“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”—1 Corinthians 2:9

Fresh wonders will be revealed to the mind the more closely we apply it to divine things. We lose much by not talking more of Jesus and of heaven, the saints’ inheritance. The more we contemplate heavenly things, the more new delights we shall see and the more will our hearts be brim full of thanks to our beneficent Creator.

Consider the wonderful love of God in giving His Only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish but have everlasting life. Oh, why do the professed followers of Christ become charmed and all absorbed with human frail beings and set their affections upon them and bow to them as to a deity, while Jesus is seeking to win our love and engage our thoughts, to bind us to His own heart by the disclosures of the tenderest sympathy and inexpressible love?

No earthly parent has pled more earnestly with an erring child than Christ pleads for us before His Father’s throne, while we are transgressors of His law. No human lips have ever followed with more tender expostulations the erring ones. Have, then, a care how you treat this marvelous love. Read the rich promises of God and believe them. Ponder upon them. Listen to the voice of unspeakable love and pity. In Him we have redemption through His blood. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God….

Cut loose the tendrils; let them not entwine about earthly things, but let them entwine about God. You may never be lonesome, never feel that you are alone, if you will take Jesus as your Companion and your everlasting Friend…. Trust in Jesus fully as your Saviour, whose death has redeemed you; as your Intercessor, whose pleadings above avail with the Father and secure us peace, pardon. Our names are engraven on the palms of His hands, as our King to whom we must render a reverent and affectionate obedience. Jesus is the believer’s life, his hope, his joy. Love is the growth of faith and trust, to have Christ formed in us, to look to Him as a Friend and Counselor.—Letter 4, 1885.

Further Reflection: If no earthly parent has ever pled for a child as Christ pleads for me before the throne of God, what should be my response to such an expression of love?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.—John 1:3

If Christ made all things, He existed before all things. The words spoken in regard to this are so decisive that no one need be left in doubt. Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. He was with God from all eternity, God over all, blessed forevermore.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, existed from eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father. He was the surpassing glory of heaven. He was the commander of the heavenly intelligences, and the adoring homage of the angels was received by Him as His right. This was no robbery of God. “The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way,” He declares, “before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: while as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When He prepared the heavens, I was there: when He set a compass upon the face of the depth” (Proverbs 8:22-27).

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.

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God” (Psalm 90:2). “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” (Matthew 4:16). Here the pre-existence of Christ and the purpose of His manifestation to our world are presented as living beams of light from the eternal throne. “… But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:1, 2).—Selected Messages 1:247, 248.

Further Reflection: How can I enjoy the truths of God which are shrouded in mystery?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.—Romans 7:18

None of the apostles or prophets ever claimed to be without sin. Those who have lived nearest to God, those who would sacrifice life itself rather than knowingly commit a wrong act, those whom God had honored with divine light and power, have confessed the sinfulness of their own nature. They have put no confidence in the flesh, have claimed no righteousness of their own, but have trusted wholly in the righteousness of Christ. So will it be with all who behold Christ.

At every advance step in Christian experience our repentance will deepen. It is to those whom the Lord has forgiven, to those whom He acknowledges as His people, that He says, “Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight” (Ezekiel 36:31). Again He says, “I will establish My covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God” (Ezekiel 16:62, 63). Then our lips will not be opened in self-glorification. We shall know that our sufficiency is in Christ alone. We shall make the apostle’s confession our own. “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18)….

In harmony with this experience is the command, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12, 13). God does not bid you fear that He will fail to fulfill His promises, that His patience will weary, or His compassion be found wanting. Fear lest your will shall not be held in subjection to Christ’s will, lest your hereditary and cultivated traits of character shall control your life. “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Fear lest self shall interpose between your soul and the great Master Worker…. Fear to trust to your own strength, fear to withdraw your hand from the hand of Christ and attempt to walk life’s pathway without His abiding presence.—Christ’s Object Lessons, 160, 161.

Further Reflection: How can I avoid living in constant fear while soberly working out my personal salvation?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

“This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.”—John 6:50

The Bible is the only book giving a positive description of Christ Jesus; and if every human being would study it as their lesson book, and obey it, not a soul would be lost.

All the rays of light shining in the Scriptures point to Jesus Christ, and testify of Him, linking together the Old and New Testament Scriptures. Christ is presented as the author and finisher of their faith, Himself the one in whom their hopes of eternal life are centered. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

What book can begin to compare with the Bible? It is essential for every child, for youth, and for those of mature age to understand; for it is the word of God, the word to guide all the human family to heaven. Then why does not the word from God contain the chief elements which constitute education? Uninspired authors are placed in the hands of children and youth in our schools as lesson books—books from which they are to be educated. They are kept before the youth, taking up their precious time in studying those things which they can never use…. These books do not in any sense voice the words of John, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” …

Jesus Christ is the knowledge of the Father, and Christ is our great teacher sent from God. Christ has declared in the sixth chapter of John that He is that bread sent down from heaven. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” The disciples did not comprehend His words. Says Christ, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”—Fundamentals of Christian Education, 382-384.

Further Reflection: How does one “eat” Jesus, the bread sent down from heaven? In what practical ways can I partake of His life today?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.”—Luke 19:9

The streets were crowded, and Zacchaeus, who was small of stature, could see nothing over the heads of the people. None would give way for him; so, running a little in advance of the multitude, to where a wide-branching fig tree hung over the way, the rich tax collector climbed to a seat among the boughs, whence he could survey the procession as it passed below. The crowd comes near, it is going by, and Zacchaeus scans with eager eyes to discern the one figure he longs to see.

Above the clamor of priests and rabbis and the shouts of welcome from the multitude, that unuttered desire of the chief publican spoke to the heart of Jesus. Suddenly, just beneath the fig tree, a group halts, the company before and behind come to a standstill, and One looks upward whose glance seems to read the soul. Almost doubting his senses, the man in the tree hears the words, “Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.”

The multitude give way, and Zacchaeus, walking as in a dream, leads the way toward his own home. But the rabbis look on with scowling faces, and murmur in discontent and scorn, “that He was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.”

Zacchaeus had been overwhelmed, amazed, and silenced at the love and condescension of Christ in stooping to him, so unworthy. Now love and loyalty to his new-found Master unseal his lips. He will make public his confession and his repentance.

In the presence of the multitude, “Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

“And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.”—The Desire of Ages, 553-555.

Further Reflection: Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus demonstrated an ability to hear the cry of human hearts above the din of everyday life. Do my needs move the heart of Jesus? Do I seek Him with the assurance that He will hear me?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names