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The Youth’s Instructor

206/477

February 11, 1897

The Mind of Christ

EGW

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; 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: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” YI February 11, 1897, par. 1

Jesus Christ “counted it not a thing to be grasped to be equal with God.” Because divinity alone could be efficacious in the restoration of man from the poisonous bruise of the serpent, God himself, in his only begotten Son, assumed human nature, and in the weakness of human nature sustained the character of God, vindicated his holy law in every particular, and accepted the sentence of wrath and death for the sons of men. What a thought is this! He who was one with the Father before the world was made, had such compassion for a world lost and ruined by transgression, that he gave his life a ransom for it. He who was the brightness of the Father's glory, the express image of his person, bore our sins in his own body on the tree, suffering the penalty of man's transgression until justice was satisfied, and required no more. How great is the redemption that has been worked out for us! so great that the Son of God died the cruel death of the cross, to bring to us life and immortality through faith in him. YI February 11, 1897, par. 2

This wonderful problem—how God could be just, and yet the justifier of sinners—is beyond human ken. As we attempt to fathom it, it broadens and deepens beyond our comprehension. When we look with the eye of faith upon the cross of Calvary, and see our sins laid upon the victim hanging in weakness and ignominy there,—when we grasp the fact that this is God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,—we are led to exclaim, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us!” Christ could at any moment have called legions of angels to his side; he could have swept every sinner from the face of the earth, and created new beings by his power; but God so loved the world, degraded as it was by sin, that “he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” YI February 11, 1897, par. 3

This love, understood by the human agent, gives inexpressible preciousness and importance to the plan of salvation. It shows him the value God places upon the creatures of his hand. When man can measure the exalted character of the Lord of Hosts, and distinguish between the eternal God and finite humanity, he will know how great has been the sacrifice of Heaven to bring man from where he has fallen through disobedience, to become part of the family of God. In neglecting the great salvation thus provided, man throws scorn upon the world's Redeemer. YI February 11, 1897, par. 4

Looking unto Jesus with the eye of faith, we can exclaim with the psalmist, “For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” It will require a sanctified perception to know and acknowledge the existence of Christ before he clothed his divinity with humanity. The word of God is a bright and shining light upon the pathway of the student who will study it with prayer. YI February 11, 1897, par. 5

The divinity of Christ is our assurance of eternal life. “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” He, the sin-bearer of the world, is our only medium of reconciliation with a holy God. But there are some who deny the divinity of Christ. They do not realize the sacredness of the word of the infinite God. That word opens to them the mystery of the incarnation of Christ. But unless the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness illuminate its pages, revealing by the Spirit the relation which Christ sustains to God and to humanity, it will remain a mystery to them, and will not be accepted as truth. But with this light upon it, those things that have been hidden for ages are revealed. Yet while the word of God explains the doctrines of Christ, and clearly points out every step which it is essential for sinners to take in the plan of salvation, it does not satisfy the curiosity that would pry into those things which the Lord has reserved unto himself. YI February 11, 1897, par. 6

Dear young friends, are you prepared to behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world? to say, as did Nathanael, “Thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel”? You would do well to contemplate this sacred and eternal truth most earnestly and prayerfully, until your whole being becomes imbued with its greatness. We are too apt to view truths as a whole, and see only the surface, when, if we would ponder them, pray over them, and put to the stretch every mental power, we might understand; for God would give us wisdom, as he did to Daniel. Our spiritual senses would be quickened to understand the deep things of God. YI February 11, 1897, par. 7

Mrs. E. G. White