Christ’s Revelation of God
By Ellen G. White
All that man needs to know or can know of God has been revealed in the life and character of His Son. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” Taking humanity upon Him, Christ came to be one with humanity, and at the same time to reveal our heavenly Father to sinful human beings. He was in all things made like unto His brethren. He became flesh, even as we are. He was hungry and thirsty and weary. He was sustained by food and refreshed by sleep. He shared the lot of men, and yet He was the blameless Son of God. He was a stranger and a sojourner on the earth—in the world, but not of the world; tempted and tried as men and women to-day are tempted and tried, yet living a life free from sin. Tender, compassionate, sympathetic, ever considerate of others, He represented the character of God, and was constantly engaged in service for God and man. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, . . . full of grace and truth.” “Unto the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world,” He said, “I manifested Thy name,” “that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them.” “Love your enemies,” He bade them, “bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven;” “for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” “He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” The revelation of God’s love to men centers in the cross. Its full significance tongue can not utter; pen can not portray; the mind of man can not comprehend. Looking upon the cross of Calvary we can only say, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Christ crucified for our sins, Christ risen from the dead,7Christ ascended on high, is the science of salvation that we are to learn and to teach. “Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped; but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.” “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God.” “Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” “We have not a high priest that can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but One that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Here are infinite wisdom, infinite love, infinite justice, infinite mercy,—“the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.” Every Blessing Through the Gift.
It is through the gift of Christ that we receive every blessing. Through that gift there comes to us day by day the unfailing flow of Jehovah’s goodness. Every flower, with its delicate tints and sweet fragrance, is given for our enjoyment through that one Gift. The sun and moon were made by Him; there is not a star that beautifies the heavens which He did not make. There is not an article of food upon our tables that He has not provided for our sustenance. The superscription of Christ is upon it all. Everything is supplied to man through the one unspeakable Gift, the only begotten Son of God. He was nailed to the cross that all these bounties might flow to God’s workmanship. The fruit of the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden possessed supernatural virtue. To eat of it was to live forever. Its fruit was the antidote of death. Its leaves were for the sustaining of life and immortality. But through man’s disobedience, death entered the world. Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the fruit of which he had been forbidden to touch. His transgression opened the flood-gates of wo upon our race. After the entrance of sin, the heavenly Husbandman transplanted the Tree of Life to the paradise above; but its branches hang over the wall to the lower world. Through the redemption purchased by the blood of Christ, we may still eat of its life-giving fruit. Of Christ it is written, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” He is the fountain of life. Obedience to Him is the life-giving power that gladdens the soul. Christ declares: “I am the bread of life; He that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.” “As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. . . . It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.” “To Him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” The Knowledge That Works Transformation.
The knowledge of God as revealed in Christ is the knowledge that all who are saved must have. “It is the knowledge that works transformation of character. This knowledge, received, will recreate the soul in the image of God. It will impart to the whole being a spiritual power that is divine. “We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” Of His own life the Saviour said: “I have kept My Father’s commandments.” “The Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him.” As Jesus was in human nature, so God means His followers to be. In His strength we are to live the life of purity and nobility which the Saviour lived. “For this cause,” Paul says, “I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”