Friday: Further Thought – The Backstory: The Prologue
Daily Lesson for Friday 18th of October 2024
Read Ellen G. White, “ ‘God With Us,’ ” Pages 19–26, in The Desire of Ages.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
“The Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, existed from eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father. He was the surpassing glory of heaven. He was the commander of the heavenly intelligences, and the adoring homage of the angels was received by Him as His right. This was no robbery of God [Proverbs 8:22-27 quoted].
“There are light and glory in the truth that Christ was One with the Father before the foundation of the world was laid. This is the light shining in a dark place, making it resplendent with divine, original glory. This truth, infinitely mysterious in itself, explains other mysterious and otherwise unexplainable truths, while it is enshrined in light unapproachable and incomprehensible.”—Ellen G. White Comments, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1126.
“Jesus has said, ‘I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.’ John 12:32. Christ must be revealed to the sinner as the Saviour dying for the sins of the world; and as we behold the Lamb of God upon the cross of Calvary, the mystery of redemption begins to unfold to our minds and the goodness of God leads us to repentance. In dying for sinners, Christ manifested a love that is incomprehensible; and as the sinner beholds this love, it softens the heart, impresses the mind, and inspires contrition in the soul. . . . Whenever they [people] make an effort to reform, from a sincere desire to do right, it is the power of Christ that is drawing them. An influence of which they are unconscious works upon the soul, and the conscience is quickened, and the outward life is amended. And as Christ draws them to look upon His cross, to behold Him whom their sins have pierced, the commandment comes home to the conscience.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, Pages 26, 27.
Discussion Questions
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We can prove that God is the creator by following the advice of Paul:
We all too often resort to long explanations and erudite arguments, failing to grasp that Jesus wants us to be new creatures in him. That is what, "Giving Him the glory" is.
And again, Paul explains it thus:
Our lives in Christ are the best argument for a creator God.
Why would John start out talking about Jesus in His role as Creator?
Ok, John understood humanity. Human nature needs more than "thus says the Lord". We need evidence that Jesus is Lord. That is what Martha the sister of Lazarus knew. "Yes I know you are the Son of God." And Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16.
You see, Martha and Peter had the evidence right before them. They believed, even though the leaders tried to give them acquired cataracts, they did not except the distractions.
I love Isaiah 46:4: ”I have made, and I will bear. Even I will carry and will deliver you.” Redemption grows out of creation. Because God created man in His own image, He can restore him to that image.
Imagine if Jesus, a believer and faithful follower of God, were a simple human. Would this prove God's love for humanity? Probably not. God's love for us reaches an unimaginable level when He comes to this dark planet and dies for all creatures! That's unconditional and indescribable: Love!
Please pray for [name redacted for privacy] the young man I met last week. After we interacted over a job we did together he expressed a desire to come to church on Sabbath. He seems so innocent and open. I believe our meeting was not an accident but a divine appointment.
Amen! Praying for you and this young man, that the Holy Spirit continues to guide into all truth , and to draw him….and us all…always closer Jesus. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Why would John start out talking about Jesus in His role as Creator?
I think it sets the context of who the Preincarnate Word was. Jesus wasn't some random human who appeared on earth through a miraculous conception. No, He was the Creator of the Universe, come down from heaven in human flesh. He Created the body He would inhabit, taking on all the liabilities of the genetics of the lineage He was born of. He set aside his Divinity, and lived His life as a God dependent human being.
The "secret" of the Saviour's success wasn't His Divinity, it was His relationship with the Father. That same God dependent relationship is available to us.
What does this tell us about the importance of Creation in all theology? It is the foundation of theology. It elevates God as the Supreme Being that He is. He didn't use random chance or evolution to create. He spoke and it happened. Only in that sense is the "Big Bang" theory accurate. The Word spoke, and bang, it happened.
I believe this same power is in the written Word of God. Other books can make you smart, but God's Word can change your heart.
There are not enough words in the human language that could describe the infinite Love of God! Even when all this is past and over and done, even in Heaven there will be ceaseless ages speaking and forever learning of the Love of God!
I understand the lessons' studies to mainly focus on firming up doctrine, though I consider it important to continue to ask questions when generated by them. It is one of God's great blessings to ask questions to receive a fuller understanding of the Glory of God manifest in His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Respectfully, the second question at the end of the lesson puzzles me. How can the God die on the cross which the author just deemed eternal? If God is eternal, and He is, He cannot die – spirit does not die! Though Jesus’ body can die as it is made of perishable matter.
I hope by contemplating God’s Glory as present in His Son Jesus Christ - the first fruit of many more to come -, we will gain a fuller appreciation of the 'Power of the Glory of God' at work on our behalf in the life and death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As Jesus Christ offered Himself like a seed and fell into the 'ground to bear much fruit', so can we do likewise - John 12:24-26; 1 Cor.15:20.
1 Cor.15:40-58 –
v.42-44: ”So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
v.45: ”So it is written: “The first Adam became a living being, the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.”
v.50-: I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
v. 54-5: When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
v.56-57: The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Brigitte, you made a good point re the author's second question which suggested that "eternal God" died. You wrote
And I believe you are correct. The situation is a bit more complicated, though. Jesus Christ was a new being who did not exist before His incarnation in Mary's womb. Before that, He was eternal God. Through incarnation, He became human, while remaining eternal God. He became
Immanuel, God With Us, forever. He was and is indissolubly united to human flesh. It's not something I can explain or would dare to try to explain. We will study the mystery of the incarnation and the salvation He made possible in eternity. I think I mentioned before that, in order to fully understand God, we would have to be equal to Him or superior to Him. Thus, for what God has not revealed, silence is golden.
I was surprised to see that question by the author. I will suggest a better way to put it, and I will repeat some of what I wrote in reply to Rudy. On the cross Christ experienced the second death. He experienced the total separation from God and abandonment by God that sinners will ultimately experience. This is different from saying that "eternal God died," because that didn't happen and couldn't happen, as you suggest. The experience is what matters, after all. There is no more experience after a person has died - even for the wicked. The excruciating suffering will be the experience of being utterly abandoned by God while recognizing what could have been. Yes, they will be destroyed by fire and that will entail suffering. But I believe that the physical pain will be overshadowed by the anguish of realizing what could have been and the despair of utter abandonment.
This is the way Ellen White explained it in The Desire of Ages, p. 753:
I suggest also reading the context.
I also highly recommend reading the first chapter of The Desire of Ages. We just read it again tonight, and it is a must-read. The link in the lesson (scroll to top) goes to the online text.
What would you loose if Jesus wasn't divine?
Everything! Either Jesus is who he claimed to be or he was a lunatic. I recommend reading the quote from "Mere Christianity, I posted on tomorrow's (Sabbath) post.