Our ongoing study of the mystery of godliness as outlined in Hebrews 2:14–18 has introduced us to one of the most profound mysteries of the Christian religion. We have seen that the children described as “partakers of flesh and blood” are those whom Christ is not ashamed to call His brethren, those He has sanctified through His word, which is represented by His flesh and blood (John 6). He has made us His brethren. As our merciful and faithful High Priest, He is making “reconciliation for the sins of the people.” Because He suffered being tempted as we are tempted, He is able to help us.
Sanctification is a key element in these verses. Jesus partook of the same flesh and blood when His mother taught Him the very words that He had spoken to Moses. This sheds light on what Jesus meant when He said, “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” John 17:19. Jesus gained knowledge as every child may gain knowledge. As the children are partakers of His word, they’re adopted into the family of God. Having the same Father as Christ, we are called Christ’s children of one Father, Christ’s brothers and sisters.
You and I are not born sons of God; we are born sons of Adam, and therefore have the fallen nature Adam acquired when he sinned. We must understand that there is only One who is the Son of God. For us to be sons and daughters of God, it must be by adoption. “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Galatians 4:4–7
“A complete offering has been made; for ‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son’—not a son by creation, as were the angels, nor a son by adoption, as is the forgiven sinner, but a Son begotten in the express image of the Father’s person, and in all the brightness of His majesty and glory, one equal with God in authority, dignity, and divine perfection. In Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” The Signs of the Times, May 30, 1895
To summarize our review:
- The law is the only correct standard of sanctification.
- Christ was the embodiment of the law of God.
- He began life with a sanctified will.
- Daily He died to His divinity while living the life of humanity on this Earth. In other words, a) In His humanity, Jesus was still God; b) In His humanity, He retained His divine power; but c) He never used His divine power to relieve His own human needs, wants, or sufferings. This was the very point on which the devil tried to tempt Him.
- True sanctification is a progressive work that goes on in the heart of an individual who dies daily to self in obedience to God’s law.
Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63. The eating of Jesus’ flesh and drinking His blood means to spiritually consume His word, but if we do not spiritually eat His flesh and drink His blood, then we will have no spiritual life. As His children spiritually partake of His flesh and blood, there is also a physical, literal meaning, and that is what we will study now.
Jesus Christ took literal flesh and blood, the same literal flesh and blood as His sanctified brethren, and suffered being tempted. “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.’ ” Hebrews 10:5
“We should consider the fact that to Christ our nature was a robe of humiliation and suffering. He humbled Himself to become a man, so that a body should be found, a Lamb without blemish should be provided as a sinless offering, that God might be just and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” The Signs of the Times, June 18, 1896
“He humbled Himself and took mortality upon Him. As a member of the human family He was mortal, but as a God He was the fountain of life to the world.” The Review and Herald, July 5, 1887
So Jesus took upon Himself the mortal body of man so that He could suffer a most cruel and humiliating death for every man.
The apostle John testifies, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14. Look carefully at this verse. The first part of the verse is referring to the physical nature of Christ–His flesh, His body. The second part of the verse is addressing His mental and spiritual nature–His glory, His character.
Ellen White links John 1:14 to the wilderness sanctuary, the same sanctuary that God commanded them to build in Exodus 25:8. She typically quotes from the King James Version when linking these two verses. But in The Desire of Ages, she quotes from the Revised Version. It is a fact that Ellen White quotes from the Revised Version many times.
“God commanded Moses for Israel, ‘Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them’ (Exodus 25:8), and He abode in the sanctuary, in the midst of His people. Through all their weary wandering in the desert, the symbol of His presence was with them. So Christ set up His tabernacle in the midst of our human encampment. He pitched His tent by the side of the tents of men, that He might dwell among us, and make us familiar with His divine character and life. ‘The Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth.’ John 1:14, R. V., margin.” The Desire of Ages, 23, 24
“The doctrine of the incarnation of Christ in human flesh is a mystery, ‘even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations.’ It is the great and profound mystery of godliness. ‘The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.’ Christ took upon Himself human nature, a nature inferior to His heavenly nature.” Lift Him Up, 74
The sanctuary of the Old Testament was a symbol of the humanity, the human nature, of Christ. There was a difference between the tent of the sanctuary and the tents of the children of Israel. Understanding this difference sheds much light on the difference between His humanity—the tabernacle of the only begotten Son of God—and the tents of men. When Jesus tabernacled among us His tent was full of grace and we beheld His glory. How was His grace and glory represented in the sanctuary that God commanded Moses to build? “In the tabernacle and the temple His glory dwelt in the holy shekinah above the mercy seat.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 288. His glory dwelt in the holy shekinah above the mercy seat in the most holy place of the sanctuary.
The glory of God is His character. So what does the holy shekinah represent? “The shekinah, the visible emblem of God’s presence, dwelt between the cherubim, and out of the perfection of beauty God shined.” Christ Triumphant, 154. The holy shekinah, located above the mercy seat, was the visible representation of God’s presence. What does the mercy seat represent? “He longs to see gratitude welling up in our hearts because we have access to the mercy seat, the throne of grace, because our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, because we may cast all our care on Him who cares for us.” Australasian Union Conference Record, June 1, 1900
God’s glory represented by the shekinah rested upon the mercy seat, the representation of His throne of grace.
“In the temple in heaven, the dwelling place of God, His throne is established in righteousness and judgment. In the most holy place is His law, the great rule of right by which all mankind are tested.” The Great Controversy, 415. Here Mrs. White is speaking of the temple in heaven—the pattern followed by Moses in building the earthly sanctuary. Notice two important points regarding the temple in heaven:
- The place where God dwells is called His throne.
- In this place, His law is kept and is called the most holy place.
There is a connection between the shekinah and the humanity of Christ.
“The shekinah had departed from the sanctuary, but in the Child of Bethlehem was veiled the glory before which angels bow.” The Desire of Ages, 52. The shekinah glory represented the glory of God’s presence that was veiled in Jesus.
“Christ was about to visit our world, and to become incarnate [in the flesh]. He says, ‘A body hast Thou prepared Me.’ Had He appeared with the glory that was His with the Father before the world was, we could not have endured the light of His presence. That we might behold it and not be destroyed, the manifestation of His glory was shrouded. His divinity was veiled with humanity.” Ibid., 23
The veil with which Christ’s glory was veiled was so good that most people did not know who He was. You can see that very clearly in the Bible. “His divinity was veiled with humanity—the invisible glory in the visible human form.” Ibid.
The invisible glory of God was contained and veiled in the human form of Jesus Christ. “… God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19, first part
The glory of God is also spoken of as His divinity. “The glory of God is His character, and it is manifested to us in Christ.” Sabbath-School Worker, July 1, 1894
“The law of God is a transcript of His character; it portrays the nature of God. As in Christ we behold the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person, so also in the law the attributes of the Father are unfolded.” The Signs of the Times, December 30, 1889
“He [Christ] was the embodiment of the law of God, which is the transcript of His character.” Ibid., November 15, 1899Let’s summarize what we’ve just studied:
- The glory of God is His character.
- The law of God is a transcript of His character.
- Christ was the embodiment of the law.
- The holy shekinah represented the glory, that is, the divine character of Christ.
- His human nature veiled the shekinah glory that was in the most holy place.
- All of this represented the throne of His heart. Psalm 40:8, “I delight to do Your will, O my God. And, Your law is within my heart.”
“He had not taken on Him even the nature of the angels.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 16, 182. Why do the apostle Paul and Mrs. White both tell us that Jesus did not take the nature of angels? “Angels are in nature superior to men.” The Great Controversy, 511. The psalmist says that man was made a little lower than the angels. “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.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 16, 182. Notice that in this context Inspiration uses the word flesh in relation to the physical nature of man. It mentions bone, brain, and muscle, but it is not talking about the carnal mind of man. He was a “man of our flesh, He was compassed with the weakness of humanity.” Ibid. The word compassed means “surrounded.” He was surrounded by the weakness of humanity.
What were the weaknesses with which He was surrounded? “The circumstances of His life were of that character that He was exposed to all the inconveniences that belong to men, not in wealth [the foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man does not have where to lay His head Matthew 8:20], not in ease [Jesus traveled everywhere on foot], but in poverty [He at times was hungry with not enough to eat] 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.” Ibid. Jesus suffered with the same weaknesses of humanity that we do—the inconveniences of poverty, want, and humiliation.
“Christ did not make-believe take human nature; He did verily [certainly] take it. He did in reality possess human nature. ‘As the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same.’ He was the son of Mary; He was of the seed of David according to human descent. He is declared to be a man, even the Man Christ Jesus. ‘This One,’ writes Paul, ‘was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house.’ ” The Review and Herald, April 5, 1906
So Jesus did not pretend to be human. He did, in fact, take upon Himself our human nature. He had a real human body with all its peculiar properties. He was a man of our flesh. The word flesh in this context is referring to the physical nature of man, including a body with the senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste—bone of our bone, muscle, and sinew. But He also possessed a human mind with the attendant ability to reason, a conscience, memory, human affections, and a human will.
“We have reason, conscience, memory, will, affections—all the attributes a human being can possess.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 130. These attributes are all powers of the mind. Concerning Jesus, Mrs. White said, “He employed the human faculties, for only [by] adopting these could He be comprehended by humanity.” The Review and Herald, June 25, 1895
The word faculty has three definitions according to the dictionary:
- the power of the mind or intellect which enables a person to receive, revive, or modify perceptions. It includes the faculty of seeing, hearing, imagining, and remembering. The faculties may be called the powers or capacities of the mind.
- the power to do anything; in other words, ability.
- the power to perform any action—natural, vital, or animal.
So a faculty is the power to do something, be it of the body or the mind, and Jesus employed both the human body and the mind. “Only humanity could reach humanity. He lived out the character of God through the human body which God had prepared for Him. He blessed the world by living out in human flesh the life of God.” Ibid.
God wants to live out the divine character in our flesh. And once we understand that then we will be very close to understanding the plan of salvation and why Jesus came to this world. “He blessed the world by living out in human flesh the life of God, thus showing that He had the power to unite humanity to divinity.” Ibid.
“Christ became one flesh with us, in order that we might become one spirit with Him.” The Desire of Ages, 388. If we want to be part of God’s kingdom, then we must have a personal relationship with Christ, His Spirit must be dwelling in our hearts, and our sinful, selfish nature must be replaced with Christ’s perfect nature—the joining of the divine with the human.
Jesus lived out the thoughts and feelings of God in human flesh. He lived so that man could see the character of God expressed in human flesh. “The body is a most important medium through which the mind and the soul are developed for the upbuilding of character.” Prophets and Kings, 488. Jesus has the power to unite divinity with humanity, and this was the purpose of His life. “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” John 17:19
Jesus stands ready to complete this work in every person who is willing to be sanctified. But a person might say that there is no way that they can overcome or live the Christian life. Again and again, he might say, “I can’t. I just can’t.” And this person would be right, except that Jesus says that He will sanctify anyone who comes to Him. No matter how much trouble you may have in your life or how bad you feel you may be, Jesus is stronger than all of that. He says, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” Not even you. Not even me. He will save us, if we will just let Him.
Remember the story of the rich, young ruler? Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Matthew 19:21. What did the young man do? He turned and walked away. To His disciples, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Verses 23, 24
The disciples were shocked. “Who then can be saved?” they asked. If you are discouraged, in trouble, if you think you cannot be saved, or that you have so many problems in your life that you just don’t know how you will ever get through or over or around them, remember Jesus’ reply to the disciples’ question: “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Verse 26
Don’t let the devil tell you that you cannot be saved, that you are too sinful, that you’ve done too many terrible things, or that you are not capable, because it doesn’t matter how bad your past may be, what sins you have committed, or how weak you are; Jesus can change all of that. He came to this world to make a way to offer you forgiveness and take away the guilt from your life, but more than that, He came to unite Himself with you, and then, through His power and grace, nothing will be impossible for you.
Friend, don’t let Satan discourage you. You can be saved. You can be in the kingdom of heaven. You have an all-powerful Mediator who promises, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” John 6:37. United together with Jesus there is no such thing as defeat. Jesus will save you. Surrender today to Him who is able to save to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25). Let the miracle begin in your life right now.
Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at 316-788-5559.