The Review and Herald
July 4, 1912
An All-Sufficient Saviour
Christ came to this world to live a life of perfect obedience to the laws of God's kingdom. He came to uplift and ennoble human beings, to work out an enduring righteousness for them. He came as a medium through which truth was to be imparted. In him are found all the excellencies necessary to absolute perfection of character. To those who receive him, he gives power to become the sons of God. “The word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, ... full of grace and truth.... And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” RH July 4, 1912, par. 1
In Christ “we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” He is “the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature.” “By him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. RH July 4, 1912, par. 2
“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven.” RH July 4, 1912, par. 3
Christ gave up his high command in the heavenly courts, and laying aside his royal robe and kingly crown, he clothed his divinity with humanity. For our sake he became poor in earthly riches and advantages, that human beings might be rich in the eternal weight of glory. He took his place at the head of the human family, and consented to endure in our behalf the trials and temptations that sin has brought. He might have come in power and great glory, escorted by a multitude of heavenly angels. But no; he came in humility, of lowly parentage. He was brought up in an obscure and despised village. He lived a life of poverty, and suffered often with privation and hunger. This he did to show that earthly riches and high rank do not increase the value of souls in the sight of God. He has given us no encouragement to think that riches make men worthy of eternal life. Those church-members who, when a brother becomes poor, treat him as if he were unworthy of their notice certainly did not learn this from Christ. To one who, during the Saviour's ministry, offered to follow him as his disciple, Jesus said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Those who follow him must share his poverty. “If any man will come after me,” he declares, “let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” “So shall ye be my disciples.” RH July 4, 1912, par. 4
It is submission to sin that brings the great unhappiness of the soul. It is not poverty, but disobedience, that lessens man's hope of gaining eternal life, which the Saviour came to bring him. True riches, true peace, true content, enduring happiness,—these are found only in entire surrender to God, in perfect reconciliation to his will. RH July 4, 1912, par. 5
Christ came to our world to live a life of stainless purity, thus to show sinners that in his strength they, too, can obey God's holy precepts, the laws of his kingdom. He came to magnify the law and make it honorable by his perfect conformity to its principles. He united humanity and divinity, that fallen human beings might become partakers of the divine nature, and thus escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. RH July 4, 1912, par. 6
It was from the Father that Christ constantly drew the power that enabled him to keep his life free from spot or stain of sin. It was this power that enabled him to resist temptation. RH July 4, 1912, par. 7