John 5:20-21 “For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.”
Philippians 2:6-7 “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:”
1 Timothy 3:16 “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh,”
The apostle would call our attention from ourselves to the Author of our salvation. He presents before us his two natures, divine and human. Here is the description of the divine: “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” He was “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person.” { RH July 5, 1887, par. 3 } Now, of the human: “He was made in the likeness of man: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death.” He voluntarily assumed human nature. It was his own act, and by his own consent. He clothed his divinity with humanity. He was all the while as God, but he did not appear as God. He veiled the demonstrations of Deity which had commanded the homage, and called forth the admiration, of the universe of God. He was God while upon earth, but he divested himself of the form of God, and in its stead took the form and fashion of a man. He walked the earth as a man. For our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. He laid aside his glory and his majesty. He was God, but the glories of the form of God he for a while relinquished. Though he walked among men in poverty, scattering his blessings wherever he went, at his word legions of angels would surround their Redeemer, and do him homage. But he walked the earth unrecognized, unconfessed, with but few exceptions, by his creatures. {RH July 5, 1887, par. 4}{ RH July 5, 1887, par. 4 }
He left the royal courts, and by the will of His Father He came in our world as a little child. But did He leave His divinity behind Him? No, indeed. He took His divinity with Him. Humanity and divinity combined, to give the lesson to every human being upon the face of the earth that if they would in their humanity have faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ that humanity may overcome all the besetments of the evil that there is in the world, through grasping a living faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ. Thus they could be overcomers by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. That is a great victory. {Ms123-1909.19}
Christ clothed his divinity with humanity, that human beings might be raised from their degradation, and placed on vantage-ground. Christ could not have come to this earth with the glory that he had in the heavenly courts. Sinful human beings could not have borne the sight. He veiled his divinity with the garb of humanity, but he did not part with his divinity. A divine-human Saviour, he came to stand at the head of the fallen race, to share in their experience from childhood to manhood. That human beings might be partakers of the divine nature, he came to this earth, and lived a life of perfect obedience. { RH June 15, 1905, par. 12 }
Christ had two natures, the nature of a man and the nature of God. In Him divinity and humanity were combined. Upon His mediatorial work hangs the hope of the perishing world. No one but Christ has ever succeeded in living a perfect life, in living a pure, spotless character. He exhibited a perfect humanity, combined with Deity; and by preserving each nature distinct He has given to the world a representation of the character of God and the character of a perfect man. He shows us what God is and what man may become—Godlike in character. {Ms94-1899.47}
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. In Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. When Christ was crucified, it was His human nature that died. Deity did not sink and die; that would have been impossible. …{Lt280a-1904.8}
In Christ, divinity and humanity were combined. Divinity was not degraded to humanity; divinity held its place. { RH February 18, 1890, par. 7 }
Our Lord was tempted as man is tempted. He was capable of yielding to temptations, as are human beings. His finite nature was pure and spotless, but the divine nature that led Him to say to Philip, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father” also [John 14:9], was not humanized; neither was humanity deified by the blending or union of the two natures; each retained its essential character and properties. {Ms57-1890}
The enmity put between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman was supernatural. With Christ the enmity was in one sense natural, in another sense it was supernatural, as humanity and divinity were combined. And never was the enmity developed to such a marked degree as when Christ became a resident of this earth. Never before had there been a being upon the earth who hated sin with so perfect a hatred as did Christ. He had seen its deceiving, infatuating power upon the holy angels, causing them to revolt, and all His powers were enlisted against Satan. {Ms143-1897.11}
When the voice of the angel was heard saying, “Thy Father calls thee,” He who had said, “I lay down my life that I may take it again,” “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again,” came forth from the grave to life that was in Himself. Deity did not die. Humanity died, but Christ now proclaims over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” In His divinity Christ possessed the power to break the bonds of death. He declares that He had life in Himself to quicken whom He will. {Ms131-1897.1}
It has cost too much to Heaven to give us Jesus. It has cost too much to Heaven for Christ to lay aside His royal robe, to lay aside His royal crown, and to step down from His high command, the Prince of Life from glory, in order that He might make Himself in humanity and divinity combined a steppingstone for man to step on. It was not humanity, but humanity and divinity combined, and that man could step on that steppingstone, and that he would be on vantage ground with God, because the perfume, because the sanctified and holy character of God imbues the life of every soul that eats of the Bread of Life and drinks of the water of salvation…. {Ms43d-1901.21}
But although Christ’s divine glory was for a time veiled and eclipsed by His assuming humanity, yet He did not cease to be God when He became man. The human did not take the place of the divine, nor the divine of the human. This is the mystery of godliness. The two expressions human and divine were, in Christ, closely and inseparably one, and yet they had a distinct individuality. Though Christ humbled Himself to become man, the Godhead was still His own. His Deity could not be lost while He stood faithful and true to His loyalty. Surrounded with sorrow, suffering, and moral pollution, despised and rejected by the people to whom had been intrusted the oracles of heaven, Jesus could yet speak of Himself as the Son of man in heaven. He was ready to take once more His divine glory when His work on earth was done. { ST May 10, 1899, par. 11 }
By his obedience to all the commandments of God, Christ wrought out a redemption for man. This was not done by going out of himself to another, but by taking humanity into himself. Thus Christ gave to humanity an existence out of himself. To bring humanity into Christ, to bring the fallen race into oneness with divinity, is the work of redemption. Christ took human nature that men might be one with him as he is one with the Father, that God may love man as he loves his only begotten Son, that men may be partakers of the divine nature, and be complete in him. {RH April 5, 1906, par. 15} The Holy Spirit, which proceeds from the only begotten Son of God, binds the human agent, body, soul, and spirit, to the perfect, divine-human nature of Christ. This union is represented by the union of the vine and the branches. Finite man is united to the manhood of Christ. Through faith human nature is assimilated with Christ’s nature. We are made one with God in Christ. {RH April 5, 1906, par. 16}In stooping to take the habiliments of a man, Christ did not cease to be God. The human did not become divine, nor the divine human. Christ lived the law of God, showing <all> men and women that through His grace they can do the same. {Ms111-1897.48}
He was the life and the strength and the grace through the obedience in His humanity. He did not lose His divinity. He held fast His divinity. They saw humanity and divinity combined. There they were combined, and that is what God wants of us today. {Ms120-1909.29}
They will be partakers of that divine nature that He has never parted with, so that they can be overcomers through the power of that divine nature, they will not be overcome with lust, but they will be partakers of the divine nature. {Ms177-1907.23}
The divine nature of Christ was not transformed into human nature, but the divine and human were united. Christ was God in the flesh; in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily to act out the principles that govern all heaven. “All things,” He says, “are delivered to Me of My Father.” [Luke 10:22.] {Ms43b-1891.9}
[Christ was fully tempted while on earth because He had both a divine and human nature.]
Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
[There are similarities between the two quotes, but the following lengthy paragraphs displays Ellen White’s convictions on the temptability of Christ even though he was human and divine while on earth.]
Our Lord’s trial and test and proving shows that He could yield to these temptations, else the battle was all a farce. But He did not yield to the solicitude of the enemy, thus evidencing that the human nature of man, united with the divine nature by faith, may be strong and withstand Satan’s temptations. {Ms57-1890.7} Christ’s perfect humanity is the same that man may have through connection with Christ. As God, Christ could not be tempted any more than He was not tempted from His allegiance in heaven. But as Christ humbled Himself to the nature of man, He could be tempted. He had not taken on Him even the nature of the angels, but humanity, perfectly identical with our own nature, except without the taint of sin. A human body, a human mind, with all the peculiar properties, He was bone, brain, and muscle. A man of our flesh, He was compassed with the weakness of humanity. The circumstances of His life were of that character that He was exposed to all the inconveniences that belong to men, not in wealth, not in ease, but in poverty and want and humiliation. He breathed the very air man must breathe. He trod our earth as man. He had reason, conscience, memory, will, and affections of the human soul which was united with His divine nature. {Ms57-1890.8} Our Lord was tempted as man is tempted. He was capable of yielding to temptations, as are human beings. His finite nature was pure and spotless, but the divine nature that led Him to say to Philip, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father” also [John 14:9], was not humanized; neither was humanity deified by the blending or union of the two natures; each retained its essential character and properties. {Ms57-1890.9} But here we must not become in our ideas common and earthly, and in our perverted ideas we must not think that the liability of Christ to yield to Satan’s temptations degraded His humanity and He possessed the same sinful, corrupt propensities as man. {Ms57-1890.10} The divine nature, combined with the human, made Him capable of yielding to Satan’s temptations. Here the test to Christ was far greater than that of Adam and Eve, for Christ took our nature, fallen but not corrupted, and would not be corrupted unless He received the words of Satan in the place of the words of God. To suppose He was not capable of yielding to temptation places Him where He cannot be a perfect example for man, and the force and the power of this part of Christ’s humiliation, which is the most eventful, is no instruction or help to human beings. {Ms57-1890.11}
The point you inquire of me is, in our Lord’s great scene of conflict in the wilderness, apparently under the power of Satan and his angels, was He capable, in His human nature, of yielding to these temptations? {Ms94-1893.3} I will try to answer this important question: As God He could not be tempted; but as a man He could be tempted, and that strongly, and could yield to the temptations. His human nature must pass through the same test and trial Adam and Eve passed through. His human nature was created; it did not even possess the angelic powers. It was human, identical with our own. He was passing over the ground where Adam fell. He was now where, if He endured the test and trial in behalf of the fallen race, He would redeem Adam’s disgraceful failure and fall, in our own humanity. {Ms94-1893.4} … Abundant provision has been made that finite, fallen man may so connect with God that, through the same Source by which Christ overcame in His human nature, he may stand firmly against every temptation, as did Christ. He was subject to inconveniences that human nature is subjected to. He breathed the air of the same world we breathe. … {Ms94-1893.6} The higher attributes of His being it is our privilege to have, if we will, through the provisions He has made, appropriate these blessings and diligently cultivate the good in the place of the evil. We have reason, conscience, memory, will, affections—all the attributes a human being can possess. Through the provision made when God and the Son of God made a covenant to rescue man from the bondage of Satan, every facility was provided that human nature should come into union with His divine nature. In such a nature was our Lord tempted. He could have yielded to Satan’s lying suggestions as did Adam, but we should adore and glorify the Lamb of God that He did not in a single point yield one jot or one tittle. {Ms94-1893.7} Through being partakers of the divine nature we may stand pure and holy and undefiled. The Godhead was not made human, and the human was not deified by the blending together of the two natures. Christ did not possess the same sinful, corrupt, fallen disloyalty we possess, for then He could not be a perfect offering. {Ms94-1893.8}
Those who claim that it was not possible for Christ to sin cannot believe that He really took upon Himself human nature; but was not Christ actually tempted, not only by Satan in the wilderness, but all through His life from childhood to manhood? {Ms16-1890.85}
Be careful, exceedingly careful, as to how you dwell upon the human nature of Christ. Do not set him before the people as a man with the propensities of sin. He is the second Adam. The first Adam was created a pure, sinless being, without a taint of sin upon him; he was in the image of God. He could fall, and he did fall through transgressing. Because of sin, his posterity was born with inherent propensities of disobedience. But Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God. He took upon Himself human nature, and was tempted in all points as human nature is tempted. He could have sinned; He could have fallen, but not for one moment was there in Him an evil propensity. He was assailed with temptations in the wilderness, as Adam was assailed with temptations in Eden. {Lt8-1895.14} … His birth was a miracle of God; for, said the angel, “Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 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.” {Lt8-1895.15} These words do not refer to any human being, except to the Son of the Infinite God. Never, in any way, leave the slightest impression upon human minds that a taint of, or inclination to corruption rested upon Christ, or that He in any way yielded to corruption. {Lt8-1895.16} He was tempted in all points like as man is tempted, yet He is called “that holy thing.” It is a mystery that is left unexplained to mortals that Christ could be tempted in all points like as we are, and yet be without sin. 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 it cannot be. The exact time when humanity blended with divinity, it is not necessary for us to know. We are to keep our feet on the Rock, Christ Jesus, as God revealed in humanity. {Lt8-1895.17}
We must not become in our ideas common and earthly, and in our perverted ideas we must not think that the liability of Christ to yield to Satan’s temptations degraded His humanity and He possessed the same sinful, corrupt propensities as man. {Ms57-1890.10} The divine nature, combined with the human, made Him capable of yielding to Satan’s temptations. Here the test to Christ was far greater than that of Adam and Eve, for Christ took our nature, fallen but not corrupted, and would not be corrupted unless He received the words of Satan in the place of the words of God. {Ms57-1890.11}
Be careful, exceedingly careful, as to how you dwell upon the human nature of Christ. Do not set him before the people as a man with the propensities of sin. He is the second Adam. The first Adam was created a pure, sinless being, without a taint of sin upon him; he was in the image of God. He could fall, and he did fall through transgressing. Because of sin, his [Adam's] posterity was born with inherent propensities of disobedience. But Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God. He took upon Himself human nature, and was tempted in all points as human nature is tempted. He could have sinned; He could have fallen, but not for one moment was there in Him an evil propensity. {Lt8-1895.14}
Christ did not possess the same sinful, corrupt, fallen disloyalty we possess, for then He could not be a perfect offering. {Ms94-1893.8}
[Christ overcame by uniting His divinity to His humanity. Our overcoming includes uniting our human nature to Christ’s divine nature.]
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
1 Peter 1:5 “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
2 Peter 1:4 “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Revelation 3:21 “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”
The great trial of Christ in the wilderness on the point of appetite was to leave man an example of self-denial. This long fast was to convict men of the sinfulness of many things in which professed Christians indulge. The victory which Christ gained in the wilderness was to show man the sinfulness of the very things in which he takes such pleasure. The salvation of man was in the balance, and to be decided by the trial of Christ in the wilderness. If Christ was a victor on the point of appetite, then there was a chance for man to overcome. If Satan gained the victory through his subtlety, man was bound by the power of appetite in chains of indulgence which he could not have moral power to break. Christ’s humanity alone could never have endured this test; but his divine power, combined with humanity, gained in behalf of man an infinite victory. Our Representative in this victory raised humanity in the scale of moral value with God. {ST October 24, 1878, par. 11}
He came to our world clothing divinity with humanity to bear the test and proving of God. By His example of perfect obedience in His human nature, He teaches us that man may be obedient. How can this be? Jesus took the nature of man while He lay hold on the throne of God with His divine nature. In His humanity and divinity combined, He overcame every temptation of Satan. {Lt16-1892.17}
Behold the perfection of Christ who possessed all the attributes of the Godhead and all the perfections and excellencies of humanity. He is our example. … {Lt11a-1894.14} … The nature of Christ was a combination of the divine and the human. Having all the attributes of God, He also represented the excellencies of humanity and showed that all who believe in Christ as their personal Saviour will perfect a character after Christ’s likeness, and be qualified to become laborers together with God. {Lt11a-1894.19} … By taking humanity and combining it with divinity, He was able to meet every demand of the law of God, to overcome every objection which Satan had made prominent as standing in the way of man’s obedience to God’s commandments. {Lt11a-1894.20}
Christ could have done nothing during His earthly ministry in saving fallen man if the divine had not been blended with the human. The limited capacity of man cannot define this wonderful mystery, the blending of the two natures, the divine and human. It can never be explained. Man must wonder and be silent. And yet man is privileged to be a partaker of the divine nature, and in this way he can to some degree enter into the mystery. This most wonderful exhibition of God’s love was made on the cross of Calvary. Divinity took the nature of humanity, and for what purpose? that through the righteousness of Christ humanity might partake of the divine nature. This union of divinity and humanity, which was possible with Christ, was incomprehensive to human minds. The wonderful things to take place in our world, the greatest events of all ages, are incomprehensible to worldly minds; they cannot be explained by human sciences. The powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Christ is coming in power and great glory, but His coming is not such a mystery as the things to take place before that event. Man must be a partaker of the divine nature in order to stand in this evil time, when the mystery of satanic agencies are at work. Only by the divine power united with the human can souls endure through these times of trial. Says Christ, “Without Me ye can do nothing.” [John 15:5.] Then there must be far less of self and all for Jesus. {Lt5-1889.6}
Then Satan took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, saying, “All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give it. If Thou therefore will worship me, all shall be Thine.” [Luke 4:6, 7.] {Ms92-1908.30} Then it was that the divinity of Christ came to the aid of His humanity. With divine authority He commanded, “Get thee behind Me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” [Verse 8.] {Ms92-1908.31}
In all points He was tempted as we are, and because He successfully resisted temptation under every form, He gave man the perfect example; and through the ample provisions Christ has made, we may become partakers of His divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world through lust. Jesus says, To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne. [Revelation 3:21.] Here is the beginning of our confidence which we must hold steadfast unto the end. {Ms16-1890.85} If Jesus resisted Satan’s temptations, He will help us to resist: He came to bring divine power to combine with human efforts. … {Ms16-1890.86} In Christ dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily. This is why, although He was tempted in all points like as we are, He stood before the world, from His first entrance into it, untainted by corruption, though surrounded by it. Are we not also to become partakers of that fulness, and is it not thus, and thus only, that we can overcome as He overcame? {Ms16-1890.87}
Our Lord’s trial and test and proving shows that He could yield to these temptations, else the battle was all a farce. But He did not yield to the solicitude of the enemy, thus evidencing that the human nature of man, united with the divine nature by faith, may be strong and withstand Satan’s temptations. {Ms57-1890} … The humanity of Christ received the fallen foe and engaged in battle with him. He was sustained in the conflict by divine power just as man will be sustained by his being a partaker of the divine nature. He gained victory after victory as our Champion, the Captain of our salvation, and the divine approval of God and all the universe of heaven flowed into His soul. His nature was shocked almost unto death, but the heavenly angels ministered unto the suffering One. {Ms57-1890}
“In all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren.” Hebrews 2:17. He was “in all points tempted like as we are.” Hebrews 2:16. He exercised in His own behalf no power which man cannot exercise. As man He met temptation and overcame in the strength given Him of God. He gives us an example of perfect obedience. He has provided that we may become partakers of the divine nature, and assures us that we may overcome as He overcame. His life testified that by the aid of the same divine power which Christ received, it is possible for man to obey God’s law. {Ms41-1892.25}
God has given to every man according to his ability, and the measure of the obligation of each one Father and the Son. The plan of redemption has been devised and carried out so far through the sacrifice of all heaven, and the gift of the Holy Spirit has been provided, that the divine may unite with the human, and man be elevated in moral and spiritual worth. {YI June 15, 1893, par. 1}
Leaving the royal courts of heaven, Christ came to our world to represent the character of His Father, and thus help humanity to return to their loyalty. The image of Satan was upon men, and Christ came that He might bring to them moral power and efficiency. 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.” [Hebrews 2:14.] He could not come in the form of an angel, for unless He met man as man, and testified by His connection with God that divine power was not given to Him in a different way to what it will be given to us, He could not be a perfect example for us. {Ms21-1895.8} … He took humanity that we, by partaking of His nature, might receive the impress of Jehovah, and stand as witnesses before men and angels, and before the whole army of the powers of darkness, of the efficacy of a crucified Saviour. {Ms21-1895.10}
When Christ became our substitute and surety, it was as a human being. He came as a man, and rendered the obedience of human nature to the only true God. He came not to show us what God could do, but what God did do, and what man, a partaker of the divine nature can do. It was the human nature of Christ that endured the temptations in the wilderness, not His divine nature. In His human nature He endured the contradiction of sinners against Himself. He lived a perfect human life. Jesus is everything to us, and He says to us, “Without me ye can do nothing.” {Lt128-1896}
Jesus stood forth in human nature a conqueror in behalf of the fallen race. He was an overcomer in behalf of every human being, and as a pledge that all who shall receive His name may resist the temptations of Satan, and overcome in their own behalf as Christ has overcome in theirs. There is not one of the feeblest of humanity but can be a conqueror by being a partaker of the divine nature. As the branch is united to the vine and becomes partaker of the nourishment of the wine, so he who is one with Christ absorbs the elements of the life of Christ, and is [a] branch of the living Vine. Every member of the human family is honored by the achievement of this wonderful victory, making it possible for every soul to become a partaker of the divine nature if he will connect with Christ. {Ms49-1897.21}
Had he not been fully human, Christ could not have been our substitute. He could not have worked out in humanity that perfection of character which it is the privilege of all to reach. He was the light and the life of the world. He came to this earth to work in behalf of men, that they might no longer be under the control of Satanic agencies. But while bearing human nature, he was dependent upon the Omnipotent for his life. In his humanity, he laid hold of the divinity of God; and this every member of the human family has the privilege of doing. Christ did nothing that human nature may not do if it partakes of the divine nature. {ST June 17, 1897, par. 8}
Christ took humanity upon Him, that humanity might touch humanity, and that divinity, combined with humanity, might lay hold on divinity. Humanity has nothing saving or restoring to the human race. The frail instrument alone is nothing. However sure he may be of his knowledge and his capabilities, man must become meek and lowly in heart, take Christ’s yoke and carry Christ’s burdens. Immeasurably inferior is the part the human agent sustains, but if he is linked up with the divinity of Christ, he can do all things through the strength which Christ imparts. {Ms80-1898.2}
Christ came to the earth, taking humanity and standing as man’s representative, to show in the controversy with Satan that man, as God created him, connected with the Father and the Son, could obey every divine requirement. Speaking through His servant He declares, “His commandments are not grievous.” It was sin that separated man from his God, and it is sin that maintains this separation. {ST June 9, 1898, par. 6}
Christ bore the guilt of the sins of the world. Our sufficiency is found only in the incarnation and death of the Son of God. He could suffer, because sustained by divinity. He could endure, because he was without one taint of disloyalty or sin. Christ triumphed in man’s behalf in thus bearing the justice of punishment. He secured eternal life to men, while he exalted the law, and made it honorable. {YI August 4, 1898, par. 4
You must know the living Saviour as your Saviour. Can you take in the words I now write to you? The life of the true believer in Christ is a mystery. It is something that cannot be explained. It is the privilege of every believer in Christ to possess Christ’s nature, a nature far above that which man forfeited by transgression. He who sees the Son by faith and believes in Him is obedient to the commandments of God, and in this obedience he finds everlasting life. {Lt6a-1900.6}
It has cost too much to Heaven to give us Jesus. It has cost too much to Heaven for Christ to lay aside His royal robe, to lay aside His royal crown, and to step down from His high command, the Prince of Life from glory, in order that He might make Himself in humanity and divinity combined a steppingstone for man to step on. It was not humanity, but humanity and divinity combined, and that man could step on that steppingstone, and that he would be on vantage ground with God, because the perfume, because the sanctified and holy character of God imbues the life of every soul that eats of the Bread of Life and drinks of the water of salvation; and every one that eats of Christ, that takes His Word and practices it, hath eternal life; it is in him, because he is in Christ, and Christ is in him. {Ms43d-1901.21}
In Christ dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily. This is why, although tempted in all points like as we are, He stood before the world, from His first entrance into it, untainted by corruption, though surrounded with it. Are we not also to become partakers of that fulness, and is it not thus, and thus only, that we can overcome as Christ overcame? ... {Ms141-1901.6} Why are we so dull of comprehension? Why do we not cling to Jesus and draw from Him by faith the strength and perfection of His character as the vine-branch draws the sap from the living vine? We are to look to Jesus and climb up step by step in the work of overcoming, as the temptations close us about. Abiding in Christ, we become one with Him. Then we are safe, entirely safe, against all the assaults of Satan. Christ living in the soul is revealed in the character. Man is nothing without Christ. But if Christ lives in us, we shall work the works of God. We shall represent Christ in our life, we shall talk of Christ because we meditate upon Him. We shall grow up into Christ to the full stature of men and women in spiritual understanding. {Ms141-1901.7}
In view of God’s promises, it is our privilege always to be hopeful. We are to mark the example that is given us in the character of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. None need fail of attaining, in his sphere, perfection of Christian character. Abundant provision has been made for us. Christ laid aside His kingly crown and royal robe, clothed His divinity with humanity, and left the courts of heaven to come to this earth to save mankind. He did not lay aside His divinity, but clothed divinity with humanity, that, as a divine-human Saviour, He might stand by the side of humanity. … {Ms49-1906.6} In His humanity, perfected by a life of holiness, He revealed that through co-operation with divinity, humanity may in this world attain unto perfection of character. {Ms49-1906.7}
Christ took human nature that men might be one with him as he is one with the Father, that God may love man as he loves his only begotten Son, that men may be partakers of the divine nature, and be complete in him. {RH April 5, 1906, par. 15} The Holy Spirit, which proceeds from the only begotten Son of God, binds the human agent, body, soul, and spirit, to the perfect, divine-human nature of Christ. This union is represented by the union of the vine and the branches. Finite man is united to the manhood of Christ. Through faith human nature is assimilated with Christ’s nature. We are made one with God in Christ. {RH April 5, 1906, par. 16}
He clothed His divinity with humanity, that humanity might understand that with humanity united with divinity, every soul, if they believe in Him, could overcome the temptations that are in the world through lust. … {Ms177-1907.4} They will be partakers of that divine nature that He has never parted with, so that they can be overcomers through the power of that divine nature, they will not be overcome with lust, but they will be partakers of the divine nature. {Ms177-1907.23}
My brethren and sisters, we need the truth as it is in Jesus. We need to teach the people how they may become partakers of the divine nature, that they may escape the corruptions that are in the world through lust. We need the manifestation of true godliness in every line of service. {Ms95-1908.33} … I am so thankful for the privilege of saying these words to you. I invite each one of you to take hold by living faith of the divinity of Christ. This is the gift that Christ came to the world to bestow. In Him humanity may take hold of divinity and share in the joy of the Lord. {Ms95-1908.38}
God sent His Son into the world that He might learn by actual experience the needs of humanity. Through humanity combined with divinity He must reach man and enable him to lay hold upon the divine nature. {Ms73-1909.26} … Let us ever remember that eternal life has been secured for us at the cost of God’s only begotten Son. Considering this, should we not study to know what sacrifices we can make for His cause, what part we can act in advancing the glory of God for the great hereafter? Humanity can grasp the divinity of Christ. This is for us if we will lay hold of it by an intelligent faith. Let us learn what it means to deny self as Christ denied self. He laid aside all that He had with the Father and, clothing His divinity with humanity, came to earth that He might teach men and women how they might overcome. We are living in a time of test. Shall we not decide to stand on the side of Christ in this matter. {Ms73-1909.28} … Let us in our human nature take hold of the divine, that that nature may mold our life, our character, our words and works. Then we shall go straight forward in the name of Jesus Christ. {Ms73-1909.29}
Bear this in mind. He overcame in His humanity, through His divine nature, and how do we overcome? Why, He gave His life that we might become partakers of the divine nature. {Ms112-1909.20}
He will take us just as we are, sinful and blotted. What did He come to the earth for? He came in humanity, that humanity might grasp divinity. He came, that He might come close to humanity, and that His teaching should reach the hearts of humanity. And then as Christ is revealed as the Saviour of the world, here is a message that is to come to those that are in darkness. Will you follow Him? Will you follow the Redeemer? We want you to. Jesus wants you. Your humanity is to grasp divinity by a living faith. That is why Christ came, that humanity might touch humanity, and that divinity might be turned to pardon the transgression of sinners. {Ms122-1909.31}
Christ left the royal courts; He clothed His divinity with humanity. He came to our world to show us what humanity must be if we ever enter the courts above. If your passions are not overcome, it is time to begin the work. It is time in your families to pray to God until you know that He bestows His Spirit upon you, and that humanity is grasping divinity. When humanity grasps divinity, I tell you there will be a devotion, a sanctification, in every part of our work that is connected with our printing establishments, and every part of our work that is connected with the ministry, and every part of it that is connected with the medical line. It will blend, and the glory of God will be revealed. {Ms139-1909.20} This thing was presented to men in such a way that I have felt an impossibility to present it as it were, that you might understand it, that humanity must grasp divinity, and then you are a partaker of the divine nature. Christ laid off His golden crown, He laid off His kingly robe, and He came into our world to teach just how that you could grasp divinity, that you may be prepared for any trial or any difficulty. And just so it was with the school of the prophets. They went by themselves, they prayed to God until the Holy Spirit rested upon them, and then they went to communicate the light that God had given them. What we want is a living Saviour. What we want is that connection with God that we can understand the temptations of Satan. {Ms139-1909.21
Christ unites in His person the fulness and perfection of the godhead and the fulness and perfection of sinless humanity. He met all the temptations by which Adam was assailed and overcame these temptations because in His humanity He relied upon divine power. This subject demands far more contemplation than it receives. Christians strike too low. They are content with a superficial spiritual experience, and therefore they have only the glimmerings of light, when they might have far greater knowledge, when they might discern more clearly the wonderful perfection of Christ’s humanity, which rises far above all human greatness, all human power. Christ’s life is a revelation of what fallen human beings may become through union and fellowship with the divine nature. {Ms31-1911.6}
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“Without Me,” says Christ, “ye can do nothing.” [John 15:5.] Christ adopts our nature into a personal subsistence with His own divinity if man will accept this vital relationship. He is the center of attraction. He lived our example. He denied self. He lifted the cross for us. {Lt 52, 1891, par. 29}