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Beginnings
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A Young Adult’s Encounter with Ellen White ... on Salvation
“Christ, the heavenly merchantman seeking goodly pearls, saw
in lost humanity the pearl of price. In men and women, defiled and
ruined by sin, He saw the possibilities of redemption.”
As a child I always fancied pearls. I loved their gentle curves
and soft off-white luster.
I thought they were prettier than any diamond or ruby could ever
be. So it didn’t surprise me that Ellen White compared our beloved
Savior to my favorite jewel. What I didn’t expect was that she wrote
that Christ saw in lost humanity “the pearl of price.” How could He
find something so beautiful in me? But when I read her eloquent
illustrations further I understood what, for me, is the true essence
of salvation. Christ doesn’t seek me because I am lost. He doesn’t
long to save me because He feels obliged to. He gives me salvation
because He loves me.
Mrs. White thoughtfully wrote of Christ, our heavenly merchant-
man. Reading what she writes makes me rejoice daily for humanity
because He finds the precious pearls He is seeking in our old, marred
earth—because He sees the pearl in me.
Jennifer, age 22
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Beginnings
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When
his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived
together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her
husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her
to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when
he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in
a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take
Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy
Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he
will save his people from their sins
.”
All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord
through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a
son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is
