Jesus - In Likeness of Fallen Man

Chapter 4  IN THE GOSPELS

 In studying the revelation of God in the flesh as portrayed in the Gospels, the student must keep in mind the two-fold objective of the writers themselves. Not only is the historical data of the life of Jesus being recorded, but an interpretive account of that history is being written from the memories and research of men enlightened by the Holy Spirit. 1 

Luk 24:44  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 

Luk 24:45  Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 

Joh 20:22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost

How Jesus was understood during His earthly life by those who were associated with Him, and how He was viewed after His resurrection when perceived in His divine relationship are two different things. These two experiences are intermingled in the gospel narrative. Therefore, to see Jesus as He appeared in the eyes of men, while in the body of our humiliation, one must weigh carefully the simple accounts of historical fact against the way these facts are interpreted when made a part of the gospel proclamation as to Who this Man really was.

With most of His public ministry in the background, Jesus retired with His disciples to Ceasarea Philippi.  2 

Mat 16:13  When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 

Mat 16:14  And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 

Mat 16:15  He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 

Mat 16:16  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 

Mat 16:17  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 

While there alone with them, He asked, "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" The disciples had mingled with the multitudes. They had conversed privately with many. But in all those years of ministry, not once had they heard a testimony of recognition that Jesus was the Son of God. Some considered Him John the Baptist risen from the dead; others thought of Him as Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. Then He asked the disciples the direct question - "But whom say ye that I am?" To this Peter replied "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." In responding to Peter's confession, Jesus revealed how complete was His identification with humanity. "Flesh and blood [the faculties of human perception] hath not revealed it unto

p 23 -- thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Only a mind enlightened by the Spirit of God could perceive His real identity. He, the Son of God, had become verily the Son of man.

On another occasion, Jesus was asked to come to the home of a ruler of the synagogue and heal his daughter.  3 

Mar 5:35  While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? 

Mar 5:36  As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. 

Mar 5:37  And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. 

Mar 5:38  And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. 

Mar 5:39  And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. 

Mar 5:40  And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. 

As He proceeded to the residence of this man, messengers came and told him that his daughter had died. But this report did not deter Jesus. Upon entering the home, He asked the mourners, who were wailing and making a tumult, "Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth." The Scripture states their reaction - "They laughed Him to scorn." So completely was divinity clothed with humanity, that men dared laugh at God in scornful derision. As He was perceived to be when He became "the seed of David according to the flesh," and as He was understood to be when "declared... the Son of God with power... by the resurrection from the dead" were two different things. 4

Rom 1:3  Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 

Rom 1:4  And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: 

All the Gospel writers present Jesus as sharing the common experiences and feelings of humanity. He became so exhausted with the daily pressures of life that He fell "asleep on a pillow" in the back of the boat, and remained asleep through a fearful storm until awakened by His disciples. 5 

Mar 4:35  And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. 

Mar 4:36  And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. 

Mar 4:37  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 

Mar 4:38  And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 

Travel "wearied" Him. He felt the need for water to quench His thirst as a result of such travel .  6 

Joh 4:6  Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. 

Joh 4:7  There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

 He could be deeply stirred because of human stubbornness. He "looked... with anger" on the hardened hearts of His religious critics. 7 

Mar 3:5  And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. 

Yet with a heart of compassion, He could weep with those who wept over the loss of a loved one. 8

Joh 11:35  Jesus wept. 

Even in this experience, at the tomb of Lazarus, there was revealed a deep emotional conflict as Jesus noted the unbelief of those who had come as mourners. Twice it is recorded that He "groaned" in Himself. 9 

Joh 11:33  When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, 

Joh 11:38  Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. 

When Jesus entered the Garden

p 24 -- of Gethsemane, He said to His disciples, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death." 10 

Mat 26:38  Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. 

After His resurrection, He demonstrated that He had not separated from His human characteristics. In the presence of the Eleven, He asked, "Have ye any meat?" - and ate before them the food provided. 11  

Luk 24:41  And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? 

Luk 24:42  And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. 

Luk 24:43  And he took it, and did eat before them. 

 In reality, "when Jesus took human nature, and became in fashion as a man, He possessed all the human organism."  12

The Gospel of John presents a very unique synthesis of His identity with humanity, and the Gospel proclamation that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.  13 

Joh 20:30  And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 

Joh 20:31  But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. 

John emphatically declared that his gospel was written with the specific purpose that the reader "might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God."

Yet throughout the book is a thread of thought declaring that Jesus was a Man! He records John the Baptist's statement to the multitude - "This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a man..."  14 

Joh 1:30  This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 

He quotes the dialogue between some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem with their conclusion - "We know this man whence He is."  15 

Joh 7:27  Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. 

Joh 7:28  Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. 

Joh 7:29  But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me. 

John presents Jesus Himself as declaring - "Ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth."  16 

Joh 8:40  But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 

And then in the final climactic picture of the life of Jesus, John records the words of Pilate as he presents Jesus robed in purple, and crowned with thorns to the mob - "Behold the man!"  17

Joh 19:5  Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! 

Yet there is another picture in the Gospel of John running parallel to the concept of Jesus' close identification with humanity. One night the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee under very adverse circumstances. Suddenly they see Jesus "walking on the sea" toward them. Fear seizes them. Then they hear His voice declaring, "It is I; be not afraid."  18 

Joh 6:19  So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. 

Joh 6:20  But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. 

The Greek for "It is I", is simply - egw eimi - "I AM". On another occasion, Jesus told the Jews that if they believed "not that I Am," ["He" is a supplied word.] they would die in their sins.  19  

Joh 8:24  I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

Throughout the Gospel is the constant presentation of Jesus

p 25 -- the man as the I AM:

     "I AM the bread of life." 20

     "I AM the living bread which came down from heaven. ." 21

     "I AM the light of the world."  22

     "I AM the door."  23

     "I AM the resurrection and the life."  24

    "I AM the way, the truth, and the life." 25

In the very heart of John's gospel is the record of an encounter with the Jewish leadership in which Jesus' relationship to Abraham was challenged. To their derisive inquiry - "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?" - Jesus replied, "Before Abraham was, I AM."  26  Indeed the Gospel of John is the Gospel of the Burning Bush. While Jesus is revealed as the "thorny shrub" on the spiritual desert of Judea, even to the extent of wearing the crown of thorns, John also proclaimed the Name of Jesus as given to Moses by the Lord of glory - "I AM THAT I AM."

The synthesis between Jesus the man and Jesus the I AM in the-gospel of John is revealed in an exchange between Jesus and the Jewish leaders over an act of healing on the Sabbath day.  27  

Joh 5:16  And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. 

Joh 5:17  But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. 

Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. 

Joh 5:19  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 

In meeting the challenge of Sabbath violation, Jesus declared - "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." The Jewish leaders understood clearly the import of these words, and became further incensed because by so saying, He was "making Himself equal with God." To this new turn in the confrontation, Jesus replied - "The Son of man can do nothing of Himself." This was repeated - "I can of my own self do nothing."  28  The extent to which Jesus humbled Himself in taking the form of a slave as revealed in this His own testimony must be given full weight in considering the implications of the Incarnation. Using these very words of Jesus, in describing His reaction when

p 26 -- awakened from sleep in the midst of a storm on the Sea of Galilee, the servant of the Lord wrote:      He rested not in the possession of almighty power. It was not as the "Master of earth and sea and sky" that He reposed in quiet. That power He had laid down, and He says, "I can of Mine own self do nothing." He trusted in the Father's might. It was in faith - faith in God's love and care - that Jesus rested, and the power of that word which stilled the storm was the power of God. 29

The same author in the same book stated that through prayer, "He must Himself gain a fresh hold on Omnipotence."  30  What one possesses innately, he does not have to obtain in a new way each time he desires to make use of it. The omnipotence of God, Jesus laid aside when He took upon Himself the form of a slave. When one considers that   1)  Jesus Christ also relinquished His omniscience as noted in His confession that of the day and hour of His return the second time was known only to the Father;  31  and that  2)  it was necessary for the Holy Spirit to come because He could not be everywhere present; it becomes very evident that the aspects of Deity - omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence - Jesus laid aside in assuming our humanity. He circumscribed Himself to the nature He assumed.

In the upper room, prior to the crucifixion, Jesus stated - "The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works."  32  Whether it was the miracles He performed, or the righteous life which He lived free from a single act of sin, all was by the power of God in response to faith and prayer on the part of Jesus. Concerning the miracles we are told - "The miracles of Christ for the afflicted and suffering were wrought by the power of God through the ministration of angels."  33  Even the crowning miracle of His ministry the resurrection of Lazarus was by "faith and prayer."  34

Concerning the life that He lived - free from the acts and thoughts of

p 27 -- sin - the divine comment reads "He exercised in His own behalf no power that is not freely to us. As man, He met temptation, and overcame in the strength given Him from God." 35  The liability He assumed in accepting our fallen nature is revealed in Jesus' reply to the salutation of the Rich Young Ruler. To the address - "Good, Master", Jesus questioned - "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God."  36  All absolute goodness resided in God. Jesus realized that in accepting the nature of fallen man, "degraded and defiled by sin", He was not clothed in that goodness, but had to exercise the same faith to exhibit the goodness of God's character in fallen flesh, even as the sons of Adam must do. In this experience, we find what it means to reflect the image of Jesus fully.

During the crisis in Galilee, Jesus emphatically stated the very nature of His life - "I live by the Father."  37  

Joh 6:57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father

"While bearing human nature, Jesus was dependent upon the Omnipotent for His life."  38 We dare not mitigate the fact that "the man Christ Jesus was not the Lord God Almighty."  39  The fact of what He was, what He became as a man, and what He was again through the gift of God when highly exalted is clearly set forth in the Gospel of John. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God .... The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth."  40  But the glory of His earthly life - grace and truth - was not the full glory of His preexistent life, for He prayed as He completed the work given Him to do - "Now Father, glorify thou Me with thine own self with the glory I had with Thee before the world was."   41

He came unto His own, to whom the prophecies had been committed - prophecies which declared that He would be "the seed of the woman", "the son of

p 28 -- David," "a root of Jesse," "a near kinsman," and one in the likeness of the brazen serpent. And the Jewish nation was looking for a Messiah. Yet they did not receive Him. Why? Because they were looking for One who would reveal in Himself the attributes of Deity - omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. They were not looking for, nor wanting, a Redeemer who would meet the Law of Equivalence. Such an Example would place too much of a demand on their lives and characters. Could it be that such is also the problem with us today concerning the doctrine of the Incarnation?

l  Compare Luke 24:44-45 with John 20:21-22 2  Matthew 16:13-17 3  Mark 5:35-40 4  Romans 1:3-4 5  Mark 4:35-38 6  John 4:6-7 7  Mark 3:5 8 John 11:35 9  John 11:33, 38 10  Matthew 26:38 11  Luke 24:41-43 12  E11en G. White, Letter 32, 1899 (5BC:1130) 13  John 20:30-31 14  John 1:30 15  John 7:27 16  John 8:40 17   John 19:5 18  John 6:20 19  John 8:24 20  John 6:35 21  John 6:51 22  John 8:12

23  John 10:9 24  John 11:25 25  John 14:6 26  John 8:56-58 27  John 5:16-19 28  John 5:30 29  E11en G. White, Desire of Ages, pp. 335-336 30 1bid., p. 420 31  Matthew 24:36 32  John 14:10 33  E11en G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 143 34  Ibid., p. 536 35  Ibid., p. 24 36  Matthew 19:16-17 37  John 6:57 38  Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, June 17, 1897 (5BC:918) 39  E11en G. White, Ms. 140, 1903 (5BC:1129) 40  John 1:1, 14 41  John 17:5

The Word Was Made Flesh.

Chapter 3 -- WHAT HAPPENED AT BETHLEHEM? 

Two of the Gospel writers give details concerning the birth of Jesus Christ while the third in a bold all-encompassing outline grasps the preexistence of Christ and focuses it on what took place at Bethlehem.

Matthew relates the thinking of Joseph when he discovered that Mary was "with child of the Holy Ghost." While he was musing as to what should be done, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream, telling him - "Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost., And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins."   1 

Mat 1:18  Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 

Mat 1:19  Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 

Mat 1:20  But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 

Mat 1:21  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 

Matthew comments on this experience and links it with the prophecy of Isaiah. This event at Bethlehem is nothing less than "God with us!'  2 

Mat 1:22  Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 

Mat 1:23  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. 

The significance of the fact that God is to be with us in Jesus Christ has been well stated in these words:      Man through sin became without God, but God wanted to be again with us. Therefore Jesus became "us", that God with Him might be "God with us."  3

Luke describes in detail the conversation between the Angel Gabriel and Mary, when he came to announce to her the fact that she had been chosen as the instrument through which the promised Redeemer of Israel was to appear in the flesh. Luke's record is worthy of the most careful study. Observe closely the words of the angel. To Mary, Gabriel stated:      Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus... The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.  4

Luk 1:31  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 

Luk 1:35  And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 

Luke, being a doctor by profession, was very careful how he recorded what was

p 18 -- to occur in relationship to Mary. To accomplish this incarnation, it was necessary that the "power of the Highest" become involved. The highest power of the Godhead would be required to bring about this unique revelation of God in human flesh. It would not be the inner play of the natural process by which a human being is conceived, yet His birth into the world would be as every other human child. Mary was to conceive in her womb; the child was to be born of her. What the angel did not say is as important as what he did say. The angel did not state that "the holy thing" would be created in Mary. Mary was to be the sole source of the humanity of the Son of God.

John in the introduction of his gospel grasped the whole of eternity and focused it on one point of time - the Incarnation. He wrote:      In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.  5  

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 

 In the Greek there are two tenses to express the past: - the imperfect which denoted continuous action in past time, and the aorist which simply described a point of action which occurred in the past. John in grasping the eternity of the past - "In the beginning was [hn] the Word" - used the imperfect, and then in focusing upon the Incarnation - "The Word was made [egeneto] flesh" - he stated it in the aorist. The Being who had existed from all eternity as one with the Father, now at a specific point in time, becomes one with man in the flesh.

In contemplating what happened at Bethlehem, certain questions arise. Was divinity degraded by its assumption of the flesh and nature of man? No, though Luke used the word - gennaw - in the phrase, "born of thee," which means "to bring forth", rather than the word - ktizw - which means "to create"

p 19 -- born of Mary, and conceived in her womb, it was still "that holy thing." On this point it has been written:     In Christ, divinity and humanity were combined. Divinity was not degraded to humanity; divinity held its place, but humanity by being united to divinity withstood the fiercest test of temptation in the wilderness. 6  We might ask the question another way. Was the humanity of Christ made immaculate, and changed from what every other child receives from its mother? To this question, we also have an answer. It reads:      Was the human nature of the Son of Mary changed into the divine nature of the Son of God? No; the two natures were mysteriously blended in one person - the man Christ Jesus. 7

There are various phrases and clauses by which we express this unique person - the man Christ Jesus. We declare that He was "the union of the human and the divine;" that "He clothed His divinity with humanity." What do these expressions mean? In the Youth's Instructor, a very interesting and definitive statement occurred in 1900. It read -       "He united humanity with divinity: a divine spirit dwelt in a temple of flesh."  8  By the use of the colon, the second clause became a definition of the first. The union of divinity with humanity means simply that a Divine Spirit united fully in a human body produced by Mary in her womb. Jesus Christ was the full manifestation of the character of God in human form. "In Him, though human, all perfection of character, all divine excellence dwelt."  9  Again we observe a thought-provoking sentence - "In His person, humanity inhabited by divinity was represented to the world." 10  But how was this accomplished? We are told: The work of redemption is called a mystery, and it is indeed the mystery by which everlasting righteousness is brought to all who believe. The race in consequence of sin was at enmity with God. Christ, at an infinite cost, by a painful process, mysterious to angels as well as to men, assumed humanity. Hiding His divinity, laying aside His glory, He was born a babe in Bethlehem.  11

p 20 -- This is the point where the curtain is drawn. The sufferings of Christ did not begin in Gethsemane, but at Bethlehem. The painful process by which the "Divine Spirit" united with the humanity conceived and produced in the womb of Mary to become one Person - "the man Christ Jesus" - is forever veiled in the mystery of God. The results can be known; the "how", unknown! Concerning this mystery, and the probing of the human mind into the procedure which produced the Incarnation, we are cautioned:  The incarnation of Christ has ever been, and will ever remain a mystery. That which is revealed, is for us and for our children, but let every human being be warned from the ground of making Christ altogether human, such an one as ourselves; for this cannot be. 12

The singular difference between Jesus and every other son and daughter of Adam, apart from the fact that He did not sin, is the fact that Jesus Christ had a pre-existence. We understand that - The Lord Jesus Christ, the Divine Son of God, existed from all eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father…

There are light and glory in the truth that Christ was one with the Father before the foundation of the world was laid. This is the light shining in a dark place, making it resplendent with divine, original glory. This truth, infinitely mysterious in itself, explains other mysterious and otherwise unexplainable truths, while it is enshrined in light, unapproachable and incomprehensible. 13

Our self-identity - individuality, personality, ego, or whatever other term one wishes to use - by which we differ from every other person who has ever lived, was derived from our fathers and our mothers. Not so with Jesus;  His Self-identity was underived and pre-existent. From Mary, He received all the human faculties and inheritance common to our fallen humanity. By "the power of the Highest", through "a painful process", Christ identified His Self with that human body, and the result was the one Person, - "the man Christ

p 21 -- Jesus. The divine Self was the same Self-identity who had existed from all eternity with the Father.

1 Matthew 1:18-21

2  Matthew 1:22-23

3  A. T. Jones, The Consecrated Way, p. 26

4  Luke 1:31, 35

5  John 1:1-2, 14

6  Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, bk. i, p. 408

7  Ellen G. White, Letter 280, 1904 (5BC:1113)

8  Ellen G. White, Youth's Instructor, December 20, 1900 (4BC:1147)

9  Ibid., September 16, 1897

10  Ellen G. White, "The Kingdom of Christ," June 13, 1896

11  Ellen G. White, Ms. 29, 1899 (7BC:915) Emphasis supplied.

12 Ellen G. White, Letter 8, 1895 (5BC:1129)

13  Ellen G. White, Review & Herald, April 5, 1906 Emphasis supplied.

*******

In the Form of a Slave

Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant (KJV)

But Himself He made void a form of a slave taking Philippians 2:7 (Translated from Greek)

Php 2:7 But emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave… (LITV)

William H. Grotheer

January, 1974

Jesus- From the Old Testament

In the Form of a Slave

Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant (KJV)

But Himself He made void a form of a slave taking Philippians 2:7 (Translated from Greek)

Php 2:7 But emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave… (LITV)

William H. Grotheer

January, 1974

CHAPTER 2

IN THE OLD TESTAMENT -- The study of the incarnation in the Old Testament is the study of the humiliation of Christ as revealed in prophecy, in symbol, and in types.

From times eternal a compact of peace had been devised between the Father and the Son should sin enter the universe, that "the man whose name is the Branch" would "grow up out of His place"  1  as the initial act of the redeeming process.

Zec 6:12  And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD

When sin blighted the Edenic home, this compact was ,activated, and the Son of God announced to the angelic hosts that -  He would leave all His glory in Heaven, appear on earth as a man, humble Himself as a man, become acquainted by His own experience with the various temptations with which man would be beset, that He might know how to succor those who should be tempted. 2

In the dialogue that followed between Christ and the angels, it was clearly enunciated that when the hour should arrive for His revelation in humanity, He "should take man's fallen nature, and His strength would not be even equal with theirs." 3

IN EDEN-- Our first parents received their first intimation of the Divine Plan for their restoration as they stood before the Creator hearing the sentence pronounced upon the enemy who had led them into sin. To the serpent, God said:      I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 4

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

The hope of victory was prophesied to be the seed of the woman. However, it was not to be the seed of Eve as she stood innocent in Eden - there was no need of a Saviour then - but it was to be the seed of Eve who had just been corrupted by sin. That Seed who would accept the humanity of the fallen mother

p 7 -- of all living, after four thousand years of continued transgression, wou1d bruise the serpent's head.

The contrast between the human inheritance as it might have been, and what it was after sin entered this world is clearly set forth in the genealogical record of Adam. It states that "in the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him." But after Adam had sinned, the record reads, "Adam...begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth." 5 

Gen 5:1  This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 

Gen 5:2  Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 

Gen 5:3  And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth

 The only humanity that could be formed in Eve was the fallen, degraded nature that was hers as a result of sin. So "while Adam was created sinless, in the likeness of God, Seth, like Cain, inherited the fallen nature of his parents."  6  The first gospel promise indicated that to this level "the Seed of the woman" would come in meeting the law of equivalence. How expressive are these words:       What love! What amazing condescension! The King of glory proposed to humble Himself to fallen humanity! He would place His feet in Adam's steps. He would take man's fallen nature and engage to cope with the strong foe who triumphed over Adam. He would overcome Satan, and in thus doing He would open the way for the redemption of those who would believe on Him from the disgrace of Adam's failure and fall. 7

A REVELATION TO JACOB -- A young man fleeing from his home to escape the wrath of his infuriated brother stopped for a night of rest. During the night he dreamed of a ladder "set up on the earth," the top of which "reached to heaven." On this ladder he beheld angels of God "ascending and descending."   8

Gen 28:12  And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 

  From the Lord who stood at the top of the ladder, Jacob received the promise which had been given to Abram and Isaac that "in thy seed shall all the families of earth be blessed." 9

Gen 28:13  And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 

Gen 28:14  And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 

Awakened and startled he declared - "How dreadful is this place! this is none

p 8 -- other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." 10

Gen 28:17  And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. 

Centuries later, Jesus referred to Himself as this mystic ladder. He declared it to be He as "the Son of man"  11 

Joh 1:51  And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

 - the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Becoming a part of humanity, meeting the law of equivalence, He set up on this earth the gate of heaven, the house of God. The results of that life, symbolized by the ladder, would reach to heaven. The communication broken by sin would again be restored to man; for in and through Christ, God would again commune with fallen mankind.

Any attempt to sever the ladder from its base on earth, or to substitute other rungs than those established by Christ Himself, closes the gate of heaven and substitutes for the true house of God, a false temple edifice. The one and only true gate to heaven is the incarnate Lord. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and by Him only can man find access to the Father. 12

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 

Several centuries before this experience in the life of Jacob, a group of people on a plain in the land of Shinar set up a base on earth by which they planned to reach heaven. They named it - Bab-el , the gate of God, or the gate to heaven. 13 

Gen 11:1  And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 

Gen 11:2  And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 

Gen 11:3  And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 

Gen 11:4  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 

Gen 11:5  And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 

Gen 11:6  And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 

Gen 11:7  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 

Gen 11:8  So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 

Gen 11:9  Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. 

The Babylonian concept of the God of heaven is echoed in the statement of their wise men to Nebuchadnezzar that He is a God, "whose dwelling is not with flesh." 14 

Dan 2:11  And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. 

If this be true, then man must build the base on earth to reach up to where God might be contacted. This basic difference of concept between the message of Babylon, which results in confusion, and the message of the "mystic ladder" in Jacob's dream has echoed from that day to this, whether it was literal or spiritual Babylon projecting their human doubts ind disbelief.

The prophetic message of the Old Testament was that God would indeed dwell with man. He would become the seed of-Jacob, and He would set up the gate

p 9 -- to heaven "on the earth." The clear message to Jacob in that night of loneliness is amplified in the continued revelation of God in the unfolding of the Bible record.

IN THE TIMES OF MOSES -- It has been long recognized that the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt is a symbol of the deliverance from the bondage of sin. When the hour came for God to initiate the deliverance from Egypt, He appeared to Moses in a burning bush in the region of Horeb on the backside of the desert. 15  

Exo 3:1  Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 

Exo 3:2  And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 

Exo 3:3  And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 

Exo 3:4  And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 

Exo 3:5  And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

 Moses was attracted by the unusual sight of a desert shrub burning with fire, yet not consumed. As he turned aside to see this phenomenon, God spoke to him, telling him that He had seen the bondage, affliction, and sorrow of the children of Israel, and that He now purposed "to come down to deliver them." 16  

Exo 3:8  And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 

God did not propose to work out their deliverance from where He was; but He would come to where they were to bring them freedom. When Moses asked for His name, God declared, "I AM THAT I AM." Gesenius translates this name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as "I shall be what I am." 17  

Exo 3:14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 

The same as He revealed Himself in the burning bush, so He would be when He would come down to deliver from the bondage of sin, and so He would ever be.

The burning bush prefigured the incarnation. The scrubby, thorny desert shrub fitly represented humanity. Yet filled with the glory of God, it was not consumed. In Jesus, divinity and humanity were to hold their place, neither to be assimilated by the other. This divinely planned combination is stated in clarity by the Spirit of Prophecy as follows:      In Christ, divinity and humanity were combined. Divinity was not degraded to humanity; divinity held its place, but humanity by being united to divinity withstood the fiercest test of temptation

p 10 -- in the wilderness.18

The question is explained further from a different angle:        Was the human nature of the Son of Mary changed into the divine nature of the Son of God? No; the two natures were mysteriously blended in one person, the' man Christ Jesus.19

Later when God desired to dwell with the children of Israel in their wilderness wanderings, this same divine objective was revealed. He said to Moses, "Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them."  20  

Exo 25:8  And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 

The wilderness tabernacle was covered with "rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of sealskins above,"   21

Exo 26:14  And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of sealskins above. (RV)

  - hardly a thing of beauty. But the interior was glorious golden plated furniture and wall boards; curtains with angelic symbolism woven in gold; and in the Most Holy Place, the ark of the covenant with its mercy seat of pure gold and the golden cherubim between which appeared the Shekinah glory. All was to reveal God's "purpose for the human soul."  22  This, the Pattern-man was to exemplify. John summarized this concept in these words:       And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth.  23

Joh 1:14  And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth. (RV)

The supreme confrontation of the children of Israel with their God was at Sinai. Here God spoke, His voice not veiled in a human faculty. Israel trembled with fear. They requested Moses, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear.: but let not God speak with us, lest we die." 24  

Exo 20:19  And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 

 Referring to this incident, Moses in his rehearsal before the children of Israel of God's dealings with them in the wilderness prophetically described the nature of the coming Voice of God:      And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words into his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I command him. 25

Deu 18:17  And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. 

Deu 18:18  I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. 

p 11 - The Coming One would be from among them, one like unto Moses. God would seek to instruct them by One who would meet the Law of Equivalence. If then they did not hear, He could in justice mete out sentence. This is plainly stated:       And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. 26

Deu 18:19  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. 

The Israelites in their wilderness wanderings had still another representation of the nature of the incarnation. As they neared the end of their wanderings in the Sinai peninsula, the "soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way", and they murmured against God and against Moses because of the manna and the lack of water. The Lord then permitted the fiery serpents of the desert to come among them, and "much people died."  27  

Num 21:4  And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 

Num 21:5  And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 

Num 21:6  And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 

 When in repentance, they recognized their sin, the Lord instructed Moses to erect a pole and place on it a serpent of brass, that all who would look might recover from the bites of the poisonous reptiles.

Num 21:7  Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 

Num 21:8  And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 

Num 21:9  And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. 

This representation more than any other in the symbolism of the Old Testament specified the extent to which Christ would go to meet the Law of Equivalence. He who knew no sin would become sin itself, not merely to meet the penalty of transgression, thus accepting the wrath of God against the recorded sins of the world; but also He would clothe His Divine Person with the fallen human nature of man, that He might meet in that nature the forces which tempt man to sin. It is well stated:       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. 28  And again:  What a strange symbol of Christ was that likeness of the serpents

p 12 -- which stung them. This symbol was lifted on a pole, and they were to look to it, and be healed. So Jesus was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He came as the sin bearer... 29

IN THE TIME OF THE JUDGES -- The book of Ruth pictures community life in Israel during the time of the Judges. The particular experience recorded symbolizes the close relationship Christ would sustain to the sons of men in working out their redemption. The Mosaic law required that if a property had been sold because of poverty or indebtedness, or if a man had sold himself into bondage to secure a debt, he could be redeemed, or the property repossessed by one who was "nigh of kin unto him."  30  

Lev 25:24  And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land. 

Lev 25:25  If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. 

Lev 25:48  After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: 

Lev 25:49  Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself. 

The inheritance of Elimelech had been lost through the years of their sojourn in the land of Moab. But Boaz, a near kinsman , arranged to redeem that which had been lost, and by marriage to Ruth re-establish the title to the inheritance.
 

Man through sin had lost not only his inheritance, but was himself in a bondage he could not break. Because of this --      The work of redeeming us and our inheritance, lost through sin, fell upon Him who is "near of kin" unto us. It was to redeem us that He became our kinsman. Closer than father, mother, brother, friend, or lover, is the Lord our Saviour. 31

During this period of Israel's history there were introduced into the human ancestral line of Christ two women not of the tribes of Israel. Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, became the wife of Salmon and the mother of Boaz, who in turn married Ruth, the Moabitess.  32  

Rth 4:21  And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed

Mat 1:5  And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse

Christ was not only to be the Saviour of a chosen people, but He was verily to be the Son of man.

IN THE BOOK OF ISAIAH -- As would be expected, Isaiah in setting forth the gospel in prophecy

p 13 -- touched upon aspects of the incarnation previously revealed, and noted further details regarding the humanity the Saviour would assume as the Son of man. He first presented the incarnation as a "sign" from the Lord.

He penned:      Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. 33

Isa 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 

Isa 7:15  Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 

There can be no question but that the translators of the King James Version were influenced in their translation of this text by Matthew's quotes, for the word,'almah, rendered "virgin" is a Hebrew word meaning simply a young woman of marriageable age. The Hebrew word bethula, does mean virgin, and is used by Isaiah in five other places, so the conclusion is inescapable that if he had wished to denote the concept of a virgin in this Messianic reference, he would have used that word instead of 'almah.  34  The emphasis is that a woman would bring forth a son, and that that Son would be "God with us." It is this concept which Paul grasped when he wrote, "God sent for His Son, made of a woman." 35

Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 

Matthew in his quotes interpreted it in the light of the event - the woman was a virgin - but does not seek to lessen Isaiah's emphasis, for Matthew explains the meaning of Immanuel - "God with us."  36

Mat 1:23  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. 

Isaiah would have us understand that this Child - the seed of the woman - would meet life's problems in common with every other child of humanity. He would need to choose the good, and refuse the evil. It would be God with us, at our level, setting an example in a way that we could understand. The Saviour would not be insulated from the forces that seek the perversion of man, but He would be a free moral agent to choose and to decide for Himself in His human environment.  37

Not only does Isaiah recognize the nature of the humanity of the coming

p 14 -- One, but stipulated that the One coming would be the embodiment of the character (name) of the "Mighty God and Everlasting Father."  38 

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 

This Son, the Divine One "is given us"; but He comes into humanity as a child - "Unto us a child is born." This child under the Messianic symbol of the Branch is declared to "grow out" of the roots of Jesse.  39 

Isa 11:1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots

The incarnation would give to Christ an ancestral inheritance in humanity like all of the sons of men receive. As it is stated:       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 earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life. 40

Isaiah's great prophecy of the humiliation and suffering of the Lord's servant for sin in the fifty-third chapter is introduced by a statement regarding Christ's humanity. He wrote that the Suffering Servant would "grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground."   41  

Isa 53:2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 

As a tender plant grows from one stage to another until it reaches maturity, so Jesus would develop from childhood to manhood in harmony with the laws of human growth - mentally, physically, and spiritually. But the "root out of a dry ground" presents another symbolism. There is little beauty in such a root, and so Isaiah noted - "and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." Commenting on these very verses, the servant of the Lord has written:       Think of Christ's humiliation. He took upon Himself fallen, suffering human nature, degraded and defiled by sin. He took our sorrows, bearing our grief and shame. He endured all the temptations wherewith man is beset. He united humanity with divinity: a divine spirit dwelt in a temple of flesh.  42

IN CONCLUSION-- In prophecy, in symbolism, and in type, it was foretold that the One who was to come would accept man's fallen nature - meeting the Law of Equivalence.

p 15 -- This Seed of the woman - who would be near of kin, like unto His brethren - would completely bruise the serpent's head. The Sin-bearer, becoming sin itself, would be lifted up so that those who would see Him in His true character might have life. He would set up on the earth, a "ladder" which would reach to heaven. Through His incarnate Self, a door of access would be opened for the sons of men to the throne of the Eternal.

1. Zechariah 6:12

2. Ellen G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. I, p. 46

3. 1bid.

4. Genesis 3:15

5. Genesis 5:1, 3

6. Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 80

7. Ellen G. White, "Redemption - No. 1", Review & Herald, Feb. 24, 1874

8. Genesis 28:12

9. Genesis 28:14

10. Genesis 28:17

11. John 1:51

12. John 14:6

13. See Genesis 11:1-9

14. Daniel 2:11

15. Exodus 3:1-5

16. Exodus 3:8

17. William Gesenius, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament trans., Edward Robinson, 9th Edition, p. 384

18. Ellen G. White, Selected messages, bk. 1, p. 408

19. Ellen G. White, Letter 280, 1904 (5BC:1113)

20. Exodus 25:8

21. Exodus 26:14 ARV

22. Ellen G. White, Education, p. 36

23. John 1:14 ARV footnote

24. Exodus 20:19

25. Deuteronany 18:17-18

26. Deuteronomy 18:19

27. Numbers 21:4, 6

28. Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 175

29. Ellen G. White, Letter 264, 1903

30. Leviticus 25:24-25, 48-49

31. Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 327

32. Ruth 4:21, Matthew 1:5

33. Isaiah 7:14-15

34. See Problems in Bible Translation, pp. 152-157, sec., "The Meaning of 'Almah"

p 16 -- 

35. Galatians 4:4

36. Matthew 1:23

37. Ellen G. White, Ms. 29, 1899 "He [Christ] was a free agent, placed on probation, as was Adam, and as is man."

38. Isaiah 9:6

39. Isaiah 11:1

40.Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 48

41. Isaiah 53:2

42. Ellen G. White, Youth's Instructor. December 20, 1900 (4BC:1147)