of Joseph when he discovered that Mary was "with child of the Holy Ghost." While he was musing as to what should be done, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream, telling him - "Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost., And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins."¹  Matthew comments on this experience and links it with the prophecy of Isaiah. This event at Bethlehem is nothing less than "God with us!' ² The significance of the fact that God is to be with us in Jesus Christ has been well stated in these words:

Man through sin became without God, but God wanted to be again with us. Therefore Jesus became "us", that God with Him might be "God with us." ³

        Luke describes in detail the conversation between the Angel Gabriel and Mary, when he came to announce to her the fact that she had been chosen as the instrument through which the promsed Redeemer of Israel was to appear in the flesh. Luke's record is worthy of the most careful study. Observe closely the words of the angel. To Mary, Gabriel stated:

Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus... The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and 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.⁴

Luke, being a doctor by profession, was very careful how he recorded what was

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to occur in relationship to Mary. To accomplish this incarnation, it was necessary that the "power of the Highest" become involved. The highest power of the Godhead would be required to bring about this unique revelation of God inhuman flesh. It would not be the inner play of the natural process by which a human being is conceived, yet His birth into the world would be as every other human child. Mary was to conceive in her womb; the child was to be born of her.What the angel did not say is as important as what he did say. The angel did not state that "the holy thing" would becreated in Mary. ^a   Mary was to be the sole source of the humanity of the Son of God.

        John.in the introduction of his gospel grasped the whole of eternity and focused it on one point of time - the Incarnation. He wrote:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. ⁵

In the Greek there are two tenses to express the past: - the imperfect which denoted continuous action in past time, and the aorist which simply described a point of action which occurred in the past. John in grasping the eternity of the past - "In the beginning was [] the Word" - used the imperfect, and then in focusing upon the Incarnation - "The Word was made [] flesh" - he stated it in the aorist. The Being who had existed from all eternity as one with the Father, now at a specific point in time, becomes one with man in the flesh.

        In contemplating what happened at Bethlehem, certain questions arise. Was divinity degraded by its assumption of the flesh and nature of man? No, though

__________________________________________________________

^a  Luke used the word -  - in the phrase, "born of thee," which means "to bring forth", rather than the word -  - which means "to create".

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born of Mary, and conceived in her womb, it was still "that holy thing." On this point it has been written:

In Christ, divinity and humanity were combined. Divinity was not degraded to humanity; divinity held its place, but humanity by being united to divinity withstood the fiercest test of temptation in the wilderness.⁶

Was the human nature of the Son of Mary changed into the divine nature of the Son of God? No; the two natures were mysteriously blended in one person - the man Christ Jesus. ⁷

The work of redemption is called a mistery, and it is indeed the mystery by which everlasting righteousness is brought to all who believe. The race in consequence of sin was at enmity with God. Christ, at an infinite cost, by a painful process, mysterious to angels as well as to men, assumed humanity. Hiding His divinity, laying aside His glory, He was born a babe in Bethlehem. ¹¹

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The incarnation of Christ has ever been, and will ever remain a mystery. That which is revealed, is for us and for our children, but let every human being be warned from the ground of making Christ altogether human, such an one as ourselves; for this cannot be. ¹²

The Lord Jesus Christ, the Divine Son of God, existed from all eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father...

There are light and glory in the truth that Christ was one with the Father before the foundation of the world was laid. This is the light shining in a dark place, making it resplendent with divine, original glory. This truth, infinitely mysterious in itself, explains other mysterious and otherwise unexplainable truths, while it is enshrined in light, unapproachable and incomprehensible.¹³

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Jesus. The divine Self was the same Self-identity who had existed from all eternity with the Father. This difference between us and Jesus may be graphically illustrated in this manner:

__________________________________________________________

¹Matthew 1:18-21

²Matthew 1:22-23

³A. T. Jones, The Consecrated Way, p. 26

⁴Luke 1:31, 35

⁵John 1:1-2, 14

⁶Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, bk. i, p. 408

⁷Ellen G. White, Letter 280, 1904 (5BC:1113)

⁸Ellen G. White, Youth's Instructor, December 20, 1900 (4BC:1147)

⁹Ibid., September 16, 1897

¹⁰Ellen G. White, "The Kingdom of Christ," June 13, 1896

¹¹Ellen G. White, Ms. 29, 1899 (7BC:915) Emphasis supplied

¹²Ellen G. White, Letter 8, 1895 (5BC:1129)

¹³Ellen G. White, Review & Herald, April 5, 1906 Emphasis supplied.

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IV

IN THE GOSPELS

       In studying the revelation of God in the flesh as portrayed in the Gospels, the student must keep in mind the two-fold objective of the writers themselves. Not only is the historical data of the life of Jesus being recorded, but an interpretive account of that history is being written from the memories and research of meh enlightened by the Holy Spirit.¹ How Jesus was understood during His earthly life by those who were associated with Him, and how He was viewed after His resurrection when perceived in His divine relationship are two different things. These two experiences are intermingled in the gospel narrative. Therefore, to see Jesus as He appeared in the eyes of men, while in the body of our humiliation, one must weigh carefully the simple accounts of historical fact against the way these facts are interpreted when made a part of the gospel proclamation as to Who this Man really was.

       With most of His public ministry in the background, Jesus retired with His disciples to Ceasarea Philippi.² While there alone with them, He asked, "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" The disciples had mingled with the multitudes. They had conversed privately with many. But in all those years of ministry, not once had they heard a testimony of recognition that Jesus was the Son of God. Some considered Him John the Baptist risen from the dead; others thought of Him as Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. Then He asked the disciples the direct question - "But whom say ye that I am?" To this Peter replied "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." In responding to Peter's confession, Jesus revealed how complete was His identification with humanity. "Flesh and blood [the faculties of human perception] hath not revealed it unto

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thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Only a mind enlightened by the Spirit of God could perceive His real identity. He, the Son of God, had become verily the Son of man.

       On another occasion, Jesus was asked to come to the home of a ruler of the synagogue and heal his daiughter.³  As He proceeded to the residence of this man, messengers came and told him that his daughter had died. But this report did not deter Jesus. Upon entering the home, He asked the mourners, who were wailing and making a tumult, "Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth." The Scripture states their reaction - "They laughed Him to scorn." So completely was divinity clothed with humanity, that men dared laugh at God in scornful derision. As He was perceived to be when He became "the seed of David according to the flesh," and as He was understood to be when "declared... the Son of God with power... by the resurrection from the dead" were two different things.⁴

       All the Gospel writers present Jesus as sharing the common experiences and feelings of humanity. He became so exhausted with the daily pressures of life that He fell "asleep on a pillow" in the back of the boat, and remained asleep through a fearful storm until awakened by His disciples.⁵  Travel "wearied" Him. He felt the need for water to quench His thirst as a result of such travel.⁶  He could be deeply stirred because of human stubbornness. He "looked... with anger" on the hardened hearts of His religious critics.⁷  Yet with a heart of compassion, He could weep with those who wept over the loss of a loved one.⁸  Even in this experience, at the tomb of Lazarus, there was revealed a deep emotional conflict as Jesus noted the unbelief of those who had come as mourners. Twice it is recorded that He "groaned" in Himself.⁹  When Jesus entered the Garden

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of Gethsemane, He said to His disciples, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death."¹⁰  After His resurrection, He demonstrated that He had not separated from His human characteristics. In the presence of the Eleven, He asked, "Have ye any meat?" - and ate before them the food provided.¹¹  In reality, "when Jesus took human nature, and became in fashion as a man, He possessed all the human organism."¹²

       The Gospel of John presents a very unique synthesis of His identity with humanity, and the Gospel proclamation that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.¹³ John emphatically declared that his gospel was written with the specific purpose that the reader "might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." Yet throughout the book is a thread of thought declaring that Jesus was a Man! He records John the Baptist's statement to the multitude - "This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a man..."¹⁴  He quotes the dialogue between some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem with their conclusion - "We know this man whence He is."¹⁵  John presents Jesus Himself as declaring - "Ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth."¹⁶  And then in the final climactic picture of the life of Jesus, John records the words of Pilate as he presents Jesus robed in purple, and crowned with thorns to the mob - "Behold the man!"¹⁷

       Yet there is another picture in the Gospel of John running parallel to the,concept of Jesus' close identification with humanity. One night the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee under very adverse circumstances. Suddenly they see Jesus "walking on the sea" toward them. Fear seizes them. Then they hear His voice declaring, "It is I; be not afraid."¹⁸ The Greek for "It is I", is simply -  - "I AM". On another occasion, Jesus told the Jews that if they believed "not that I Am," ["He" is a supplied word.] they would die in their sins.¹⁹  Throughout the Gospel is the constant presentation of Jesus

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the man as the I AM:

       "I AM the bread of life."²⁰

       "I AM the living bread which came down from heaven. ."²¹

       "I AM the light of the world."²²

       "I AM the door."²³

       "I AM the resurrection and the life."²⁴

       "I AM the way, the truth, and the life."²⁵

In the very heart of John's gospel is the record of an encounter with the Jewish leadership in which Jesus' relationship to Abraham was challenged. To their derisive inquiry - "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?" - Jesus replied, "Before Abraham was, I AM."²⁶  Indeed the Gospel of John is the Gospel of the Burning Bush. While Jesus is revealed as the "thorny shrub" on the spiritual desert of Judea, even to the extent of wearing the crown of thorns, John also proclaimed the Name of Jesus as given to Moses by the Lord of glory - "I AM THAT I AM."

       The synthesis between Jesus the man and Jesus the I AM in the-gospel of John is revealed in an exchange between Jesus and the Jewish leaders over an act of healing on the Sabbath day.²⁷  In meeting the challenge of Sabbath violation, Jesus declared - "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." The Jewish leaders understood clearly the import of these words, and became further incensed because by so saying, He was "making Himself equal with God." To this new turn in the confrontation, Jesus replied - "The Son of man can do nothing of Himself." This was repeated - "I can of my own self do nothing." ²⁸ The extent to which Jesus humbled Himself in taking the form of a slave as revealed in this His own testimony must be given full weight in considering the implications of the Incarnation. Using these very words of Jesus, in describing His reaction when

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awakened from sleep in the midst of a storm on the Sea of Galilee, the servant of the Lord wrote:

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." 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. ²⁹

       The same author in the same book stated that through prayer, "He must Himself gain a fresh hold on Omnipotence." ³⁰  What one possesses innately, he does not have to obtain in a new way each time he desires to make use of it. The omnipotence of God, Jesus laid aside when He took upon Himself the form of a slave. When one considers that   1)  Jesus Christ also relinquished His omniscience as noted in His confession that of the day and hour of His return the second time was known only to the Father; ³¹ and that  2)  it was necessary for the Holy Spirit to come because He could not be everywhere present; it becomes very evident that the aspects of Deity - omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence - Jesus laid aside in assuming our humanity. He circumscribed Himself to the nature He assumed.

       In the upper room, prior to the crucifixion, Jesus stated - "The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." ³²  Whether it was the miracles He performed, or the righteous life which He lived free froma single act of sin, all was by the power of God in response to faith and prayer on the part of Jesus. Concerning the miracles we are told - "The miracles of Christ for the afflicted and suffering were wrought by the power of God through the ministration of angels." ³³ Even the crowning miracle of His ministry the resurrection of Lazarus was by "faith and prayer." ³⁴

       Concerning the life that He lived - free from the acts and thoughts of

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sin - the divine comment reads "He exercised in His own behalf no power that is not freely to us. As man, He met temptation, and overcame in the strength given Him from God."³⁵  The liability He assumed in accepting our fallen nature is revealed in Jesus' reply to the saluation of the Rich Young Ruler. To the address - "Good, Master", Jesus questioned - "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God."³⁶  All absolute goodness resided in God. Jesus realized that in accepting the nature of fallen man, "degraded and defiled by sin", He was not clothed in that goodness, but had to exercise the same faith to exhibit the goodness of God's character in fallen flesh, even as the sons of Adam must do. In this experience, we find what it means to reflect the image of Jesus fully.

       During the crisis in Galilee, Jesus emphatically stated the very nature of His life - "I live by the Father."³⁷  "While bearing human nature, Jesus was dependent upon the Omnipotent for His life."³⁸ We dare not mitigate the fact that "the man Christ Jesus was not the Lord God Almighty."³⁹ The fact of what He was, what He became as a man, and what He was again through the gift of God when highly exalted is clearly set forth in the Gospel of John. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God .... The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth."⁴⁰  But the glory of His earthly life - grace and truth - was not the full glory of His preexistent life, for He prayed as He completed the work given Him to do - "Now Father, glorify thou Me with thine own self with the glory I had with Thee before the world was."⁴¹

       He came unto His own, to whom the prophecies had been committed - prophecies which declared that He would be "the seed of the woman", "the son of

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David," "a root of Jesse," "a near kinsman," and one in the likeness of the brazen serpent. And the Jewish nation was looking for a Messiah. Yet they did not receive Him. Why? Because they were looking for One who would reveal in Himself the attributes of Deity - omnipotence, onmiscience, and omnipresence. They were not looking for, nor wanting, a Redeemer who would meet the Law of Equivalence. Such an Example would place too much of a demand on their lives and characters. Could it be that such is also the problem with us today concerning the doctrine of the Incarnation?

__________________________________________________________

¹Compare Luke 24:44-45 with John 20:21-22

²Matthew 16:13-17

³Mark 5:35-40

⁴Romans 1:3-4

⁵Mark 4:35-38

⁶John 4:6-7

⁷Mark 3:5

⁸John 11:35

⁹John 11:33, 38

¹⁰Matthew 26:38

¹¹Luke 24:41-43

¹²E11en G. White, Letter 32, 1899 (5BC:1130)

¹³John 20:30-31

¹⁴John 1:30

¹⁵John 7:27

¹⁶John 8:40

¹⁷John 19:5

¹⁸John 6:20

¹⁹John 8:24

²⁰John 6:35

²¹John 6:51

²²John 8:12

²³John 10:9

²⁴John 11:25

²⁵John 14:6

²⁶John 8:56-58

²⁷John 5:16-19

²⁸John 5:30

²⁹E11en G. White, Desire of Ages, pp. 335-336

³⁰Ibid., p. 420

³¹Matthew 24:36

³²John 14:10

³³E11en G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 143

³⁴Ibid., p. 536

³⁵Ibid., p. 24

³⁶Matthew 19:16-17

³⁷John 6:57

³⁸Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, June 17, 1897 (5BC:918)

³⁹E11en G. White, Ms. 140, 1903 (5BC:1129)

⁴⁰John 1:1, 14

⁴¹John 17:5

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V

A COMPLETE SAVIOUR

       Both the gospels of Matthew and Luke give a genealogical record in regard to Jesus Christ. While Matthew traces the ancestry of Jesus through the royal line of Israel, and sets Him forth as the Son of David, and the Son of Abraham,¹ Luke traces the lineage back to Adam who by creation was a son of God. ²  We might ask ourselves, why these records, when in reality Jesus Christ, as the pre-existent One, was one with the Father from the days of Eternity. These records show the indentification of Christ with humanity, and the source of that humanity which He accepted in becoming the Son of man. It is written:

Christ was to take humanity upon Him, not as it was when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden, but as weakened and defiled by four thousand years of sin. He was to come as the Son of man, like every child of Adam, accepting the results of the working of the great law of heridity. What these results were, what was the inheritance bequeathed to Jesus in his human nature, Scripture reveals in the history of those who were the earthly ancestors of our Saviour. With such a heredity, Jesus came as one of us, to share our sorrows and temptations, and give us the example of a sinless life.³

And in that ancestral line through whom the humanity of Jesus was derived are such names as Jacob, Thamar, Rachab, Ruth, and David. Not only did Jesus accept a Jewish inheritance, but also a Canaanite, and Moabite background. He was verily a Son of man.

       Why did Jesus accept such a heredity? We are told:

In our own strength it is impossible for us to deny the clamors of our fallen nature. Through this channel Satan will bring temptation upon us. Christ knew that the enemy would come to every human being, to take advantage of hereditary weakness, and by his false insinuations to ensnare all whose trust is not in God. And by passing over the ground which man must travel, our Lord has prepared a way for us to overcome. ⁴

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The Hidden Years

       Except for the incident during the trip to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve, the "hidden years" between His birth and ministry are best described in the words of Luke - "The child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon Him."⁵  But even these years of growth and development icc~d'frding to natural laws did not afford Jesus freedom from trial and temptation. Writing to youth, the servant of the Lord directed their attention to how Jesus identified Himself with them in childhood and adolescence. She wrote:

Jesus is the perfect pattern, and it is the duty and privilege of every child and youth to copy the pattern. Let children bear in mind that the child Jesus had taken upon Himself human nature, and was in the likeness of sinful flesh, and was tempted of Satan as all children are tempted. He was able to resist the temptation of Satan through His dependence upon the divine power of the heavenly Father as He was subject to His will, and obedient to all His commands. He kept His Father's statutes, precepts and laws. He was continually seeking counsel of God, and was obedient to His will.⁶

On another occasion, writing to a young man, this same author stated:

His body was susceptible to weariness, as yours. His mind like yours, could be harassed and perplexed. If you have hardships, so did He. Satan could tempt Him...Jesus was exposed to hardships, to conflict and temptation as a man...Jesus was sinless and had no dread of the consequences of sin. With this exception His condition was as yours.⁷

       The "hidden years" closed with the baptism of Jesus, and the pronouncement of John - "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world."  ⁸ But before beginning His public ministry, Jesus departed into the wilderness to contemplate His life work and mission. It was after Jesus had fasted forty days that Satan decided to launch a major assault on the Son of man. The details of the temptation are clearly given in Matthew and Luke. ⁹

The Temptation

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       The encounter in the wilderness was not a "sham" encounter, with Jesus being immune to the suggestions of the enemy. Temptation was real to our Saviour. It could not be otherwise, and Christ be tempted in all points like as man is tempted. It is well stated:

He could not have been tempted in all points as man is tempted had there been no possibility of His falling. He was a free agent, placed on probation, as was Adam and as is man.

Unless there is a possibility of yielding, temptation is no temptation. Temptation comes and 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 is the ordeal through which Christ passed.¹⁰

       We need to pause and consider the total reality of the Law of Equivalence. "The lower passions have their seat in the body and work through it."¹¹ All "our impulses and passions have their seat in the body."¹² These are the forces which we have to contend with through the inheritance we have received. If the humanity which Christ assumed was in any way exempt from the forces that strive for expression in man, then on that point, Satan would challenge the validityof the example which Christ set for man to follow.¹³ But Jesus met and conquered sin in the flesh. "He knows how strong are the inclinations of the natural heart."¹⁴ "He had all the strength of passion of humanity." ¹⁵

       It is at this point that many draw back and exclaim, "If He had in His human nature all the cravings and weaknesses that seek expression in my life, He could not have been the immaculate Saviour of men." But temptation is not sin, and Jesus sinned not! This is the difference between Him and us. He demonstrated that the requirements of God could be kept, and thus God stands justified in demanding that we keep them in the humanity in which we live.

       Such thinking as to the humanity of Jesus is not new, for on this very

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point, Ellen G. White received correspondence. In replying, she wrote:

Letters have been coming to me, affirming that Christ could not have had the same nature as man, for if He had, He would have fallen under similar temptations. If He did not have man's nature, He could not be our example. If He was not a partaker of our nature, He could not have been tempted as man has been. If it were not possible for Him to yield to temptation, He could not be our helper. It is a solemn reality that Christ came to fight the battles as man, in man's behalf.¹⁶

       The victory of Christ served a specific purpose. It was a part of the plan by which He became a complete Saviour. He conquered in these "battles of man." It is stated:

The victory gained was designed, not only to set an example to those who have fallen under the power of appetite, but to qualify the Redeemer for His special work of reaching to the very depths of human woe. By experiencing in Himself the strength of Satan's temptation, and of human sufferings and infirmities, He would know how to succor those who should put forth efforts to help themselves.  ¹⁷

       The magnitude of the victory of Christ over Satan can be best understood when we consider the contrast of circumstances between the first Adam in Eden, and this new Man - the second Adam - as He was in the wilderness, bearing the fallen nature of man. Adam in Eden could be tempted only from without; his nature had been created perfect without a bias.to evil. But Christ in assuming the fallen nature of man, could be encountered from both without and within. Not only did He experience "hunger" from within, but the enemy was there to suggest a solution from without which challenged the powers of His pre-existent Self - that power which He had laid aside in becoming a man. It taunted His in-most Ego. Could He stand such humiliation, and trust God to vindicate Him? A vivid description of this conflict has been penned for us. It reads:

The great work of redemption could be carried out only by the Redeemer taking the place of fallen man. Burdened with the sins

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of the world, He must go over the ground where Adam stumbled. He must take up the work just where Adam failed, and endure a test of the same character, but infinitely more severe than that which had vanquished him. It is impossible for man to fully comprehend the strength of Satan's temptations to our Saviour. Every enticement to evil, which men find so difficult to resist, was brought to bear upon the Son of God in as much greater degree as His character was superior to that of fallen man.

When Adam was assailed by the tempter he was without the taint of sin. He stood before God in the strength of perfect manhood, all the organs and faculties of his being fully developed and harmoniously balanced; and he was surrounded with things of beauty, and conversed daily with the holy angels. What a contrast to this perfect being did the second Adam present, as He entered the desolate wilderness to cope with Satan single-handed. For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in size and physical strength, and deteriorating in moral worth; and, in order to elevate fallen man, Christ must reach him where he stood. He assumed human nature, bearing the infirmities and degeneracy of the race. He humiliated Himself to the lowest depths of human woe, that He might fully sympathize with man and rescue him from the degradation into which sin had plunged him.¹⁸

       In contemplating this struggle for man, in man's behalf, we stand amazed at the love of God who would permit His Son to come and meet life's perils in common with every other fallen human being, and fight the battle as all must fight it - "at the risk of failure and eternal loss."¹⁹  Such a fearful risk and bitter battle to make the path of life sure for us and our loved ones, causes one to exclaim - "0, wonderous, matchless love! To what depths has divinity descended, to uplift fallen hu'manity. Wonder, 0 heaven, and be astonished, 0 earth!" ³

A Lesson from a Miracle

       During the ministry of Jesus, many lepers sought healing from Him. In the gospel of Matthew, there is recorded the occasion when one such came to Jesus desiring cleansing. The record states that "Jesus put forth His hand, and touched him."²⁰  According to the law, he who touched a leper would himself be unclean.

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But Jesus received no pollution, and the leper was immediately cleansed. "Thus it is with the leprosy of sin, - deep rooted, deadly, and impossible to be cleansed by human power.... But Jesus coming to dwell in humanity, receives no pollution. His presence has healing virtue for the sinner."²¹

       Though Jesus in accepting our fallen humanity was in constant touch with the drives, strengths of passion, and inclinations of that humanity, "He maintained the purity of His divine character." ²² He condemned sin in the flesh. But not only did He maintain the purity of His pre-existent Self, Jesus also developed in that conflict with the fallen nature, a perfect human character. Even as He cleansed the leper from sin, so "this holy Substitute is able to save to the uttermost; for He presented to the wondering universe perfect and complete humility in His human character and perfect obedience to all the requirements of God."²³ Such is the power of a complete Saviour.

In the Upper Room

       In the Synoptic Gospels the communion of the bread and wine are emphasized as emblematic of the broken body and spilt blood of our Lord.²⁴ Each time this service is celebrated, we commemorate "'the Lord's death till He come." John concentrates the reader's attention on the preliminary service that prefaced the bread and the cup, and which symbolized that which made possible the death on Calvary - His incarnation. Christ and His disciples had gathered together in the upper room to eat the Passover. It was customary for the feet of the guests to be washed upon entering the room. This part of the preparation had been overlooked, and no one was there to perform this act of courtesy. According to Jewish custom, only a foreign slave could do this service; a Jewish slave was exempt.²⁵ But follow-

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ing the Passover supper, Jesus arose "and laid aside His [outer] garments [] and took a towel [] and girded Himself."²⁶  Every action that Christ performed had deep significance. He divested Himself of the "form ofGod" - His outer garments - and took upon Himself the form of a slave. Alford in commenting on this experience states simply, "He put Himself in the ordinary dress of a servant." Then he asks this searching question - "Or, which is far more probable, on the deepest grounds, did He not humble Himself so far as to literally divest Himself, and gird Himself merely as the basest of slaves?"²⁷ Thayer suggestes that the "towel" was like the ones used to cover "the nakedness of a person undergoing crucifixion."²⁸

       The text in John continues the symbolism "So after He had washed their feet." ²⁹ Jesus told Peter that this washing symbolized a complete cleansing. He "washed us from our sins in His own blood." ³⁰  The all-sufficient sacrifice on Calvary He provided. And when He had taken His [outer] garments []" again, He sat down. The glory which He had with the Father before the world was - the outer garments - was again restored to Him, in a glorified humanity. "When He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."³¹ Then He asked the question - "Know ye what I have done [for] you?" Do we understand what He did for us in the Incarnation - during that period of time when He laid aside His outer garments, and took the form of a slave? Do we ponder this question each time we come to celebrate the ordinances of the Lord's house?

       After leaving the upper room, Jesus led the disciples through the narrow streets of Jerusalem out to the Mount of Olives. Before crossing the brook Kidron, He gathered the little band of Eleven about Him, and prayed the great High Priestly prayer as recorded in John 17. In this prayer, He referred to

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His Father as the "only true God", and asked that the Father glorify Him with His "own self with the glory which" He shared with Him "before the world was."³² How dull of comprehension is the human mind to perceive all that Christ laid aside to accept the humanity of the sons of men. It is because we cannot appreciate the greatness of Deity, that we stand mystified by the condescension. Volumes are spoken in the brief words of the prayer - "the only true God." The Father alone remained in every respect the essence of Deity. The Son had "veiled the demonstrations of Deity" and "divested Himself of the form of God."³³ It must ever be remembered that the "man Christ Jesus was not the Lord God Almighty,"³⁴ and while Christ and God were, are, and ever shall be one in purpose and objective, the redemption of man brought the Father and the Son to a point where there was the "sundering of the divine powers,"³⁵ at the cross of Calvary.

       "Jesus Christ laid aside His royal robe, His kingly crown, and clothed His divinity with humanity, in order to become a substitute and surety for humanity, that dying in humanity, He might by His death destroy him who had the power of death. He could not have done this as God, but by coming as man Christ could die."³⁶

The Cross

"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. He hung upon Calvary's cross, dying in our behalf that we might have eternal life."³⁷

       It was at the Cross that Christ met the final aspect of the Law of Equivalence, becoming in every respect the Pattern-man, and answering forever the

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charge of Lucifer that God was unjust in demanding of man obedience to the Law of heaven. At His birth, Jesus accepted the fallen nature of man; now at the cross He accepts the committed sins of man. We are told:

When Christ bowed His head and died, He bore the pillars of Satan's kingdom with Him to the earth. He vanquished Satan in the same nature over which in Eden Satan obtained the victory. The enemy was overcome by Christ in His human nature. The power of the Saviour's Godhead was hidden. He overcame in human nature, relying upon God for power. ³⁸

       The power of Satan's kingdom is founded upon only one thing - sin.³⁹  But Christ in His own body brought the pillars of sin upon which that kingdom rests down to the earth by His death on Calvary. These twin pillars are the weakened hereditary nature of man, and the cultivated tendencies to sin that have become in man of himself, unbreakable habit patterns. For thirty years, the Son of God as the Son of man demonstrated that the weakened hereditary nature was no excuse for sin. He condemned sin in the flesh - His flesh. But the question remained - Could He carry the weight of the load of this accumulated transgression and remain faithful and true? Could He sense the need of men chained in the habit patterns of sin? No wonder all heaven looked on with amazement as the cup trembled in the hand of the divine Sufferer! Yet He drank it to the last bitter dregs!

In His closing hours, while hanging upon the cross, He [Christ] experienced to the fullest extent what man must experience when striving against sin. He realized how bad a man may become by yielding to sin. He realized the terrible consequence of transgression of God's law; for the inquity of the whole world was upon Him.¹⁰ a

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a - In the Wilderness of Temptation, the forces of cultivated sin were also felt by the Saviour, but not to the full extent as upon the Cross. Of the temptation in the wilderness, we read: "The weight of the sins of the world was pressing upon His soul, and His countenance expressed unutterable sorrow, a depth of anquish that fallen man had never realized. He felt the overwhelming tide of woe that deluged the world. He realized the strength of indulged appetite and unholy passion which controlled the world and had brought upon man inexpressible suffering." Ellen G. White, Confrontation, p. 36.

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       Though the darkness covering the Cross hid from Christ the sustaining presence of His Father, and though He was unable to see through the portals of the tomb, Jesus, by faith, grasped the pillars of Satan's kingdom and brought them down, even as Samson in his blindness grasped the two central pillars of Dagon's temple, and brought the temple of the devil crashing in a heap of stones. Even as it cost Samson his life, so it cost the Son of God His life. He resisted unto blood - His very own life's blood - striving against sin. In that final cry from the Cross - "It is finished" - Jesus signed the final sheet of the "test paper" He had agreed to take using only the same kind of pen and pencil available to man, and He wrote the final answer still garbed in human faculties!

       "0, He is a complete Saviour. He is a Saviour from sins committed, and the Conqueror of the tendencies to commit sins. In Him we have the victory."⁴⁰ "Thanks be unto God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

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¹Matthew 1:1-16

²Luke 3:23-38

³Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, Chapter IV, Pre-Publication copy. Andreasen Collection, #2. Compare with page 48, par. 5

⁴Ibid., pp. 122-23

⁵Luke 2:40

⁶Ellen G. White Youth's Instructor, August 23, 1894

⁷Ellen G. White, Our High Calling, pp. 57, 59; Letter 17, 1878

⁸John 1:29

⁹Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13

¹⁰Ellen G. White, Ms. 29, 1899

¹¹Ellen G. White, Adventist Home, p. 127

¹²Ellen G. White, Christ's Object Lessons,, p. 346

¹³Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 24

¹⁴Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 177

¹⁵Ellen G. White, In Heavenly Places, p- 155

¹⁶Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, bk. i, p. 408

¹⁷Ellen G. White, Review & Herald,, March 18, 1875

¹⁸Ellen G. White, Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 2, p. 88

¹⁹Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 49

²⁰Matthew 8:2-3

²¹White,Op. Cit., p. 266

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²²Ellen G. White, Youth's Instructor, June 2, 1898

²³Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, bk., i, p. 256

²⁴Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; See also I Cor. 11:23-26

²⁵Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 5, p. 1028

²⁶John 13:4

²⁷Henry Alford, The Greek Testament, Vol. I, p. 841 (Moody Press Edition)

²⁸John Henry Thayer, English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 376, article, ention

²⁹John 13:12

³⁰Revelation 1:5

³¹Hebrew 1:3

³²John 17:3, 5

³³Ellen G. White, Review & Herald, June 15, 1905 (5BC:1126)

³⁴Ellen G. White, Ms. 140, 1903 (5BC:1129)

³⁵Ellen G. white, Ms. 93, 1899, (7BC:924)

³⁶Ellen G. White, Letter 97, 1898 (7BC:925)

³⁷Ellen G. White, Our High Calling, p. 17

³⁸Ellen G. White, Youth's Instructor, April 25, 1901 (5BC:1108)

³⁹Ellen G. White, Ibid., June 28, 1900 (7BC:924)

⁴⁰A. T. Jones, "The Third Angel's Message" - #14, General Conference Bulletin, 1895, p. 267

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VI

THE PAULINE CONCEPT OF THE INCARNATION

       One event shaped Paul's life - the experience of the Damascus way. In this experience, Paul was brought face to face with the reality of the Incarnation. Armed with the authority of the high priest of Judaism to purge from the synagogues of Damascus all who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah of Israel and bring them bound to Jerusalem. Paul, intent upon his purpose, was making his way to the Syrian city, when suddenly at noonday a light brighter than the desert sun stopped him in his tracks.¹ A voice called to him from the brightness - "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" To this question, he responded - "Who art thou Lord?" The answer stunned him more than the brightness of the light, for the Lord of glory declared Himself to be that Jesus.²

       Jesus was the name that the Eternal Son had received at Bethlehem when He became man. To Paul this name meant nothing more than a Galilean carpenter who had disrupted the Jewish faith; and who had died forsaken of God on the cross for seeking to destroy the temple and its services. Reports of His resurrection formed the basis of the evangelistic fervor of His followers, but Paul knew better. He believed the word of the religious leaders of his people who had told him that the followers of Jesus had stolen His body from the tomb and proclaimed that He had risen from the dead.³ recognized as God? This fact was ever to remain in the mind of Paul as an awesome reality, yet ever to be the mystery of godliness. God had manifest Himself in the flesh. The

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Lord of glory had been and was Jesus of Nazareth.

       Blinded and humbled, yet wiser in the wisdom of God, Paul was led through the gate of Damascus. His mind cleared from the propaganda of his ecclesiastical superiors, he saw as never before the prophecies of the Old Testament in their true significance.⁴ This became his study, and the burden of his new testimony. The recorded sermon of Acts 13 reveals this emphasis. He sought to clear the minds of his own people of the same, malicious propaganda that had darkened his own understanding. Paul declared that the people and their leaders had not recognized Jesus because they would not believe the voices of the prophets which were read to them every Sabbath day. These prophecies were fulfilled in the life anddeath of Jesus, but God had raised Him from the dead. Paul justified this assertion by the eyewitness testimony of the disciples, and the words of prophecy as found in the Psalms.⁵  But in the presentation of the historical Jesus, Paul wasnot unmindful of the significance of the revelation of the Damascus way. He declared to the listeners at Antioch, referring to David, - "of this man's seed hath God according to His promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus."⁶ The Saviour was Jesus, and Jesus was verily of the seed of David according to His human descent.

       Paul did a lot of thinking before he set down in writing any positive pronouncements on the meaning and nature of the Incarnation. His theology on the Incarnation developed through the doctrine of the pre-existence of Christ. As he studied the prophecies of the Old Testament and the history of Israel, the conviction became clearer that the Unseen Leader who had established Israel as a nation, and who had led them through all their wilderness wanderings was the Rock, Christ Jesus.⁷  As He contrasted the glory of the Eternal God, manifest to Israel from Mount Sinai and in the Shekinah glory of the Most Holy Place of

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the Sanctuary, with the marked poverty of the Man, Jesus, he confessed the marvelous grace of the Lord Jesus Christ - "that though He was rich, yet for [our] sakes He became poor, that [we] through His poverty might be rich."⁸

       This poverty which Christ accepted was more than the poverty revealed in His words to a "certain scribe" when He said - "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head."⁹ Alford indicates that this poverty was not merely the poverty resulting from "His renunciation of human riches during His life on earth, but by His exinanition of His glory."¹⁰ Paul indicated that Christ accepted the basic poverty of man, the poverty of sin itself, for God "hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin."¹¹

       The development of Paul 's theology of the Incarnation is seen in the progressively definitive statements found in his letters to the various churches.

To the Galatians

       To the churches of Galatia, Paul wrote:

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under law in order that He might redeem those under law that they might receive the right to be sons of God.¹²

       Two definitive statements in regard to the Incarnation are set forth in these verses. One speaks of His human source, and the other, that which resulted from His human involvement.

       Sin began with the woman in the garden of Eden. It was to be her seed that would break the dominionof the serpent over man. Thus from the very source of human existence - the womb of a woman - Christ was to come, and in so coming, Hewould accept what every other child of humanity accepts - the working of the law of heredity. In the Greek, there is no article before "law". The phrase is

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 under law. It is law in its general sense as associated with birth. Paul used the same word to describe Christ's source from a woman, as he used in stating Christ's relationship to law (). As He was born of woman, so also was He born under law.

       Some might contend that since the letter to the Galatians was written concerning the laws of the Jewish religion both moral and ceremonial, that this statement by Paul merely set forth the fact that Christ would be subject to the Jewish law during His earthly life. And He was. He was circumcised.¹³ He kept the passover.¹⁴ But the Galatians were not necessarily Jews by birth, and therefore, not subject to all the Mosaic codes which would involve circumcision. The full statement by Paul speaks of redemption for all who are "under law" that they might receive the privilege of sonship whether they be Jew or Gentile. This is the basic gospel.¹⁵  Men, who all their lifetime have been subject to bondage, are to receive power to become sons of God, being born anew of God, and thus the dominion of sin because of the law of heredity is to be broken and the original relationship re-established - men reflecting the image and character of God. To do this, Christ came under the same law of heredity to break the dominion and power of sin. This is the principle that Christ Himself projected when He asked - "How can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house."¹⁶  Christ entered the "strong man's house" - He was born of a woman, born under law. It is stated:

When Adam's sin plunged the race into hopeless misery, God might have cut Himself loose from fallen beings. He might have treated them as sinners deserve to be treated.... But He did not do this. Instead of banishing them from His presence, He came still nearer to the fallen race. He gave His Son to become bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.¹⁷

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To the Romans

       In the very first chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, Paul differentiates between the gospel of God, and the gospel of Christ. The good news of God is "concerning His Son Jesus Christ, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."¹⁸ The good news of Christ is the revelation of the power of God that operated in His life inhuman flesh wherein the righteousness of God was revealed, and which will be revealed in the life of each one who by faith accepts the provision made.¹⁹

       The gospel of God and the gospel of Christ are one, with two provisions:  - 1) What was done by Christ because of the Incarnation, and 2) What is to be done in the one who accepts by faith the power obtained through the atonement and intercession of Jesus Christ's priestly ministry. Thus to Paul, the gospel is based in that profound revelation that shook him to his very depths on the road to Damascus - the mystery of godliness, God's manifestation in the flesh. Jesus in His humanity was born verily of the seed of David with all that it implies. Paul used the same Greek word () in Romans 1:3 when referring to the source of Christ's humanity being the seed of David, as in Galatians 4:4 when stating that Jesus was made of a woman.

       The second definitive statement on the Incarnation in the book of Romans is found in the eighth chapter. There Paul declared that the Incarnation was necessary because of man's weakness. The Law of God could not be obeyed because of the weakness of the flesh. To counteract this impossibility in man, God sent His Son "in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, [ - "to destroy sin"]^a  condemned sin in the flesh."²⁰  At the very source, man's flesh,

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a  The preposition [peri] is here used to indicate the design or purpose for removing something, or taking it away. See Thayer, p. 501, I-c-d.

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the power of sin was to be destroyed. To do this Christ came in the "likeness of sinful flesh." How is this to be understood?

       In this Eighth Chapter, Paul is placing "flesh" and "Spirit" in opposition to each other. When "flesh" is thus used, it "has an ethical sense and denotes mere human nature, the earthly nature of man apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin and opposed to God; accordingly it includes whatever in the soul is weak, low, debased, tending to ungodliness and vice." ²¹ Luther wrote:

Thou must not understand, "flesh", therefore, as though that only were "flesh" which is connected with unchastity, but St. Paul uses "flesh" of the whole man, body and soul, reason and all his faculties, because all that is in him longs and strives after the flesh.²²

       To meet man's need, for sin to be condemned in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in him, Christ had to meet man's condition in the flesh as it was. He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. To this, an objection is raised, that "likeness of" is not "identity with". The word in Romans 8:3 is the same word as in Philippians 2:7, where Paul wrote - "in the likeness of men." ^a The question is simply - Did Jesus become a real man, or was He only a phantom, appearing as a man? As He was indeed a real man, then He did also in reality take upon Himself the form and nature of fallen man - the likeness of sinful flesh. Thayer indicates that the word -  - likeness, means, "resemblance, frequently such as amounts well-nigh to equality or identity" and then cites Romans 8:3 as an example. ²³

       Paul was very careful how he expressed this concept. He did not say, that Christ was in the likeness of the flesh of a sinner, and thus make Him a partaker of sin, nor did he write that Christ was merely in flesh, which would,

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^aPhilippians 2:7 -    

  Romans 8:3 - 

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have omitted any connection between the Manhood of Christ and sin. He stated that God sent His Son in the "likeness of sinful flesh" thus "meaning.... He had a nature like sinful human nature, but had not Himself a sinful nature."²⁴

       "How few of us can understand the love of God for the fallen race in that He withheld not His divine Son from taking upon Him the humiliation of humanity."²⁵ "He took upon His sinless nature our fallen nature."²⁶  In thus accepting our humiliating, fallen nature, He could understand "how strong are the inclinations of the natural heart." ²⁷  Uniting in Himself "the offending nature of man"²⁸ "all the strength of passion of humanity" clamored for expression, but "never did He yield to temptation to do one single act which was not pure and elevating and enobling."²⁹  He condemned sin in the flesh.

To the Hebrews

       In this theological treatise, Christ is presented as "the express image of" Deity.³⁰ He is worthy of worship as God in His own right.³¹  But Paul declared, "We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death."³² The Lord of glory became Jesus. Deity stooped to humanity. He came to be a brother to mankind. "For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified, are all of one: for this cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren."³³

       Christ's condescension involved full participation in the nature and form of those whom He came to sanctf. "Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same."³⁴  The order in the Greek is "blood and flesh." Not only did Jesus carry the outward resemblance of man - flesh; He also bore the inward nature of man - blood. "It was in the order of God that Christ should take upon Himself the form and nature of fallen man."³⁵

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       In commenting upon the force of the expression, "blood and flesh," Alford quotes Bleek as stating:

"It betokens the whole sensuous corporeal nature of man, which He has in common with the brutes, and whereby he is the object of sensuous perception and corporeal impressions: whereby also He is subjected to the laws of infirmity, decay, and transitoriness of material things, in contrast to purely spiritual and incorporeal beings."³⁶

     This idenitification with the human race is presented by Paul as an obligation. "In all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren."³⁷ The word, "behoved" (), is a strong word. It expresses debt, and duty. Having accepted the responsibility to redeem man, Christ became duty-bound to be made in all things like unto His brethren whom He came to save. While made in all respects like His brethren, He did not do all the things His brethren did. "Jesus was sinless and had no dread of the consequences of sin. With this exception His condition was as [ours]"³⁸

       The obligation that Christ accepted was for a purpose. He came to understand man's weaknesses and need. He "suffered being tempted,"^a so that He would be able to sustain "them that are tempted."³⁹ He was "touched with the the feelingsof our infirmities" being "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" ⁴⁰ "Christ possessed the same nature that man possesses. He was tempted in all points as man is tempted. The same power by which He obeyed is at man's command."⁴¹

       Another purpose of the obligation assumed by Christ is presented by Paul in the Fifth Chapter in the letter to the Hebrews. He was to become the author of eternal salvation. It is stated thus:

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^a On the reality of the temptation of Christ, see Section, "The Temptation", pp. 30-33.

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Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared; though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered; and being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him.⁴²

       It states that Jesus supplicated the throne of God to be saved from death, and was heard. Yet according to the record, Jesus died. Then what was He saved from? Death is the result of sin. He was kept from sinning by the power of God. He was heard. Yet He died, but the sins that necessitated His death were not His. It was a struggle with the Son of God in human nature. He learned obedience by the things suffered. Now what we already know, we do not have to learn. Jesus did not begin the struggle in the days of His flesh as an already perfected Being. He learned obedience, and "being made perfect" through the experience of conflict with sin, "He became the author of eternal salvation." The example of sanctification set for man by the One who sanctifies was not even for Him an instantaneous process, but a growth in grace. One with us in blood and flesh; one with us in temptation and trial; He now wants us to be one with Him in the process of redemption "learning obedience", and "being made perfect."

To the Philippians

       The apex of Paul's theology on the Incarnation is reached in his letter to-the Philippians. Here he summarizes in final form the thinking of the years that followed the dynamic confrontation on the Damascus road. Jesus had been in the "form of God", equal in all respects with the Eternal Father. But this "form" He laid aside, and took in its place "the form of a slave."⁴³ The Greek word for, form (morfh), "always signifies a form which truly and fully expresses the being which underlies it."⁴⁴  So completely did Christ enter into the work

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of man's redemption that He yielded up His identity with the Godhead, "the form of God" - never more to take it - and accepted the "form" of those He came to redeem - "the form of a slave." He entered into the bondage that became man's because of sin.

       Christ did this act of condescension voluntarily, using His own omnipotence to divest Himself of the "form of God." The text reads - "Himself He emptied."⁴⁵  The word for, emptied () is found in the papyrii. In its compounded form with the preposition, out of, () it appears in a report of a man in the imperial corn service of Rome who had just unloaded () his cargo vessel. In its simple form () as used by Paul , the word is found in an inscription meaning "to make void." ⁴⁶ This concept approaches the nearest to the actuality of what was necessitated in accepting the slave-form of man. Christ voided Himself. He subjugated Himself to the very depths of the slave-experience of man - the bondage of death, even the death of the cross. But the Father in whom He trusted, and upon whom He relied, highly exalted Him. He returned to heaven bearing the form of man glorified by His victory over sin and death. It is the Man, Christ Jesus that intercedes at the Father's throne.⁴⁷

       This condescension and exaltation is well summarized by Alford .⁴⁸ He wrote:

The Scriptures teach us, that He who was with God before the creation, from love to men put on flesh, and took the form of a servant, not all the while having on Him the whole fulness of His divine nature and divine glory, but having really and actually emptied Himself of this fulness and glory, so that there was not only a hiding, but an absolute kenwsiV, a putting off, of it. Therefore His subsequent exaltation must be conceived of as belonging, not to His Humanity only, but to the entire undivided Person of Christ, now resuming the fulness and glory of the Godhead (John xvii.5), and in addition to this having taken into the Godhead the Manhood, now glorified by His obedience, atonement, and victory.⁴⁹

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¹Acts 9:1-3; 22:5-6; 26:13

²Acts 9:4-5

³Matthew 28:13

⁴Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles, pp. 118-119

⁵Acts 13:27-37

⁶Acts 13:23

⁷I Corinthians 10:1-4

⁸II Cornithians 8:9

⁹Matthew 8:19-20

¹⁰Henry Alford, The Greek Testament, Vol. II, p. 681 (Moody Press Edition)

¹¹II Corinthians 5:21

¹²Galatians 4:4-5 (Translation from the Greek Text)

¹³Luke 2:27

¹⁴John 13:1-2

¹⁵John 1:12-13

¹⁶Matthew 12:29

¹⁷Ellen G. White, Sons and Daughters of God, p. 11

¹⁸Romans 1:1, 3-4

¹⁹Romans 1:16-17

²⁰Romans 8:3

²¹"'John Henry Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 571, article, sarx, (4).

²²Martin Luther, Episitle to the Romans (preface) Quoted by Thayer, Ibid.

²³Thayer, Op. cit., p. 445, article, omoiwma.

²⁴Alford, Op. cit., p. 387

²⁵Ellen G. White, Review & Herald, March 18, 1875

²⁶Ellen G. White, Medical Ministry, p. 181

²⁷Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol.5, p. 177

²⁸Ellen G. White, Review & Herald, July 17, 1900

²⁹Ellen G. White, In Heavenly Places, p. 155

³⁰Hebrews 1:3

³¹Hebrews 1:8

³²Hebrews 2:9

³³Hebrews 2:11

³⁴Hebrews 2:14

³⁵Ellen G. White, Spirit of Prophacy, Vol. II, p. 39

³⁶Alford, Op cit., Vol. IV, p. 48

³⁷Hebrews 2:17

³⁸Ellen G. White, Our High Calling, p.59

³⁹Hebrews 2:18

⁴⁰Hebrews 4:15

⁴¹Ellen G. White, That I May Know Him, p. 292

⁴²Hebrews 5:7-9

⁴³Philippians 2:6-7 Greek Text.

⁴⁴James Hope Moulton & George Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, article, morfh, p. 417

⁴⁵

⁴⁶Moulton & Milligan, Op. cit., article, kenow, p. 340

⁴⁷1 Timothy 2:5

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⁴⁸48 Alford is quoted frequently in this chapter, not because he is the only source on the subject, but because in 1958, his works were re-published by the Evangelical Moody Press. The positions that Alford takes on the doctrine of the Incarnation are very close to the revelations of the Spirit of Prophecy. It is true that the Moody Press edition carried revisions by Dr. Everett F. Harrison, who takes exception to the last quotation from Alford. (See Vol. IV, p. 758, on Hebrews 1:4) However with such an authority as Alford, there was no excuse for the leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist church to "sell out" to the Evangelicals in the Barnhouse-Martin conferences. See Questions on Doctrine, p. 383. It might be argued that inasmuch as the re-publication date of Alford postdated the publication date of Questions on Doctrine(1957), our theologians did not know the high regard with which Alford was held by the Evangelicals. Even granting this, we did not need to compound our apostasy in the book - Movement of Destiny. See pp. 427-428, 469-470, 497.

⁴⁹49 Alford, Op. cit., Vol. IV, p. 13.

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VII

THE INCARNATION ACCORDING TO JOHN

IN HIS EPISTLES AND THE REVELATION

       John introduced his first Epistle with the reality of Jesus in the flesh. He who was in the beginning with God, became flesh, and the reality of the experience was such that John declared - "We have seen [Him] with our eyes... and our hands have handled [Him]"¹ Coupled with this firm declaration of the reality of Jesus in the flesh is the warning that many false prophets have gone out into the world, which do not confess that Jesus did come in the flesh. This John declared to be "that spirit of antichrist." ²

       Here is the great divide in the theologies that purport to be Christian.  a  Did Christ come all the way down in taking our flesh, or did He possess some higher kind of flesh unknown to man in his fallen state? On this point, Paul had emphatically stated that "without controversy great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh."³ Paul had further emphasized that Christ partook of the "same" flesh and blood as man.⁴ John declared that to deny this fundamental truth concerning the Incarnation was to reveal the spirit of antichrist.

       If Christ came and lived on a different plane than man, in a different flesh than man has, then there would be no way for Christ to be man's Example, and a Christian could not really represent Him in the world. But John'indicated that "as He is, so are we in this world."⁵ And what was He? It is written:       

To human eyes, Christ was only a man, yet He was a perfect man. In His humanity He was the impersonation of the divine character. God embodied His own attributes in His Son, - His power, His wisdom, His goodness, His purity, His truthfulness, His spirituality, and His benevolence. In Him, though human, all perfection of

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^a See Appendix A

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character, all divine excellence dwelt.⁶

       The same relationship between Christ and His people as stated in the Epistle of John is also reiterated in the book of Revelation in the message to the overcomers of the church of Laodicea. Christ's followers are to overcome "even as [He] overcame."⁷ Christ accepted the liability of "the" flesh, and met the Law of Equivalence, so that man might also experience victory by the way and through the means provided in the sacrificial offering on Calvary, and High Priestly intercession. On this point it is stated:

Christ came to this world to counteract Satan's falsehood that God had made a law which men could not keep. Taking humanity upon Himself, He came to this earth, and by a life of obedience showed that God has not made a law that man cannot keep. He showed that it is possible for man to perfectly obey the law. Those who accept Christ as their Saviour, becoming partakers of His divine nature, are enabled to follow His example, living in obedience to every precept of the law. Through the merits of Christ, man is to show by his obedience that he could be trusted in heaven, that he would not rebel.

Christ possessed the same nature that man possesses. He was tempted in all points like as man is tempted. The same power by which He obeyed is at man's command.⁸

       In the book of Revelation, the One exalted to the throne of God is revealed as still "the Son of man."⁹  His pre-existence, and His incarnation are presented in the symbolism of Chapter Twelve. There, He as Michael - the name means, One who is like God - is portrayed in deadly conflict with the originator of sin and evil - the great-red dragon - who is declared to be the devil and Satan.¹⁰  He is revealed as Christ - the Messiah and the Lamb - who cast down the "accuser" of the brethren, and through Whom the brethren in turn overcome the accuser.¹¹  But in the introduction of this whole chapter, there is portrayed in prophetic symbolism the first gospel promise made to Eve in Eden. The seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head.¹²   This seed of the woman

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is declared to be "a man-child."

       In the Greek, there are three words that John could have used to describe Jesus as a man. He could have chosen - - which is used to indicate man in the generic sense. Such a designation is found frequently in the gospels where Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of man.¹³  He could have selected the word -  - which means man in reference to his sex, but also has broader shades of meaning. It is used to contrast an adult with a boy, and a husband in relationship to a wife. In the Scriptures this word is also used to designate non-sexual heavenly beings such as the angels."¹⁴  John, however, moved by the Spirit chose the word -  or  - to express the thought conveyed in regard to the Man-child. This word denotes singularly the male sex. Jesus Christ was a man in every sense of the word. The emphasis is heightened by the fact that this designation is quoted from a prophecy of Isaiah, where the Hebrew word - zakar - is used to distinguish the male child.¹⁵  The etymology of this word indicates the emphasis to be drawn.¹⁶

       Our Saviour in accepting humanity was not bereft of any organism or glandular structure common to the rest of the sons of Adam, but became liable to all the temptations such as are common to man. He understood the drives which the enemy could stimulate in seeking men to violate the seventh commandment. He was not a eunuch, nor an angel. Neither did He isolate Himself from contacts with the opposite sex. Seven times did the sexually weak, but evidently very desirable Mary hear Jesus pray for her, and rebuke the power that held her captive. There is no evidence that this was done in public meetings, but rather on such oecasions which could be construed in modern parlance as private counselling sessions. But Mary came to understand how offensive was her sin to His

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unsullied purity.¹⁷  So victorious was the Man-child that He could pin-point the violation of the seventh commandment to a mere look, and then after a ministry which involved close contact with the opposite sex, and with women as a part of His traveling company,¹⁸  could ask the question - "Which of you convinceth Me of sin?" - and not one could lift an accusing voice! ¹⁹  He who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, must first set an example that He was able to rule the nature of man with an iron rod.

       The glory of this revelation is found in the simple declaration that "her child was caught up unto God and His throne."²⁰  There at the throne of God is One who understands all the feelings of our infirmities; Who was tempted in all points like as we are. He is able through His intercession to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. He is indeed a complete Saviour because He completely identified Himself with the race He came to save, meeting in every respect the Law of Equivalence.

       The final picture of this chapter "the remnant of her seed"²¹  - overcome as He overcame, for they keep the commandments of God, revealing in their lives the testimony of Jesus.

_________________________________________

¹1 John 1:1

²1 John 4:1-3

³1 Timothy 3:16

⁴Hebrews 2:14

⁵1 John 4:17

⁶E11en G. White, Youth's Instructor, Sept. 16, 1897

⁷Revelation 3:21

⁸Ellen G. White, That I may Know Him, p. 292

⁹Revelation 1:13

¹⁰Revelation 12:7-9

¹¹Revelation 12:10-11

¹²Revelation 12:1-5

¹³Matthew 16:13

¹⁴Luke 24:4; Acts 10:30

¹⁵Isaiah 66:7

¹⁶William Gesenius, A Hebrew and English Lexicon, 9th Edition, pp. 278-279

¹⁷E11en G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 568

¹⁸Luke 8:1-3

¹⁹John 8:46

²⁰Revelation 12:5

²¹Revelation 12:17

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VIII

PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE

       Peter wrote that in the provision of God's power, there has been given "unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness," even "great and precious promises: that by these [we] might be partakers of the divine nature," and thus escape "the corruption that is in the world through lust."¹  This participation in the "divine nature" is referred to as a divine culture that brings perfection. The servant of the Lord has stated:        

Divine culture brings perfection. If in connection with God the work is carried forward, the human agent, through Christ, will day by day gain victory and honor in the battle. Through the grace given he will overcome, and will be placed on vantage ground. In his relation to Christ he will be bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh, one with Christ in a peculiar relationship, because Christ took the humanity of man. He became subject to temptation, endangering as it were, His divine attributes. Satan sought, by the constant and curious devices of his cunning, to make Christ yield to temptation. Man must pass over the ground over which Christ has passed. As Christ overcame every temptation which Satan brought against Him, so man is to overcome. And those who strive earnestly to overcome are brought into a oneness with Christ that the angels in heaven can never know.

The divine culture of men and women will be carried forward to completion only as they are partakers of the divine nature. Thus they may overcome as Christ overcame in their behalf. Through the grace given, fallen man may be placed on vantage ground. Through toil, through patient trust and faith in Jesus Christ, through faithful continuance in well-doing, he may rise to spiritual victory.² 

       This experience is also referred to in the Spirit of Prophecy as a science "which is life unto eternal life." Note these words:       

Christ was invested with the right to give immortality. The life that He had laid down in humanity, He now takes up again, and gives to humanity. "I am come," He said, "that they might have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:10 ...

All who are one with Christ through faith in Him, by the agency of His Holy Spirit, He carries through the science of that experience,

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which is life unto eternal life ... 

Christ became one in flesh with humanity, that humanity might become one in spirit and life with Him.³

       In partaking of the "divine nature", there is an experience to be realized now by the believer, which is designated as "life" - real living, and a future experience - "eternal life", which is to follow. But the very essence of the future life is to be realized in the presently earthly experience. "Those who see Christ in His true character, and receive Him into the heart, have everlasting life. It is through the Spirit that Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of God, received into the heart by faith, is the beginning of the life eternal." ⁴  "As through Jesus we enter into rest, heaven begins here. We respond to His invitation, Come, learN of Me, and in thus coming we begin the life eternal."⁵

       Life eternal begins now; eternal life follows. One is quality; the other is quantity. Unless it can be demonstrated that an individual has yielded his life to the Holy Spirit for tne impartation of the "divine nature", God cannot trust that person with eternal life. A change of character must precede a change of being.

       Paul declared that in Christ "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." ⁶  Paul also prayed that the believer might "be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man," that Christ might dwell by faith in the heart, and that he "might be filled with all the fulness of God."⁷  What Christ possessed, we are to have and experience now even the fullness of the Godhead! It is written:

In Christ dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily. This is why, although He was tempted in all points like as we are, He stood before the world, from His first entrance into it, untainted by cor-

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ruption, though surrounded by it. Are we not also to become partakers of that fullness, and is it not thus, and thus only, that we can overcome as He overcame? ⁸

       That fullness that Christ possessed was the "divine nature" of which we are also to partake, if we are to overcome as He overcame. Carefully consider the following concepts:

Christ came to be our example, and to make known to us that we may be partakers of the divine nature ... Christ by His own example, made it evident that man may stand in integrity. Men may have power to resist evil - a power that neither earth, nor death, nor hell can master; a power that will place them where they may overcome as Christ overcame. Divinity and humanity may be combined in them. ⁹

Scarcely can the human mind comprehend what is the breadth and depth and height of the spiritual attainments that can be reached by becoming partakers of the divine nature.¹⁰

In creation, Christ gave to humanity an existence outside of Himself. In redemption, He takes humanity unto Himself. He makes it a part of His own being. We become one with Him, as He is one with God. The Holy Spirit, which proceeds from the only begotten Son, binds the believer, body, soul, and spirit to the divine-human nature of Christ. Finite man is united to the manhood of Christ. Through faith human nature is assimilated to Christ's nature. We are made one with God in Christ.¹¹

       It is at this point that we stumble and fall; our faith doesn't even attain to the proverbial grain of mustard seed; our perception "blacks out." We throw up our hands in dismay and question - "divine nature" in us? "Divinity and humanity" combined in man? In order to understand this goal, we must ask ourselves another question, and understand the answer. What makes God, God? In answering -this question, we need to reconsider carefully the pre-existence and incarnation of our Lord. In His pre-Bethlehem identity, He was in the "form of God". At Bethlehem, He accepted the "form of a slave", yet He was "the fulness of the Godhead bodily." His position as God was not lost, though He changed forms. But in the change, He "veiled the demonstrations of Deity" and

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"relinquished" the glories that are inherent in the form of God.¹²  This is evident from the prayer request of John 17. He asked to be glorified with the very self-identification with God, which He had possessed "before the world was."¹³   Yet when the Word was made flesh, His disciples saw a glory in Him as "the only begotten of the Father."¹⁴

       What is the difference between these glories? As the pre-existent God, Christ was immortal; as the Son of man, He was mortal .¹²  As the One who shared the Throne of the Universe, He possessed infinite power; as a member of the human family, He declared, "I can of mine own self do nothing."¹³   Yet He possessed a glory that was the glory of God. That glory was the fullness "of grace and truth.¹⁴  One was the "quality of God; the other the "quantity" of God. One was the "life eternal"; the other is "the eternal life." We might ask the primal question - "Which of these aspects of God did Lucifer call into question?" Not the "quantity" of God - His power, His immortality - for Lucifer desired these. But the character of God, the "quality" of God, the devil did not want. The great controversy concerns the law of God, which is but a transcript of God's character - not a transcript of the "form of God." This differentiation must be clearly understood. God's character is as much a revelation of Himself as in His form. Only as His character is the essence of truth and righteousness could He use the powers inherent in His form for the welfare of His creation.

       When Christ relinquished "the form of God" and took "the form of a slave" to save men, "He brought into His human nature all the life-giving energies that human beings will need and must receive."  ¹²  With these "life-giving energies" He demonstrated that fallen human nature was no excuse for sinning, that the law

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of God can be kept by man. "It is through His intercession that we, through faith, repentance, and conversion, are enabled to become partakers of the divine nature, and thus escape the corruption that is in the world through lust." ¹⁶  For its accomplishment in us, Christ has obtained the highest of all gifts that heaven can bestow - the Holy Spirit. This Gift "would come with no modified energy, but in the fulness of divine power ... Through the Spirit, the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature."¹⁷  The Holy Spirit takes the things of Christ - "the life-giving energies" - and ministers these to the repentant believer.¹⁸  In this Christ is glorified, for in the acceptance of these life-giving energies, man is enabled to reflect the image of Jesus fully, and thus the purpose of Jesus' mission is realized. What then are these life-giving energies - these energies solely of heavenly origin - by which man may possess the "divine nature"?

Truth

       One of the glories which the disciples beheld when the Word was made flesh, was truth.¹⁴  This was the basic issue of the conflict which began in heaven. Lucifer did not want to abide in the truth.¹⁹  But truth is essential that man might be freed from the bondage of sin. Of truth as an energy solely of divine origin, it is written:

Truth is sacred, divine. It is stronger and more powerful than anything else in the formation of a character after the likeness of Christ.... When it is cherished in the heart the love of Christ is preferred to the love of any human being. This is Christianity. This is the love of God in the soul. Thus pure, unadulterated truth occupies the citadel of the being. ²⁰

       No man can of himself originate truth. It is divine. It is a part of the fullness of the Godhead. When man, therefore, accepts truth, he is partak-

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ing of the "divine nature". "All truth is to be received as the life of Jesus. Truth cleanses us from all impurity, and prepares the soul for Christ's presence.  Christ is formed within, the hope of glory.²¹

       Truth and our relationship to it is the basis for the message of righteousness by faith. Speaking of those who did not accept the message of 1888 which came to the Seventh-day Adventist church, the servant of the Lord indicated that the reason was they were "not willing to exchange their own righteousness, which is unrighteousness, for the righteodsness of Christ, which is pure, unadulterated truth."²²

       Even the disciples of Christ did not comprehend the truths which Christ taught during His years of earthly ministry. They failed thus to partake of His life, and manifest His character. They were weak and vacillating, doubting and perplexed. But when the Holy Spirit came upon them, truth dominated their life and experience. Of this transformation, it is written:

Christ was the revealer of truth to the world. By Him the incorruptible seed - the word of God - was sown in the hearts of men. But many of the most precious lessons of the great Teacher were spoken to those who did not then understand them. When, after His ascension, the Holy Spirit brought His teachings to the remembrance of the disciples, their slumbering senses awoke. The meaning of these truths flashed upon their minds as a new revelation, and truth, pure and unadulterated, made a place for itself. Then the wonderful experience of His life became theirs.²³

       The Holy Spirit is the minister of the divine energy of truth. Jesus had promised that when "the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth."²⁴  This is possible because "the Holy Spirit ... is the truth."²⁵  "The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ."²⁶  It is the impartation of "His fulness,"²⁷  "the soul of His life"²⁸  - those very "life-giving energies" that man must have and must receive, if he is to experience the

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divine culture that brings perfection.

       John the Baptist promised that Christ would baptize the believer "with the Holy Ghost and with fire."²⁹   In this hour when much excitement is being generated by folk who claim to have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, one is hesitant to confess that he has indeed been baptized by the Holy Spirit and fire, as has been promised in the Word of God. This hesitancy results from the fact that we do not understand what this experience really is. In the prophecy of Zechariah, the experience is described in the symbolism of the two olive trees which empty themselves of the golden oil through two golden pipes.³⁰ This oil is defined as "the Word of the Lord." This is declared to be "the baptism by the Holy Spirit with fire."³¹  "The word of God - the truth - is the channel through which the Lord manifests His Spirit and power."³² If then, the powerful energy of truth has filled one's life, he has been baptized by the Holy Spirit with fire. When the Day of Pentecost came, the Spirit symbolized by tongues of fire, representing the organ of articulation, awakened the slumbering senses of the recipient, not only permitting truth to find its way into his life, but also enabling him to speak truth that pierced the stubborn hearts of the murderers of Christ, and lifted the darkness from their minds.³³ 

       Jeremiah the prophet had received much abuse because he had spoken unflinchingly the word of the Lord to disobedient Israel. The burden had become so heavy that he decided the best course to follow was to keep his mouth shut and say nothing more. This he could not do for the word of God - the truth - according to his own testimony, "was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forebearing, and I could not stay."³⁴  This is the baptism by fire so needed today, and can only become real, when men and

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women open their hearts to the life-giving energy of truth, which Christ wants to impart in unlimited power through the Holy Spirit.

       Jesus declared, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."³⁵  In the transforming power of truth, by which the divine nature is brought to us, there are those who would make this experience almost akin to a surgical heart transplant. They would have us believe that there must be an eradication of what is termed the "stoney heart", and an implantation of a "new heart." But this life-giving energy of truth restores the powers of the mind by removing the darkness which sin has brought. Of this experience it is stated:

The truths of the Word of God are the utterances of the Most High. He who makes these truths a part of his life becomes in every sense a new creature. He is not given new mental powers, but the darkness that through ignorance and sin has clouded the understanding, is removed. The words, "A new heart also will I give you," means, "A new mind will I give you." A change of heart is always attended by a clear conviction of Christian duty, an understanding of truth. He who gives the Scriptures close, prayerful attention will gain clear comprehension and sound judgment, as if in turning to God he had reached a higher plane of intelligence.³⁶

       Truth does not destroy or eradicate the mind by which eternal decisions must be made, but it restores the mind to its original capacity to discern the deceptive temptations of the enemy so that the trauma of Eden need not be repeated.

Grace

       Along with truth, the disciples beheld the fullness of the grace of God manifest in the Word made flesh.¹⁴ This grace was not a passive energy, but rather active. Paul declared:

For the grace of Cod that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.³⁷

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       God's grace is not something by which He winks at man's transgressions, but His grace teaches us that we should deny ungodliness and lusts which war against the soul. That this may be accomplished in us, we must accept the promises of the powerful energies heaven has provided whereby we can escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. The grace which Christ implants in the soul through the Holy Spirit does something specific for the recipient. The Spirit of Prophecy states:

It is the grace that Christ implants in the soul which creates in man enmity against Satan. Without this converting grace and renewing power, man would continue the captive of Satan, a servant ever ready to do his bidding. But the new principle in the soul creates conflict where hitherto had been peace. The power which Christ imparts, enables man to resist the tyrant and usurper. Whoever is seen to abhor sin instead of loving it, whoever resists and conquers those passions that have held sway within, displays the operation of a principle wholly from above.³⁸

       Grace does have a negative aspect. It creates hatred of, an abhorrence for, and an enmity against sin. This enmity is supernatural , wholly of divine origin. In this it reflects the very nature of Jesus. Of Him it is written, "Thou has loved righteousness, and hated iniquity."³⁹ When Christ became an inhabitant of this earth, this enmity reached its highest degree of development. "Never before had there been a being upon the earth who hated sin with so perfect a hatred as did Christ. He had 'seen its deceiving, infatuating power upon the holy angels, and all His powers were enlisted against it."⁴⁰ 

       Genuine grace was the means of God's direct intervention in the fall of man to offset the advantage obtained by the enemy. Had not God intervened, man would have formed a firm alliance with Satan against heaven. "In the statement, 'I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed,' God pledged Himself to introduce into the hearts of human beings a new principle, - a hatred of sin, of deception, or pretense, of everything that

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bears the marks of Satan's guile.⁴¹

       We hear much today about how easy it is to be a Christian; just believe and the grace of God will do all that needs to be done. But the implantation of the true grace of God in the soul - hatred of sin - is the beginning of a life-long struggle marked by tedious battles and severe, bitter contests. It is written: 

The evil tendencies of mankind are hard to overcome. The battles are tedious. Every soul in the strife knows how severe, how bitter, are these contests. Everything about growth in grace is difficult, because the standard and maxims of the world are constantly interposed between the soul and God's holy standard. The Lord would have us elevated, enobled, purified, by carrying out the principles underlying His great moral standard, which will test every character in the great day of final reckoning.⁴²

 

Love

       Truth brings love, even the love of God.²⁰  The Bible declares that God is love. ⁴³  It is His very nature. This love was revealed in the life of Christ. "In the light from Calvary it will be seen that the law of self-renouncing love is the law of life for earth and heaven; that the love which 'seeketh not her own' has its source in the heart of God."⁴⁴  The love which Christ manifested in His life is now to be implanted in the hearts of the believer "by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."⁴⁵
       This genuine love, however, is not a love-sick sentimentalism which indulges sin, or the sinner. It is written:

True love seeks first the honor of God and the salvation of souls. Those who have this love will not evade the truth to save themselves from the unpleasant results of plain speaking. When souls are in peril, God's ministers will not consider self, but will speak the word given them to speak, refusing to excuse or palliate evil.⁴⁶

       Christ's heart "overflowed with love for the whole human race, but He was

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never indulgent to their sins. He was too much their friend to remain silent while they were pursuing a course that would ruin their souls, - the souls He had purchased with His own blood. He labored that man should be true to himself, true to his higher and eternal interest."⁴⁷

Summary⁴⁸

       Only through the impartation of the life-giving energies - the divine nature - can one realize the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. To be baptized by the Holy Spirit with fire - which is the truth as it is in Jesus; to be impregnated with supernatural enmity against sin - which is the grace which Christ implants; and to be imbued with the self-renouncing love which leads one to seek first the honor of God and the salvation of souls, is to be possessed with a power that neither earth, nor death, nor hell can master. Divinity and humanity is thus combined in such an one.

_________________________________________

¹II Peter 1:3-4

²Ellen G. White, Letter 5, 1900 (7BC:926)

³Ellen G. White, Ms. 131, 1897, Andreasen Collection #2

⁴Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 388

⁵Ibid., p. 331

⁶Colossians 2:9

⁷Ephesians 3:14-21

⁸Ellen G. White, Ms. 16, 1890 (7BC:907)

⁹Ellen G. White, Review & Herald Feb. 18, 1890

¹⁰Ellen G. White, Letter 43, 1895 (7BC:943)

¹¹Ellen G. White, "The Word Made Flesh", Andreasen Collection #2

¹²Ellen G. White, Review & Herald, June 15, 1905 (5BC:1126)

¹³John 17:5

¹⁴John 1:14

¹⁵John 5:30

¹⁶Ellen G. White, Ms. 29, 1906

¹⁷Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 671

¹⁸John 16:14-15

¹⁹John 8:44

²⁰EIlen G. White, In Heavenly Places, p. 140

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²¹Ellen G. White, Ms. 103, 1902 (7BC:957)

²²Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, p. 65

²³Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 520

²⁴John 16:13

²⁵Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, p. 122

²⁶Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 805

²⁷Ellen G. White, Education, p. 95

²⁸Ellen G. White, Our High Calling, p. 150

²⁹Luke 3:16

³⁰Zechariah 4:11-14

³¹Ellen G. White, Ms. 109, 1897 (4BC:1180)

³²Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 520

³³Acts 2:3-4, 36-37

³⁴Jeremiah 20:9

³⁵John 8:32

³⁶Ellen G. White, Review & Herald December 18, 1913

³⁷Titus 2:11-12

³⁸Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 506

³⁹Hebrews 1:9

⁴⁰Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, bk i, p. 254

⁴¹Ellen G. White, Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, p. 6

⁴²Ellen G. White, The Faith I Live By, p. 135

⁴³1 John 4:16

⁴⁴EIlen G. White, The Desire of Age, p. 20

⁴⁵Romans 5:5

⁴⁶Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 141

⁴⁷Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 356

⁴⁸See Appendix B

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IX

CONCLUSION

       Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness for by it God was manifest in the flesh. God-like-ness - godliness - is God manifest in human flesh. This Christ revealed even in the slave-form of man. Those who partake of the "divine nature" again manifest God in their slave-forms. God dwells in them, and walks in them.¹  "Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God's ideal for His children. Godliness - godlikeness - is the goal to be reached."²  "All who long to bear the likeness of the character of God shall be satisfied. The Holy Spirit never leaves unassisted the soul who is looking unto Jesus. He takes the things of Christ [the life-giving energies] and shows them unto him. If the eye is kept fixed on Christ, the work of the Spirit ceases not until the soul is conformed to His image. The pure element of love will expand the soul, giving it capacity for higher attainments, for increased knowledge of heavenly things, so that it will not rest short of the fulness."³

       There is revealed in the Bible another mystery, the mystery of iniquity.⁴  The power of this mystery is declared to be "the working of Satan" (), and because of a "strong delusion" (), permitted by God. The Greek word in both instances for "working" and "strong" transliterated is "energy". The mystery of iniquity has energy, but instead of being life-giving, it produces death. Fenton has translated these verses well. They read:

This outlaw's arrival will be accompanied by the energy of Satan with all powers, and signs, and terrors of falsehood; and with all the deceit of injustice among the perishing, who accepted not the love of the truth, so that they themselves might be saved. And, because of this, God will send to them an energy of error, for themselves to make the Falsehood credible; so that in every way those who do not trust to the truth, but on the contrary, approve falsehood, may be condemned.⁵

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       When each mystery has run its course in time, certain results will become manifest. Of those who have yielded to the energies of Satan, it is prophesied:

Through yielding to satanic influences, men will be transformed into fiends; and those who were created in the image of God, who were formed to honor and glorify their Creator, will become the habitation of dragons, and Satan will see in an apostate race his masterpiece of evil, - men who reflect his own image.  ⁶

       Of those who have yielded to the life-giving energies which Christ brought with Him into humanity, and which through the Holy Spirit are ministered to each believer, it is written:

We must learn of Christ. We must known what He is to those He has ransomed. We must realize that through belief in Him it is our privilege to be partakers of the divine nature, and so escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. Then we are cleansed from all sin, all defects of character. We need not retain one sinful propensity.

As we partake of the divine nature, hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong are cut away from the character, and we are made a living power for good. Ever learning of the divine Teacher, daily partaking of His nature, we cooperate with God in overcoming Satan's temptations. God works, and man works, that man may be one with Christ as Christ is one with God. Then we sit together with Christ in heavenly places. The mind rests with peace and assurance in Jesus.⁷

Again:

The true Christian obtains an experience which brings holiness. He is without a spot of guilt upon the conscience, or a taint of corruption upon the soul. The spirituality of the law of God, with its limiting principles, is brought into his life. The light of truth irradiates his understanding. A glow of perfect love for the Redeemer clears away the miasma which has interposed between his soul and God. The will of God has become his will, pure, elevated, refined, and sanctified. His countenance reveals the light of heaven. His body is a fit temple for the Holy Spirit. Holiness adorns his character. God can commune with him; for soul and body are in harmony with God.⁸

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¹II Corinthians 6:16

²Ellen G. White, Education, p. 18

³Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 302

⁴II Thessalonians 2:7-12

⁵II Thessalonians 2:9-12 Translation by Farrar Fenton

⁶Ellen G. White, Review & Herald, April 14, 1896

⁷Ibid., April 14, 1900

⁸Ellen G. White, Letter 139, 1898 (7BC:909)

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Appendix A

 

Theories of the Incarnation

Roman Catholic

       The Roman Catholic concept of the Incarnation is expressed in the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception enunciated by Pope Pius IX. It was stated thus:

We define that the Blessed Virgin Mary in the first moment of her conception, by the singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin.¹

Commenting on the meaning of this dogma, Cardinal Gibbons has written:

Unlike the rest of the children of Adam, the soul of Mary was never subject to sin, even in the first moment of its infusion into the body. She alone was exempt from the original taint.²

       The meaning of this doctrine to the individual sinner in need of the saving grace of Jesus Christ can be best illustrated in a contrasting diagram:

         There is a gap between the level to which Christ came in the Catholic Dogma of the Incarnation, and where man is. This "gap" had to be bridged, and so between the Catholic church member and Jesus has been placed priests, cannonized saints, angels, and finally Mary herself. A sainted doctor of the church has stated "that all graces are dispensed by Mary, and that all who are saved are saved only by the means of this Divine Mother, it is a necessary consequence that the salvation of all depends upon preaching Mary, and exciting all

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to confidence in her intercession." ³  Thus the instrumentalities created by the church become the door to heaven rather than Jesus Christ being the way, the truth and the life.

The Evangelical

       The position held by the Evangelicals in general is expressed by the authorities cited by William G. T. Shedd in his Dogmatic Theology.^a Pearson is quoted as believing:

"The original and total sanctification of the human nature was first necessary to fit it for the personal union with the Word, who out of His infinite love humbled Himself to become flesh, and at the same time out of His infinite purity could not defile Himself by becoming sinful flesh. Therefore the human nature, in its first original, without any precedent merit, was formed by the Spirit, and in its formation sanctified, and in its sanctification united to the Word; so that grace was co-existent and in a manner co-natural with it."

Owen is also quoted as follows:

"The human nature of Christ, being thus formed in the womb by a creating act of the Holy Spirit, was in the instant of its conception sanctified and filled with grace according to the measure of its receptivity."⁴

Shedd himself then comments:

The quickening of a portion of the human nature in the Virgin Mother was by the creative energy of God the Holy Ghost. This miraculous conception, consequently, was as pure from all sensuous quality as the original creation of Adam's body from the dust of the ground, or of Eve's body from the rib of Adam. As the dust of the ground was enlivened by a miraculous act, and the result was the individual body of Adam, so the substance of

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^a The section of Shedd's Dogmatic Theology regarding the Incarnation was abbreviated in the Ministry, December, 1957, at the time that Questions on Doctrine was published. In a preface note to the article, it was stated that an Evangelical publishing house had provided "a classic three-volume reprint edition of Dr. Shedd's very helpful work." Then the suggestion was made - "These volumes provide much valuable material which could be used by our [Seventh-day Adventist] workers."

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Mary was quickened and sanctified by a miraculous act, and the result was the human soul and body of Jesus Christ.⁵

       Between this doctrine and the Catholic Dogma, there is but a "generation gap". While the entire "soul" of Mary, according to Catholic dogma, was preserved free from the fallen nature of mankind, the Evangelical doctrine teaches that the "human soul" of Christ was thus preserved. While the distance between Jesus and man is narrowed in the Evangelical theory, there is still a gulf to be bridged. This is bridged by the concept that man solely by faith - sola fide - accepts what was done in his behalf by Christ. This becomes primary in emphasis, because if there is no experimental model of what God can do in fallen human flesh, then there is no example for the Holy Spirit to emulate in working out the victory in the fallen human nature of each believer.

       Such teaching makes impossible the doctrine of perfection, for if the Holy Spirit achieved the goal of the righteousness of Christ in the fallen nature of any human being, then there would be a victory obtained such as Christ only obtained in a sanctified, unfallen state. How then could Christ in all things have preeminence?⁶  Thus the true doctrine of perfection of character, and the doctrine of the incarnation are inseparably linked. If the doctrine of the incarnation - that Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh - is altered, then the doctrine of perfection of character in our fallen nature becomes only a theoy, impossible of realization.

The Neo-Seventh-day Adventist

       As a result of the conference between Evangelical representatives and certain leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist church, Questions on Doctrine was published.⁷  In this book, there appeared a different teaching on the Incarna

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tion than the church had previously held and taught.⁸  It borrowed the very word, "exempt" as used by Cardinal Gibbons in his comments on the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and applied it to the nature that Christ assumed in becoming man. The statement reads:

Although born in the flesh, He[Christ] was nevertheless God, and was exempt from the inherited passions and pollutions that corrupt the natural descendants of Adam.⁹

       While the book, Questions on Doctrine, does not teach that Christ took the nature of Adam before the Fall in so many words [the concept is implied], an article written the same year of the book's publication and directed to the ministry of the church by the head of the Ministerial Association of the General Conference so stated. It read:

When the incarnate God broke into human history and became one with the race, it is our understanding that He possessed the sinlessness of the nature with which Adam was created in Eden.¹⁰

       The Neo-Advintist teaching paralleling the Evangelical theory was fully published in the book, Movement of Destiny. In this book, Dr Froom tells of an exchange of correspondence with Dr. Schuyler English, editor of the Evangelical publication, Our Hope. The editor had written:

"He [Christ] was perfect in His humanity, but He was none the less God, and His conception in His incarnation was overshaddowed by the Holy Spirit so that He did not partake of the fallen sinful nature of other men."¹¹

In response to this concept, Froom wrote - "That, we in turn assured him, is precisely what we [Seventh-day Adventists] likewise believe."¹²   In another section of the book, Froom asserted - "Christ was like Adam before the Fall - 'a pure, sinless being, without a taint of sin upon Him."'¹³

       Thus a gap is created in the new Adventist theology between Jesus, and the individual member of the church. At the present writing, it has not yet

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been clarified what the church will substitute to fill the "gap", but ever since the introduction of this new doctrine on the incarnation, along with other doctrinal deviations, the emphasis has been placed on the infallibility of the organization and its leadership. The laity have been told that the incorporated church is going through so stay with the organization. The concept of "organization", and "church" has been made to appear as one. Thus verily as the Roman Catholic church substituted human mediators between the individual and Jesus, so likewise there is being substituted a human organization between the laity of the Seventh-day Adventist church and the Saviour of mankind. Indeed as the prophet to the church declared, the leadership is following "in the track of Romanism."¹⁴

Addendum

       At the time when the masthead of the Review & Herald carried the notation - "Devoted to the Proclamation of 'the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints'" - the editor, W. W. Prescott, wrote:

In order that the character of God might be manifested in sinful men who would believe on Him, it was necessary that Jesus should unite divinity and humanity in Himself, and that the flesh which He bore should be the same as the other men in whom God was thus to be manifested....

This is not a mere matter of theory. It is intensely practical in all its bearings. If the son of God did not dwell in sinful flesh when He was born into the world, then the ladder has not been let down from heaven to earth, and the gulf between a holy God and fallen humanity has not been bridged.¹⁵

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¹Pii Papae IX, Bulla Dogmat., quoted in The Faith of Our Fathers, 88th Edition, p. 171.

²James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers, 88th Edition, p. 171.

³St. Alphonsius Maria DeLigouri, The Glories of Mary, 2nd Edition, p. 8.

⁴The Mininstry, December, 1957, p. 14

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⁵Ibid, p. 39 

⁶Colossians 1:18

⁷See Movement of Destiny, Chapter 21

⁸Wm. H. Grotheer, An Interpretive History of the Doctrine of the Incarnation as Taught by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This is documentary manuscript on the subject.

⁹Questions on Doctrine, p.p. 383

¹⁰R. Allan Anderson, "'God with Us'", The Ministry, April, 1957, p. 34

¹¹L. E. Froom, Movement of Destiny, p. 469

¹²Ibid., p. 470

¹³Ibid., p. 497 Emphasis his.

¹⁴Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, p. 363

¹⁵Editorial, "'In... Sinful Flesh'", Review & Herald, December 21, 1905

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APPENDIX B

Diagram Illustrating Science of Divine Culture

       Jesus made Himself void in His "slave-form" so that the Father alone appeared in His life. He humbled Himself still further, and became "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Phil. 2:8) He who would be a follower of Christ must likewise accept his cross, thus denying his-self. (Luke 9:23) The life that one lives who has accepted the cross, and who continues to die daily, is a life in which the Holy Spirit alone operates. Through the working of the Holy Spirit, the "divine nature" appears in the life as the "life-giving energies" are imparted. This is the science of that experience which is life unto eternal life - the divine culture that leads to perfection.

End of Manuscript