The Hero

Christ Before Coming to Earth

Picture: Christ Before Coming to Earth 3TC 8.1

From the days of eternity the Lord Jesus Christ was One with the Father; He was the image of God, the expression of His glory. To show this glory, to reveal the light of God’s love, Jesus came to our sin-darkened earth. Isaiah prophesied of Him, “They shall call His name Immanuel, ... God with us.” Matthew 1:23; cf. Isaiah 7:14. 3TC 8.2

Jesus was “the Word of God”—God’s thought made audible. God gave this revelation not just for His earthborn children. Our little world is the lesson book of the universe. Both the redeemed and the unfallen beings will find their true knowledge and their joy in the cross of Christ. They will see that the glory shining in the face of Jesus is the glory of self-sacrificing love. They will see that for earth and heaven, the law of life is the law of self-renouncing love. The love that “does not seek its own” has its source in the heart of God and is shown in Jesus, the meek and lowly One. 3TC 8.3

In the beginning, Christ laid the foundations of the earth. His hand hung the worlds in space and fashioned the flowers of the field. He filled the earth with beauty and the air with song. See Psalm 65:6; 95:5. He wrote the message of the Father’s love on everything. 3TC 9.1

Now sin has marred God’s perfect work, yet that handwriting remains. Except for the selfish human heart, nothing lives just for itself. Every tree and shrub and leaf pours forth oxygen, without which neither people nor animals could live; and people and animals, in turn, support the life of tree and shrub and leaf. The ocean receives streams from every land, but it takes only to give back. The mists rising from it fall in showers to water the earth, so that plants may grow and bud. The angels of glory find their joy in giving. They bring light from above, moving upon the human spirit to bring the lost into fellowship with Christ. 3TC 9.2

But turning from all lesser examples, we see God in Jesus. We find that it is the glory of God to give. “I do not seek My own glory,” said Christ, but the glory of Him who sent Me. John 8:50; 7:18. Christ received from God, but He took to give. Through the Son, the Father’s life flows out to all. Through the Son, it returns in joyous service, a tide of love, to the great Source of all. In this way, through Christ the circle of blessing is complete. 3TC 9.3

In Heaven This Law Was Broken!

Sin began in self-seeking. Lucifer, the covering cherub, wanted to be first in heaven. He tried to draw heavenly beings away from their Creator and win honor to himself. Putting his own evil characteristics on the Creator, he led angels to doubt the word of God and distrust His goodness. Satan led them to look on Him as severe and unforgiving. In this way, he deceived angels. In the same way, he deceived the human race, and the night of misery settled down on the world. 3TC 9.4

The earth was dark through misunderstanding of God. To bring the world back to God, Satan’s deceptive power must be broken. God could not do this by force. He wants only the service of love, and love cannot be won by force or authority. Only love awakens love. To know God is to love Him. We must see His character in contrast to Satan’s. Only one Being could do this work. Only He who knew the height and depth of God’s love could make it known. 3TC 10.1

The plan for our redemption was not formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of “the mystery that was kept secret for long ages.” Romans 16:25, NRSV. It was an unfolding of the principles that have been the foundation of God’s throne from eternity. God foresaw sin’s existence and made provision to meet the terrible emergency. He pledged to give His only-begotten Son, “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. 3TC 10.2

Lucifer had said, “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; ... I will be like the Most High.” But Christ, “though he was in the form of God, ... emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.” Isaiah 14:13, 14; Philippians 2:6, 7, NRSV. 3TC 10.3

A Voluntary Sacrifice

Jesus could have kept the glory of heaven. But He chose to step down from the throne of the universe in order to bring life to the dying. 3TC 10.4

Nearly two thousand years ago, a voice was heard in heaven, 3TC 10.5

“A body You have prepared for Me. ...
‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.’”
Hebrews 10:5-7 3TC 10.6

Christ was about to visit our world, to become flesh and blood. If He had appeared with the glory that was His before the world was created, we could not have endured the light of His presence. In order that we could behold it and not be destroyed, He shrouded His glory and veiled His divinity with humanity. 3TC 10.7

Types and symbols had foreshadowed this great purpose. The burning bush, in which Christ appeared to Moses, revealed God. This lowly shrub, that seemed to have no attractions, enshrined the Infinite. God shrouded His glory so that Moses could look on it and live. Similarly, in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, God’s glory was veiled so that finite human beings could look at it. So Christ was to come “in the likeness of men.” He was the incarnate God, but His glory was veiled so that He could draw near to sorrowful, tempted men and women. 3TC 11.1

Through Israel’s long wandering in the desert, the sanctuary was with them as the symbol of God’s presence. See Exodus 25:8. Likewise, Christ pitched His tent by the side of our tents so that He could make us familiar with His divine character and life. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14. 3TC 11.2

Since Jesus came to live with us, every son and daughter of Adam may understand that our Creator is the Friend of sinners. In every divine attraction in the Savior’s life on earth, we see “God with us.” 3TC 11.3

Satan represents God’s law of love as a law of selfishness. He declares that it is impossible for us to obey its requirements. He blames the Creator for the fall of our first parents, leading people to look upon God as the author of sin, suffering, and death. Jesus was to unmask this deception. As one of us, He was to give an example of obedience. For this, He took upon Himself our nature and passed through our experiences. “In all things He had to be made like His brethren.” Hebrews 2:17. If we had to bear anything that Jesus did not endure, then on this point Satan would claim that the power of God was not enough for us. Therefore, Jesus was “in all points tempted as we are.” Hebrews 4:15. He endured every trial that we may face. And He exercised no power in His own behalf that is not freely offered to us. As a human being, He met temptation and overcame it in the strength that God gave Him. He made plain the character of God’s law, and His life testifies that it is possible for us also to obey the law of God. 3TC 11.4

By His humanity, Christ touched humanity; by His divinity, He takes hold of the throne of God. As Son of man, He gave us an example of obedience; as Son of God, He gives us power to obey. To us He says, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Matthew 28:18. “God with us” is the guarantee of our deliverance from sin, the assurance of power to obey the law of heaven. 3TC 12.1

Christ revealed a character that is the opposite of Satan’s. “Being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:8, NRSV. Christ took the form of a servant and offered the sacrifice, with Himself as the Priest and Himself as the Victim. “He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him.” Isaiah 53:5. 3TC 12.2

Treated As We Deserve

Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death that was ours, that we might receive the life that was His. “By His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5. 3TC 12.3

Satan determined to bring eternal separation between God and man; but in taking our nature, the Savior united Himself to humanity by a tie that will never be broken. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” John 3:16. He gave Him, not only to die as our Sacrifice; He gave Him to become one of the human family, to keep His human nature forever. 3TC 12.4

“Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.” God has adopted human nature in the person of His Son and has carried it to the highest heaven. The “Son of man” shall be called, “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6), italics added. He who is “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,” is not ashamed to call us His brothers and sisters. Hebrews 7:26; 2:11. Heaven is enshrined in humanity, and humanity is enclosed in the embrace of Infinite Love. 3TC 12.5

God’s lifting up of His redeemed people will be an eternal testimony to His mercy. “In the ages to come,” He will “show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” in order that “the manifold wisdom of God” may be made known to “the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 2:7; 3:10. 3TC 13.1

Through Christ’s work, the government of God stands justified. The All-powerful One is revealed as the God of love. Christ has refuted Satan’s charges and unmasked his character. Sin can never again enter the universe. Through eternal ages all are secure from apostasy. By love’s self-sacrifice, Jesus has linked earth and heaven to the Creator in an unbreakable union. 3TC 13.2

Where sin increased, God’s grace increased much more. The earth, the very field Satan claims as his, will be honored above all other worlds in the universe. Here, where the King of glory lived and suffered and died, here the dwelling place of God will be with humanity, and “God Himself will be with them and be their God.” Revelation 21:3. Through endless ages the redeemed will praise Him for His unspeakable gift—Immanuel, “God with us.” 3TC 13.3