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"Christianity in the Old Testament"
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The sacrifice
PK.701.001
When the Saviour finally appeared "in the likeness of
men" (Philippians 2:7), and began His ministry of
grace, Satan could but bruise the heel, while by every act of
humiliation or suffering Christ was bruising the head of His
adversary. The anguish that sin has brought was poured into the
bosom of the Sinless; yet while Christ endured the contradiction
of sinners against Himself, He was paying the debt for sinful man
and breaking the bondage in which humanity had been held. Every
pang of anguish, every insult, was working out the deliverance of
the race.
PK.701.002
Could Satan have induced Christ to yield to a single temptation,
could he have led Him by one act or even thought to stain His
perfect purity, the prince of darkness would have triumphed over
man's Surety and would have gained the whole human family to
himself. But while Satan could distress, he could not
contaminate. He could cause agony, but not defilement. He made
the life of Christ one long scene of conflict and trial, yet with
every attack he was losing his hold upon humanity.
PK.701.003
In the wilderness of temptation, in the Garden of Gethsemane,
and on the cross, our Saviour measured weapons with the
prince of darkness. His wounds became the trophies of His victory
in behalf of the race. When Christ hung in agony upon the cross,
while evil spirits rejoiced and evil men reviled, then indeed His
heel was bruised by Satan. But that very act was crushing the
serpent's head. Through death He destroyed "him that
had the power of death, that is, the devil." Hebrews
2:14. This act decided the destiny of the rebel chief, and made
forever sure the plan of salvation. In death He gained the
victory over its power; in rising again, He opened the gates of
the grave to all His followers. In that last great contest we see
fulfilled the prophecy, "It shall bruise thy head, and
thou shall bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15.
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During His life
DA.116.001
Not without hindrance was the Commander of
heaven to win the souls of men to His kingdom. From the time when
He was a babe in Bethlehem, He was continually assailed by the
evil one. The image of God was manifest in Christ, and in the
councils of Satan it was determined that He should be overcome.
No human being had come into the world and escaped the power of
the deceiver. The forces of the confederacy of evil were set upon
His track to engage in warfare against Him, and if possible to
prevail over Him.
DA.116.002
At the Saviour's baptism, Satan was among the witnesses. He saw
the Father's glory overshadowing His Son. He heard the voice of
Jehovah testifying to the divinity of Jesus. Ever since Adam's
sin, the human race had been cut off from direct communion with
God; the intercourse between heaven and earth had been through
Christ; but now that Jesus had come "in the likeness of
sinful flesh" (Rom. 8:3), the Father Himself spoke. He
had before communicated with humanity through Christ; now He
communicated with humanity in Christ. Satan had hoped that God's
abhorrence of evil would bring an eternal separation between
heaven and earth. But now it was manifest that the connection
between God and man had been restored.
DA.116.003
Satan saw that he must either conquer or be conquered. The issues
of the conflict involved too much to be entrusted to his
confederate angels. He must personally conduct the warfare. All
the energies of apostasy were rallied against the Son of God.
Christ was made the mark of every weapon of hell.
DA.116.004
Many look on this conflict between Christ and Satan as having no
special bearing on their own life; and for them it has little
interest. But within the domain of every human heart this
controversy is repeated. Never does one leave the ranks of evil
for the service of God without encountering the assaults of
Satan. The enticements which Christ resisted were those that we
find it so difficult to withstand. They were urged upon Him in as
much greater degree as His character is superior to ours. With
the terrible weight of the sins of the world upon Him, Christ
withstood the test upon appetite, upon the love of the world, and
upon that love of display which leads to presumption. These were
the temptations that overcame Adam and Eve, and that so readily
overcome us.
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At Calvary
DA.761.001
Could one sin have been found in Christ, had He in one particular
yielded to Satan to escape the terrible torture, the enemy of God
and man would have triumphed. Christ bowed His head and died, but
He held fast His faith and His submission to God. "And I
heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and
strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His
Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which
accused them before our God day and night." Rev. 12:10.
DA.761.002
Satan saw that his disguise was torn away. His
administration was laid open before the unfallen angels and
before the heavenly universe. He had revealed himself as a
murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he had
uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings.
Henceforth his work was restricted. Whatever attitude he might
assume, he could no longer await the angels as they came from the
heavenly courts, and before them accuse Christ's brethren of
being clothed with the garments of blackness and the defilement
of sin. The last link of sympathy between Satan and the
heavenly world was broken. Return
to "Christianity in the Old Testament".
PK.701.003
In the wilderness of temptation,
in the Garden of Gethsemane, and on the cross, our
Saviour measured weapons with the prince of darkness. His wounds
became the trophies of His victory in behalf of the race. Return to "Christianity in the
Old Testament".
The serpent on the pole
DA.174.004
Here was ground with which Nicodemus was familiar. The symbol of
the uplifted serpent made plain to him the Saviour's mission.
When the people of Israel were dying from the sting of the fiery
serpents, God directed Moses to make a serpent of brass, and
place it on high in the midst of the congregation. Then the word
was sounded throughout the encampment that all who would look
upon the serpent should live. The people well knew that in itself
the serpent had no power to help them. It was a symbol of Christ.
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.
Rom. 8:3. Many of the Israelites regarded the sacrificial service
as having in itself virtue to set them free from sin. God desired
to teach them that it had no more value than that serpent of
brass. It was to lead their minds to the Saviour. Whether for the
healing of their wounds or the pardon of their sins, they could
do nothing for themselves but show their faith in the Gift of
God. They were to look and live.
DA.175.001
Those who had been bitten by the serpents might have delayed to
look. They might have questioned how there could be efficacy in
that brazen symbol. They might have demanded a scientific
explanation. But no explanation was given. They must accept the
word of God to them through Moses. To refuse to look was to
perish.
DA.175.002
Not through controversy and discussion is the soul enlightened.
We must look and live. Nicodemus received the lesson, and carried
it with him. He searched the Scriptures in a new way, not for the
discussion of a theory, but in order to receive life for the
soul. He began to see the kingdom of heaven as he submitted
himself to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
DA.175.003
There are thousands today who need to learn the same truth that
was taught to Nicodemus by the uplifted serpent. They depend on
their obedience to the law of God to commend them to His favor.
When they are bidden to look to Jesus, and believe that He saves
them solely through His grace, they exclaim, "How can these
things be?"
DA.175.004
Like Nicodemus, we must be willing to enter into life in the same
way as the chief of sinners. Than Christ, "there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved." Acts 4:12. Through faith we receive the grace
of God; but faith is not our Saviour. It earns nothing. It
is the hand by which we lay hold upon Christ, and appropriate His
merits, the remedy for sin. And we cannot even repent without the
aid of the Spirit of God. The Scripture says of Christ, "Him
hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a
Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of
sins." Acts 5:31. Repentance comes from Christ as truly
as does pardon.
DA.175.005
How, then, are we to be saved? "As Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness," so the Son of man has been
lifted up, and everyone who has been deceived and bitten by the
serpent may look and live. "Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29. The
light shining from the cross reveals the love of God. His love is
drawing us to Himself. If we do not resist this drawing,
we shall be led to the foot of the cross in repentance for the
sins that have crucified the Saviour. Then the Spirit of God
through faith produces a new life in the soul. The
thoughts and desires are brought into obedience to the will of
Christ. The heart, the mind, are created anew in the image of Him
who works in us to subdue all things to Himself. Then the law of
God is written in the mind and heart, and we can say with Christ,
"I delight to do Thy will, O my God." Ps.
40:8. Return to "Christianity
in the Old Testament".
Communication restored
RH.1875-04-29.003
Since the fall, no immediate communication could exist between
God and man, only through Christ, and God committed to his Son,
in a special sense, the case of the fallen race. Christ has
undertaken the work of redemption. He purposes to maintain the
full honor of God's law, notwithstanding the human family have
transgressed it. He will redeem from its curse all the obedient
who will embrace the offer of mercy by accepting the atonement so
wonderfully provided. Through his mediatorial work, Christ will
fully vindicate the holiness and immutability of his Father's
law.
RH.1875-04-29.004
Adam and Eve at their creation had knowledge of the original law
of God. It was imprinted upon their hearts, and they were
acquainted with the claims of law upon them. When they
transgressed the law of God, and fell from their state of happy
innocence, and became sinners, the future of the fallen race was
not relieved by a single ray of hope. God pitied them and Christ
devised the plan for their salvation by himself bearing the
guilt. When the curse was pronounced upon the earth and upon man
in connection with the curse was a promise that through Christ
there was hope and pardon for the transgression of God's law.
Although gloom and darkness hung, like the pall of death, over
the future, yet in the promise of the Redeemer, the star of hope
lighted up the dark future. The gospel was first preached to Adam
by Christ. Adam and Eve felt sincere sorrow and repentance for
their guilt. They believed the precious promise of God, and were
saved from utter ruin.
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RH.1874-02-24.025
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. Return
to "Christianity in the Old Testament".
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A multitude of sacrifices not His idea
Jeremiah 7:21-24
"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put
your burnt offerings unto your [sin] sacrifices,
and eat [the] flesh [yourselves - it was normally completely
burnt!]. For I spoke not unto
your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them
out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or
sacrifices. But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my
voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people: and
walk you in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may
be well unto you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear,
but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil
heart, and went backward, and not forward". Return to "Christianity in the
Old Testament".
The fig-leaves
RH.1898-11-15.011 [1BC 1074]
This is the covering that the transgressors of the law
of God have used since the days of Adam and Eve's disobedience.
They have sewed together fig-leaves to cover their nakedness,
caused by transgression. The fig-leaves represent the
arguments used to cover disobedience. When the Lord calls the
attention of men and women to the truth, the making of fig-leaves
into aprons will be begun, to hide the nakedness of the soul. But
the nakedness of the sinner is not covered. All the arguments
pieced together by all who have interested themselves in this
flimsy work will come to naught.
RH.1898-11-15.012
The Lord Jesus Christ has prepared a covering, the robe of his
own righteousness, that he will put on every repenting, believing
soul who by faith will receive it. Said John, "Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
Sin is the transgression of the law; but Christ died to make it
possible for every man to have his sins taken away. A fig-leaf
apron will never cover our nakedness. Sin must be taken away, the
garment of Christ's righteousness must cover the transgressor of
God's law. Then when the Lord looks upon the believing sinner, he
sees, not the fig-leaves covering him, but his own robe of
righteousness, which is perfect obedience to the law of
Jehovah. Return to "Christianity
in the Old Testament"
Enoch = the teacher of righteousness
PP.085.001
Enoch's walk with God was not in a trance or vision, but in all
the duties of his daily life. He did not become a hermit,
shutting himself entirely from the world; for he had a work to do
for God in the world. In the family and in his intercourse with
men, as a husband and father, a friend, a citizen, he was the
steadfast, unwavering servant of the Lord.
PP.085.002
His heart was in harmony with God's will; for "can two
walk together, except they be agreed?" Amos 3:3. And
this holy walk was continued for three hundred years. There are
few Christians who would not be far more earnest and devoted if
they knew that they had but a short time to live, or that the
coming of Christ was about to take place. But Enoch's faith waxed
the stronger, his love became more ardent, with the lapse of
centuries.
PP.085.003
Enoch was a man of strong and highly cultivated mind and
extensive knowledge; he was honored with special revelations from
God; yet being in constant communion with Heaven, with a sense of
the divine greatness and perfection ever before him, he was one
of the humblest of men. The closer the connection with God,
the deeper was the sense of his own weakness and imperfection.
PP.085.004
Distressed by the increasing wickedness of the ungodly, and
fearing that their infidelity might lessen his reverence for God,
Enoch avoided constant association with them, and spent much time
in solitude, giving himself to meditation and prayer. Thus he
waited before the Lord, seeking a clearer knowledge of His will,
that he might perform it. To him prayer was as the breath of the
soul; he lived in the very atmosphere of heaven.
PP.085.005
Through holy angels God revealed to Enoch His purpose to destroy
the world by a flood, and He also opened more fully to him the
plan of redemption. By the spirit of prophecy He carried him down
through the generations that should live after the Flood, and
showed him the great events connected with the second coming of
Christ and the end of the world.
He understood the real state of the dead
PP.085.006
Enoch had been troubled in regard to the dead. It had seemed to
him that the righteous and the wicked would go to the dust
together, and that this would be their end. He could not see the
life of the just beyond the grave. In prophetic vision he was
instructed concerning the death of Christ, and was shown His
coming in glory, attended by all the holy angels, to ransom His
people from the grave. He also saw the corrupt state of the world
when Christ should appear the second time--that there would be a
boastful, presumptuous, self-willed generation, denying the only
God and the Lord Jesus Christ, trampling upon the law, and
despising the atonement. He saw the righteous crowned with glory
and honor, and the wicked banished from the presence of the Lord,
and destroyed by fire.
PP.086.001
Enoch became a preacher of righteousness, making known to the
people what God had revealed to him. Those who feared the Lord
sought out this holy man, to share his instruction and his
prayers. He labored publicly also, bearing God's messages to all
who would hear the words or warning. His labors were not
restricted to the Sethites [the Christians].
In the land where Cain had sought to flee from the divine
Presence [later known as Babel or Babylon],
the prophet of God made known the wonderful scenes that had
passed before his vision. "Behold," he
declared, "the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His
saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that
are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds."
Jude 14, 15.
PP.086.002
He was a fearless reprover of sin. While he preached the love of
God in Christ to the people of his time, and pleaded with them to
forsake their evil ways, he rebuked the prevailing iniquity and
warned the men of his generation that judgment would surely be
visited upon the transgressor. It was the Spirit of Christ
that spoke through Enoch; that Spirit is manifested, not
alone in utterances of love, compassion, and entreaty; it is not
smooth things only that are spoken by holy men. God puts into the
heart and lips of His messengers truths to utter that are keen
and cutting as a two-edged sword.
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He never gave up
PP.087.001
The wickedness of men had reached such a height that destruction
was pronounced against them. As year after year passed on, deeper
and deeper grew the tide of human guilt, darker and darker
gathered the clouds of divine judgment. Yet Enoch, the witness of
faith, held on his way, warning, pleading, entreating, striving
to turn back the tide of guilt and to stay [delay]
the bolts of vengeance. Though his warnings were disregarded by a
sinful, pleasure-loving people, he had the testimony that God
approved, and he continued to battle faithfully against the
prevailing evil, until God removed him from a world of sin to the
pure joys of heaven.
PP.087.002
The men of that generation had mocked the folly of him who sought
not to gather gold or silver or to build up possessions here. But
Enoch's heart was upon eternal treasures. He had looked upon the
celestial city. He had seen the King in His glory in the midst of
Zion. His mind, his heart, his conversation, were in heaven. The
greater the existing iniquity, the more earnest was his longing
for the home of God. While still on earth, he dwelt, by faith, in
the realms of light.
PP.087.003
"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see
God." Matthew 5:8. For three hundred years Enoch had
been seeking purity of soul, that he might be in harmony with
Heaven. For three centuries he had walked with God. Day by day he
had longed for a closer union; nearer and nearer had grown the
communion, until God took him to Himself. He had stood at the
threshold of the eternal world, only a step between him
and the land of the blest; and now the portals opened, the walk
with God, so long pursued on earth, continued, and he passed
through the gates of the Holy City--the first from among men
to enter there.
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The entrance to heaven
PP.083.002
The advantages enjoyed by men of that age to gain a knowledge of
God through His works have never been equaled since. And so far
from being an era of religious darkness, that was an age of great
light. All the world had opportunity to receive instruction from
Adam, and those who feared the Lord had also Christ and angels
for their teachers. And they had a silent witness to the truth,
in the garden of God, which for so many centuries remained among
men. At the cherubim-guarded gate of Paradise the glory of God
was revealed, and hither came the first worshipers. Here
their altars were reared, and their offerings presented. It was
here that Cain and Abel had brought their sacrifices, and God
had condescended to communicate with them.
Return to "Christianity in the Old Testament"
The blue throne of mercy
Ezekiel 1:26
"And above the firmament that was over their [the angels] heads was the likeness of a
throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the
likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a Man
above [sitting] upon it". Return to "Christianity in the
Old Testament"
The revelation
ED.263.001
Those who think of the result of hastening or hindering the
gospel think of it in relation to themselves and to the world.
Few think of its relation to God. Few give thought to the
suffering that sin has caused our Creator. All heaven suffered in
Christ's agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with
His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to
our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin
has brought to the heart of God. Every departure from the right,
every deed of cruelty, every failure of humanity to reach His
ideal, brings grief to Him. When there came upon Israel the
calamities that were the sure result of separation from God, -
subjugation by their enemies, cruelty, and death, - it is said
that "His soul was grieved for the misery of
Israel." "In all their affliction He was afflicted: . .
. and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old."
Judges 10:16; Isaiah 63:9. Return
to "Christianity in the Old Testament"
The purpose of Calvary
GC.347.002
The kingdom of grace was instituted immediately after the fall of
man, when a plan was devised for the redemption of the guilty
race. It then existed in the purpose and by the promise of
God; and through faith, men could become its subjects. Yet it
was not actually established until the death of Christ. Even
after entering upon His earthly mission, the Saviour, wearied
with the stubbornness and ingratitude of men, might have drawn
back from the sacrifice of Calvary. In Gethsemane the cup of woe
trembled in His hand. He might even then have wiped the
blood-sweat from His brow and have left the guilty race to perish
in their iniquity. Had He done this, there could have been no
redemption for fallen men. But when the Saviour yielded up
His life, and with His expiring breath cried out, "It is
finished," then the fulfillment of the plan of
redemption was assured. The promise of salvation made to the
sinful pair in Eden was ratified. The kingdom of grace, which had
before existed by the promise of God, was then established.
GC.348.001
Thus the death of Christ--the very event which the disciples had
looked upon as the final destruction of their hope --was that
which made it forever sure.
For more on this thought, see "The kingdoms of God".
Return to "Christianity in the Old Testament"