In this issue:
Thoughts on Christ’s Divinity
David Clayton
Every now and then questions arise
concerning the nature of Christ in the incarnation. In particular, the
question of whether or not He was fully possessed of divine power while
He was fully a human being keeps surfacing. Even among those who fully
agree on the truth about God and His Son, there are often queries
concerning the reality of the death of Christ. Since it is believed that
Jesus possessed all divine power while He was here, the logical
conclusion is that He did not completely die on Calvary and furthermore,
that He had the power to, and did indeed raise Himself from the dead
after His crucifixion.
Truth is a consistent chain with every part linked to the other. I
learned that many years ago and I have found it to be an inflexible
rule. It is always true. Whenever our ideas are not in line with truth
then we find that when we try to harmonize these ideas with what is
already established, there is a break in logic, a break in harmony. The
inevitable result is that we have to readjust our beliefs in everything
in order to make this new idea fit. This is what happened when the
Catholic Church adopted the doctrine of the Trinity. Over the centuries
they have followed through on the logic required by that first false
idea and the inevitable result is the confused mass of false and
meaningless doctrines which are characteristic of that system today.
“The mystery of the trinity is the central doctrine of Catholic faith.
Upon it are based all the other teachings of the church” (Handbook for
Today’s Catholic – p.16)
In this article we have endeavoured to examine this issue of whether
or not Christ possessed divine power in Himself. We hope that the points
presented will appeal to reason and logic. What we have endeavoured to
do in this article is to be consistent with Bible truth.
THE MAKEUP OF RATIONAL BEINGS
Every rational being in the universe is made up of body and
spirit. This includes even spirit beings although in their case the
bodily part is described as a “spiritual body.” (1 Cor. 15:44) When
Jesus came to this earth He was also made up of two parts, body and
spirit. The body was of this earth. This was “made of the seed of David
according to the flesh” (Rom. 1:3). He was “made of a woman” (Gal.
4:4). His declaration was “a body hast thou prepared me (Heb.
10:5).” But on the spiritual side, who was He? This spirit which united
with the body to become the man Jesus Christ, where did it come from?
It was the same identical spirit, the same identical person who had
been with the Father from the days of eternity. It was the same
identical person who had been known in heaven as Michael. He left His
body behind, He left His glory behind with that heavenly form and
instead adopted a dwelling of clay.
CHRIST’S INCARNATION
Let us consider something here: When that spirit was first united with
a human body, Jesus was at that moment just a little speck of
protoplasm inside of Mary’s belly. Was that everything there was of
Jesus or was there something more? Was there some part of Jesus which
was not encapsulated in that tiny embryo? No, there was nothing
more. The word of God says, “The Word was made flesh…”
At that moment, what kind of knowledge or power did Jesus have? Did He
have the self-awareness as a fetus to know who He was? Did He then
possess the power of God the Almighty ? Does divine power include divine
awareness? How were all these present in Jesus when He was a baby?
Remember that these powers include omniscience, omnipresence as well as
omnipotence.
What about after He was born? Did He know then as an infant of two
days old that He was a divine being? Was He aware then of all the
tremendous issues at stake in His incarnation? Was He even then
omnipresent and omniscient? If He was, where did this knowledge and
power reside? When He showed the ignorance of a baby, when He cried,
when He was hungry, was it an act? Was He two different persons in one
body, or was He one person with two different minds or was He one
complete individual living one genuine life on one plane, the product of
the uniting of a divine spirit with a body of flesh?
Ellen White states that Jesus did not begin to realize who He was
until He went to the temple at the age of twelve. Before that, what had
happened to His knowledge? In fact, even at twelve after this trip to
the temple, He did not “know” His identity in the sense that He now
remembered, or in the sense that He was suddenly able to access endless
knowledge. If there was some other plane in which He existed where He
could do these things, then it would mean that He was not one person,
but two persons in one. No, He began to understand that His life was
linked with the sacrifices, it was more a revelation given Him by God
than a growing ability to access some powers within Himself. If we
conclude that there was some other side of Jesus where He was always
omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient etc. then we make Him into a person
with two different existences, with two different minds; in actual fact,
we would be talking of two different persons rather than one.
FAULTY ASSUMPTION
I think many of us have made an assumption that is not necessarily
true. We have assumed that divinity is equated with divine power; with
omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience etc. Can there be divinity
without these attributes? I am persuaded that the answer is yes.
When we say that Jesus was fully human what do we mean? We mean that
He had the nature of humanity. In His natural mental and physical makeup
He was just like every other human being. He had nothing which we
cannot have in terms of His capabilities. The Bible emphasizes this when
it tells us that He was “made flesh.” This point is emphasized by John
when he tells us that an antichrist is one who denies that Jesus came in
the flesh, or in other words, one who declares that Jesus was more than
a human being. Yet, how could He be fully human if He was fully
divine? Does not His divinity make Him more than human? This is an
interesting question. The answer is, no, He was not more than human, and
yet, this can only be understood when we understand the nature of His
divinity.
FULL DIVINITY
The question is, how then could He be fully divine (if all He had was
the abilities of humanity)? There is one attribute (not ability) which
Jesus possessed which is the real mark of divinity and paradoxically,
while this attribute made Jesus fully divine, it did not contradict the
fact that he was fully human, possessing only human abilities. What was
this attribute? What was this quality which declared Jesus’ full
divinity and set Him apart from every other creature in the universe? It
was the quality of a character, which was perfectly good. Jesus said,
“there is none good but one, that is God.” (Matt. 19:17)
“Full divinity,” did not have to do with the powers that Jesus
possessed, it had to do with the pure, holy nature which He possessed
which is the property of divinity alone. A human being may have no legs,
may be blind, may be deaf and dumb, but this does not make him less
than human. It is the nature which he possesses which makes him a human,
even if he has lost some of his abilities. Who would say that he was
not “fully human?” In the same way, the loss of His power would not have
made Jesus less than fully divine because His nature (character) was
the nature of God. As Ellen White says, “a divine spirit dwelt in a
temple of flesh.” (YI Dec. 20, 1900).
What is the main emphasis or the main proof of the New Testament in
establishing that Jesus was the Son of God? Was it the highlighting of
His miraculous works? To be sure there were some instances when a few
persons saw His miracles as an evidence of His divinity, but this was
faulty reasoning on their part. If the performance of miracles is an
evidence of divinity then this would mean that Moses, Elijah, Elisha and
many of the prophets were also divine (even Satan himself!!). Jesus
declared that He could do nothing of Himself, but that the Father
dwelling in Him was the One who did the works. (John 5:30; 14:10)
But what was the mark of Jesus’ divinity which is emphasized in the
New Testament? “We beheld His glory (what was this glory), the glory as
of the only begotten of the Father.” (John 1:14) Was this glory His
power? No, it was His character of pure spotless, selfless love. This is
the glory which they saw. “We see the glory of God shining in the face
of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:6). “The people who dwelt in darkness saw a
great light (Isa. 9:2),” but it was the light of pure holy character
which they saw, not the demonstration of almighty power. This was the
divinity of Jesus with which He could not part, this pure, holy
character which was His true nature, His true divine identity.
When Jesus came to this earth, He left His memories behind, He left
His glorious body behind, He left His almighty powers behind, (DA – 336)
but He did not leave His pure holy nature behind. This is what set Him
apart from all others and qualified Him to represent God in the
earth. This is what gave Him the right to be called, “Immanuel, God with
us.”
Jesus came here to demonstrate what the character of God is really
like, not the power. This was one of the most important aspects of His
mission here. The whole point of Him becoming a human being, of Him
accepting the limitations of humanity, was that He could show us what
the character of God is really like. When you take away His powers from
God and put Him in a place where His life is threatened, He is despised,
scorned and rejected, how will He react? Is He really and truly good,
or is it just a pretense that He puts on (as Lucifer has charged)? Jesus
came to answer that question and he could not answer it as God
almighty, He had to answer it as God with all the limitations of
humanity. This issue was really the most important issue in Jesus’
incarnation.
The truth is, if Jesus had possessed in Himself almighty power, the
whole demonstration would have been invalidated. When Jesus cried “My
God my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” We understand that He was
bewildered, He was uncertain, He did not see the future or even fully
understand the circumstances of the present. This was real and we
believe it. But if Jesus possessed inherent omniscience, knowing all
things, then what was the meaning of this bitter cry? Was it reality or a
carefully orchestrated act? How can the demonstration be valid if there
was the potential for deception? How could God set up a demonstration
to prove something and then leave one factor in place which calls the
whole demonstration into question?
DID DIVINITY DIE?
Jesus possessed divinity in two ways. First of all, He was Himself
possessed of a divine spirit. The person, Jesus Christ was in His spirit
(not in His body) the same identical divine person who had been called
Michael in heaven. Though He had laid His glory and power aside, yet He
was the same divine person. His identity was not in His power, but in
the fact of who He was.
Secondly, Jesus possessed the Holy Spirit of His Father which dwelt in
Him and gave Him the power to perform the mighty works of God (Acts
10:38; John 14:10).
Now when Jesus died, we are told that “divinity did not die.” {1SM
301}. What does this mean? Is this saying that the divine holy spirit
(the spirit of the Father) did not die, or is it saying that Christ’s
own divine spirit did not die? Before we answer this question let us be
certain that we know clearly what we are talking about. We must first
get some ideas clear in our minds.
What is death?
The bible speaks about two deaths, the first death and the second
death and they are two different experiences. The second death is total
extermination, it is the end of existence. In the second death both body
and soul (spirit) are destroyed forever (Matt. 10:28) The first death,
however is not the end. In this death, something is preserved, something
survives (in an unconscious state of course). The body is destroyed,
but the spirit is preserved in an unconscious state. It is immobile and
unconscious but it is not really dead and this is why the first death is
described in the Bible as a sleep. Therefore, when a person dies the
first death we may truly say that such a person is not really dead.
Which of these deaths did Jesus die? I have heard many say that He
died the second death, but did He? No, He did not. He suffered the pangs
of the second death, He suffered the horrors of the second death and as
He contemplated the prospect of eternal death, it was the second death
that Jesus faced. What I mean is, He thought that He was going to die
the second death and mentally, He did suffer the second death. However,
the actual experience of the second death is total extinction. There is
no coming back from that experience and that is not the experience which
Jesus passed through. Jesus actually died the first death, although He
suffered the pain of the second death.
So when Jesus died His body ceased to function. It was dead. What
about His Spirit? His Spirit did not die but slept. Ellen White says:
“The spirit of Jesus slept in the tomb with his body, and did not wing
its way to Heaven, there to maintain a separate existence, and to look
down upon the mourning disciples embalming the body from which it had
taken flight. All that comprised the life and intelligence of Jesus
remained with his body in the sepulcher….” {3SP 203.2}
So, did divinity die? No, it did not because the divine spirit of
Christ did not die, but slept. But let us consider what we are talking
about: This is the same exact thing which happens when any other person
dies. Again Ellen White says:
“Our personal identity is preserved in the resurrection, though not the
same particles of matter or material substance as went into the grave.
The wondrous works of God are a mystery to man. The spirit, the
character of man, is returned to God, there to be preserved. In the
resurrection every man will have his own character. God in His own time
will call forth the dead, giving again the breath of life, and bidding
the dry bones live. The same form will come forth, but it will be free
from disease and every defect. It lives again bearing the same
individuality of features, so that friend will recognize friend. There
is no law of God in nature which shows that God gives back the same
identical particles of matter which composed the body before death. God
shall give the righteous dead a body that will please Him.” {Mar 301.1}
The body dies and the spirit sleeps. Shall we say then that when a
person dies he is not really dead? Well, whatever we say of Jesus when
he died we have to say the same thing of every other person who dies the
first death because the experience is the same.
What is Divinity?
Ellen White says, “divinity did not die?” But the question is, what
did she mean by this? What is divinity? Is divinity something separate
from the Person Jesus? If the divine part did not die, then is this
divine part some separate entity from Christ? If divinity did not die,
then can we say that a part of Jesus did not die, and if this was true,
then is it not reasonable to say that Jesus was not really dead? If we
say His humanity only died, what do we mean? That His body only died,
but that another part of Him did not die? Are we than making Christ into
two separate parts instead of a single individual united being?
When we say, “the divinity of Christ,” are we speaking of some
impersonal, indefinable attribute which is separate and apart from the
intelligence and life of Christ, or are we speaking of the spirit of
Christ? That spirit slept when Christ died. It did not maintain
conscious active existence. But is this not what the first death is? The
body separates from the spirit and this separation is what we call
death. We do not specify that this part is alive while this part is
dead, we rightly say that the person is dead and we define that death as
a state where the body ceases to function and begins to decay, while
the spirit separates from the body and enters a state of immobile
unconscious sleep. When a spirit has no body, the body has died (James
2:26), and the spirit enters a sleeping state, is it then alive or dead?
Is not this whole process what we call death? Should we seek to make a
difference with Christ’s death and our death when the process that
Christ went through in death was exactly the same?
Nobody has ever died in any other way. This is exactly the death which
Jesus died. There was no difference, so the death He died was just as
complete as any that any person has ever known. If someone makes an
issue of the fact that His divine spirit did not die, then we must also
make an issue of the fact that when a person dies, his human spirit does
not die.
Jesus did not die in segments. He was not separated into components
with part dying and part remaining alive. It was Christ that died, the
whole person. Not a piece of Him.
When Ellen White stated that divinity did not die, did she mean that
Christ’s spirit did not cease to exist, but only slept? This is one
possible explanation and it would not contradict the truth that Christ
did fully die in the only way in which it is possible for any human
being to die at the moment. However, there is another possible meaning
to her words.
While Jesus was here, He was filled with the spirit, the power or the
life of God, by the holy spirit. (John 14:10; Acts 10:38). This life of
the Father was united to Christ. Both were united in one person in the
same way that Paul says, “he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.”
(1 Cor. 6:17) This divine life or power of the Father obviously did not
and could not die when Christ died. Was this the divinity to which Ellen
White referred?
There is still another possibility to consider: Look at the following statement:
“Christ became one flesh with us, in order that we might become one
spirit with Him. It is by virtue of this union that we are to come forth
from the grave,—not merely as a manifestation of the power of Christ,
but because, through faith, His life has become ours. 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.” {DA 388.1}
Do you see what this statement suggests? The resurrection is not so
much the impartation of life to a person by the power of Christ. Rather,
it is Christ calling His life back to Himself. The only reason why
Christians arise in the resurrection is because their lives have become
united with the life of Christ. When He calls back His life to Himself,
then they are resurrected because they are a part of the life of Christ.
In this sense, Christians also do not die. In this sense, it may be
said of them when they die that they do not truly die and that they
cannot die because divinity cannot die. (John 11:26)
All of these possibilities should be considered when we look at what
Ellen White said. All of them would fit to some extent. One thing is
certain and it is that the Bible teaches that the Son of God died for
our sins. It also teaches that if He did not die then our sins are not
truly forgiven. When I consider all this, then I am compelled to believe
that when Ellen White made those statements she must have had one of
the ideas outlined above in her mind.
DIVINITY FLASHED THROUGH HUMANITY
Mention is often made of the statement of Ellen White that “divinity
flashed through humanity.” Some of us have taken it to mean that there
was at such moments a display of supernatural power, some blaze of
physical glory which compelled the people to see that He possessed
supernatural power, but I disagree. The question is, what did she really
mean by this. Look at the following statement carefully and consider
what the phrase means here in this context.
No one, looking upon the childlike countenance, shining with
animation, could say that Christ was just like other children. He was
God in human flesh. When urged by his companions to do wrong, divinity
flashed through humanity, and he refused decidedly. In a moment he
distinguished between right and wrong, and placed sin in the light of
God’s commands, holding up the law as a mirror which reflected light
upon wrong. It was this keen discrimination between right and wrong that
often provoked Christ’s brothers to anger. (The Youth’s Instructor-
09-08-98)
What was it that flashed through and how did it flash through? The
result of this divinity flashing through humanity was that he
immediately was able to distinguish between right and wrong. This gives
us a clue as to what Ellen White really means when she uses this phrase.
It was the manifestation of a pure holy character which shone through
on His face. Those in His presence were overwhelmed with a sense of
being in the presence of infinite purity. Divine purity was what shone
through and convicted His hearers. It was not the manifestation of
divine power, but of divine character. Look again at the following
quotation:
“Christ drove the dishonest traffickers from the temple courts with
heaven’s authority flashing from his face. His voice spoke to the
conscience and soul with the power of God. “Take these things hence,” he
said; “it is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but
ye have made it a den of thieves.” As priests and rulers looked upon
the face of Christ, terror took possession of them; for divinity was
flashing through humanity. This was evidence that they had not looked
for. They understood the meaning of his words, and, amazed and
terrified, they fled from the humble, travel-stained Nazarene, as if he
had been surrounded by an avenging army of heavenly beings. . .” {RH,
February 13, 1900}
Here again we see that what was flashing from His face was divine
authority not divine power. His voice spoke “with the power of God.” But
this does not mean that there was a display or the sound of a
supernatural voice. It means that as He spoke there was the authority,
the command, the convicting of the conscience which comes from divinity.
Though Jesus had left divine power behind, He still retained divine
authority. As the Son of God He still had the authority to command
angels, to rebuke the forces of nature, to access the power of the holy
spirit. However, authority is not the same as inherent power.
Did Christ Perform miracles By His own power?
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the
words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that
dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. (John 14:10)
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power:
who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the
devil; for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)
All the miracles of Christ performed for the afflicted and suffering
were, by the power of God, through the ministration of angels. . . .All
the blessings from God to man are through the ministration of holy
angels. {2SP 67.2}
When Jesus was awakened to meet the storm, He was in perfect peace.
There was no trace of fear in word or look, for no fear was in His
heart. But 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.” John 5:30. 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. {DA 336.1}
Every miracle wrought by Christ convinced some of his true character.
Had a man in the common walks of life done the same works that Christ
did, all would have declared that he was working by the power of God.
But there were those who did not receive the light of heaven, and they
set themselves more determinedly against this evidence. {RH, July 12,
1898 par. 4}
Every miracle that Christ performed was a sign of His divinity. He was
doing the very work that had been foretold of the Messiah; but to the
Pharisees these works of mercy were a positive offense. The Jewish
leaders looked with heartless indifference on human suffering. In many
cases their selfishness and oppression had caused the affliction that
Christ relieved. Thus His miracles were to them a reproach. {DA 406.4}
In spite of the plain statements in Scripture that Jesus never did,
and could not have called upon personal divine power while He was in the
flesh, the idea persists that Jesus must have had such power and that
He did at times utilize it in ways which were unmistakable. Perhaps the
most popular “proof” in support of this idea is the fact that Jesus from
time to time knew what was passing through the minds of other men. This
apparently was one of the things which amazed Nathanael and convicted
Him that Jesus was the Messiah.
“….Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee,
when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.” (John 1:48)
But does this, and similar incidents prove that Jesus was exercising
His own divine power? When Jesus read men’s thoughts and “saw” things
which happened in another place, was He doing anything different than
Elisha did (2 Kings 5:25,26; 2 Kings 6:5,32)? These references show that
Elisha knew what was going on in the minds of other people even when
they were many miles away. Does this mean that he had divine power in
himself, or does it indicate that God was showing these things to him?
In the case of Elisha we know that God revealed these things to Him. It
could not have been otherwise. What then makes us believe that in Jesus’
case it had to be by His own power?
If He was then operating on divine power, how did He shut it off? How
did He selectively turn on His divine attributes (powers)? When He read
people’s minds and saw things happen in another place we say, “He must
have been exercising His divinity at that time.” If this was true, how
can we be sure that He was not also (silently) exercising the same
divinity when He was tempted or facing suffering and death? How can we
be sure that He was not secretly breaking the rules?
Could Jesus Turn His Divine powers on and off at will?
Can a person be omnipresent and yet not be present in all places? Can a
person be omniscient and yet not know all things? Can a person be
immortal and yet die? Was Jesus omnipresent while He was dead? And yet
according to the theory of “full divinity,” omnipresence is one of the
essential qualities of divinity. Also omniscience; how could He be
omniscient, Knowing all things, and yet knowing nothing as He slept in
unconscious death?
John 10:17,18
Another “proof” which is often used to show that Jesus had divine
power in Himself while He was here, is John 10:17,18. These verses read
as follows.
(John 10:17,18) Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down
my life, that I might take it again.(18)No man taketh it from me, but I
lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to
take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
Here, it is claimed, Jesus declared that He had the ability to, and would raise Himself from the dead by His own power
If Jesus had claimed that He would raise Himself from the dead, He
would have been in direct contradiction of Himself, for He said, “I can
of mine own self do nothing.” (John 5:30) He would also have
contradicted at least 30 verses in the New Testament which say that He
was raised from the dead by His Father.
Let us carefully consider the verses in question: The Greek word that
was translated “I might take,” is the word lambano. It may be translated
as “to take,” but may also be properly translated as: “to receive, to
gain, to get, to obtain, to get back.” The same Greek word was used in
verse 18, but there, it was translated “received.” Jesus said, “This
commandment have I received of my Father.” In this case it would have
been ridiculous to translate the word as “take.” Christ would have been
saying, “This commandment have I taken of my Father.” So the translators
sensibly translated the word as “received.” However, what about in
verse 17? Did Christ in that verse mean that He would “take” His life or
did He mean that He would “receive” it again?
Christ laid down His life that He might receive it (not take it)
again. Christ could not, and did not, raise Himself from the dead, or
else He wouldn’t have been dead to begin with.
Christ is quoted as saying, “I have power to take it again.” But here
also we see how a faulty translation can completely change the sense of a
particular verse. The word “power,” in the New Testament is often
translated from one of two Greek words. They are the words, exousia, and
dunamis. Although they are both translated as “power,” yet the meanings
are very different, and the difference is significant. Exousia means
authority and it means the power of authority. Dunamis on the other hand
is the word from which we get the word “dynamite,” and it means actual
power in the sense of having the actual force and energy represented by
the word “power.” The word which Christ used here, is actually the word,
exousia and this makes it clear that He was not speaking of having the
actual power in Himself, but rather of having the authority, or the
permission or the instructions from God as to what He was to do. Christ
had the authority, or permission, to lay down His life so that He could
receive it again from His Father.
Let’s read the verses again with a more consistent translation of the words:
“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I
might receive it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of
myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to receive
it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”
Now the verse is consistent with the rest of Scripture.
Let us examine the verse from another angle. When Jesus said, “I lay
down my life,” what did He mean? Did He mean that He was about to commit
suicide? Did Jesus kill Himself? Was He actively involved in His own
death? Absolutely not!! So what did He mean when He said, “I lay down my
life?” What He meant was that it was He who chose to place Himself in
the circumstances where men could put Him to death. He did not have to
go to Jerusalem, He did not have to submit to the treatment which they
meted out to Him. He could have prayed to His Father and would
immediately have received twelve legions of angels (Matt. 26:53), but He
did not do any of these things. He chose to submit to the circumstances
which led up to His death, but He did not kill Himself.
In the very next phrase Jesus says, “that I might receive (or “take”)
it again.” Now we need to be consistent. Jesus said, “I lay down my
life….I take it again.” Logically we should apply the same rules in
interpreting both sides of that statement. In the same way that He laid
it down, He would also “take,” or receive it again. Since it was not He
who killed Himself, we understand that what He meant was that He would
place Himself in the circumstances where He would lose His life. In the
same way, when He says He would take or receive it again, He did not
mean that He would actively take His life, but rather that He had the
authority to receive His life again and to resume His existence.
The Great Issues in the Incarnation
It is important that we understand the main issues in the incarnation
of Jesus. If we understand these, then it helps us to have a more
accurate concept of the nature of Christ in the incarnation.
There is a perception that Jesus’ main mission in this world was to be
an example to us. Therefore it is believed that one of His great
temptations was the temptation to use some power which was not available
to us, to deliver Himself from temptation. It is believed that one of
the main issues in the controversy is the issue of whether or not man
can live without committing sin and that Jesus came to prove that this
is possible, so if He had used His power to help Himself in this respect
it would have proved that man cannot live above sin without
supernatural help.
Let me ask you, is it possible for sinful man to live above sin
without supernatural help? Does it not take a miracle of God to enable
us to live above sin? If Jesus lived above sin without supernatural
help, what does it prove as far as I am concerned? He may have done it,
but none of us ever can. Jesus had by nature a pure holy character which
is only good. We do not. This is a secondary issue. The greater
questions concern the issues which began in heaven even before man was
created.
Some suggest that a major issue was that Jesus was tempted to use His
own divine power to defend Himself. Why would He need to do this?
According to His own words, His Father would have done this if He had
asked Him.
The reasoning is that the Father would never have performed such
actions at Jesus’ request since He could not have been tempted to do
things which may have prevented the plan of salvation from being
accomplished. This seems to be solid reasoning but it does not harmonize
with Scripture. In Matthew when Jesus was taken captive by the mob,
Peter sprang to His defense and cut off the ear of the high Priest’s
servant. Jesus rebuked Peter and spoke the following words:
Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall
presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? (Mat 26:53)
I don’t know what Peter thought of the question or how he would have
answered it, but how would we answer it? Would His Father have sent the
angels or not? What is the obvious meaning of Jesus’ words? Evidently,
He was saying that if it was His request, His Father would have
fulfilled it!! I cannot understand the passage in any other way. The
plan of salvation was worked out between the Father and the Son, but it
was the Son who volunteered to go. The Father did not compel, or even
make the request that He should go. In fact, according to Sister White,
Jesus had to persuade His Father in order to get Him to agree, for God
did not give up His Son without a struggle (Early Writings pp. 126,
127)!! Since it was Jesus who volunteered to go, it was His right to
change His mind and evidently, if He had done this His Father would have
respected this decision and worked with Him in restoring Him to His
former exalted position, leaving man to his fate.
Of course, such a thing would not have happened because Jesus’
character is the character of God and in that character there is only
love and mercy. If Jesus had given in to the temptation to deliver
Himself, then it would mean that God is not really a person who is
selfless, who loves others better than Himself. There would have been a
flaw in God’s character. But since there was no such flaw, then Jesus
would not have made such a choice.
What were the great issues in the incarnation of Christ? These issues were:
(a) God was answering the question of what kind of person He really
was. He was answering this for human beings primarily but also for the
entire universe. Why did He need to do this in human form? Because He
could not do it in divine form. While He possessed divine glory and
divine powers, He was too far above His creatures for them to understand
Him or to see what He was really like. He had to come down to man’s
level in order to be seen and understood as He really was. This was one
of the most important reasons for the incarnation. Yet, if Christ
secretly possessed divine powers, powers which He could access at will,
then there is no way we humans can be sure that what we saw in Him is
really the true character of God. It would be so easy to fool us, it
would be so easy to make us believe He loves us because He suffered for
us, when He did not really suffer, but only put on a divine act. In
fact, there are many people and even humans today who believe this is
what really happened because they believe that He had in Himself this
divine power.
(b) The second important reason was that Jesus had to die for our
sins. This was the price required by justice and the plan of salvation
could not have been accomplished without the death of God’s Son. Again,
the question of the reality of His death is brought into question
because of this perception that He possessed divine power in Himself. We
have to say a piece of Him died while a piece did not die. We have to
redefine our concept of death to make it fit this idea.
(c) The third important reason was that He came to be one of us so
that He could be our representative, our High Priest. Yet, this office
demanded that He should be exactly like us. One who was made like unto
His brethren. (Heb. 2:17). One who was in all points tempted like as we
are. But how could this be if He had a secret weapon in His armoury,
(even if He only used it at times and never for Himself). How can we
come to grips with the idea that He was just like us, a fitting
representative who understands and feels with us, when we know that He
was not really just like us?
These are the important issues in the incarnation. We need to examine
the principles involved very carefully. It is only as we understand
these issues and understand how our teachings impact upon them that we
will be able to come to the right conclusions concerning the incarnation
of Christ and the work which He accomplished while He was here.
Ivan’s Visit
Marie Peart
This hurricane was dubbed, “Ivan
The Terrible” by the international weather news media and true to it’s
title Ivan really proved to be a terrible and terrifying hurricane which
bombarded Jamaica on September 11, 2004.
Ivan first visited and devastated the tiny island of Grenada
destroying 90 percent of the houses. At that time it was a category
three hurricane but by the time it had gotten close to Jamaica, it had
developed into a category five hurricane, with wind speeds of 160
m.p.h. At this point many people began to realize that Hurricane Ivan
was indeed a threat to Jamaica, and skeptics were wising up to the
reality of the situation and preparing by stocking up on supplies to
last them through the impending disaster.
Just before reaching Jamaica, Ivan was downgraded from a category five
to a category four hurricane with wind speeds of 145 m.p.h and also
slowed its forward momentum considerably. It seemed to be taking it’s
leisurely time in getting to it’s target.
On land many people were wondering what was happening because it had
been believed that the island would have been hit by that time, or at
least that everybody would have been experiencing a lot of heavy
showers, and strong winds, whereas in some parishes especially in the
hilly regions there had been little or no rain. Some ignorant folks even
thought that we would not be affected by this hurricane, in spite of
all the evidences to the contrary. Their optimism was short-lived. Ivan
arrived on the evening of Friday September 10 and paid us a visit which
we will not forget in a hurry.
Many people had been sending up fervent prayers that God would protect
their houses and their lives, as well as the lives of families,
friends, brethren and neighbours. When the strong winds and the heavy
onslaught of rain started, even more prayers went up to our Heavenly
Father, since everyone knew that there were a lot of weak and flood
prone areas in Jamaica which might give way under this massive barrage
of wind and rain.
Up to this point Ivan had been moving at a forward speed of 13 miles
Per hour, which was very slow for a hurricane. Suddenly, something very
strange occurred. Before the eye of Ivan could make a direct hit on
Jamaica, it slowed down to a forward speed of five miles per hour and
appeared to wobble a bit above the sea. Then it took off along the south
coast and accelerated its speed, while remaining 30 miles from
land. This was obviously divine intervention and was a direct response
and answer to all the prayers that had gone up from God’s people
everywhere.
However, in spite of the fact that the island was spared a direct hit
from the eye of the hurricane, there were places especially along the
southern side of the country that suffered severely from the battering
gusts of wind and the furious rainfall.
I live in one of the southerly parishes, Manchester, and so experienced firsthand the full fury of the hurricane.
Firstly, the rain started coming in torrents in the evening, then by
nightfall, the wind started to come in great gusts, which battered
trees, roofs and electrical wires. At about midnight of the 10th of
September, the winds of Ivan were beginning to sound, and seemed like
the end of the world. The screaming of the wind was comparable to the
high pitched shriek which a jet plane makes when it is about to take
off. This was accompanied by pounding sounds as though someone were
using a battering ram, trying to tear the house tops to shreds.
Intermingled with these sounds was the beating of rain pounding on the
pavement, roofs and trees. I lay in my bed and prayed that the roof
would not disappear from above my head. From the sounds which I heard
all night I expected at any moment to see it take off.
This does not even begin to describe the terrifying experience that
the citizens of Jamaica underwent on this occasion. It was with great
relief that we received the news that the eye of Ivan had passed and was
on it’s way elsewhere. Even with this passing, there were still heavy
showers of rain and some gusts of wind, but we knew that the worst was
behind us and that was the most important thing, right then and there.
Sadly, after the passing of Ivan there were reports of people being
found dead (17 to be exact), and there was a lot of extensive damage
done to many areas especially in rural parishes. It would also be many
days before electricity and water would be restored. In any event, we
thanked our heavenly Father for preserving our lives, and we realize
that these disasters are an inevitable consequence of our presence in a
sin-cursed earth. We expect these disasters to grow more frequent and
more terrible as we approach the end of the world.
Let us keep ever faithful, walking with the Lord, so that we may not
be troubled or worried about these things which are happening and
concerning the many others which are still to come.
Be A Berean
Greg Forde
There is a woeful lack of
critical thinking in the world in general and in the nation and church
in particular. Notice that I didn’t say there was lack of knowledge. As
we all know, we live in an age where there is an abundance of
information wherever you turn. You don’t even have to turn AROUND, just
turn ON your computer. If you don’t have a college education or even a
library card, all you need is the Internet.
So then, what do we do with the information that we have? Notice
that the word critical in the first sentence of this article is closely
associated with the word critique. To critique something means to
compare it to an established pattern. That pattern can be about conduct,
shape or size. What is our pattern as believers?
The Bible writer and apostle Paul was blessed with a deep and
penetrating insight into the things of God. He was renowned throughout
the region as a great writer and communicator of the gospel of
Christ. The Bible also speaks of the Bereans. These Bereans however,
were a group of believers who did not merely accept what Paul said just
because it was Paul who said it. They took Paul to task by examining
what he asserted and comparing it to scripture. They said in essence,
“that was great Paul, thanks for coming, but we need to double-check
this.” How did God regard their attitude? The writer of the book of Acts
refers to them as being, NOBLE! (Acts 17:11) Paul also emphasized the
point further when he said, “follow me as I follow Christ”. This is a
lesson that is lost on many of us.
Too many Seventh-day Adventists have a propensity to look down our
noses at individuals in other denominations as, “my bishop says,” “my
pastor says,” “my reverend says,” or even “my priest says,” types of
people. Unfortunately, we are quickly adopting the same type of
mentality. More and more of us are hiding behind the words of our
ministers to mask our own lack of understanding. We feel and believe
that because we have “the truth” as a denomination we can safely
‘cruise’ as individuals. We accept, uncritically, whatever comes from
the pulpit, the quarterly, and the conference. Truth however, does not
ORIGINATE in any of these places. Those three examples should be
CONDUITS of the truth but not the SOURCE of it. God says,
“my doctrine shall fall as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew” (Deut. 32:2).
This is THE standard of truth and doctrine. What God says is truth.
“Thy word is truth” (Psalm 119:142).
We are often spiritually and mentally LAZY and so fall into a snare. Christ warned,
“If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch”. (Matt. 15:14)
Critical thinking needs to be employed when it comes to weighing what
God’s word says to each of us. No one renders a verdict in a court of
law without being privy to the evidence. That is the responsibility
which comes with being a juror. Likewise, no one sits on a jury and then
allows someone outside of the jury to form the verdict. We are to be a
jury of one where our spiritual understanding is concerned.
God will not ask any of us in the Day of Judgment if we believed what
our pastors, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, uncles or aunts
believed. He will ask us how did we weigh the truth available to us. If
someone were to ask you what you wanted to eat at a restaurant, would
you leave that decision in the hands of another? Is your salvation less
important than satisfying your appetite?
So in a nutshell, what do I hope to leave you with after reading this
article? Learn to weigh your decisions based on what you understand for
yourself. And learn to be honest about what information and evidence you
really have in your grasp before you make that decision.
Finally, we should remember that ignorance is not a license to sin. An
uninformed choice is as bad as letting someone else decide for you. Go
to God, get informed, pray earnestly, and then make an honest decision
from your heart and mind. This is a principle that needs to permeate our
lives in politics, in diet, in behavior, and most importantly, in
matters of the spirit and the conscience.
Be A Berean. May God Bless You.
Zimbabwe Report
Vusa Ncube
The aim of this report is to give
you a glimpse of what took place during our camp meeting for 2004. It
started on the 24th of August in the evening with everybody present in a
joyful mood at the prospect of hearing the Lord speak to them. The camp
site was already prepared , and the number of campers had risen
compared to last year. Last year we were about 76 but this time we were
about 124.
Brother Ephraim Ngwenya welcomed all the brethren on the first evening
of the meeting introducing the campers to the theme of the meeting and
also the theme song. The theme was, ‘CHRIST’S COMING DELAYED WHY’?
The singing was wonderful and inspiring. After the first meeting we
could feel a total unity in spirit. I believe nothing short of the
spirit of God could have brought such sweet harmony.
The following morning brother Vusa Ncube led the congregation in the
morning manna service which gave the congregation a challenge on the
necessity of being born again. After a break, there was a presentation
by bro. Ngwenya who talked much on the three angels of Rev.14, but
focused particularly on the first angel which had the everlasting gospel
to preach to those on earth. The subject was studied in light of God’s
love and generated a lot of interest. As the days went on, the
congregation was blessed on a daily basis and gained a clear
understanding of the significance of the message in Rev. 14.
Bro. Vusa also led the congregation on the study of what the gospel
is. His main emphasis was that the gospel is the good news of God’s
unlimited love extended to believing sinners. In other words it is the
way in which God accepts and justifies a penitent sinner. The texts
explored most were 1Cor. 15:45 and Romans 5. These texts deal with the
two Adams. The good news is that as all people die because of the first
Adam who disobeyed, so all people who believe are justified because of
the second Adam [Jesus] who obeyed.
Bro. Ngwenya also conducted a lesson on family life giving a challenge
to parents to take their duty to educate their children, seriously,
because what the church is, is determined by what families are. This was
followed by a lesson by bro. Vusa which focused on the good part that
Mary chose as she sat at the feet of Jesus and heard his words, as
compared to her sister Martha who chose to be busy with the minor
things.
As we welcomed the Sabbath hours bro. Caleb Moyo presented a lesson
which compared the Pharisees of old and those of today. The congregation
was encouraged not to follow their way as it was condemned by Jesus.
On Sabbath the congregation had swelled, with a number of visitors
from around the vicinity of the campsite. The then Sabbath school
superintendent, sister Patriture Vundla [Vusa’s wife] welcomed the
Sabbath school members, directing the congregation to the greatest love
of God as recorded in Luke 15, speaking of the prodigal son and the way
he was received back home; a representation of the way God receives all
repentant sinners.
The Sabbath school lesson was conducted by bro. Ngwenya whose lesson
was based on the Lord’s supper. The subject of this lesson was motivated
by the fact that we were going to partake of this service for the first
time since we were disfellowshiped from the mainline S.D.A.church. The
whole congregation was blessed as they were looking forward to the hour
when they would be celebrating their deliverance from sin through
Christ.
Brother Vusa took the main service and his focus was the righteousness
of God that comes through faith, which is not of the law (Phil. 3:9).
We then broke for lunch.
After lunch we went for a baptism which was conducted by bro. Vusa at a
river about 3 km from the campsite. Five people were baptized, praise
be to God.
After the baptism we drove back and found that everything was ready as
far as the communion service preparations were concerned. It was dark
by the time we got started and bro. Ngwenya and bro. Vusa shared the
duties as they conducted the service.
In participating in this service I vividly remembered the Lord in the
upper room with his disciples and as a result the service had more
impact on my soul than it had ever had before in my Christian
experience. We thanked God for blessing us during the meeting
We ask that you all pray for the work in Zimbabwe and Africa as a
whole. We also thank all who have been tirelessly supporting the work in
Zimbabwe financially. May God bless you.
A Prayerful Malfunction
I have travelled a lot during the
last seven years and during that time I have by the grace of God only
missed my flight once, and on that occasion, I actually got home earlier
than I would have arrived if I had not missed my flight. However, I
have been impressed over and over that God takes care of me and not only
takes care of every detail of my life, but also responds to prayer in
very marked ways. Recently I attended a campmeeting where I had the
following experience.
At the end of this campmeeting I left for home at four o’clock in the
morning, on Tuesday, September 7th. Brother, Gordon Ballentine offered
to take me to the airport which was about a half an hour away. On the
way we had good discussion. When we got to the airport, Gordon suggested
that I should check in and then rejoin him in the car so we could talk
for a few more minutes since we had time on our hands and he suggested
that it was not a very busy airport. So I did this, keeping an eye on my
watch and when there were about twenty minutes left we said goodbye and
I headed back inside so I could pass through the security checkpoint
and get on the plane.
When I got inside and went up to the area where the security check was
to take place, I could not believe my eyes. There was a line of more
than a hundred people. The line was so long that it went through several
rooms, went to the end then doubled up and came back all the way almost
to the beginning. I was horrified and knew that I could never get
through the security gates in time to make my plane. After standing
there for about ten minutes and just moving a few feet, I decided to run
to the lady who was in charge of checking the tickets and the passports
as the people passed by and I explained to her that my plane was about
to leave any moment and I was going to miss it and I asked her if she
could allow me to go through to the front of the line. She just said
that there were other people in the line who were scheduled to be on my
flight and I would just have to rejoin the line, so I did.
After a few minutes I heard the boarding announcement for the
flight. I stood there anxiously as we moved along inch by inch. After a
few moments, I heard the announcement that this was the final call for
passengers on that flight to board. There was a lady standing some
distance behind me and I saw her rushing past to speak to the same lady
that I had spoken to, so I ran along behind her. She explained that she
was scheduled to be on that flight and she was going to miss it and
asked the lady if she could be allowed to go through. The lady gave her
the same answer she had given me: “there are others in the line who are
on the same flight and you just have to rejoin the line.” So the both of
us went back and retook our place in the line.
At that moment I started to pray. I prayed a few times and each time I
prayed the anxiety became a little less, and I thought, “I’ve been a
little foolish in waiting so long to go through the security check but
I’ve put it before God and it is in His hands.” The truth is, I really
did not want to have any delays, especially since I was going home and I
had several connecting flights which were close to each other. I knew
that if I missed one flight, I probably would not get home that
day. Anyway, finally I got to the front of the line and feverishly
passed through the security checkpoint, then dashed to the boarding
gate. The man standing there said “Which flight are you on?” I thrust my
ticket at him, he took a look at it passed it through the machine and
handed it back to me and I went tearing down the ramp.
I was the only person on the ramp. Everybody else apparently had
already gotten on to the plane. As I sprinted down the ramp there was a
maintenance man there and he said “Hey! Slow down, slow down! You’re
going to make it.” I flashed him a smile and thanked him and slowed down
a little but I didn’t slow down too much until I was finally in the
plane. I made it to my seat, gasped a few words of thanks to God and
shortly thereafter the door closed.
As I was settling into the seat and beginning to relax I heard the
voice of the captain on the intercom, “Well folks, we’re a couple of
minutes late. For some reason our computers just started to malfunction
and we could not seem to get them to work so we had to shut down the
system, wait about five minutes and restart it and now everything is
o.k”. I lifted my heart to God. The captain did not know why the
computers had malfunctioned but I had a pretty good idea. The door
closed and the plane moved away from the ramp. I thought of the other
lady who had been in the line behind me, she had missed the
plane. Perhaps she had not thought of praying.
Optimism
Talk happiness. The world is sad enough
Without your woes. No path is wholly rough;
Look for the places that are smooth and clear
And speak of those to the weary ear
Of Earth, so hurt by one continuous strain
Of human discontent and grief and pain.
Talk faith. The world is better off without
Your uttered ignorance and morbid doubt.
If you have faith in God, or man, or self,
Say so. If not, push back upon the shelf
Of silence all your thoughts, till faith shall come;
No one will grieve because your lips are dumb
Talk health. The dreary, never-changing tale
Of mortal maladies is worn and stale.
You cannot charm, or interest, or please
By harping on that minor chord, disease.
Say you are well, or all is well with you,
And God shall hear your words and make them true.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Open Face is published bi-monthly and is sent free to all who desire to receive it.
David Clayton: Editor and Publisher
P. O. Box 23 Knockpatrick
Manchester, Jamaica W.I.
Phone: (876) 904-7392
email: david@restorationministry.com
