The Source
Nature Reveals Spiritual Reality
In Christ’s Object Lessons we find an important principle:
"In Christ’s parable teaching the same principle is seen as in His own mission to the world. That we might become acquainted with His divine character and life, Christ took our nature and dwelt among us. Divinity was revealed in humanity; the invisible glory in the visible human form. Men could learn of the unknown through the known; heavenly things were revealed through the earthly; God was made manifest in the likeness of men. So it was in Christ’s teaching: the unknown was illustrated by the known; divine truths by earthly things with which the people were most familiar.” COL 17.
We find in the plan of God that spiritual things are made known by natural things. Laws govern both realms. The unseen is made known by the seen.
“Divine wisdom, infinite grace, were made plain by the things of God’s creation. Through nature and the experiences of life, men were taught of God. The ‘invisible things of Him since the creation of the world’, were ‘perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity’.” Romans 1:20. COL 22.
Nature reveals to us the specific, concrete, reality of the number one in many ways. It is no mystery that the number two always comes after one. If there is no one there cannot be two. The Scriptures plainly ascribe a singular place to the Supreme One. Paul names the Supreme One:
"But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” 1 Cor 8:6.
“But to us” means clearly those who know the truth along with Paul. There is one God, the Father. This simple statement seems hardly assailable; and yet for centuries it has remained an unheeded truth. Clement of Alexandria, his pupil Origen, Constantine, Eusebius, and many others opposed this teaching and turned their version into orthodox Christianity.
Paul continues – “the Father of whom are all things.” In other words, the Father is the Source of creation. Then there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, obviously a different person. All things are by Him; that it is He as the active agent of creation. This is clearly stated in Patriarchs and Prophets:
“The Sovereign of the universe was not alone in His work of beneficence. He had an associate – a co-worker who could appreciate His purposes, and could share His joy in giving happiness to created beings. ‘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. John 1:1.2. Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was on with the eternal Father – one in nature, in character, in purpose – the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God… The Father wrought by His Son in the creation of all heavenly beings. ‘By Him were all things created…” PP34.
This is the same thought that Paul expresses, “The Father wrought by his Son in the creation.” “He had an associate.” An associate would be one other. The Father and an associate would be two Beings. So, we have one plus one equals two. This associate was “the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God.” That leaves us with only two who are in the circle of God’s counsels. We focus on the fact that the Supreme One is called the Sovereign of the Universe. This Sovereign has a co-worker which means there are two working together. The co-worker is called the “only begotten of God”. Whatever number the Bible assigns to the co-worker, He cannot be One. He is with the One; He is not the Biblical One.
What does nature teach us about this situation? When we take our child to the zoo and observe the animals we notice there are papas and baby animals. We ask our child which is the papa and which is the baby. Our child quickly and decidedly identifies who is who without hesitation. How does he do this? Even with animals he has never seen before. There really is no mystery to this knowledge. A papa elephant is readily recognized from a baby elephant. It is also quite obvious that the papa came first. That is the law of heredity.
Let us notice Adam and Eve. Which came first? Eve was taken out of Adam. The sequence remains eternally – Adam came first and Eve came next. She was not created from the dust; she was made from the substance of Adam. All the elements of Eve were already in Adam before she was made.
The substance of Eve was present in Adam before she became a personality. And so, the human race continues. The substance of Adam and Eve is passed on from generation to generation through genes and DNA. In like manner, we can understand the substance of God the Father is “always” since He is unbegotten. The Father is the great original substance of Deity. The Son, according to Sacred Scripture, however, proceeded and came forth from the Father. He is the only Begotten Son of God. His substance was the substance of the Father; but He was not a personality until He was begotten (born). Was Eve an inferior human because she came after Adam? No. Neither is the Son inferior in deity because the Father came first. They are both of the same kind. By the law of heredity the Son received all the attributes of His Father. They are both absolute Deity. The only thing the Son can never be is the Father.
"God, who are sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?" Hebrews 1:1-5.
We understand the unseen by the seen. Begotten does not created. When parents pass on their genes and DNA they do not become creators. They are passing on the substance that already exists. When “scholars” make the assertion that if Jesus had a beginning then He was created and therefore could not be fully Deity, they have fallen into the pit of theological speculation. They are ignoring Scripture and nature. In fact, they are reverting to orthodoxy invented at the time of Constantine in a pagan atmosphere.
“The Jews had never before heard such words from human lips, and a convicting influence attended them; for it seemed that divinity flashed through humanity as Jesus said, “I and my Father are one.” The words of Christ were full of deep meaning as he put forth the claim that he and the Father were of one substance, possessing the same attributes.” Signs of the Times. Nov 27. 1893. p54.
It should become increasingly clear that Ellen White never expressed or approved of any denial of the Father/Son relationship of the Scriptures. The questions should arise, “If the Father/Son is opposed today officially by the establishment, then what has taken place?” This question demands a careful study based on genuine historical facts and a careful examination of the writings of Ellen White, and a clear “Thus saith the Lord.”
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'The Source' is a book written by Alex Ortega
This is Chapter 5 -- p29-34