MEMORY VERSE: ‘Wherefore in all things it behoved [it was right and necessary for] Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in all things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.’ Hebrews 2:17.
LESSON AIM: To show that our Saviour took the same human nature as Adam had after the Fall, a nature like ours, lived His life on the same terms as we do, with no advantages over us. He came to raise us up. His life was for our benefit. He was indeed the Son of man, the ‘Man’ of Calvary.
‘What a contrast the second Adam presented as He entered the gloomy wilderness to cope with Satan single-handed. Since the fall, the race had been decreasing in size and physical strength, and sinking lower in the scale of moral worth, up to the period of Christ’s advent to the earth. In order to elevate fallen man, Christ must reach him where he was. He took human nature, and bore the infirmities and degeneracy of the race. He who knew no sin became sin for us. He humiliated [humbled] Himself to the lowest depths of human woe, that He might be qualified to reach man and bring him up from the degradation in which sin had plunged him.’ Confrontation, page 32.
‘Christ was about to visit our world, and to become incarnate [to come in the flesh]. He says, “A body hast Thou prepared Me.” Had He appeared with the glory that was His with the Father before the world was, we could not have endured the light of His presence. That we might behold it and not be destroyed, the manifestation of His glory was shrouded. His divinity was veiled with humanity, the invisible glory in the visible human form.’ Desire of Ages, page 23.
1. What was His position in heaven? Isaiah 9:6; 2 Samuel 6:2.
NOTE: ‘By His life and His death, Christ has achieved even more than recovery from the ruin wrought through sin. It was Satan’s purpose to bring about an eternal separation between God and man; but in Christ we become more closely united to God than if we had never fallen. In taking our nature, the Saviour has bound Himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken. Through the eternal ages He is linked with us. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son.” John 3:16. He gave Him not only to bear our sins, and to die as our sacrifice; He gave Him to the fallen race. To assure us of His immutable counsel of peace, God gave His only-begotten Son to become one of the human family, forever to retain His human nature. This is the pledge that God will fulfil His word. “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder.” God has adopted human nature in the person of His Son, and has carried the same into the highest heaven. It is the “Son of man” who shares the throne of the universe. It is the “Son of man” whose name shall be called, “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6. The I AM is the Daysman [an umpire] between God and humanity, laying His hand upon both. He who is “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,” is not ashamed to call us brethren. Hebrews 7:26; 2:11. In Christ the family of earth and the family of heaven are bound together. Christ glorified is our brother. Heaven is enshrined in humanity, and humanity is enfolded in the bosom of Infinite Love.’ Desire of Ages, page 25.
2. How was Paul trying to show that Jesus was truly God and that His position was not something He had grasped for Himself? Philippians 2:6.
NOTE: ‘It is not the seeking to climb to eminence that will make you great in God’s sight, but it is the humble life of goodness, meekness, fidelity, and purity that will make you the object of the heavenly angels’ special guardianship. The pattern Man, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, took upon Himself our nature and lived nearly thirty years in an obscure Galilean town, hidden among the hills. All the angel host was at His command; yet He did not claim to be anything great or exalted. He did not attach “Professor” to His name to please Himself. He was a carpenter, working for wages, a servant to those for whom He laboured.’ Evangelism, page 132.