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The Truth About Angels
earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows
and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.—
The
Desire of Ages, 48, 49
.
[157]
As God, Christ could not be tempted any more than He was not
tempted from His allegiance in heaven. But as Christ humbled Himself
to the nature of man, He could be tempted. He had not taken on Him
even the nature of the angels, but humanity, perfectly identical with
our own nature, except without the taint of sin. A human body, a
human mind, with all the peculiar properties, He was bone, brain, and
muscle. A man of our flesh, He was compassed with the weakness
of humanity. The circumstances of His life were of that character
that He was exposed to all the inconveniences that belong to men, not
in wealth, not in ease, but in poverty and want and humiliation. He
breathed the very air man must breathe. He trod our earth as man. He
had reason, conscience, memory, will, and affections of the human
soul which was united with His divine nature.—
Manuscript Releases
16:181, 182
.
In the Child of Bethlehem was veiled the glory before which angels
bow. This unconscious babe was the promised seed, to whom the first
altar at the gate of Eden pointed.—
The Desire of Ages, 52
.
The Annunciation
Before His [Christ’s] birth the angel had said to Mary, “He shall
be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God
shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign
over the house of Jacob forever.”
Luke 1:32, 33
. These words Mary
had pondered in her heart; yet while she believed that her child was
to be Israel’s Messiah, she did not comprehend His mission.—
The
Desire of Ages, 81, 82
.
[158]
Angels behold the weary travelers, Joseph and Mary, making their
way to the city of David, to be taxed, according to the decree of Caesar
Augustus. Here, in the providence of God, Joseph and Mary had been
brought; for this was the place prophecy had predicted that Christ
should be born. They seek a place of rest at the inn, but are turned
away because there is no room. The wealthy and honorable have been
welcomed, and find refreshment and room, while these weary travelers