Page 35 - Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students (1913)

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Unselfish Service the Law of Heaven
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to live for self. He sought to make himself a center of influence.
It was this that had incited rebellion in heaven, and it was man’s
acceptance of this principle that brought sin on earth. When Adam
sinned, man broke away from the heaven-ordained center. A demon
became the central power in the world. Where God’s throne should
have been, Satan placed his throne. The world laid its homage, as a
willing offering, at the feet of the enemy.
The transgression of God’s law brought woe and death in its
train. Through disobedience man’s powers were perverted, and
selfishness took the place of love. His nature became so weakened
that it was impossible for him to resist the power of evil; and the
tempter saw being fulfilled his purpose to thwart the divine plan of
man’s creation and fill the earth with misery and desolation. Men
had chosen a ruler who chained them to his car as captives.
The Remedy
Looking upon man, God saw his desperate rebellion, and He
devised a remedy. Christ was His gift to the world for man’s rec-
oncilement. The Son of God was appointed to come to this earth
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to take humanity and by His own example to be a great educating
power among men. His experience in man’s behalf was to enable
men to resist Satan’s power. He came to mold character and to give
mental power, to shed abroad the beams of true education, that the
true aim of life might not be lost sight of. The sons of men had had a
practical knowledge of evil; Christ came to the world to show them
that He had planted for them the tree of life, the leaves of which are
for the healing of the nations.
Christ’s life on earth teaches that to obtain the higher education
does not mean to gain popularity, to secure worldly advantage, to
have all the temporal wants abundantly supplied, and to be honored
by the titled and wealthy of earth. The Prince of life suffered the
inconveniences of poverty, that He might discern the needs of the
poor—He who by His divine power could supply the needs of a
hungry multitude. Not to wear the gorgeous robes of the high priest,
not to possess the riches of the Gentiles, did He come to this earth,
but to minister to the suffering and the needy. His life rebukes all