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Chapter 1
107
He came to this world in human form, to live a man amongst men.
He assumed the liabilities of human nature, to be proved and tried.
In His humanity He was a partaker of the divine nature. In His
incarnation He gained in a new sense the title of the Son of God.
Said the angel to Mary, “The power of the Highest shall overshadow
thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God.” While the Son of a human being,
He became the Son of God in a new sense. Thus He stood in our
[1115]
world—the Son of God, yet allied by birth to the human race....
From all eternity Christ was united with the Father, and when
He took upon Himself human nature, He was still one with God. He
is the link that unites God with humanity [
Hebrews 2:14
quoted]
(
The Signs of the Times, August 2, 1905
).
76, 77 (
Luke 3:2-4
;
Isaiah 40:3
;
Matthew 3:1-3
;
Mark 1:1-3
;
1:19-23
). John Born for a Special Work
—In every stage of this
earth’s history God has had His agencies to carry forward His work,
which must be done in His appointed way. John the Baptist had a
special work, for which he was born and to which he was appointed—
the work of preparing the way of the Lord.... His wilderness ministry
was a most striking, literal fulfillment of prophecy (
Manuscript 112,
1901
).
80. No Suitable School
—There was a great work appointed for
the prophet John, but there was no school on the earth with which he
could connect. His learning must be obtained away from the cities,
in the wilderness. The Old Testament Scriptures, God, and the nature
which God had created, were to be his study books. God was fitting
John for his work of preparing the way of the Lord. His food was
simply locusts and wild honey. The customs and practices of men
were not to be the education of this man. Worldly engrossment was
to act no part in the formation of his character (
Manuscript 131,
1901
).
Satan Had Access Despite Closed Avenues
—John did not feel
strong enough to stand the great pressure of temptation he would
meet in society. He feared his character would be molded according
to the prevailing customs of the Jews, and he chose the wilderness
as his school, in which his mind could be properly educated and
disciplined from God’s great book of nature. In the wilderness, John
could the more readily deny himself and bring his appetite under