Chapter 1—Western Normal Institute Address
Preview
Have you ever been asked to explain the advantages that a Christian
education has over a secular one? Would you like to know how Ellen
White would approach the subject? Near the beginning of this address
to the young people, she says, “It is the purpose of our educational
institutions to teach students how they may be partakers of the divine
nature.” At first glance this description may sound more appropriate to
one of the Oriental religions currently sweeping the world. What does
it mean to be a partaker of divine nature?
God does not wish to absorb His creatures into Himself like water
into a sponge. Instead, He wants to see them develop and grow as
individuals from their earliest years. The unique feature of Adventist
Christianity is its emphasis on God’s respect for the individual. Ellen
White reminds us that we think too narrowly about God’s sacrifice
of His own Son. It wasn’t just a matter of paying a debt for the sins
of the human family. Jesus’ life demonstrated God’s ideals for His
creatures. Jesus’ ministry focused on revealing what men and women
could become as children of God, particularly if they were taught to
respond to His grace at a young age
.
In what follows, Ellen White is optimistic about personal develop-
ment after the model of Christ. She describes the individual’s growth
process as a “plan of addition.” and she refers to God’s ability to
help us realize the goal of Christlikeness as “an eternal life insurance
policy.”
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Address
I am glad to see so many before me this morning. I desire that
every one of you shall be so related to God that everything you do here
shall be done as viewing Him who is invisible. You can keep your
minds fixed upon God. Every one of you must individually form a
character after the divine similitude.
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