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Last Chapter | Tell of His Power Index | Next Chapter The Christ of the ScripturesWe will here take note of what could be called the New Testament view of Christ, presented in His own words as reported by the apostle John. A threefold picture is presented to us: first, a picture of the Total Dependency of Christ upon His heavenly Father; second, a picture of the Unbroken Intimacy between Christ and the Father; and third, a picture of the Incredible Privilege that is extended to us in that we may relate to the Father just as He did. First, the picture of Total Dependency. It is presented with clarity and force in the following verses from the gospel of John: John 4:34; Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work. Notice that it is the Father’s will and the Father’s work. Note also that we find the words “sent me” in 23 different verses in John’s gospel. John 5:19; Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. John 5:26; For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself. John 5:30; I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. This strongest of all Christ’s statements of dependency, “I can of mine own self do nothing,” is deserving of careful attention. We will see it three times. John 6:38; For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. 13 John 7:16; Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. John 7:28; . . . I am not come of myself, but He that sent me is true, whom ye know not. John 8:26; . . . He that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of Him. John 8:28; . . . I do nothing of myself, but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. John 8:29; . . . I do always those things that please Him. John 8:42; . . . I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but He sent me. John 9:4; I must work the works of Him that sent me. . . . John 10:17,18; Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. John 10:37; If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. John 12:49, 50; For I have not spoken of myself—, but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. John 14:10; . . . the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works. John 14:24; . . . the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. John 14:31; . . . as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Putting it all together, what do we see? From beginning to end everything is the Father’s: the will, the work, the words, the mission, the teaching, the doctrine, the decisions all are His. The Son does nothing of Himself. He depends totally upon the Father. Second, the picture of Unbroken Intimacy. Observe: 14 John 8:29; And He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please Him. John 10:15; As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10:17; Therefore doth my Father love me. . . . John 10:30; I and my Father are one. John 10:38; . . . the Father is in me, and I in Him. John 11:42; . . . I knew that thou hearest me always. . . John 14:11; Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me. . . . John 14:20; At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father . . . . John 17:21; . . . as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee . . . . Human language is being stretched to its utmost limits to describe the unbroken intimacy between the Father and the Son. The Father is with me, He does not leave me alone, He knows me, He loves me, He always hears me, He is in me, and I am in Him. We are one. We read and marvel. We look at the picture with the wistful longing of a boy staring at toys through a storefront window. What might it be to live like that! What confidence, security, trust — what freedom from fear, from stress! What an incredible privilege! As we look with longing, we hear Him say, “Would you like to go through life the way I did?” We answer, “Why do you mock us, Lord? You know we can’t do that. We were born of earthly fathers and your Father was God. We can’t live the way you did. Why do you mock us?” He answers, “I am not mocking you. I am telling you the truth. You can live on this earth in the same way that I did. The Heavenly Father is willing to be with you, to hear you, to know you, to love you, and to be one with you, just as He was one with me.” Again we protest, “Lord, how can this be? We had earthly fathers, and You . . . . . . . But He says, “You are greatly mistaken. You are asking the wrong questions, and you are looking to the wrong place. Get your mind off my birth. That is not “where it’s at.” Then He challenges us with some questions: “Have you read the story of my life on earth?” “Yes, Lord, we have.” 15 “Have you found one place, even one place in that life story in which I explained any of my works by a reference to my birth?” “No, Lord, we have not.” “Then, how do I explain them?” “Well, you always explained them in terms of your ongoing relationship with the Father.” “Exactly. Why then do you continue to look to the wrong place and ask the wrong questions? My life of victory on earth was not made possible by the circumstances of my birth. It was made possible by my ongoing relationship with the Father, and you can have exactly the same relationship if you want it. Go to the scriptures and read!” And so we read of the Incredible Privilege that is extended to us in Christ’s words reported in the gospel of John: John 6:57; As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. John 14:20; At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. John 17:11; . . . Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom Thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. John 17:18, 19; As Thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. John 17:21; That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me. John 17:22, 23; And the glory which Thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and Thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved me. John 17:26; . . . that the love wherewith Thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. There it is. These are the words of Jesus — in unmistakable clarity. Do we believe them? The apostle Paul believed them. Their full significance was not lost on Him. The words “in Christ” or “in the Lord” appear in his epistles 90 times. According to Paul we are baptized into Christ, we are new creatures in Christ, we have no condemnation in Christ, we are established in 16 Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we speak in Christ, we say the truth in Christ, we have liberty in Christ, we have wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, and consolation in Christ, we are rooted and built up in Christ, we have persecution in Christ, and when we die we are the dead in Christ! He wraps it up in two beautiful summary statements: Galatians 2:20; 1 am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. Philippians 1:21; For me to live is Christ. The pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist church believed the words of Jesus too. They did not regard them as simply rhetorical devices such as a politician might use, spoken for effect and not meant to be taken seriously. They accepted them as literal statements of fact, challenging and mind stretching though they were. And the fullness of the challenge of Jesus’ words was accepted by Ellen White. As we read in a future chapter her own applications of the principle that He set forth about the incredible privilege extended to us, we may find them so audacious that we will need to look back at the words of Jesus. This will show us that she is adding nothing new, but simply attributing literal reality to what Jesus said. Last Chapter | Tell of His Power Index | Next Chapter |