Christ Was Not Forced to Bear the Sins of the World

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

Christ Was Not Forced to Bear the Sins of the World

Today's Text: And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Luke 22:44

The Message:      Christ had not been forced to do this [bear the guilt of a perishing world]. He had volunteered to lay down His life to save the world. The claims of God's government had been misapprehended through the deceptive words and works of Satan, and the necessity of a mediator was seen and felt by the Father and the Son....      The universe of heaven had watched with intense interest the entire life of Christ-every step from the manger to the present awful scene of momentous interest. The unfallen worlds were watching the result of this controversy. They beheld the Son of God, their loved Commander, in His superhuman agony, apparently dying on the field of battle to save a lost and perishing world....      Satan was urging upon Him all the force of his temptations. He presented before Him that the sin of the world, so offensive to God, was chastisement too great. He would never again be looked upon as pure and holy and undefiled, as God's only begotten Son.      Christ was now standing in a different attitude than He had ever done before. Hitherto He had stood as an intercessor for others; now He longs for an intercessor for Himself. Could His human nature bear the strain? Shall the sins of an apostate world, since Adam's transgression to the close of time, be laid upon Him? ...      In the supreme crisis, when heart and soul are breaking under the [world's] load of sin, Gabriel is sent to strengthen Him. And while the angel supports His fainting form, Christ takes the bitter cup and consents to drink its contents. Before the suffering One comes up the wail of a lost and perishing world, and the words come from the bloodstained lips, "Nevertheless, if the fallen race must perish unless I drink this cup, Thy will, not Mine, be done."...      There was silence in heaven; no harp was touched. They see their Lord enclosed by legions of satanic forces, His human nature weighed down with a shuddering, mysterious dread.... Strengthened by the angel sent from heaven, Jesus arises in sweat and blood and agony and for the third time returns to His disciples.... But He was disappointed. He found them sleeping in the hour of His bitterest agony. And the sight made angels grow sad.... Prophecy had declared that the "Mighty One"... was to tread the winepress alone; "of the people there was none" with Him.-Manuscript 42, 1897.

Commentary: My friend, what a great sacrifice was given for our redemption and salvation.  What supreme love was manifested in our behalf that we may be restored back into open communion with God.  The depths of sorrow and woe that Jesus, the Son of God went for our salvation we will never fully understand. It will be our science and desire to study throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity.  "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:" (1 John 3:1). The agony and suffering that Christ went through in our behalf was experienced by the Father as well.  Though His love for fallen humanity was the same as was the Son's, it was a struggle even for our Father to consent to give up His Son to die and be separated from Him for the redemption of man.  The Sovern of the universe manifested His great love for us in giving us His Son.  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:16, 17). My friend, the foundation of the gospel is that God gave us His Son to pay the ransom for our sins, and to give us the life of His Son in place of our own.  The relationship of the Father and the Son is genuine and real.  However the trinity destroys the very foundation of the gospel by declaring that the Son is not really a son, but is only a title or metaphor used to illustrate the relationship between two god-beings.  By teaching that the Son of God is co-equal and co-eternal (two terms that are not in the Scriptures) denies that the Son of God is really a son, for in order to be a son one has to be born, and to be born means to have a beginning.  That birth is spoken of in Proverbs 8:22-25 saying "The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:". All throughout the Scriptures Jesus is called the Son of God.  The Father testified of this saying "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17).  If this was not so it would make God out to be a liar.  Of this the Scriptures says "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son." (1 John 5:9).  The spirit of those who deny that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, is the spirit of antichrist, for it says in 1 John 2:22, 23 "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." My friend, foundation of the gospel is "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" (John 3:16), in order for God to give us His Son, He had to have a Son to give.  If the Son of God is not truly the Son of God, then He is not truly a Father, and makes Him out to be a liar.  The trinity destroys the father-son relationship and therefore destroys the whole of the gospel.  It is time to look away from the false god of the trinity and look unto the One true God through His Son Jesus Christ.  "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (Joh 17:3). God bless,

Video of the Week Biblical Monotheism - Part 3 by Imad Awde What does the Bible say about God's Oneness? Is the one God of the Bible made up of three Persons? If the Father is God, and Jesus is God, how come there is only one God? Join Imad as he answers these questions and more in this three part series,