EGW ON
CHRIST'S NATURE
“The beasts and birds were all hurried beyond the sacred portals. A panic of fear swept over the multitude who felt the over-shadowing of Christ’s Divinity. Cries of terror escaped from hundreds of blanched lips as the crowd rushed headlong from the place. Jesus smote them not with the whip of cords, but, to their guilty eyes, that simple instrument seemed like gleaming, angry swords, circling in every direction, and threatening to cut them down.” 1Red:77.2.
“Letters have been coming in 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 was a solemn reality that Christ Came to fight the battles as man, in man’s behalf. His temptation and victory tell us that humanity must copy the Pattern; man must become a partaker of the Divine nature.” 1SM:408.1. See Colossians 1:27; RH, February 18, 1890 & 5BC:1082.
“The Son of God was next in authority to the great Lawgiver [Note: In His form of humanity only]. He knew that His life alone could be sufficient to ransom fallen man. He was of as much more value than man as His noble, spotless character, and exalted office as Commander of all the Heavenly host, were above the work of man. He was in the express image of His Father, not in features alone, but in perfection of character.” 2SP:9.1; LHU:24.2; RH, December 17, 1872, paragraph 1. See Hebrews 1:3.
“The Divine Son of God was the Only sacrifice of sufficient value to fully satisfy the claims of God’s perfect Law. The angels were sinless, but of less value than the Law of God. They were amenable to Law. They were messengers to do the Will of Christ, and before Him to bow. They were created beings, and probationers. Upon Christ no requirements were laid. He had power to lay down His life, and to take it again. No obligation was laid upon Him to undertake the work of atonement. It was a voluntary sacrifice that He made. His life was of sufficient value to rescue man from his fallen condition.” 2SP:10.1; LHU:24.5; 7ABC:461.3; RH, December 17, 1872, paragraph 4; RH, January 11, 1881.
“The Son of God was in the form of God, and He thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” 2SP:10.2; LHU:24.6; RH, December 17, 1872, paragraph 6. See Philippians 2:6.
“He had united with the Father in the creation of man, and He had power through His Own Divine perfection of character to atone for man’s sin, and to elevate him, and bring him back to his first estate.” 2SP:10.2; LHU:24.6; RH, December 17, 1872, paragraph 5.
“But the infinite sacrifice that Christ voluntarily made for man remains a mystery that angels cannot fully fathom.” 2SP:11; RH, December 17, 1872, paragraph 7.
“The extent of the terrible consequences of sin could never have been known, had not the remedy provided been of infinite value. The salvation of fallen man was procured at such an immense cost that angels marveled, [12] and could not fully comprehend the Divine mystery that the Majesty of Heaven, equal with God, should die for the rebellious race.” 2SP:11-12; 7ABC:456.1; RH, December 17, 1872, paragraph 8.
“The Son was the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of His Person. He possessed Divine excellence and greatness. He was equal with God. It pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell.” 2SP:38; RH, December 17, 1872, paragraph 16; PH169:1.1.
“In Christ were united the human and the Divine. . . Taking human nature fitted Christ to understand the nature of man’s trials, and all the temptations wherewith he is beset. Angels, who were unacquainted with sin, could not sympathize with man in his peculiar trials.” 2SP:39.1; 2T:201.1; RH, December 31, 1872, Paragraph 17.
“Before Christ left Heaven and came into the world to die, He was taller than any of the angels. He was majestic and lovely. But when His ministry commenced, He was but little taller than the common size of men then living upon the earth.” 2SP:39.2; 7BC:904.1; 4aSG:115.1; RH, December 31, 1872, paragraph 18.
“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.” 2SP:88.2. See Hebrews 2:10. See also my Matthew, Chapter 4, Verses 2 & 3 & 4 Notes.
“When Christ was crucified, it was His human nature that died. Deity did not sink and die; that would have been impossible.” 5BC:1113.3.
“Christ could not have come to this earth with the glory that He had in the Heavenly courts. Sinful human beings could not have borne the sight. He veiled His Divinity with the garb of humanity, but He did not part with His Divinity. A Divine-human Saviour, He Came to stand at the head of the fallen race, to share in their experience from childhood to manhood (The Review and Herald, June 15, 1905).” 5BC:1128.2.
“Christ had not exchanged His Divinity for humanity; but He had clothed His Divinity in humanity (The Review and Herald, October 29, 1895).” 5BC:1128.3.
“Be careful, exceedingly careful as to how you dwell upon the human nature of Christ. Do not set Him before the people as a man with the propensities of sin. He is the second Adam. The first Adam was created a pure, sinless being, without a taint of sin upon him; he was in the image of God. He could fall, and he did fall through transgressing. Because of sin his posterity was born with inherent propensities of disobedience. But Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God. He took upon Himself human nature, and was tempted in all points as human nature is tempted. He could have sinned; He could have fallen, but not for one moment was there in Him an evil propensity. He was assailed with temptations in the wilderness, as Adam was assailed with temptations in Eden.” 5BC:1128.4.
“It is a mystery that is left unexplained to mortals that Christ could be tempted in all points like as we are, and yet be without sin. 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 it cannot be. The exact time when humanity blended with Divinity, it is not necessary for us to know. We are to keep our feet on the Rock Christ Jesus, as God revealed in humanity.” 5BC:1128.6.
“ ‘Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me’ [John 14:30] nothing to respond to temptation. On not one occasion was there a response to his manifold temptations. Not once did Christ step on Satan’s ground, to give him any advantage. Satan found nothing in Him to encourage his advances (Letter 8, 1895).” 5BC:1129.2.
“But although Christ’s Divine glory was for a time veiled and eclipsed by His assuming humanity, yet He did not cease to be God when He became man. The human did not take the place of the Divine, nor the Divine of the human. This is the mystery of Godliness. The two expressions ‘human’ and ‘Divine’ were, in Christ, closely and inseparably one, and yet they had a distinct individuality. Though Christ humbled Himself to become man, the Godhead was still His Own. His Deity could not be lost while He stood faithful and true to His loyalty.” 5BC:1129.3; ST, May 10, 1899.
“There were occasions when Jesus stood forth while in human flesh as the Son of God. Divinity flashed through humanity, and was seen by the scoffing priests and rulers. . . When Christ’s indwelling glory flashed forth, it was too intense for His pure and perfect humanity entirely to conceal.” 5BC:1129.4; ST, May 10, 1899.
“The world’s Redeemer was equal with God. His authority was as the authority of God. He declared that He had no existence separate from the Father. The Authority by which He spoke, and wrought miracles, was expressly His Own, yet He assures us that He and the Father are One.” 5BC:1142.2; 7ABC:439.1; The Review and Herald, January 7, 1890, page 1.
“God gave His only-begotten Son to become one of the human family, forever to retain His [Divine and] human nature.” DA:25.
“Many claim that it was impossible for Christ to be overcome by temptation. Then He could not have been placed in Adam’s position. He could not have gained the victory that Adam failed to gain. If we have in any sense a more trying conflict than had Christ, then He would not be able to succor us {Heb. 2:18}. But our Saviour took humanity, with all its liabilities. He took the nature of man, with the possibility of yielding to temptation. We have nothing to bear which He has not endured.” DA:117.
“Christ had not ceased to be God when He became man. Though He had humbled Himself to humanity, the Godhead was still His Own. Christ alone could represent the Father to humanity, and this representation the disciples had been privileged to behold for over three years.” DA:663.5.
“Christ’s Divinity flashed through suffering Humanity. Satan had no power to resist the Command to depart.” Manuscript 155, 1902; Sermons and Talks, 2:218-219); CTr;194.4.
Christ “clothed His Divinity with humanity. He was all the while as God. He veiled the demonstrations of Deity. . . He was God while upon earth, but He divested Himself of the form of God. . . He was God, but the glories of the form of God He for a while relinquished.” RH, July 5, 1887.
“Christ’s Divinity was so completely veiled that it was difficult for even his disciples to believe in Him; and when He died on the cross, they felt that their hope had perished.” RH June 12, 1900, paragraph 13.
“That human beings might be partakers of the Divine nature, He came to this earth, and lived a life of perfect obedience.” RH, June 15, 1905, paragraph 12.
“Christ was appointed to the office of Mediator from the creation of God, set up from everlasting to be our Substitute and Surety. Before the world was made, it was arranged that the Divinity of Christ should be enshrouded in humanity. ‘A body,’ said Christ, ‘hast Thou prepared Me. . .’ {Hebrews 10:5}. This was not done by going out of Himself to another, but by taking humanity into Himself. Thus Christ gave to humanity an existence out of Himself. To bring humanity into Christ, to bring the fallen race into oneness with Divinity, is the work of redemption. Christ took human nature that men might be one with Him as He is One with the Father, that God may Love man as He Loves His only begotten Son, that men may be partakers of the Divine nature, and be complete in Him.” RH, April 5, 1906.
“The Spirit witnessed so powerfully to His [Christ's] claims that the hearts of all who were in the Synagogue responded to the gracious Words that proceeded from His lips. Here was the turning point with that company. As Christ’s Divinity flashed through Humanity, their spiritual sight was quickened. A new power of discernment and appreciation came upon them, and the conviction was almost irresistible that Jesus was the Son of God.” The Signs of the Times, September 14, 1882; TA:182.2.