We are very fortunate as a people to have a special gift for the hours of these last days. As “holy men of God … were holy moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21 NKJV), our last day gift is to be Holy Spirit filled to help us be taught spiritual things (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 2:10).
The mystery of the incarnation of divinity to become flesh for the salvation of man is a miracle (1 Timothy 3:16). The name Jesus is defined by the scripture as “Savior from your sins” (Matthew 1:21). Hebrews 2:14 tells us that “… as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.”
The Spirit of God has told us, “The Father is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and is invisible to mortal sight.
“The Son is all the fullness of the Godhead manifested. …
“The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven, is the Spirit in all the fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Savior. (See Colossians 2:9; Romans 1:20.)” Evangelism, 614, 615.
John 1:1–4 tells us that “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. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
Paul said it this way: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:3, 4). This deteriorated nature spoken of was after 4000 years of degeneration and of sin.
The prophet of God states in The Desire of Ages, 49, that “It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man’s nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. … He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.”
So now we know that we have the Son of God whose name is Jesus, who is in the fullness of the Godhead bodily, dwelling in the flesh. John 1:14 tells us, “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
As a review, when was Jesus begotten of the Father? Luke 1:35: “And the angel answered and said unto her, 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.”
Certainly, this was a supernatural birth that we don’t know any more about than what is given to us to know. It is called the incarnation. But we do know more about Jesus’ humanity. Paul, speaking of Jesus in the synagogue at Antioch said, “We declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee” (Acts 13:32, 33).
The Holy Spirit tells us in Selected Messages, Book 1, 244, that “The humanity of the Son of God is everything to us. … This is to be our study. … 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.”
This divine person, living in deteriorated human nature and having a weakened mind after 4000 years of degeneration, conquered sin in the flesh. However, Jesus said that He could do nothing of Himself. He said, “I live by the Father” (John 6:57), and “I can of mine own self do nothing” (John 5:30).
In The Signs of the Times, June 17, 1897, Ellen White wrote, “… while bearing human nature, He [Jesus] was dependent upon the Omnipotent for His life. In His humanity, he laid hold of the divinity of God; and this every member of the human family has the privilege of doing. Christ did nothing that human nature may not do if it partakes of the divine nature.”
Are we getting the beautiful picture yet? Jesus is more than just our substitute for sin, He is also our example of how to live for God and be fitted for our heavenly home. It is true that Jesus was not like us in His humanity because he did not need to be reborn or converted. He never chose to sin even though He lived in the likeness of sinful flesh after 4000 years of weakness. So, how could He be called a Holy thing after being begotten in the flesh?
“He began life, passed through its experiences, and ended its record, with a sanctified human will.” The Signs of the Times, October 29, 1894. This whole article is well worth reading. The Holy Spirit controlled His mind and this is why Jesus can be our example. We also can have a sanctified will while living in sinful flesh through the process of being reborn of the Holy Spirit. (See John 3:3–5.)
The “new theology” in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, as found in the Pentecostal churches, claims that Jesus did everything for you. He couldn’t sin, and He came in the same nature as Adam before the fall. So, in that condition, Jesus can only be a substitute and not an example. Since you cannot be like Jesus, there is nothing for you to do regarding your salvation. However, the Bible says, “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth” (John 17:17).
Words in the Bible are the instructors of what we are to do. (See 2 Timothy 3:16, 17.) With a new sanctified reborn will in your mind, you will be able to discern the difference between sin and righteousness and know what is not of God. You will want to do God’s will as given in the word of God, as Jesus did. Commands of God will no longer be a problem. You will say as Jesus said, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10). You will fulfill Jesus’ words in John 14:10–15 and do greater works than He had done. This is the last generation’s calling in life.
“Christ is our pattern, our example in all things. He was filled with the Spirit, and the Spirit’s power was manifested through Him.” Reflecting Christ, 130.
Jesus’ sacrifice to come to this world, to live divested of His holy position, weakened, and to die willingly by His own choice is beyond our comprehension. This is true love. All of heaven was poured out in this gift to save man. Nothing more could be given by God.
Will you rededicate your life and ask God in the name of Jesus for the miracle of a sanctified will? By God’s grace we can be restored to where Adam and Eve were before their fall. Praise God. He wants to save us. Just remember, “The Christian life is a battle and a march. But the victory to be gained is not won by human power. The field of conflict is the domain of the heart. The battle that we have to fight—the greatest battle that was ever fought by man—is the surrender of self to the will of God, the yielding of the heart to the sovereignty of love. The old nature, born of blood and the will of the flesh, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The hereditary tendencies, the former habits, must be given up.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 141.
Gregg Richards can be contacted at: Three Angels Message Ministry, P.O. Box 1621, Bishop, CA 93514, or by email at: richthumper@gmail.com.
I would like to give credit for an excellent source material book called The Truth and The Trident by Barry Mellor available from Steps to Life bookstore or from us in Bishop, California.