Summary of the Mystery of Godliness Series

Summary of the Mystery of Godliness  & Introduction to new series in 2025

For the last two years, Pastor Grosboll’s sermon series The Mystery of Godliness has proved vital to our understanding of Christ’s human nature. A subject that has engendered controversy between brethren for decades, the nature of Christ is as important to us as His crucifixion.

So, I’d like to leave this series with a summary of what we have learned over these past months about the nature of Christ. See the table below.

Christ’s nature was the perfect combination of divinity and humanity (forever a mystery for us) to fulfill the plan of salvation. It was in this dual nature that He was tempted and yet lived a life of perfect obedience to God’s law. While on this earth, Jesus was what we will become, when we live our lives trusting in Him who alone can save us, choosing to combine our human weakness with His divine power. Then, as He promised, He will live His life of perfect obedience through us. Remember, we will only take one thing from this life to heaven—our perfected character (Christ’s Object Lessons, 75, 332).

As necessary as the cross was to pay the penalty for sin, Christ’s life, as our example, is even more so if we wish to meet Him in glory as His child. Obedience is the key, friends. We will not be saved in our sins. There is only one period of probation and we are living in it today. There is no second chance. Sin must be completely eradicated from our lives if we are to live with Jesus forever, and Jesus’ life shows us how (Manuscript Releases, Vol. 3, 71, 72).

“You may show by your life what the power and grace of God can do in transforming the natural man into a spiritual man in Christ Jesus. You may be overcomers if you will, in the name of Christ, take hold of the work decidedly.” Testimonies, Vol. 4, 349

“Christ came to this world to show us what God can do and what we can do in cooperation with God. …

“Our ransom has been paid by our Saviour. No one need be enslaved by Satan. Christ stands before us as our divine example, our all-powerful Helper.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 6, 1074

“There is no way by which you may be saved in sin. Every soul that gains eternal life must be like Christ, ‘holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.’ [Hebrews 7:26].” Gospel Workers, 446

As we move forward into 2025, we begin a new series presented by Pastor Ivan Plummer on the subject of the seven deadly sins found in Proverbs 6:16–19. Pastor Plummer presented a portion of this series with power and compassion during the 2024 Steps to Life camp meeting. It was a tremendous blessing for us then, and I know it will be for you also as we present the series here in LandMarks over the next few months.

The Nature of Christ

Mrs. White tells us: “The incarnation of Christ has ever been, and will ever remain a mystery.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 5, 1129
God cannot die, nor can He be tempted. It was necessary for Christ to assume human form in body and mind so that He would be able to die for our sins and to be tempted in all points like we are.
Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. The characteristics of God’s government are love—the underlying principle of His government (Christ’s Object Lessons, 50)—holiness, and righteousness. His law, which is His character, was written in their hearts and they obeyed it. They were in perfect harmony with the law of God which is the nature of God.
When Adam and Eve chose to believe the serpent [Satan] over the Father, they were changed. No longer were they holy or righteous. The law was no longer written in their hearts and they no longer reflected God’s character. They traded a government of love for one of selfishness.
Depending on the context, the flesh and carnal are synonymous with the word sinful, which is most often used to describe man’s nature after the Fall. Adam and Eve’s holy nature became carnal, and this nature is inherited by every son and daughter of Adam throughout the history of the world.
Sin is not action alone but a state of being (Matthew 5:17). Man’s nature—both physical and spiritual—is selfish (Matthew 12:34–37; Mark 10:18; Romans 3:10–18), and selfishness is sin (The Signs of the Times, April 13, 1891). Therefore, man is not only sinful because he yields to temptation but also because he is naturally selfish—sinful.
The Bible is clear that no one with a fleshly or carnal, sinful nature can please God (Romans 8:7–9). But it also says that Jesus did please God (Matthew 3:17; 17:5). If Jesus had an inherently sinful, selfish nature as we do, He could not have pleased God. He would not have been a perfect sacrifice for our sins, nor could His life be a perfect example for us to follow.
Jesus was fully human in that He voluntarily took upon Himself the physical flesh and blood of man (Hebrews 2:14). Christ wore our nature and the guilt of our sins like an old worn out, ruined coat. However, He was also fully divine. Christ was not selfish, His spiritual nature was selfless and free from sin (The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 7A, Appendix B). Christ came as a man to live the principles of the law of God; the principles that are the very nature of God (Steps to Christ, 60). As man, Jesus was a physical representation of God’s law.
Jesus Christ hates only one thing—sin—but He loves us.

“Hating sin with a perfect hatred, He yet gathered to His soul the sins of the whole world, as He trod the path to Calvary, suffering the penalty of the transgressor. Guiltless, He bore the punishment of the guilty; innocent, yet offering Himself to bear the penalty of the transgression of the law of God. … The guilt of every sin pressed its weight upon the divine soul of the world’s Redeemer. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. …

“In His humanity … This is a deep mysterious truth, that Christ is bound to humanity by the most sensitive sympathies. The evil works, the evil thoughts, the evil words of every son and daughter of Adam press upon His divine soul. … He bore the sins of every sinner, for all transgressions were imputed unto Him.” Our Father Cares, 119, 120

Jesus, in His humanity, perfectly obeyed the law and promised that if we will follow after Him, He will enable us to live the same life of perfect obedience.

“All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. … Through an appreciation of the character of Christ, through communion with God, sin will become hateful to us.” The Desire of Ages, 668

Christ came to this world, combining humanity with divinity (Christ’s Object Lessons, 18), and we are assured that He will enable us to be partakers of the divine nature with a transformed, perfected character.

“As the will of man cooperates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent. Whatever is to be done at His command, may be accomplished in His strength. All His biddings are enablings.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 333

“Satan had claimed that it was impossible for man to obey God’s commandments; … But Christ came in the form of humanity, and by His perfect obedience He proved that humanity and divinity combined can obey every one of God’s precepts.

“ ‘As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.’ John 1:12. This power is not in the human agent. It is the power of God. When a soul receives Christ, he receives power to live the life of Christ.” Ibid., 314

Our transformation must be both physical and spiritual. The selfishness and sinfulness that have become a part of our DNA must be removed. It is a transformation of character (Christ’s Object Lessons, 315) that we require if we are to live the life of Jesus—the life God intended man to live when he was first created.