Chapter Three
1 Genesis 2:17.
2 The Desire of ages p834. “Before the foundations of the earth were laid, the Father and the Son had united in a covenant to redeem man if he should be overcome by Satan. They had clasped their hands in a solemn pledge that Christ should become the surety for the human race.” The Desire of Ages p834. Zechariah 6:12.13. Ephesians 1:4. 2 Timothy 1:9. 1 Peter 2:19.20.
3 3 Spiritual Gifts p46.
4 Sons and Daughters of God p81. 1 Selected Messages p243.
5 Early Writings p127.
6 1 Selected Messages p308.
7 7 Bible Commentary p904.
8 1 Selected Messages p322.
9 Ibid p257.
10 Ibid p308.309.
11. 1 Corinthians 15:45.47. 2 Corinthians 5:14.
12. 1 Corinthians 15:22.
13 Romans 5:18.
14 1 Selected Messages p309.
15 Hebrews 2:16-18.
16 3 Selected Messages p139.
17 Bible Commentary p1092.
18 The Ellen White 1888 Materials p332.
19 1 Selected Messages p252.
20 The Desire of Ages p25.
21 1 Selected Messages p251.
22 Review and Herald. 12.31.1908.
Immanuel -- God with Us
Chapter Three
THE INCARNATION – WHY?
We have already established that the Son of God was a divine Being prior to the Incarnation, with all the divine attributes of His Father. Before we look at what He needed to lay aside to come to this earth, let us consider why the Incarnation was necessary.
When Adam and Eve sinned, the Father knew His Word must be carried out – “Of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” 1
Justice demanded the death penalty, but no sooner had the divine fiat been announced when the Son said, ‘Father, I will pay the penalty. Let me take their place.’ The Covenant of Redemption had already been made in eternity, but now, the agreement needed to take effect for man. 2
The Son of God pitied fallen man. He knew the law of His Father was as unchanging as Himself. He saw only one way of escape for the transgressor, and “He offers Himself to His Father as a sacrifice for man, to take their guilt and punishment upon Himself, and redeem them from death by dying in their place, and thus pay the ransom. The Father consents to give His dearly beloved Son to save the fallen race…” 3
The condescension of Christ to become a man “is the marvel of the heavenly intelligences.” 4 Rather than have their beloved Commander suffer and die, some of the angels volunteered to give their lives for guilty man. But it was not possible.
“The transgression was so great that an angel's life would not pay the debt.” 5 It “could not have removed one stain of sin.” 6
The Sin-Bearer must be above the law, not subject to it as were the angels. “Christ alone was free from the claims of the law to undertake the redemption of the sinful race.” 7
“No man of earth or angel of heaven could have paid the penalty for sin. Jesus was the only one who could save rebellious man. In Him divinity and humanity were combined, and this was what gave efficiency to the offering on Calvary’s cross.” 8 He alone could bear the wrath of the Father.
The reconciliation of man to God “could be accomplished only through a mediator who was equal with God…. (He) must partake of the divine nature, have a connection with the Infinite, in order to manifest God to the world, and be a mediator between God and man.” 9
“To save the race from eternal death, the Son of God volunteered to bear the punishment of disobedience. Only by the humiliation of the Prince of heaven could the dishonor be removed, justice be satisfied, and man be restored to that which he had forfeited by disobedience. There was no other way….
He pledged Himself to accomplish our full salvation in a way satisfactory to the demands of God’s justice, and consistent with the exalted holiness of His law…
No one less holy than the Only Begotten of the Father, could have offered a sacrifice that would be efficacious to cleanse all – even the most sinful and degraded – who accept the Saviour as their atonement and become obedient to Heaven’s law. Nothing less could have reinstated man in God’s favor.” 10
A man could die for His own sins, but this would not give him the second chance God’s love desired. He needed a substitute who would be the Representative of all men.
Thus Christ became the “last Adam”, the “second man”, and when He died on the cross of Calvary, legally we died ‘in Him’. It was not simply on our behalf, but when He died, we died. “… if one died for all, then were all dead.” 11
The glory of this ‘representative death’ is that whatever belongs to Christ, is also legally ours, “for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 12
In Adam it was a ‘representative sin’; in Christ it is ‘representative righteousness’.
“Therefore as the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” 13
The inheritance belongs to us ‘in Christ’, but we must believe and receive it.
“What right had Christ to take the captives out of the enemy’s hands? The right of having made a sacrifice that satisfies the principles of justice by which the kingdom of heaven is governed….
On the cross of Calvary, He paid the redemption price of the race. And thus He gained the right to take the captives from the grasp of the great deceiver, who, by a lie, framed against the government of God, caused the fall of man, and thus forfeited all claim to be called a loyal subject of God's glorious everlasting kingdom.” 14
Our ransom has been paid by our Saviour with His own precious blood, and no one need be enslaved by Satan any longer. This is God’s promise to us all, but the choice to receive it personally, always remains our own.
To be man’s Substitute and Representative, Christ needed to come to this earth as a man. He did not take the nature of angels, but He took the seed of Abraham.
“Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people, for in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” 15
He “stood before God as man’s representative, and was tempted as man’s substitute and surety.” 16
“As representative of the fallen race, Christ passed over the same ground on which Adam stumbled and fell. By a life of perfect obedience to God’s law, Christ redeemed man from the penalty of Adam’s disgraceful fall…” 17
He stood the test of trial and temptation, “that through the righteousness of Christ, humanity might partake of the divine nature.” 18
Through sin, man had separated himself from divinity, but through Christ’s victory in human flesh, divinity and humanity have been united ‘in Christ’ “This was the only way in which fallen man could become a partaker of the divine nature.” 19
Without this union, there could be no salvation. All that remains is the decision of the individual to receive the divine gift.
God knew Satan “planned to bring about an eternal separation between God and man”, but through Christ many would be “more closely united to God than if they had never fallen.” 20
To bring the fallen race into oneness with divinity, is the work of redemption. 21
“Because of sin, humanity ceased to be a temple for God… but by the Incarnation of the Son of God, the purpose of heaven is fulfilled. God dwells in humanity, and through saving grace the heart of man becomes again His temple.” 22