In order that the Baker letter may be viewed as clearly as possible within the setting of its own immediate context, we are focusing our attention in this section on the two year period 1895-1896. It was near or shortly after the end of the year 1895 that Ellen White wrote a letter from Australia to a pastor W. L. H. Baker in Tasmania, a letter which was to be used by others, after her death, to change the Christological position of the Seventh-day Adventist church.
It is apparent from the records that this twenty-four month period, 1895-96, constituted a "high water mark" in Christological discussion within the Seventh-day Adventist church and in its testimony to the world. We have just noted that in 1895-96 the Australian Bible Echo had published the opinion that Christ had come to the earth in the human nature of fallen man (sinful flesh) in:
Two statements by Ellen White;
Two front page editorials;
A statement by A. T. Jones;
A statement by W. W. Prescott; (and)
The full text of a sermon by Prescott in which he affirmed that opinion twenty-five times, while twice rejecting the view that Christ had come to earth in the human nature of the unfallen Adam.
Meanwhile, the same subject was being given extended treatment elsewhere. In January, 1895, a statement by William Covert and another by J. H. Durland were published in the Review. In February, church delegates gathered for a General Conference session in the Battle Creek Tabernacle, in Battle Creek, Michigan. Here they listened to a series of messages by W. W. Prescott during which he stated at least twenty times that Christ had come to earth in the fallen nature (sinful flesh) of man.
This conviction was shared and reinforced by A. T. Jones, who, in a series of talks on The Third Angel's Message made the same point not less than ninety times. (It is worth noting that Jones used several lines from an advance manuscript of Ellen White's yet unpublished "The Desire of Ages" to support his statements about the nature of Christ.)
These messages were taken down by stenographers and were reported in full to the church membership in the General Conference Bulletin. During the ensuing months of 1895 several additional statements (by Prescott, Starbuck, and Durland) were published in the Review and in the Signs.
Ellen White could not have come to the end of the year 1895, when she wrote the Baker letter, without being aware of these events. And when W. W. Prescott brought the same message, with strong emphasis, to the Armadale camp meeting in Australia in October-November, 1895, the record is clear that she rejoiced to hear it and commended it in unmistakable terms. She herself had been expressing the same thought in letters and manuscripts throughout the year, as well as in the manuscript for "The Desire of Ages", which she was preparing for publication.
In 1896, along with twenty statements of Ellen White and several by J. E. Evans, Stephen Haskell, etc., the Review published a series of articles by W. W. Prescott in which he restated his conviction about the human nature of Jesus at least twenty-five times.
So the combined testimony of the various spokesmen for the church, including Ellen White, during this two year period, 1895-1896, could not have been less than two hundred and fifty statements that our Lord came to this earth in the human nature of fallen man.
Speaking in terms of chronology, we would see these two years, with their strong emphasis on Christological discussions, as the immediate context of the Baker letter. We cannot state with certainty how much of this discussion came to the attention of W. L. H. Baker, but we cannot doubt that most, if not all of it, was made known to Ellen White. And it would seem highly unlikely that Baker could have missed it all.
The records do not indicate that in any other two year period in the history of the church there was as much attention given to the subject of the nature of Christ as in the years 1895-1896, nor do the records give evidence of any disagreement on the subject. Therefore the question we must consider now is whether the emphasis placed on interpretations of a few lines from the Baker letter reflect accurately and adequately the tenor and consensus of these Christological discussions, or whether by the use made of these interpretations of the Baker letter the picture has actually been distorted, and the unfortunate impression created that Ellen White contradicted herself. Let us examine the evidence.
1895
He was clothed with a body like ours.[1]
He came to the world in the likeness of sinful flesh.[2]
Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh, clothing His divinity with humanity.[3]
He took upon Him the likeness of sinful flesh, and was made in all points like unto His brethren.[4]
He stooped to take human nature, in order to be able to reach man where he was.[5]
(He) humbled Himself so that He might meet man in his fallen, helpless condition.[6]
He came as a helpless babe, bearing the humanity we bear.[7]
What a strange symbol of Christ was that likeness of the serpent that stung them. This symbol was lifted on a pole, and they were to look at it and be healed. So Jesus was made in the likeness of sinful flesh.[8]
Jesus assumed humanity that He might treat humanity ... making all feel that His identification with their nature and interest is complete.[9]
He came as a helpless babe, bearing the humanity we bear. "As the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same." ... In His humanity He understood all the temptations that will come to man.[10]
He ... suffered every phase of trial and temptation with which humanity is beset.[11]
So Jesus was made in the likeness of sinful flesh.[12]
With man's nature upon Him ... He must be like His brethren in all points as to flesh and temptation, and yet live without sin. In the flesh He must be as weak as they. ... He must know the power of sin ... in sinful flesh ...in sinful flesh ... in sinful flesh ... the weakness of human flesh.[13]
Thus was Jesus of the flesh of David, and subject to all the infirmities of that flesh.[14]
Then (God) preached Christ in the flesh--a life--presenting before men, under the very circumstances under which they lived, and in the same flesh in which they lived.[15]
... it is because the children were partakers of flesh and blood that He also Himself likewise took part of the same flesh and blood.[16]
Divinity was manifested, put into humanity, clothed with a body; clothed with flesh, our flesh. ... How did He take upon Him that nature, that flesh and blood? He did it by birth, by being born of a woman.[17]
Christ took our flesh ... it was when Jesus Christ took our human nature and was born of a woman, that humanity and divinity were joined.[18]
Jesus Christ became flesh and blood relation--near of kin to every one of us ... He ... took part of our same flesh and blood.[19]
... the flesh which He took and in which He dwelt was our flesh. ... He took our flesh.[20]
... the condescension of Jesus Christ to come here and dwell in us! To take our flesh, our sinful flesh.[21]
... that body of flesh was a body of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3).[22]
Jesus Christ came, and by taking our nature, our sinful flesh ... He did unite Himself to sinful flesh.[23]
He took sinful flesh, flesh that is used for sinful purposes, and in that sinful flesh, He gave His thought, He revealed Himself ... it was in sinful flesh that He was revealed.[24]
Although Jesus Christ took sinful flesh,--flesh in which we sin, ... God was able to keep Him from sinning in that sinful flesh. So that although He was manifested in sinful flesh, God by His Spirit and power dwelling in Him, kept Him from sinning in that sinful flesh ... (God) made a perfect revelation of His mind in that sinful flesh.[25]
... the grace of God was able to reveal in sinful flesh the character of God. ... Even in sinful flesh there could be by the grace of God a revelation of the Divine character not marred by sin ... in sinful flesh to reveal perfectly the character of God. ... To show ... that God did not require of humanity, even in sinful flesh, any more than could be rendered through the grace of God in Jesus Christ.[26]
The Power which kept Jesus Christ in His life in sinful flesh, is for you and for me.[27]
To meet Satan it was necessary to meet Him in the flesh of fallen man. So when Jesus took up His abode in the flesh, it was not the flesh that man had before he fell, but it was the sinful flesh that man had after he fell. ... He came to save sinners, therefore He must take the flesh of sinners. ... He had all the weakness of the flesh that we have. The flesh which He took had the same desires that our own flesh has.[28]
The particular thought which will be the subject of our study at this time is that which is found in the 11th verse, second chapter of Hebrews: "Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one." It is men of this world, sinful men, whom Christ sanctifies--He is the Sanctifier. And He and these are all of one.
In this part of the chapter you will remember we are studying man. In the first chapter, as we have seen, there is shown the contrast between Christ and the angels, with Christ above the angels as God. In the second chapter the contrast is between Christ and the angels, with Christ below the angels. God has not put in subjection to the angels the world to come whereof we speak. He has put it in subjection to man, and Christ is the man. Therefore Christ became man; He takes the place of man; He was born as man is born. In His human nature, Christ came from the man from whom we all have come; so that the expression in this verse, "all of one," is the same as "all from one,"--as all coming forth from one. One man is the source and head of all our human nature. And the genealogy of Christ, as one of us, runs to Adam. (Luke 3:38)
It is true that all men and all things are from God; but the thought in this chapter is man, and Christ as man. We are the sons of the first man, and so is Christ according to the flesh. We are now studying Christ in His human nature. The first chapter of Hebrews is Christ in His divine nature. The second chapter is Christ in human nature. The thought in these two chapters is clearly akin to that in the second chapter of Philippians, verses 5-8:--
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
In that passage Christ in the two forms is set forth. First, being in the form of God, He took the form of man. In Hebrews, first two chapters, it is not the form, but the nature.
I repeat: In the second chapter of Philippians we have Christ in the two forms--the form of God and the form of man. In Hebrews, first and second chapters, we have Christ in the two natures, the nature of God and the nature of man. You may have something in the form of man that would not be of the nature of man. You can have a piece of stone in the form of man, but it is not the nature of man. Jesus Christ took the form of man, that is true; and He did more, He took the nature of man.
Let us read now the fourteenth verse of the second chapter of Hebrews. "Forasmuch then as the children [the children of Adam, the human race] are partakers of the flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same." "Likewise" means in this wise, in this way, in a way like this which is spoken of. Therefore Christ took flesh and blood in a way like we take it. But how did we take flesh and blood?--By birth and clear from Adam too. He took flesh and blood by birth also; and clear from Adam too. For it is written: He is "the seed of David according to the flesh." (Rom. 1:3) While David calls him Lord, he also is David's son. (Matt. 22:42-45) His genealogy is traced to David; but it does not stop there. It goes to Abraham; because He is the seed of Abraham. He took on Him the seed of Abraham, as in the sixteenth verse of this second chapter of Hebrews. Nor does His genealogy stop with Abraham; it goes to Adam. (Luke 3:38) Therefore He which sanctifieth among men, and they who are sanctified among men are all of one. All coming from one man according to the flesh, are all of one. Thus on the human side, Christ's nature is precisely our nature.
Let us look at the other side again for an illustration of this oneness, that we may see the force of this expression that He and we are all of one.
On the other side, however, as in the first chapter of Hebrews, he is of the nature of God. The name "God" which He bears belongs to Him by the very fact of His existence; it belongs to Him "by inheritance." As that name belongs to Him entirely because He exists, and as certainly as He exists; and as it belongs to Him by nature, it is certain that His nature is the nature of God.
Also, in the first chapter of John, first verse, it is written: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God." That word "with" does not express the reality of the thought as well as another. The German puts a word in there that defines the Greek closer than ours does. That says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was bei God;" literally, "The Word was of God." And that is true. The Greek word conveys the same idea as that my right arm is of me, of my body. The Greek therefore is literally, In the beginning "the Word was God."
This simply illustrates on that side the fact as to what He is on this side. For as on the divine side, He was of God, of the nature of God, and was really God, so on the human side He is of man, and of the nature of man, and really man.
Look at the fourteenth verse of the first chapter of John: " And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." That tells the same story that we are reading here in the first two chapters of Hebrews. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was of God, and the Word was God." "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," flesh and blood as ours is.
Now what kind of flesh is it? What kind of flesh alone is it that this world knows?--Just such flesh as you and I have. This world does not know any other flesh of man, and has not known any other since the necessity for Christ's coming was created. Therefore, as this world knows only such flesh as we have, as it is now, it is certainly true that when "the Word was made flesh," He was made just such flesh as ours is. It cannot be otherwise.
Again: What kind of flesh is our flesh, as it is in itself? Let us turn to the eighth chapter of Romans, and read whether Christ's human nature meets ours, and is as ours in that respect wherein ours is sinful flesh. (Romans 8:3): "What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son" did.
There was something that the law could not do, and that God, sending His own Son, did. But why was it that the law could not do what it desired, and what was required?--It was weak through the flesh. The trouble was in the flesh. It was this that caused the law to fail of its purpose concerning man. Then God sent Christ to do what the law could not do. And the law having failed of its purpose, because of the flesh, and not because of any lack in itself, God must send Him to help the flesh, and not to help the law. If the law had been in itself too weak to do what it was intended to do, then the thing for Him to have done to help the matter out would be to remedy the law; but the trouble was with the flesh, and therefore He must remedy the flesh.
It is true that the argument nowadays, springing up from that enmity that is against God, and is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, is that the law could not do what was intended, and God sent His Son to weaken the law, so that the flesh could answer the demands of the law. But if I am weak and you are strong, and I need help, it does not help me any to make you as weak as I am: I am as weak and helpless as before. There is no help at all in all that. But when I am weak and you are strong, and you can bring to me your strength, that helps me. So the law was strong enough; but its purpose could not be accomplished through the weakness of the flesh. Therefore God, to supply the need, must bring strength to weak flesh. He sent Christ to supply the need; and therefore Christ must so arrange it that strength may be brought to our flesh itself which we have to-day, that the purpose of the law may be met in our flesh. So it is written: " God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh," in order "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
Now, do not get a wrong idea of that word "likeness." It is not the shape; it is not the photograph; it is not the likeness in the sense of an image; but it is likeness in the sense of being like indeed. The word "likeness" here is not the thought that is in the second chapter of Philippians, where it is shape, the form, or likeness as to form; but here, in the book of Hebrews, it is likeness in nature, likeness to the flesh as it is in itself, God sending His own Son in that which is just like sinful flesh. And in order to be just like sinful flesh, it would have to be sinful flesh; in order to be made flesh at all, as it is in this world, He would have to be just such flesh as it is in this world,--just such as we have, and that is sinful flesh. This is what is said in the words "likeness of sinful flesh."
This is shown in the ninth and tenth verses of Hebrews 2, also: "We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels"--not only as man was made lower than the angels when He was created.
Man was sinless when God made him a little lower than the angels. That was sinless flesh. But man fell from that place and condition, and became sinful flesh.
Now we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels; but not as man was made when he was first made a little lower than the angels, but as man is since he sinned, and became still lower than the angels. That is where we see Jesus. Let us read and see: "We see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels." What for?--"For the suffering of death. " Then Christ's being made as much lower than the angels as man is, is as much lower than the angels as man is since he sinned and became subject to death. We see Him "crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him [it was appropriate for him], for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. "
Therefore, as He became subject to suffering and death, this demonstrates strongly enough that the point lower than the angels at which Christ came to stand; where He does stand; and where "we see him," is the point to which man came when he, in sin, stepped still lower than where God made him--even then a little lower than the angels.
Again: the sixteenth verse: "Verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham." He took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the nature of Abraham. But the nature of Abraham and of the seed of Abraham is only human nature.
Again: "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren." In how many things?--All things. Then in His human nature there is not a particle of difference between Him and you.
Let us read the scripture. Let us study this closely. I want to see that we shall stand by it. Let us read it over: "Are all of one." He took part of flesh and blood in the same way that we take part of flesh and blood. He took not the nature of angels, but the seed, the nature, of Abraham. Wherefore,--for these reasons,--it became Him; it was appropriate. It behooved Him to be made in all things like unto His brethren. Who are His brethren, though?--the human race. "All of one;" and for this cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren. Because we are all of one, He is not ashamed to call you and me brethren. "Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren."
Well, then, in His human nature, when He was upon the earth, was He in any wise different from what you are in your human nature to-night? [A few in the congregation responded, "NO."] I wish we had heard everybody in the house say, "No," with a loud voice. You are too timid altogether. The word of God says that, and we are to say, That is so; because there is salvation in just that one thing. No, it is not enough to say it that way: the salvation of God for human beings lies in just that one thing. We are not to be timid about it at all. There our salvation lies, and until we get there we are not sure of our salvation. That is where it is. "In all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren." What for?--O, "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 succor them that are tempted." Then don't you see that our salvation lies just there? Do you not see that it is right there where Christ comes to us? He came to us just where we are tempted, and was made like us just where we are tempted; and there is the point where we meet Him--the living Saviour against the power of temptation.
Now the fourteenth verse of the fourth chapter of Hebrews:--
"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are."
He could not have been tempted in all points like as I am, if He were not in all points like as I am to start with. Therefore it behooved Him to be made in all points like me, if He is going to help me where I need help. I know that right there is where I need it. And oh, I know it is right there where I get it. Thank the Lord! There is where Christ stands, and there is my help.
"We have not a high priest which cannot be touched"--two negatives there; have not a high priest which cannot be touched. Then what do we have on the affirmative side?--We have a high priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,--my infirmities, your infirmities, our infirmities. Does He feel my infirmities?--Yes. Does He feel your infirmities?--Yes. What is an infirmity?--Weakness, wavering,--weakness,--that is expressive enough. We have many of them; all of us have many of them. We feel our weaknesses. Thank the Lord, there is One who feels them also,--yea, not only feels them, but is touched with the feeling of them. There is more in that word "touched" than simply that He is reached with the feeling of our weaknesses, and feels as we feel. He feels as we feel, that is true, but beyond that He is "touched;" that is, He is tenderly affected; His sympathy is stirred. He is touched to tenderness and affected to sympathy, and He helps us. That is what is said in the words, "touched with the feeling of our infirmities." Thank the Lord for such a Saviour!
But I say again, He cannot be tempted in all points like as I am unless He was in all points like I am to start with. He could not feel as I do unless He is where I am, and as I am. In other words, He could not be tempted in all points as I am, and feel as I feel, unless He was just myself over again. The word of God says: "In all points like as we are."
Let us study this further. There are things that will tempt you strongly, that will draw hard on you, that are no more to me than a zephyr in a summer day. Something will draw hard on me, even to my overthrowing, that would not affect you at all. What strongly tempts one may not affect you at all. What strongly tempts one may not affect another. Then, in order to help me, Jesus must be where He can feel what I feel, and be tempted in all points where I could be tempted with any power at all. But as things that tempt me may not affect you at all, and things that affect you may not affect me, Christ has to stand where you and I both are, so as to meet all the temptations of both. He must feel all those which you meet that do not affect me, and also all those which I meet that do not affect you. He has to take the place of both of us. That is so.
Then there is the other man. There are things that tempt him to his overthrow, that do not affect you or me either. Then Jesus had to take all the feelings and the nature of myself, of yourself, and of the other man also, so that He could be tempted in all points like as I am, and in all points like as you are, and in all points like as the other man is. But when you and I, and the other man, are taken in Him, how many does that embrace?--That takes the whole human race.
And this is exactly the truth. Christ was in the place, and He had the nature, of the whole human race.--And in Him meet all the weaknesses of mankind, so that every man on the earth who can be tempted at all, finds in Jesus Christ power against that temptation. For every soul there is in Jesus Christ victory against all temptations, and relief from the power of it. That is the truth.
Let us look at it from another side. There is one in the world--Satan, the god of this world--who is interested in seeing that we are tempted just as much as possible; but he does not have to employ much of his time nor very much of his power in temptation to get us to yield.
That same one was here, and he was particularly interested in getting Jesus to yield to temptation. He tried Jesus upon every point upon which he would ever have to try me to get me to sin; and he tried in vain. He utterly failed to get Jesus to consent to sin in any single point upon which I can ever be tempted.
He also tried Jesus upon every point upon which he has ever tried you or ever can try you, to get you to sin; and he utterly failed there too. That takes you and me both then; and Jesus has conquered in all points for both you and me.
But when he tried Jesus upon all the points that he has tried upon both you and me and failed there, as he did completely fail, he had to try Him more than that yet. He had to try Him upon all the points upon which he has tried the other man, to get him to yield. Satan did this also, and also there completely failed.
Thus Satan had to try, and he did try, Jesus upon all the points that he ever had to try me upon; and upon all the points that he ever had to try you upon; and also upon all the points that he would have to try the other man upon. Consequently he had to try Jesus upon every point upon which it is possible for a temptation to rise in any man of the human race.
Satan is the author of all temptation, and he had to try Jesus in all points upon which he ever had to try any man. He also had to try Jesus upon every point which it is possible for Satan himself to raise a temptation. And in all he failed all the time. Thank the Lord! More than that: Satan not only had to try Jesus upon the points where he has ever had to try me, but he had to try Jesus with a good deal more power than he ever had to exert upon me. He never had to try very hard, nor use very much of his power in temptation, to get me to yield. But taking the same points upon which Satan has ever tried me in which he got me to sin, or would ever have to try to get me to sin, he had to try Jesus on those same points a good deal harder than he ever did to get me to sin. He had to try Him with all the power of temptation that he possibly knows,--that, is the devil I mean,--and failed. Thank the Lord! So in Christ I am free.
He had to try Jesus in all points where he ever tempted, or ever can tempt you, and he had to try Him with all the power that he knows; and he failed again. Thank the Lord! So you are free in Christ. He had also to try Jesus upon every point that affects the other man, with all his Satanic power also; and still he failed. Thank the Lord! And in Christ the other man is free.
Therefore he had to try Jesus upon every point that ever the human race could be tried upon, and failed; he had to try Jesus with all the knowledge that he has, and all the cunning that he knows, and failed; and he had to try Jesus with all his might upon each particular point, and he still failed.
Then there is a threefold,--yes, a complete,--failure on the devil's part all around. In the presence of Christ, Satan is absolutely conquered; and in Christ we are conquerors of Satan. Jesus said, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." In Christ, then, we escape him. In Christ we meet in Satan a completely conquered and a completely exhausted enemy.
That is not to say that we have no more fighting to do. But it is to say, and to say emphatically and joyfully, that in Christ we fight the fight of victory. Out of Christ, we fight,--but it is all defeat. In Him our victory is complete, as well as in all things in Him we are complete. But, O do not forget the expression: It is in Him!
Then, as Satan has exhausted all the temptations that he knows, or possibly can know, and has exhausted all his powers in the temptation too, what is he? in the presence of Christ, what is he?--Powerless. And when he finds us in Christ, and then would reach us and harass us, what is he?--Powerless. Praise and magnify the Lord!
Let us rejoice in this; for in Him we are victors; in Him we are free; in Him Satan is powerless toward us. Let us be thankful for that. In Him we are complete.[29]
And in noticing the other evening how He became one of us, we found that it was by birth from the flesh. He is "the seed of David according to the flesh." He took not the nature of angels, but the nature of the seed of Abraham; and His genealogy goes to Adam. ...
So all the tendencies to sin that are in the human race came from Adam. But Jesus Christ felt all these temptations; He was tempted upon all these points in the flesh which He derived from David, from Abraham, and from Adam. In His genealogy are a number of characters set forth as they were lived in the men; and they were not righteous. Manasseh is there, who did worse than any other king ever in Judah, and caused Judah to do worse than the heathen; Solomon is there, with the description of his character in the Bible just as it is; David is there; Rahab is there; Judah is there; Jacob is there,--all are there just as they were. Now Jesus came according to the flesh at the end of that line of mankind. And there is such a thing as heredity.[30]
Now that law of heredity reached from Adam to the flesh of Jesus Christ as certainly as it reaches from Adam to the flesh of any of the rest of us; for He was one of us. In Him there were things that reached Him from Adam; in Him there were things that reached Him from David, from Manasseh, from the genealogy away back from the beginning until His birth.
Thus in the flesh of Jesus Christ,--not in Himself, but in His flesh,--our flesh which He took in the human nature,--there were just the same tendencies to sin that are in you and me. ... And thus being in the likeness of sinful flesh, He condemned sin in the flesh. ...
That is simply saying that all the tendencies to sin that are in human flesh were in His human flesh, and not one of them was ever allowed to appear; He conquered them all. And in Him we all have victory over them all.[31]
We are no more responsible for these tendencies being in us that we are responsible for the sun shining; but every man on the earth is responsible for these things appearing in open action in him; because Jesus Christ has made provision against their ever appearing in open action.[32]
Jesus Christ, the second man, took our sinful nature.[33]
And Christ having taken our human nature in all things in the flesh. ... In all points it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren; and He is our brother in the nearest blood-relationship.[34]
He has demonstrated it in my flesh that He inclines,--leans over,--to listen to my cry.[35]
Weak as we, sinful as we,--simply ourselves,--He went through this world, and never sinned. He was sinful as we, weak as we, helpless as we. ...
The mystery of God is not God manifest in sinless flesh. There is no mystery about God being manifest in sinless flesh; that is natural enough. Is not God Himself sinless? Is there then, any room for wonder that God could manifest Himself through or in sinless flesh? Is there any mystery as to God's manifesting His power and His righteous glory through Gabriel, or through the bright seraphim or the cherubim? - No; that is natural enough. But the wonder is that God can do that through and in sinful flesh. That is the mystery of God,--God manifest in sinful flesh.
In Jesus Christ as He was in sinful flesh, God has demonstrated before the universe that He can so take possession of sinful flesh as to manifest His own presence, His power, and His glory, instead of sin manifesting itself.[36]
(The student will observe in this passage an unguarded expression by Jones, "He was sinful as we." This is quite different from saying that He had a sinful nature like ours but never sinned, which Jones said many times.
The careful and fair-minded reader, seeing this expression surrounded by statements that Christ never sinned, would not misunderstand the writer's intention, but would see this as an example of incautious wording. However, we cannot realistically expect all readers to be that careful and fair-minded. An expression like this, taken out of its context, could be very damaging. So let us carefully avoid the inadvertent use of any such expressions.)
Then let us respond, and sink ourselves in Him, that God may still be manifest in sinful flesh.[37]
Christ has allied Himself with every soul on the earth; He has linked Himself with every human being, with every one in sinful flesh.[38]
... the false idea that He is so holy that it would be entirely unbecoming in Him to come near to us, and be possessed of such a nature as we have,--sinful, depraved, fallen human nature. Therefore Mary must be born immaculate, perfect, sinless, and higher than the cherubim and seraphim; and then Christ must be so born of her as to take His human nature in absolute sinlessness from her. But that puts Him farther away from us than the cherubim and the seraphim are, and in a sinless nature.
But if He comes no nearer to us than in a sinless nature, that is a long way off; because I need somebody that is nearer to me than that. I need someone to help me who knows something about sinful nature; for that is the nature that I have; and such the Lord did take. He became one of us.[39]
Thus in His true holiness, Christ could come, and did come, to sinful men in sinful flesh, where sinful men are. Thus in Christ, and in Christ alone, is found the brotherhood of man. All indeed are one in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Some have found, and all may find, in the "Testimonies" the statement that Christ has not "like passions" as we have. The statement is there; everyone may find it there, of course.[40]
Now as to Christ's not having "like passions" with us: In the Scriptures all the way through He is like us, and with us according to the flesh. He is the seed of David according to the flesh. He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. Don't go too far. He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh; not in the likeness of sinful mind. Do not drag His mind into it. His flesh was our flesh; but the mind was "the mind of Christ Jesus." Therefore it is written: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."[41]
Now Jesus Christ comes into the world, taking our flesh.[42]
Now the flesh of Jesus Christ was our flesh, and in it was all that is in our flesh,--all the tendencies to sin that are in our flesh were in His flesh, drawing upon Him to get Him to consent to sin. Suppose He had consented to sin with His mind; what then? Then His mind would have been corrupted, and then He would have become of like passions with us.[43]
Therefore Jesus Christ came in just such flesh as ours, but with a mind that held its integrity against every temptation, against every inducement to sin,--a mind that never consented to sin,--no, never in the least conceivable shadow of a thought.[44]
Jesus Christ came into this flesh Himself,--the glorious One,--He who made the worlds, the Word of God,--was made flesh Himself, and He was our flesh; and He, that divine One, who was in heaven, was in our sinful flesh. Yet that divine One, when in sinful flesh, never manifested a particle of His divine self in resisting the temptations that were in that flesh, but emptied Himself. ...
Jesus Christ, the divine one, the infinite One, came in His divine person in this same flesh of ours, and never allowed His divine power, His personal self, to be manifested at all in resisting these temptations and enticements and drawings of the flesh.
What was it, then, that conquered sin there, and kept Him from sinning? It was the power of God, the Father, that kept Him. ...
Christ Himself, who made the worlds, was all the time in that sinful flesh of mine and yours which He took.[45]
Now I read a few lines from the advance pages of the new "Life of Christ." - (Later entitled The Desire of Ages.)
"In order to carry out the great work of redemption, the Redeemer must take the place of fallen man. ...
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 communed 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. 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 sympathize with man and rescue Him from the degradation into which sin had plunged Him.
"Christ took humanity with all its liabilities. He took the nature of man with the possibility of yielding to temptation, and He relied upon divine power to keep Him."[46]
He was our sinful selves in the flesh, and here were all these tendencies to sin being stirred up in His flesh to get Him to consent to sin. But He Himself did not keep Himself from sinning. To have done so would have been Himself manifesting Himself against the power of Satan, and this would have destroyed the plan of salvation.[47]
Therefore Christ came in our flesh, and the Father dwelt with Him. ...
Christ came in that sinful flesh, but did not do anything of Himself against the temptation and power of sin in the flesh. He emptied Himself, and the Father worked in human flesh against the power of sin, and kept Him from sinning.[48]
Christ emptied Himself, in order that God might be manifest in the flesh, in sinful flesh.[49]
We have studied for several lessons the fact that He in human nature was ourselves.[50]
He has proven His ability to take us and fulfill His purpose concerning human nature, concerning sinful flesh as it is in this world.[51]
God has set before us in Christ His complete workmanship in sinful flesh. In Christ He has completed it, and set it there at His right hand. Now He says to us: "Look at that. That is what I am able to do with sinful flesh."[52]
When He was upon the earth, He was in our human, sinful flesh. ...
This is the same as we had in a previous lesson, that God manifest in the flesh, God manifest in sinful flesh, is the mystery of God--not God manifested in sinless flesh, but in sinful flesh. That is to say, God will so dwell in our sinful flesh to-day that although that flesh be sinful, its sinfulness will not be felt or realized, nor cast any influence upon others; that God will so dwell yet in sinful flesh that in spite of all the sinfulness of sinful flesh, His influence, His glory, His righteousness, His character, shall be manifested wherever that person goes.
This was precisely the case with Jesus in the flesh.[53]
A second Adam came, not as the first Adam was, but as the first Adam had caused his descendants to be at the time in which he came. The second Adam came at the point in the degeneracy of the race to which the race had come from the first Adam.[54]
The Lord Jesus entered upon the open field in contest with Satan, in human flesh at the point which human flesh had reached in degeneracy at the moment when He was born into the world. There, in the weakness of human nature as it was in the world when He came into the flesh, He fought the battle.
Human nature will never be any weaker, the world will never be any worse in itself; human nature will never reach any lower condition in itself, than it had reached when Jesus Christ came into the world.[55]
Jesus Christ came into the world in that weakest stage of human flesh, and in that flesh, as a man, He fought the battle with Satan. ...
Now when this second Adam comes into human flesh right at the point to which Satan had brought the whole race by sin, and there in all this weakness enters upon contest, Satan can never say that that is not fair. ... He can not do it, for there stood Christ in the very weakness of the flesh to which Satan had brought man. Christ came in the very weakness which Satan had brought upon the race.[56]
Jesus came here into Satan's territory, and took human nature at the point to which Satan himself had brought it.[57]
He put off the body of flesh by destroying the enmity in sinful flesh, by conquering all the tendencies of the sinful flesh.[58]
In His incarnation He was human in the fullest sense, for He had sinful flesh, with all its accumulated tendencies to evil. ...
It is not imputed to us as sin that we are borne (sic) with sinful flesh, or that we are tempted in that nature, for Christ voluntarily assumed that nature and was tempted in it, yet without sin. ...
He assumed our sinful flesh, with its inherent sinful tendencies.[59]
What was the nature of this flesh which He took? ... He must have had the same kind of flesh which we have ... Jesus Christ took "flesh of sin." ... Yes, reader, the blessed Son of God ... took up His abode in flesh with the same desires that you have in your flesh.[60]
None will ever be able to explain how the Son of God could leave heaven and come to this earth and be born as fallen humanity is born. ... He must take the same flesh that man had after the fall. ... He took neither the nature of angels, nor of man before the fall. ... Had He taken the nature of Adam before the fall, He would not have been under the death sentence which was passed upon all men. ...
He did not possess the passions of our fallen natures, caused by being overcome by sin. But the flesh which He took would soon have possessed all the passions that sin has brought upon us had He once yielded. He met the tempter in the weak, sinful flesh, and condemned it so that it was not able to overcome Him. ...
He took sinful flesh that He might subdue the corruptions of our old nature.[61]
On Sunday evening, October 31, 1895, W. W. Prescott preached a sermon at the Armadale Camp-meetings, in Victoria, Australia. Ellen White heard this sermon, and his other sermons that followed it, and was so moved that she expressed her gratitude for his message in fervent terms in several different letters to various people.
Since the White Estate has not yet released all of these letters for publication, I cannot report them to you by specific identification, giving the precise location of each statement. I can, however, say that if the student will examine the following materials, he will find scattered through them expressions of approval for Prescott's messages like those on the next page(s):
Ms. 19, 1895 Letter W-25, 1895 Review and Herald
Ms. 23, 1895 Letter W-32, 1895 Jan . 6, 1896
Ms. 47, 1895 Letter W-83, 1895 (published and
Ms. 52, 1895 Letter W-84, 1895 released)
(After reading the expressions of approval, the student will wish to read Elder Prescott's sermon, which immediately follows them.)
I have just been listening to a discourse given by Professor Prescott. It was a most powerful appeal to the people. ... Maggie Hare is reporting Professor Prescott's discourses and my talks, for publication. (His) sermons will never seem the same, I fear, as when given by the living preacher. For the words are spoken in the demonstration of the Spirit, and with power, his face all aglow with the sunshine of heaven. The presence of the Lord is in our meetings day by day.
The word obeyed is life, and hope, and salvation to all "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." I feel so grateful for these words; for if it were not possible for us to obey the commandments of God, these words would not have been spoken. ... (Emphasis mine.) through Christ Jesus giving us grace, ... we can keep the law of God_ The Lord has visited Prescott in a special manner and given him a special message for the people ... the truth flows forth from him in rich currents; people say the Bible is now a new revelation to them.
Those who since the Minneapolis meeting have had the privilege of listening to the words spoken by the messengers of God, A. T. Jones, E. J. Waggoner and W. W. Prescott. ... Heaven's light has been shining. The trumpet has given a certain sound. ... Light has been shining upon justification by faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ.
The Lord has sent Prescott, he is no empty vessel, but full of heavenly treasure. He has presented truths in clear and simple style, rich in nourishment.
W. W. Prescott has been bearing the burning words of truth such as I have heard from some in 1844; the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is upon him. Prescott has never had such power in preaching the truth.
Prescott has had outpouring of Holy Spirit since coming (sic) here; we distinguish voice of the true Shepherd. The truth poured forth from his lips as people never heard it before; people say that that man is inspired.
Prescott has spoken many times at the Armadale camp-meetings under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
The people wanted printed copies of Prescott's messages; they acted like a flock of half starved sheep, "beg for copy." They want to read and study every point presented.
Prescott's mind has been fruitful in the truth; may God guide us into all truth.[62]
In the evening (October 31) Professor Prescott gave a most valuable lesson, precious as gold. The tent was full, and many stood outside. All seemed to be fascinated with the word, as he presented the truth in lines so new to those not of our faith. Truth was separated from error, and made, by the divine Spirit, to shine like precious jewels. It was shown that perfect obedience to all the commandments of God is essential for the salvation of souls. Obedience to the laws of God's kingdom reveals the divine in the human, sanctifying the character.
The Lord is working in power through His servants who are proclaiming the truth, and He has given Brother Prescott a special message for the people. The power and Spirit of the truth come from human lips in demonstration of the Spirit and power of God. The Lord has visited Brother Prescott in a most remarkable manner. We are sure that the Lord has endowed him with His Holy Spirit, and the truth is flowing forth from Him in rich currents.
We cannot speak of all the meetings particularly, but they have all been characterized by a spirit of seeking after truth (on part of people).
The following pages contain the sermon preached by W. W. Prescott on Sunday evening, October 31, at the Armadale Camp-meetings in Victoria, Australia. It was published in the Bible Echo on January 6, 1896, pages 4 and 5, Volume II, No. 1, and on January 13, 1896, page 12, Volume II, No. 2.
The italics and the numbering are mine. The student will wish to study carefully both this sermon and Ellen White's commendations of it, in view of the fact that shortly after hearing the sermon she wrote the celebrated Baker letter, to which reference was made in Section III: The Use of the Terms "Passions" and "Propensities" in the Writings of Ellen White.
The Word Became Flesh
Professor W. W. Prescott
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." The Revised Version says, "The Word became flesh."
The theme of redemption will be the science and the song of the eternal ages, and well may it occupy our minds during our short stay here. There is no portion of this great theme that makes such a demand on our minds in order to appreciate it in any degree, as the subject we shall study to-night,--"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Through Him all things became; now He Himself became. He who had all glory with the Father, now lays aside His glory and becomes flesh. He lays aside His divine mode of existence, and takes the human mode of existence, and God becomes manifest in the flesh. This truth is the very foundation of all truth.
A Helpful Truth
And Jesus Christ becoming flesh, God being manifest in the flesh, is one of the most helpful truths, one of the most instructive truths, which humanity ought to rejoice in.
I desire this evening to study this question for our personal, present benefit. Let us command our minds to the utmost, because to comprehend that the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, demands all our mental powers. Let us consider, first, what kind of flesh; for this is the very foundation of this question as it relates to us personally. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved 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." (Heb. 2:14-18) That through death, being made subject to death, taking upon Him the flesh of sin, He might, by His dying, destroy him that had the power of death.
"Verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but he took on Him the seed of Abraham." The margin says, "He taketh not hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham He taketh hold;" and one version reads, "He helps not angels." We see the reason from the next verse: "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." "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ." (Gal. 3:16) Now verily, He helps the seed of Abraham by Himself becoming the seed of Abraham. God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be revealed in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
So you see that what the Scripture states very plainly is that Jesus Christ had exactly the ·same flesh that we bear--flesh of sin, flesh in which we sin, flesh, however, in which He did not sin, but He bore our sins in that &flesh of sin. Do not set this point aside. No matter how you may have looked at it in the past, look at it now as it is in the word; and the more you look at it in that way, the more reason you will have to thank God that it is so.
Adam's Sin Typical
What was the situation?--Adam had sinned, and Adam being the head of the human family, his sin was a typical sin. God made Adam in His own image, but by sin he lost that image. Then he begat sons and daughters, but he begat them in his image, not in God's. And so we have descended in the line, but all after his image.
For four thousand years this went on, and then Jesus Christ came, of flesh, and in the flesh, born of a woman, made under the law; born of the Spirit, but in the flesh. And what flesh could He take but the flesh of the time? Not only that, but it was the very flesh He designed to take; because, you see, the problem was to help man out of the difficulty into which he had fallen, and man is a free moral agent. He must be helped as a free moral agent. Christ's work must be, not to destroy him, not to create a new race, but to re-create man, to restore in him the image of God. "We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man." (Heb. 2:9)
An Undone, Helpless Race
God made man a little lower than the angels, but man fell much lower by his sin. Now he is far separated from God; but he is to be brought back again. Jesus Christ came for that work, and in order to do it, He came, not where man was before he fell, but where man was after he fell. This is the lesson of Jacob's ladder. It rested on the earth where Jacob was, but the topmost round reached to heaven. When Christ comes to help man out of the pit, He does not come to the edge of the pit and look over, and say, Come up here, and I will help you back. If man could help himself up to the point from whence he has fallen, he could do all the rest. If he could help himself one step, he could help himself all the way; but it is because man is utterly ruined, weak, and wounded and broken to pieces, in fact, perfectly helpless, that Jesus Christ comes right down where he is, and meets him there. He takes his flesh and becomes a brother to him. Jesus Christ is a brother to us in the flesh; He was born into the family. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,"
He had only one Son, and He gave Him away. And to whom did He give Him?--"Unto us a child is born,
"Unto Us a Son Is Given."
(Isa. 9:6) Sin has made a change even in heaven; for Jesus Christ, because of sin, has taken upon Himself humanity, and to-day He wears that humanity, and will through all eternity. Jesus Christ became the Son of man as well as the Son of God. He was born into our family. He did not come as an angelic being, but was born into the family, and grew up in it; He was a child, a youth, a young man, a man in the full prime of life, in our family. He is the Son of man, related to us, bearing the flesh that we bear.
Adam was the representative of the family; therefore his sin was a representative sin. When Jesus Christ came, He came to take the place in which Adam had failed. "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. " (1 Cor. 14:45) The second Adam is the man Christ Jesus, and He came down to unite the human family with the divine family. God is spoken of as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, came Himself to this part of the family, that He might win it back again, that there might be a--
Reunited Family In the Kingdom Of God
He came and took the flesh of sin that this family had brought upon itself by sin, and wrought out salvation for them, condemning sin in the flesh.
Adam failed in his place, and by the offence of one many were made sinners. Jesus Christ gave Himself, not only for us, but to us, uniting Himself to the family, in order that He might take the place of the first Adam, and as head of the family win back what was lost by the first Adam. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is a representative righteousness, just as the sin of Adam was a representative sin, and Jesus Christ, as the second Adam, gathered to Himself the whole family.
But since the first Adam took his place, there has been a change, and humanity is sinful humanity. The power of righteousness has been lost. To redeem man from the place into which he had fallen, Jesus Christ comes, and takes the very flesh now borne by humanity; He comes in sinful flesh, and takes the case where Adam tried it and failed. He became, not a man, but He became flesh; He became human, and gathered all humanity unto Himself, embraced it in His own infinite mind, and stood as the representative of the whole human family.
Adam was tempted at the very first on the question of appetite. Christ came, and after a forty days' fast the devil tempted Him to use His divine power to feed Himself. And notice, it was in sinful flesh that He was tempted, not the flesh in which Adam fell. This is wondrous truth, but I am wondrous glad that it is so. It follows at once that by birth, by being born into the same family, Jesus Christ is my brother in the flesh, "for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren." (Heb. 2:11) He has come into the family, identified Himself with the family, is both father of the family and brother of the family. As father of the family, He stands for the family. He came to redeem the family, condemning sin in the flesh, uniting divinity with flesh of sin. Jesus Christ made the connection between God and man, that the divine spirit might rest upon humanity. He made the way for humanity.
He Hath Borne Our Griefs
And He came right near to us. He is not one step away from one of us. He "was made in the likeness of men." (Phil. 2:7) He is now made in the likeness of man, and at the same time He holds His divinity; He is the divine Son of God. And so, by His divinity joining itself to humanity, He will restore man to the likeness of God. Jesus Christ, in taking the place of Adam, took our flesh. He took our place completely, in order that we might take His place. He took our place with all its consequences, and that meant death, in order that we might take His place with all its consequences, and that is life eternal. "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor. 5:21) He was not a sinner; but He invited God to treat Him as if He were a sinner, in order that we, who were sinners, might be treated as if we were righteous. "Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." (Isa. 53:4) The sorrows that He bore were our sorrows, and it is actually true that He did so identify Himself with our human nature as to bear in Himself all the sorrows and all the griefs of all the human family." He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our inquiries; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed." What was bruising to Him was healing to us, and He was bruised in order that we might be healed. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isa. 53:6) And then He died because on Him was laid the iniquity of us all. There was no sin in Him, but the sins of the whole world were laid on Him. Behold the Lamb of God, which beareth the sins of the whole world. "And He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)
The Price Paid For Every Soul
I want your minds to grasp the truth, that, no matter whether a man repents or not, yet Jesus Christ has borne his griefs, his sins, his sorrows, and he is invited to lay them on Christ. If every sinner in this world should repent with all his soul, and turn to Christ, the price has been paid. Jesus did not wait for us to repent before He died for us. "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." Christ has died in behalf of every single soul here; He has borne their grief and carried their sorrow; He simply asks us to lay them on Him, and let Him bear them.
Christ Our Righteousness
Furthermore: every one of us was represented in Jesus Christ when the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. We were all there in Jesus Christ. We were all represented in Adam after the flesh; and when Christ came as the second Adam, He stepped into the place of the first Adam, and thus we are all represented in Him. He invites us to step into the spiritual family. He has formed this new family, of which He is the head. He is the new man. In Him we have the union of the divine and the human.
In that new family, every one of us is represented. "And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him." When Melchisedec went out to meet Abraham returning from the spoil, Abraham paid to him a tenth of all. Levi was still in the loins of his father Abraham; but inasmuch as he was a descendant of Abraham, what Abraham did, the Scripture says that Levi did in Abraham. Levi descended from Abraham according to the flesh. He had not been born when Abraham paid tithe; but in that Abraham paid tithe, he paid tithe also. It is exactly so in this spiritual family. What Christ did as head of this new family, we did in Him. He was our representative; He became flesh; He became we. He did not become simply a man, but He became flesh, and every one that should be born into His family was represented in Jesus Christ when He lived here in the flesh. You see, then, that all that Christ did, every one who connects himself with this family is given credit for as doing it in Christ. Christ was not a representative outside him, disconnected from him; but as Levi paid tithe in Abraham, every one who should afterwards be born into this spiritual family, did what Christ did.
The New Birth
See what this means with reference to vicarious sufferings. It was not that Jesus Christ came from outside, and simply stepped into our place as an outsider; but by joining Himself to us by birth, all humanity was brought together in the divine head, Jesus Christ. He suffered on the cross. Then it was the whole family in Jesus Christ that was crucified. "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead," or as the Revised Version says, "All died." (2 Cor. 5:14) What we want in our experience is to enter into the fact that we did die in Him. But while it is true that Jesus Christ paid the whole price, bore every grief, was humanity itself, yet it is also true that no man receives benefit from that except he receives Christ, except he is born again. Only those who are twice born can enter into the kingdom of God. Those who are born in the flesh must be born again, born of the Spirit, in order that what Jesus Christ did in the flesh, we may avail ourselves of, that we may really be in Him.
The work of Christ is to bestow the character of God on us, and in the meantime God looks upon Christ and His perfect character instead of upon our sinful character. The very moment that we empty ourselves, or let Christ empty us, of self, and believe on Jesus Christ and receive Him as our personal Saviour, God looks upon Him as indeed our personal representative. Then He does not see us and all our sin; He sees Christ.
Our Representative In the Courts Of Heaven
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim. 2:5) There is a man in heaven now,--the man Christ Jesus,--bearing our human nature; but it is no longer a flesh of sin; it is glorified. Having come here and lived in a flesh of sin, He died; and in that He died, He died unto sin; and in that He lives, He lives unto God. When He died, He freed Himself from the flesh of sin, and He was raised glorified. Jesus Christ came here as our representative, travelled the path back to heaven in the family, died unto sin, and was raised glorified. He lived as the Son of man, grew up as the Son of man, ascended as the Son of man, and to-day, Jesus Christ, our own brother, the man Christ Jesus, is in heaven, living to make intercession for us.
He has been through every one of our experiences. Does not He know what the cross means? He went to heaven by the way of the cross, and He says, "Come." That is what Christ has done by becoming flesh. Our human minds stand appalled before the problem. How shall we express in human language what was done for us, when "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us"? How shall we express what God has given to us? When He gave His Son, He gave the most precious gift of heaven, and He gave Him never to take Him back again. To all eternity the Son of man will bear in His body the marks that sin made; forever He will be Jesus Christ, our Saviour, our Elder Brother. That is what God has done for us in giving His Son to us.
Christ Identified With Us
This union of the divine and the human has brought Jesus Christ very near to us. There is not one too low down for Christ to be there with him. He identified Himself completely with this human family. In the judgment, when the rewards and punishments are meted out, He says, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me." One version reads, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My little brothers, ye have done it unto Me." Christ looks upon every one of the human family as His. When humanity suffers, He suffers. He is humanity, He has joined Himself to this family. He is our head; and when in any part of the body there is a throb of pain felt, the head feels that throb of pain. He has united Himself with us, thus uniting us with God; for we read in Matthew: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."
Unity In Christ
Jesus Christ thus united Himself with the human family, that He might be with us by being in us, just as God was with Him by being in Him. The very purpose of His work was that He might be in us, and that, as He represented the Father, so the children, the Father, and the Elder Brother might be united in Him.
Let us see what His thought was in His last prayer: "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us." "And the glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them as Thou has loved Me. Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am that they may behold My glory, which Thou has given Me; for Thou lovest Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee; but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou has sent Me. And I have declared Thy name unto them, and will declare it." And the last words of His prayer were: "That the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17:21-26) And as He was ascending, His parting words to His disciples were, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." (Matt. 28:20) By being in us, He is with us always, and that this might be possible, that He might be in us, He came and took our flesh.
This also is the way in which the holiness of Jesus works. He had a holiness that enabled Him to come and dwell in sinful flesh, and unglorify sinful flesh by His presence in it; and that is what He did, so that when He was raised from the dead, He was glorified. His purpose was that having purified sinful flesh by His indwelling presence, He might now come and purify sinful flesh in us, and glorify sinful flesh in us. He "shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself." (Phil. 3:21) "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate, to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." (Rom. 8:29)
The Election Of Grace
Let me say that in this idea is bound up the whole question of predestination. There is a predestination; it is a predestination of character. There is an election; it is an election of character. Every one who believes on Jesus Christ is elected, and all the power of God is behind that election, that he shall bear the image of God. Bearing that image, he is predestinated to all eternity in Christ's kingdom; but every one who does not bear the image of God is predestinated unto death. It is a predestination of God in Christ Jesus. Christ provides the character, and offers it to any one who will believe in Him.
The Heart And Life Of Christianity
Let us enter into the experience that God has given Jesus Christ to us to dwell in our sinful flesh, to work out in our sinful flesh what He worked out when He was here. He came and lived here that we might through Him reflect the image of God. This is the very heart of Christianity. Anything contrary to it is not Christianity. "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." (1 John 4:1-3) Now that cannot mean simply to acknowledge that Jesus Christ was here and lived in the flesh. The devils made that acknowledgement. They knew that Christ had come in the flesh. The faith that comes by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus Christ is come in my flesh; I have received Him." That is the heart and life of Christianity.
The difficulty with the Christianity of today is that Christ does not dwell in the hearts of those professing His name. He is an outsider, one looked at from afar, as an example. But He is more than an example to us. He made known to us what God's ideal of humanity is, and then He came and lived it out before us, that we might see what it is to be in the image of God. Then He died, and ascended to His Father, sending forth His Spirit, His own representative, to live in us, that the life which He lived in the flesh we may live over again. This is Christianity.
Christ Must Dwell In the Heart
It is not enough to talk of Christ and of the beauty of His character. Christianity without Christ dwelling in the heart is not genuine Christianity. He only is a genuine Christian who has Christ dwelling in his heart, and we can live the life of Christ only by having Him dwelling in us. He wants us to lay hold upon the life and power of Christianity. Do not be satisfied with anything else. Heed no one who would lead you in any other path. "Christ in you, the hope of glory," His power, His indwelling presence, that is Christianity. That is what we need to-day; and I am thankful that there are hearts that are longing for that experience, and who will recognise it when it comes. It does not make any difference what your name or denomination has been. Recognize Jesus Christ, and let Him dwell in you. By following where He leads, we shall know what Christian experience is, and what it is to dwell in the light of His presence. I tell you, this is a wondrous truth. Human language cannot put more into human thought or language than is said in these words: "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." This is our salvation.
The object in these remarks is not merely to establish a line of thought. It is to bring new life into our soul, and open up our ideas of the word of God and the gift of God, that we may be able to grasp His love for us. We need it. Nothing short of that will meet what we have to meet,--the world, the flesh, and the devil. But He that is for us is mightier than he that is against us. Let us have in our daily lives Jesus Christ, "the Word" that "became flesh."
The student will observe that during this single sermon Prescott told the people twenty-five times that Christ came in sinful flesh, or its equivalent in other words. If his sermon were forty-five minutes long, which would be a normal camp meeting sermon of the time, that would mean that on an average of once every two minutes throughout the entire sermon he reminded the people that Christ came in sinful flesh. Twice he told them that Christ did not come in the nature of the unfallen Adam.
Ellen White rejoiced to hear this message and commended it in unmistakable terms. Shortly afterward she wrote the celebrated Baker letter, which some are now interpreting to prove that she believed that Christ came in the human nature of the unfallen Adam.
She heard this sermon and commented on it before writing the Baker letter. The following pages include twenty statements made by her about the nature of Christ after she wrote the Baker letter, still during the year 1896, plus thirty-five statements by other church leaders.
1896
Christ, the only-begotten of the Father, assumed human nature, came in the likeness of sinful flesh to condemn sin in the flesh.[63]
Christ, the spotless Son of God, honored humanity by taking upon Himself fallen human nature.[64]
(He) clothed His divinity in humanity in order to uplift the fallen race.[65]
Christ has united fallen man to the infinite God.[66]
Clad in the vestments of humanity, the Son of God came down to the level of those He wished to save. ... He took upon Him our sinful nature. Clothing His divinity with humanity, that He might associate with fallen humanity.[67]
It was not a make-believe humanity that Christ took upon Himself. He took human nature and lived human nature. ... He was compassed with infirmities.
Just that which you may be He was in human nature. He took our infirmities. He was not only made flesh, but He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh.[68]
He humbled Himself to become a member of the earthly family ... and a brother to every son and daughter of our fallen race.[69]
The human mind cannot conceive the depths of that love which induced the Son of God to leave the glories of heaven, and at the risk of losing all, take upon Him human nature, and with it the curse of sin, that He might redeem a fallen race.[70]
But who did keep the commandments?--Jesus Christ. And who can do it over again, even in sinful flesh?--Jesus Christ.[71]
The second Adam came not at the point where the first Adam stood when he failed, but at the point at which mankind stood at the end of four thousand years of degeneracy; not in the position of power and glory in which the first man stood when he failed, but in the condition of weakness and dishonor in which the race was involved at the end of this long period of the reign of sin; ... made "in all points" like sinful man.[72]
It is our study now to bring out the completeness with which Jesus Christ identified Himself with the human family which He came to save.[73]
... as He came to save us and lift us up, "He also Himself likewise took part of the same,"--the same flesh and the same blood.[74]
Jesus Christ identified Himself with us, by partaking of our flesh and blood and becoming one with us, a member of the human family, just as we are.[75]
The Scripture does not leave us in uncertainty as to what kind of flesh and blood this was ... God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. ... The flesh that Jesus Christ took when He came here was the only flesh that anyone could take by being born of a woman, and that was the flesh of sin.[76]
He (Jesus Christ) did not take the likeness of man just as Adam was before he fell, but He came down to the very plane to which man had fallen ... and took upon Himself the flesh of sin.[77]
... we find the divine Saviour right where fallen humanity is.[78]
... taking upon Himself all the conditions of fallen humanity.[79]
... He voluntarily took that place of weakness with us.[80]
He took a place where He would not obtain any strength in any other way than that open to us.[81]
Christ Jesus ... in our flesh.[82]
... the man Christ Jesus in our humanity.[83]
We have found Him (Christ) as our brother in the flesh, having been made in all things like unto His brethren.[84]
Jesus Christ ... came in our own humanity.[85]
He (Jesus) came here and joined Himself to our flesh.[86]
... (He was) to enter upon all the conditions of our fallen humanity.[87]
... Christ came ... to live in the flesh of sin.[88]
This is made possible by the fact that Jesus Christ lived in our flesh.[89]
He (Jesus) took humanity as we find it today,--fallen, sinful.[90]
The Scriptures emphasize the manner of His (Jesus) birth ... born of the seed of David.[91]
Christ dwelt in a body just like ours.[92]
God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. ... It (the law) was fulfilled in Him, that it might be fulfilled in us.[93]
Christ came in this same flesh as ours.[94]
Christ came here and wrought all this in our flesh.[95]
Jesus Christ ... who came as the Son of man in our flesh.[96]
He could not be priest until He came in the likeness of sinful flesh.[97]
He did not come to this world and take upon Himself Adam's condition, but He stepped down lower, to meet man as he is, weakened by sin, polluted in his own iniquity.[98]
Christ ... took not upon Himself the nature of angels, or even man as He was created, but our fallen nature.[99]
He lived our life in sinful nature, without sin.[100]
Thus Christ from eternity was made the connecting link between the heaven (sic) and the fallen race.[101]
He demonstrated the power of righteousness over sin, in sinful flesh.[102]
Christ in His humanity, subject to all the conditions and limitations of humanity.[103]
During the years 1895 and 1896 Ellen White had been putting the finishing touches on "The Desire of Ages", which she planned to publish in two volumes. On May 6, 1896 she wrote to her son Edson that the first volume was completed (Letter 150, 1896). In the first chapters of "The Desire of Ages", which would have been in the first volume, she had written:
He (God) gave Him (Christ) to the fallen race.--p. 25
It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man's nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthy ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.--p. 49
Notwithstanding that the sins of a guilty world were laid upon Christ, not withstanding the humiliation of taking upon Himself our fallen nature, the voice from heaven declared Him to be the Son of the Eternal.--p. 112
Satan had pointed to Adam's sin as proof that God's law was unjust and could not be obeyed. In our humanity, Christ was to redeem Adam's failure. But when Adam was assailed by the tempter, none of the effects of sin were upon him. He stood in the strength of perfect manhood, possessing the full vigor of mind and body. He was surrounded with the glories of Eden and was in daily communion with heavenly beings. It was not thus with Jesus when He entered the wilderness to cope with Satan. For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, and in moral worth; and Christ took upon Him the infirmities of degenerate humanity. Only thus could He rescue man from the lowest depths of his degradation.
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. 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.--p. 117
As the image made in the likeness of the destroying serpents was lifted up for their healing, so One made "in the likeness of sinful flesh" was to be their Redeemer. (Romans 8:3)--pp. 174-175
Jesus was in all things made like unto His brethren. He became flesh, even as we are. He was hungry and thirsty and weary. He was sustained by food and refreshed by sleep. He shared the lot of man; yet He was the blameless Son of God. He was God in the flesh. His character is to be ours. The Lord says of those who believe in Him, "I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (2 Corinthians 6:16)
Christ is the ladder that Jacob saw, the base resting on the earth, and the topmost round reaching to the gate of heaven, to the very threshold of glory. If that ladder had failed by a single step of reaching the earth, we should have been lost. But Christ reaches us where we are. He took our nature and overcame, that we through taking His nature might overcome. Made "in the likeness of sinful flesh " (Romans 8:3), He lived a sinless life. Now by His divinity He lays hold upon the throne of heaven, while by His humanity He reaches us. He bids us by faith in Him attain to the glory of the character of God. Therefore we are to be perfect, even as our "Father which is in heaven is perfect."--p. 311-312
Her interpreters have proposed that in the midst of these publishing events of 1895-1896 Ellen White learned that a Pastor Baker in Tasmania, an island to the south of Australia, was teaching that Christ had come in the human nature of fallen man and wrote him an urgent letter for the purpose of correcting his error, near the end of the year 1895. This would appear to have been a marvelously misdirected effort. If the teaching were an error that needed to be corrected, would not the pages of the Review and of the Signs and of the Bible Echo be the appropriate place for the correction to appear? And would not the prominent church leaders who were continuing to publicly promulgate that error be the persons to whom corrective letters should be addressed?
And would not Ellen White's own participation in the promulgation of that error in her articles and in her "The Desire of Ages" require a careful explanation? What would have been accomplished by directing a corrective letter to a pastor in Tasmania and ignoring the continued publishing of the error in the Review, in the Signs, and in the Bible Echo, and leaving "The Desire of Ages" unchanged? And why would she have ignored the extensive discussion of the subject by A. T. Jones and W. W. Prescott at the General Conference in February of 1895?
It was fifty-odd years after the Baker letter was written before the church became aware of it. If it had been intended as a warning to the church it was a dismal failure, a failure that Ellen White might have corrected before her death in 1915, twenty years after the letter was written.
If Pastor Baker did believe (which I do not doubt,) that Christ came to the earth in the human nature of fallen man, it would seem, as the old saying goes, that he might have come by that opinion quite honestly. Pastor Baker had no lack of opportunities to become acquainted with that particular view.
He was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist church in Iowa and left that state in 1882 to become associated with the church's publishing work at the Pacific Press in Mountain View, California.[104] As an Iowa Adventist he would have been aware of the evangelistic work conducted in that state by J. H. Waggoner, whose strong opinion that Christ came to the earth in the human nature of fallen man had been published in his book, "The Atonement". He would have had the opportunity to read this book.
As a reader of the Review and Herald he would have had opportunity to examine thirteen statements that Christ came to the earth in the human nature of fallen man that were published in that journal by Ellen White during the years 1870-1882. He would also have had opportunity to read the similar statements in her book Spiritual Gifts, Volume 1, p. 25 (1858) and in Spiritual Gifts, Volume 4, p. 115 (1864). (See page 35.)
In 1881 J. H. Waggoner succeeded James White as editor of the Signs of the Times, the new missionary journal for the western states being published at the Pacific Press in California. In 1882 Baker was called to assist Waggoner in the publishing work, and continued his association with the Pacific Press until 1887. During this five year period he was associated with editor J. H. Waggoner during the years 1882--1885; with his son, associate editor and later editor E. J. Waggoner, during the years 1884-1887, and with associate editor and later co-editor A. T. Jones during the years 1885-1887. The strong convictions of E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones that Christ came to the earth in the human nature of fallen man have been reported in the previous pages.
If Baker had taken the trouble to read the journal which was being published with his assistance, he would have had opportunity to consider five statements published in the Signs of the Times by Ellen White during the years 1882-1887, that Christ came to the earth in the human nature of fallen man, not to mention her six statements published in the Review and Herald during those same years. He would have had opportunity to read (and may have proof-read) her three similar statements in Testimonies to the Church, Volume 5, pp. 204, 346 and 746, since that volume was published by the Pacific Press in 1882.
In 1887 Baker was called to connect with the publishing work in Australia, where the Bible Echo, a missionary journal started by J. O. Corliss and S. N. Haskell in 1886, was still in its infancy. It is not clear when he left the publishing work to pioneer the church's activities in Tasmania, but he was an occasional contributor to the Bible Echo for several years. The strong convictions of Haskell that Christ came to the earth in the human nature of fallen man have also been reported in the previous pages.
There was an interim during which the president of the newly formed Australian Conference, G. C. Tenney, served also as editor of the Bible Echo. For a sampling of Tenney's strong convictions that Christ came to the earth in the human nature of fallen man, see the editorials for 5/15/89 and 6/03/89 (reported on pages 54-55). Then the editorial work was assumed by W. A. Colcord. His strong convictions that Christ came to the earth in the human nature of fallen man soon appeared in front page editorials (see pp. 57-58.)
Beginning in October, 1890, a series of nine advertisements for J. H. Waggoner's The Atonement published in the Bible Echo recommended that volume to the infant Australian church (200 members). During the years 1892-1895 thirty-one advertisements recommended E. J. Waggoner's "Christ Our Righteousness", surpassing by a wide margin the advertising space given to any other publication. We have seen that both of these books carried clear and strong statements, that Christ came to the earth in the human nature of fallen man. (See pages 36 and 46.)
And finally, during the years 1892-1895 Baker would have had opportunity to examine eight statements that Christ came to the earth in the human nature of fallen man that were published in the Bible Echo over the signature of Ellen White.
It would seem, therefore, that Pastor Baker would have had more than ample opportunity to become acquainted with the opinion that Christ came to the earth in the human nature of fallen man.
Since the view would have come to him with the highest of recommendations from both American and Australian leaders of his church, as well as from Ellen White, it would not be surprising if he had accepted it. It would be rather more surprising if he had not. But he surely would have been more than mildly surprised to have received a letter from Ellen White, warning him against that view, as some are now insisting that he did.
As the student reflects about these matters he may find him self inclined to agree with Robert Wieland, whose conclusion was that to believe this proposed interpretation of the Baker letter strains the credulity to the breaking point. It is difficult to understand how such a proposal could ever have been taken seriously.
For an alternate suggestion as to what may have been the problem of Pastor Baker that called for correction, see Appendix B at the back of this volume. For suggestions regarding the hermeneutical principles involved, see the following pages. For the actual text of the letter itself, see Appendix A (page 310.)
Suggestions Regarding the Baker Letter
The student should consider the hermeneutical principles (rules of evidence) that are involved.
a. A writer's use of words, or the meaning of a writer's statement, must be clarified by other usages and statements by the same writer, if that is possible.
b. Ellen White herself had pled that we look to her published works in order to ascertain her beliefs (5T 696). She did not publish the Baker letter.
c. We may not place an interpretation on a writer's words that forces her to contradict herself. We are required to proceed on the assumption that a writer will not contradict herself, until we find absolute, unmistakable evidence to the contrary.
d. The student should place the Baker letter, with its statement about propensities, in the general context of all Ellen White statements about the nature of Christ, which number approximately 400 in this compilation.
e. The student should place the Baker letter in the specific context of the time of its writing--shortly after the 1895 camp-meetings at Armadale at which W. W. Prescott's preaching that Christ did not take the unfallen nature of Adam but did take the fallen nature of man, drew forth expressions of approval from Ellen White that appear to be without parallel in her writings. (See year 1895 in the compilation in this chapter, and note the statements that were issued in that entire year, and in the year 1896.)
f. The student should examine carefully those Ellen White statements about the nature of Christ that were made after the Baker letter was written, which number 110 in this compilation, plus approximately 60 in her unpublished manuscripts.
g. The student should examine closely the many statements by uninspired writers regarding the nature of Christ that appeared in the Review and Herald and in the Signs of the Times in close proximity to Ellen White's writings, and which made free use of the terms "propensities," "inclinations," " susceptibilities," "tendencies," etc . , in describing the human nature of Christ. We find no intimation in her writings that she was uncomfortable with these terms as applied to Christ. And she was not indifferent to what was written in the church papers. When articles appeared in the Review affirming that there are different degrees of inspiration, she reacted quickly with a firmly corrective letter. And when a disagreement about the book of Galatians broke into the papers, she again reacted quickly with some firmly corrective letters.[105]
h. The student should ask himself whether the explanation sometimes offered that Ellen White intended to say only that Christ's body, or physical nature, was like that of fallen man, appears to be her own intention or one placed on her writings by others.
i. The student should ask himself whether Ellen White's concept of the intimate co-relationship between body, mind, and personality would. allow of the belief that Christ could accept the results of four thousand years of degeneracy of body and mind without having this affect His human nature.
j. The student should weigh carefully the implications of the Christological-soteriological linkage in the writings of Ellen White. (See chapter 21.)
k. The student should observe that the Baker letter does not say that Christ came in the nature of the unfallen Adam, but rather that it is interpreted to mean that.
j. The student should not fail to comprehend the full import of Ellen White' s warning to Baker:
Let every human being be warned from the ground of making Christ altogether human, such a one as ourselves.
Divine-human and altogether human are opposite poles in meaning. There can be no divine nature in a Christ who is altogether human, such a one as ourselves. (See page 321.)
Notes: