Jesus an Example to Children and Youth

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

Jesus an Example to Children and Youth

Today's Text: And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. Luke 2:52

The Message:      As Jesus looked upon the offerings that were brought as a sacrifice to the temple, the Holy Spirit taught Him that His life was to be sacrificed for the life of the world.... From His earliest years He was guarded by heavenly angels; yet His life was one long struggle against the powers of darkness. Satan sought in every way to tempt and try Him. He caused people to misunderstand His words, so that they might not receive the salvation He came to bring them. He was opposed both at home and abroad, not because He was an evildoer, but because His life was free from every taint of sin, and condemned all impurity....      His stainless life was a rebuke, and many avoided His presence; but there were some who sought to be with Him because they felt at peace where He was. He was gentle, and never contended for His rights; but His own brethren scorned and hated Him, showing that they did not believe in Him, and casting contempt upon Him.... He lived above the difficulties of His life, as if in the light of God's countenance. He bore insult patiently, and in His human nature became an example for all children and youth....      His life was as leaven, working amid the elements of society. Harmless and undefiled He walked amid the careless, the thoughtless, the rude and unholy. He mingled with the unjust publicans, the reckless prodigals, the unrighteous Samaritans, the heathen soldiers, the rough peasants, and the mixed multitudes.... He treated every human being as having great value. He taught people to look upon themselves as persons to whom had been given precious talents that, if rightly used, would elevate and ennoble them, and secure for them eternal riches. By His example and character He taught that every moment of life was precious, as a time in which to sow seed for eternity.-The Youth's Instructor, December 12, 1895.      Jesus carried the burden of the salvation of the human family upon His heart. He knew that unless people would receive Him, and become changed in purpose and life, they would be eternally lost. This was the burden of His soul, and He was alone in carrying this load.... From His youth He was filled with a deep longing to be a lamp in the world, and He purposed that His life should be "the light of the world." This He was, and that light still shines to all who are in darkness. Let us walk in the light that He has given.-The Youth's Instructor, January 2, 1896.

Commentary: My friend, the life of Christ is the life that we may possess if we would but surrender our lives to Him.  Though He came to forgive all of our sins, He also came to free us from the defilement that sin has wrought in our lives.  Forgiveness of sins is not enough to reconcile us with Heaven, we must be cleansed from all unrighteousness if we are to enter into the kingdom of God.  That cleansing is made possible only through the mediation of the Son of God in the heavenly temple and in the temple of our hearts. It is only by the life of Christ that we may be freed from the power of sin.  As He gained the victory in his early life, in the wilderness, and finally at the cross, so too may we gain the victory through the Spirit of Christ dwelling within us. Satan knows this and has introduced to the church a counterfeit spirit that we may not truly partake of the divine nature of God.  This counterfeit is "God the Holy Spirit", which the trinity teaches is not the Spirit of God, nor the Spirit of Christ, but is an altogether different being from the Father and the Son, and as such separates us from the power of God. The trinity is a man made doctrine and a false image of God.  All those who worship God through the lens of the trinity are worshiping God in vain, for Jesus said in Matthew 15:8, 9 "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."  At the time He was speaking to the Jews, but we can apply it to the church today for they profess to follow Christ, but in their hearts are not converted. The Seventh-day Adventist church is truly in the Laodicean condition, for they have an outward show of righteousness, but that righteousness is not the righteousness of Christ.  The Faithful and True Witness declares "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:" (Revelation 3:17).  The remedy is found in the next verse saying "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." (Revelation 3:18).  Because of the trinity they have a false righteousness by faith.  They do not have the righteousness of Christ and are blind to their true condition before God. Through the churches adoption of the man made tradition of the trinity, they have laid aside the righteousness of Christ and taken upon themselves a false righteousness.  They are blind to their condition because the trinity has the outward appearance of God, but this triune god is not the One true God of the Bible.  It is an altogether different god and as such cannot save them. My friend, because of the trinity, Jesus is no longer at the head of the SDA church, for He declares "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:19, 20).  Jesus is standing on the outside of the church, seeking to gain entrance that He may come in and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  The question that we must answer today is, will you open your heart to Him, or will you continue to worship the false god of the trinity?  How you answer this most important question will determine your destiny for all eternity. My prayer is that you choose to open your heart to Jesus today. God bless,

Video of the Week From Anti-Trinitarian to the Alpha of Deadly Heresies - Dustin Butler Part 5 of 6, A response to the trinitarian symposium held in the Central California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.