Let’s quote again the text
from Desire of Ages, but recast it in
what we’ve seen in light of Manuscript
Releases. Let’s add some proven language that fills in the holes that Ellen
White places on her somewhat veiled statement from Desire of Ages. And I quote:
“Before this the Spirit had been in the world; from the very
beginning of the work of redemption He had been moving upon men’s hearts. But
while Christ was [physically] on earth, the
disciples had desired no other helper [than Christ
in His human form]. Not until they were deprived of His [physical] presence would they feel their need of
the Spirit [presence of their beloved Helper],
and then He [Christ] would come [to them spiritually, but just as personally].
The Holy Spirit is Christ’s
representative, but divested of the personality of humanity, and
independent thereof. Cumbered with humanity, Christ
could not be in every place personally. Therefore it was for their interest
that He should go to the Father, and send the Spirit[of Christ] to be His
successor on earth. No one could then have any advantage because of his
location or his personal contact with Christ. By the Spirit the Saviour would be accessible
to all. In this sense He would be nearer to them than if He had not ascended on
high.” Desire of Ages, p. 669.1,2, 1890.
Let’s add in some of other
Bible writers’ explanations of the Spirit that amplify Mrs. White’s statement.
“Before this the Spirit [“the
Spirit … the Spirit of God … the Spirit of Christ” (Rom. 8:9, cf John 1:1-5, 9;
12:49, 50; Prov. 8:12-23)] had been in the world; from the very
beginning of the work of redemption He had been moving upon men’s hearts.
[“I wisdom dwell with prudence,
and find out knowledge of witty inventions.
The fear of the LORD is to hate
evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Counsel is mine, and sound
wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.….
Before the mountains were
settled, before the hills was I brought forth….
Then I was by Him, as one
brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him;
Rejoicing in the habitable part
of His earth; and My delights were with the sons of men.
Now therefore hearken unto Me, O
ye children: for blessed are they that keep My ways.
Hear instruction, and be wise,
and refuse it not.
Blessed is the man that heareth
Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors.
For whoso findeth Me findeth
life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.
But he that sinneth against Me
wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate Me love death.” (Prov. 8:12-14, 25,
30-36). “But of Him (God) are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us
wisdom, and righteousness….” (1Cor. 1:30).]. But while Christ was [physically] on earth, the disciples had desired
no other helper [than Christ in His human form].
Not until they were deprived of His [physical] presence
would they feel their need of the Spirit [“of His
Son” (Gal. 4:6, cf John 1:1-5, 9; 12:49, 50], and then He [Christ] would come [to
them spiritually, but just as personally].”
What can we learn of Jesus’
personal presence as a personal Saviour to the Jews’ 2,000 years ago, that we
can apply to His personal presence as a personal Saviour to us in our day?
“For what the law could not
do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” (Rom. 8:3).
“Who, being in the form of
God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no
reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men.” (Phil. 2:6,7).
“Wherefore when He cometh
into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body
hast Thou prepared Me.” (Heb. 10:5).
What kind of a body did Jesus
have that differs from ours? Nothing different. He was made in our likeness; He
was the second Adam. Yet, He did have something else that He inherited, that we
were not born with. He inherited the divine nature. His Father’s power and nature
germinated the egg of His mother’s sinful nature. But, as He forewarned Eve,
“thy husband … shall rule over thee”
(Gen. 3:16), so did God’s powerful, sinless nature dominate Miriam’s nature, a
creature, made lower than the angels, and weakened by 4,000 years of sin. At
conception and forever onward, Jesus was one with His Father. Never for a
split-second did the Son of God separate from His Father; His thoughts, His
words, His actions never operated apart from His dear Abba. Nevertheless, the
second Adam’s conception reveals spiritual aspects of our second conception by
the Spirit. We are born again with Christ’s divine nature, and our first birth
and first nature are forgotten by God. We are treated as if we never sinned and
never had a sinful nature. We are “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” (1Pet.
1:23). “As many as received [the Word], to them gave He power to become the
sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John
1:12,13).
Because the Spirit of wisdom
and truth made flesh inherited His Father’s divinity, the Word incorporated
into a Man also inherited His Father’s divine nature and power. His Father’s
power and divinity was contained in human flesh, but at times His inherent divinity
squeezed through the cracks of Jesus’ seamless inherent humanity for the
necessity of causing conviction.
“Christ spoke with the
authority of a king, and in His appearance, and in the tones of His voice,
there was that which they had no power to resist. At the word of command they
realized, as they had never realized before, their true position as hypocrites
and robbers. When divinity flashed through humanity, not only did they see
indignation on Christ’s countenance; they realized the import of His words.
They felt as if before the throne of the eternal Judge, with their sentence
passed on them for time and for eternity. For a time they were convinced that
Christ was a prophet; and many believed Him to be the Messiah. The Holy Spirit
flashed into their minds the utterances of the prophets concerning Christ.
Would they yield to this conviction?” Desire
of Ages, p. 162.
“And there shall come forth a
Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
And the Spirit of the LORD
shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of
counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
And shall make Him of quick
understanding in the fear of the LORD: and He shall not judge after the sight
of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears:
But with righteousness shall
He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and He
shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His
lips shall He slay the wicked.
And righteousness shall be
the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins” (Isa. 11:1-5).
He would be the preincarnate Spirit
of wisdom that delighted in the sons of men, the very Spirit of truth that lighteth
every man that cometh into the world, the Word Himself, now tabernacling with the
flesh. And thus, in His Son, God’s divine Spirit fully cohabitated with a human
spirit for the first time since Eden. God was in Christ who was the fullness of
the Godhead manifested, as the fullness of the Godhead would inhabit a purified,
strengthened human body. Michael, the holy Son of God, incorporated into
humanity would become Jesus, the holy Son of man. Yet, amazing though it be
that the Spirit and body of the Son would join humanity in the spirit and body of
Adam’s, even more wonderful, the SPIRIT of the Father would also join us in the
Spirit of His Son’s. As the Father had said concerning His Son as His most holy
tabernacle, He spoke to every member of Adam’s progeny all the way down to
Miriam,
“Let them [Adam’s lineage
through Seth] make Me a [human] sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” (Ex.
25:8).
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