THE ADVENT OF CHRIST by Ellen G. White

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Sep 13, 1877

THE ADVENT OF CHRIST.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

The Son of God was next in authority to his Father, whose express image he was, not only in form and features, but in perfection of character. Man had fallen through sin, and the divine Son of God was the only sacrifice of sufficient value to fully satisfy the claims of God's perfect law. God made man perfect and upright, and after his transgression, no sacrifice was sufficient to make atonement for his sin unless it was superior to man in his state of innocence and perfection.

The angels were sinless; but they were created, probationary creatures, themselves amenable to the law, and of less value than the law; therefore they could not ransom the fallen race. Man could not atone for man; for the whole human family were alike partakers of the sin which had come into the world through the fall of Adam.

Christ was of more value than had been the sinless Adam. He was of as much more value than man as his noble, spotless character, and exalted office, as commander of all the heavenly host, were above the character and work of man. Upon Christ no requirements were made, He had united with the Father in the creation of man; and he had power, through his own divine perfection of character, to atone for the sins of man, and to elevate him to his first estate. No obligation was laid upon the Son of God, requiring him to undertake the work of atonement; it was a voluntary sacrifice on his part.

The priesthood, and the sacrificial offerings of the Jewish system, were instituted to represent the death, and mediatorial work of Christ. All the Jewish rites and ceremonies had no meaning, and no virtue, only as they related to Christ, who brought into existence, and was himself the foundation of the entire system. The Lord made known to Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and others of the ancient worthies, and especially to Moses, that the ceremonial system of sacrifices, and the priesthood, were of themselves unable to secure salvation to a single soul; they merely pointed to Christ as the coming Saviour of man. Those ancient worthies saw him in the divinely appointed types and emblems, and believed on him. They looked upon the whole system of priests and sacrifices as being specially ordained by Heaven to keep fresh in the minds of the people the fearful separation which sin had made between God and man, and which made necessary a mediating ministry. Through Christ the communication which was cut off by Adam's transgression was opened again between God and the ruined sinner.

The symbolical Jewish system was to continue until the real and perfect Offering should take the place of the figurative offering. The Mediator in his office and work was greatly to exceed in dignity and importance that of the earthly, typical priesthood. He was to stand between the Most High and his people. Through this mediation a way was opened whereby the guilty sinner might find access to God. He could not go to the Father in his own sinful person; he could only approach him through Christ, whose sacrifice in behalf of man equaled the demands of the divine law.

Christ was perfect and undefiled by sin. The extent of the terrible consequences of sin could never have been known, had not the remedy been of infinite value. The salvation of fallen man was procured at such an immense cost that angels marveled, and could not fully comprehend the divine mystery, that the Majesty of Heaven, equal with the Father, should die for the rebellious race.

Satan had labored zealously to lead the Jewish nation away from their loyalty to God, and as the time drew near for the Son of God to make his first advent to earth, he became very active in preparing the hearts of the Jews to be steeled against the evidence which Jesus should bring of his Messiahship. The result of his labor was that the Jewish religion had become corrupted by useless ceremonies and customs. As a nation they were proud and boastful; the purity of the priesthood was not preserved; the priests, scribes and elders were hypocritical; while they were exact in outward forms, to be observed of men, and to give the people exalted ideas of their zeal and devotion in religious duties, they were at the same time hard and unfeeling, showing no mercy to the poor and unfortunate, taking advantage of the helplessness of the widow and the fatherless, extorting large sums of money from the conscientious, and while ostensibly placing it in the Lord's treasury, in reality appropriating it to their own selfish use. They were, as a rule, ambitious, unscrupulous and avaricious.

Traditions, customs and needless ceremonies, which were not appointed by God, were forced upon the people, in order to exact money from them on one pretext or another. These traditions finally came to be considered as binding upon them as the law of God given through Moses; and they were so blended with the requirements of the law that the common people could hardly distinguish between them. Men who aspired to the priesthood frequently gained the object of their desires by treachery and secret dishonesty. God had designed that the high priest should represent Christ, who was to become a high priest after the order of Melchisedec. This holy office however came to be filled by men who were not divinely appointed to the sacred work, but who loved power and display, and who gained their positions through worldly influence. The office of high priest was one of power and importance and it was secured by unscrupulous and ambitious men, who practiced fraud under the garb of piety. The high priest was counselor, mediator, and a judge from whose decision there was no appeal within the Jewish economy. Clad in his consecrated, and expensive robes, with the light flashing upon the precious stones in his breastplate, the high priest made a most imposing appearance, which struck the conscientious and believing people with reverence and awe. When the Jews at length, by reason of their departure from God, fell under the Roman power, and were required to pay tribute to them, and to acknowledge the temporal superiority of their conquerors over them, they chafed under their bondage, and looked forward to the reinstatement of their nation through Messiah, the Deliverer foretold by prophecy.

Their views were narrow, and they believed the Coming One would at his appearing, assume kingly honors, subdue the oppressors of the Jews, and take the throne of David. In their wounded pride, and want of spiritual discernment they overlooked the prophecies which pointed to his first advent in poverty and humility, and applied to this event those prophecies which describe his second coming with power and great glory. The Jews had become so proud and corrupt, and so ambitious for worldly honor, that they could not discern sacred things. They misapplied, and misconstrued the prophecies to suit their ambitious desires for the establishment of a temporal kingdom, which would reduce the Romans to subjection, and exalt themselves above all other nations. In such a time, and to such a people was the Saviour of the world to come.

The proud Pharisees and scribes, with their hypocritical ceremonies, and apparent devotion to the law, were ignorant of the true manner of his appearing, notwithstanding their boasted wisdom and learning in expounding the law and the prophecies in the schools of the prophets. Their chief study was to find the most successful manner of obtaining riches and worldly honor, and they were wholly unprepared for the coming of Messiah to earth as a humble child. They looked for a mighty promise, and often made their proud boast to the Romans, that they would soon be freed from the yoke of bondage, and be established as a glorious nation. They were spiritually blind, and were leaders of the blind.

It was understood in heaven that the time had come for the advent of Christ to the world; and angels left the realm of glory to witness his reception by those whom he came to bless and save. They had been witnesses of his glory in heaven, and had been messengers to do his will; and they anticipated that on earth he would receive honor in accordance with his character, and the importance, and dignity of his mission. On visiting the earth, they sought first the people whom God had separated, as his peculiar treasure, from the other nations of the world. But they were astonished to find no special interest or expectation among the Jews, no eager waiting and watching to receive their Redeemer, and to proclaim his advent.

The angels from heaven beheld with astonishment the indifference of the people, and their ignorance of the great event about to transpire in their midst. The world presented to them a sad spectacle. The Jews, claiming to be the chosen people of God, were absorbed in traditions and empty ceremonies; while other nations were dealing in fables, and worshiping false gods. All were alike ignorant of what prophecy had foretold was about to transpire.

Angels beheld the weary travelers, Joseph and Mary, making their way to the city of David, to be taxed, according to the decree of Augustus Cæsar. They were brought to that place by the providence of God; for there prophecy had foretold that Christ should be born. Angels saw the weary pair seek in vain a place of rest at the inn; for the wealthy and honorable had been welcomed there to receive rest and refreshment, and there was no room left for the humble pilgrims. They finally take refuge in a rough building which is for the shelter of dumb beasts.

Here the Saviour of the world is born! The Son of God, who had filled all heaven with admiration and worship, who had been attended by holy angels, is cradled in a manger, surrounded by the beasts of the stall! Wonder, O Heaven, and be astonished, O earth! This frail, helpless babe, to all outward appearance like unto other infants, is the divine Son of God, his majesty vailed by humanity. The tidings of his birth were borne with joy by the angels to the heavenly courts, and great was the rejoicing there that man had now a Saviour upon earth.

As there were none among the sons of men to herald the advent of Messiah, angelic messengers performed the task which was the honored privilege of men to do. But the angels, with their glad tidings of the Saviour's birth, were sent to the humble shepherds, and not to the learned Jews, the professed expounders of prophecy, who had no heart to receive it. As the shepherds were guarding their flocks by night, suddenly the heavens were lighted up with a great brightness. They were alarmed at this strange appearance, and did not at first discover the myriads of angels that were congregated in the heavens; for it was the brightness and glory of this angelic host which illuminated the entire plain.

While the shepherds were terrified by this exceeding glory, the leading angel of the throng quieted their fears by revealing himself to them, saying, “Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” The shepherds could not at first have borne the radiance of glory which attended the revealing of the whole heavenly host; but, as their eyes became accustomed to the brightness of the angel that addressed them, and their fears departed, and joy took their place, as his message was delivered to them.—“Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

The shepherds were rejoiced at the glad tidings which had been brought them; and when the glory of the angels had disappeared, they said one to another, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.” They immediately hastened to Bethlehem, in search of the Saviour. They found him, as the celestial messengers had testified, wrapped in swaddling bands, and lying in a manger.

The shepherds were deeply impressed by what they had seen and heard. They were filled with amazement, love, and gratitude that God should condescend in his infinite mercy, to send his Son into the world for the salvation of men. They spread the joyful tidings abroad, telling of the wondrous glory they had seen, the message of the leading angel, the splendor of the vast heavenly throng, and their united proclamation of, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”