No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. John 1:18.

Christ came to the world to reveal the character of the Father and to redeem the fallen race. The world’s Redeemer was equal with God. His authority was as the authority of God. He declared that He had no existence separate from the Father. The authority by which He spoke and wrought miracles was expressly His own, yet He assures us that He and the Father are one….

Jesus had imparted a knowledge of God to patriarchs, prophets, and apostles. The revelations of the Old Testament were emphatically the unfoldings of the gospel, the unveiling of the purpose and will of the infinite Father. Through the holy men of old, Christ labored for the salvation of fallen humanity. And when He came to the world it was with the same message of redemption from sin, and restoration to the favor of God.^{1The Review and Herald, January 7, 1890.}

What speech is to thought, so is Christ to the invisible Father. He is the manifestation of the Father, and is called the Word of God. God sent His Son into the world, His divinity clothed with humanity, that man might bear the image of the invisible God. He made known in His words, His character, His power and majesty, the nature and attributes of God.^{2Manuscript 77, 1899.}

As legislator, Jesus exercised the authority of God; His commands and decisions were supported by the sovereignty of the eternal throne. The glory of the Father was revealed in the Son; Christ made manifest the character of the Father. He was so perfectly connected with God, so completely embraced in His encircling light, that he who had seen the Son had seen the Father. His voice was as the voice of God…. He says, “I am in the Father, and the Father in me.” “No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:11; Matthew 11:27; 14:9).^{3The Review and Herald, January 7, 1890.}

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And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:8.

Christ came to this world for no other purpose than to manifest the glory of God, that man might be uplifted by its restoring power. All power and grace were given to Him. His heart was a wellspring of living water, a never-failing fountain, ever ready to flow forth in a rich, clear stream to those around Him. His whole life was spent in pure disinterested benevolence. His purposes were full of love and sympathy. He rejoiced that He could do more for His followers than they could ask or think. His constant prayer for them was that they might be sanctified through the truth, and He prayed with assurance, knowing that an almighty decree had been given before the world was made. He knew that the gospel of the kingdom would be preached in all the world; that truth, armed with the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, would conquer in the contest with evil; and that the bloodstained banner would one day wave triumphantly over His followers.

Yet Christ came in great humility. When He was here He pleased not Himself, but “humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” To His followers He says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29)….

From the root of true humility springs the most precious greatness of mind—greatness which leads men to conform to the image of Christ. Those who possess this greatness gain patience and trust in God. Their faith is invincible. Their true consecration and devotion keep self hidden. The words that fall from their lips are molded into expressions of Christlike tenderness and love. Having a sense of their own weakness, they appreciate the help which the Lord gives them, and they crave His grace that they may do that which is right and true. By their manner, their attitude, and their spirit, they carry with them the credentials of learners in the school of Christ.^{60The Review and Herald, May 11, 1897.}

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But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:7.

It is important that we each study to know the reason of the life of Christ in humanity, and what it means to us—why the Son of God left the courts of heaven—why He stepped down from His position as commander of the heavenly angels who came and went at His bidding—why He clothed His divinity with humanity, and in lowliness and humility came to the world as our Redeemer.

It was the marvel of the heavenly hosts that Christ should come to earth and do as He did—that His life here should be one of poverty, in such incomparable contrast with His glory in the heavenly courts. He might have come attended by the angelic throng….

Before the universe of heaven, Christ condescended to take upon Him the form of humanity, and stand among the lowly ones of earth, that He might reach them where they were, and by precept and example teach them, that though among the poor and oppressed they might be pure, and true, and noble. He came to reveal to the world that the life and character need not become contaminated amid poverty and lowliness. The lily that rests upon the bosom of the lake may be surrounded with weeds and unsightly debris, yet, unsullied, it opens its fragrant white blossom to the sunlight. It strikes its channeled stem down through the mass of rubbish to the pure sands beneath. Refusing everything that would defile, it gathers to itself only those properties that will develop into the spotless, fragrant flower.

The lily is a representation of Christ among men. He came to a world all seared and marred with the curse, but He was not polluted by His surroundings. He was the Light, the Life, and the Way. He voluntarily became an inhabitant of earth, that He might grasp the whole world in His merciful arms and lay it in the arms of His heavenly Father. What love is manifested in this sacrifice, that the Lord Himself should come to the help of the fallen sons and daughters of Adam! ^{59The Youth’s Instructor, January 21, 1897.}

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Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Philippians 2:6.

Jesus Christ “counted it not a thing to be grasped to be equal with God.” Because divinity alone could be efficacious in the restoration of man from the poisonous bruise of the serpent, God Himself, in His only begotten Son, assumed human nature, and in the weakness of human nature sustained the character of God, vindicated His holy law in every particular, and accepted the sentence of wrath and death for the sons of men. What a thought is this! He who was one with the Father before the world was made had such compassion for a world lost and ruined by transgression that He gave His life a ransom for it. He who was the brightness of the Father’s glory, the express image of His person, bore our sins in His own body on the tree, suffering the penalty of man’s transgression until justice was satisfied and required no more. How great is the redemption that has been worked out for us! So great that the Son of God died the cruel death of the cross to bring to us life and immortality through faith in Him.

This wonderful problem—how God could be just and yet the justifier of sinners—is beyond human ken. As we attempt to fathom it, it broadens and deepens beyond our comprehension. When we look with the eye of faith upon the cross of Calvary, and see our sins laid upon the victim hanging in weakness and ignominy there—when we grasp the fact that this is God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace—we are led to exclaim, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us” (1 John 3:1)! …

When man can measure the exalted character of the Lord of hosts, and distinguish between the eternal God and finite humanity, he will know how great has been the sacrifice of Heaven to bring man from where he has fallen through disobedience to become part of the family of God…. The divinity of Christ is our assurance of eternal life…. He, the Sin Bearer of the world, is our only medium of reconciliation with a holy God.^{58The Youth’s Instructor, February 11, 1897.}

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For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Hebrews 2:16.

We need not place the obedience of Christ by itself, as something for which He was particularly adapted, by His particular divine nature, for He stood before God as man’s representative and was tempted as man’s substitute and surety. If Christ had a special power which it is not the privilege of man to have, Satan would have made capital of this matter. The work of Christ was to take from the claims of Satan his control of man, and He could do this only in the way that He came—a man, tempted as a man, rendering the obedience of a man.^{56S.D.A. Bible Commentary 7:930.}

Would that we could comprehend the significance of the words, Christ “suffered being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). While He was free from the taint of sin, the refined sensibilities of His holy nature rendered contact with evil unspeakably painful to Him. Yet with human nature upon Him, He met the arch apostate face to face, and singlehanded withstood the foe of His throne. Not even by a thought could Christ be brought to yield to the power of temptation.

Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ declared of Himself, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30). The storms of temptation burst upon Him, but they could not cause Him to swerve from His allegiance to God.

All the followers of Christ have to meet the same malignant foe that assailed their Master. With marvelous skill he adapts his temptations to their circumstances, their temperament, their mental and moral bias, their strong passions. He is ever whispering in the ears of the children of men, as he points to worldly pleasures, gains, or honors, “All this will I give you, if you will do my bidding.” We must look to Christ; we must resist as He resisted; we must pray as He prayed; we must agonize as He agonized, if we would conquer as He conquered.^{57The Review and Herald, November 8, 1887.}

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