Editor’s Note: Below is a transcript of a message, posted to YouTube on February 10, 2022, from President of the Adventist Church, Ted N.C. Wilson. You can see past messages here
Hello, friends! Today we will continue our study regarding God the Son. As you may remember, we are looking at the Fundamental Beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. All of these beliefs are based on the Bible. In our previous video, we read Belief #4, titled "God the Son" in full, but if you would like to review it, or if you have not yet heard it, I encourage you to look it up at adventist.org/beliefs.
So far, we have looked at Bible passages confirming that God the Son, who is part of the Godhead, has existed from eternity. His mission of salvation was established before the world was created, and His birth and mission were foretold in Bible prophecy.
The Bible, in Galatians 4:4, reveals that God sent His Son to earth in "the fullness of the time," and when Jesus began His earthly ministry, He proclaimed, as recorded in Mark 1:15, that "The time is fulfilled."
These texts reveal Christ's life was in harmony with earlier prophecies. More than five centuries earlier, through Daniel, God prophesied the exact time of the beginning of Christ's ministry and the time of His death. We will explore that prophecy more fully in another video, but if you would like to read the prophecy, you will find it in Daniel, chapter 9.
Prophecy also gives specific details regarding His death and resurrection. Perhaps one of the most poignant chapters in all of Scripture is Isaiah 53. In this passage, the prophet Isaiah describes Christ's sacrifice, where beginning in verse 3 we read:
"He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed" (vss. 3-5).
Going further, the prophet explains in verse 6, "the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all", and in verses 7 and 8 he describes Christ's trial: "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment . . . He was cut off from the land of the living." Verses 9 and 10 foretell how Christ would die with the wicked and would be buried with the rich, indicating that His body would be laid in the tomb of a wealthy man.
Other amazing prophecies give further details: Psalm 41:9 indicates Christ would be betrayed by a close friend, and Zechariah 11:12 specifically states Jesus would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver and in chapter 10:20 the prophet indicates Christ's side would be pierced.
We read in Isaiah 50:6 that the Messiah would be beaten and spat upon during His trial. The Psalmist mentions in Psalm 22:18 that those who executed Him would gamble for His clothes, and in Psalm 34:20 we read that none of His bones would be broken.
The Bible predicted not only the Savior’s death but also His resurrection. In his sermon recorded in Acts 2:31=, the apostle Peter referred to David's prophecy recorded in Psalm 16:10, stating that "His soul was not left in Hades," (another word for "the grave"), nor did His flesh see corruption." Peter then goes on to state in verse 32, "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses."
Paul confirms there were many witnesses to the resurrected Christ, stating in
1 Corinthians 15:3-7:
"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas," (another name for Peter), "then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once . . . after that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles."
These prophecies and testimonies are just some of many indicating how Christ would come to this Earth, die for our sins, and be resurrected triumphantly!
There is so much to study regarding God the Son that we cannot possibly cover it all here. However, many of our Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Beliefs delve further into various aspects of God the Son, and in future videos we will be looking further into who He is, what He is doing for us today, and what we can look forward to in the future. Some of these topics include: "The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Christ," "The Experience of Salvation," "Growing in Christ," "Unity in the Body of Christ," "Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary, and "The Second Coming of Christ."
As you can see, God the Son, Jesus Christ, is central to who we are and what we believe as Seventh-day Adventists. For as the apostle Paul boldly stated centuries ago: "For in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).
As we contemplate who God the Son is, and all He has done for us, I would like to share with you a beautiful thought from that incredible book on the life of Christ, The Desire of Ages. On page 24, the inspired author writes:
"Since Jesus came to dwell with us, we know that God is acquainted with our trials, and sympathizes with our griefs. Every son and daughter of Adam may understand that our Creator is the friend of sinners. For in every doctrine of grace, every promise of joy, every deed of love, every divine attraction presented in the Saviour’s life on earth, we see 'God with us.' . . . By His humanity, Christ touched humanity; by His divinity, He lays hold upon the throne of God. As the Son of man, He gave us an example of obedience; as the Son of God, He gives us power to obey."
Let's pray to Him and thank Him just now. Father in Heaven, thank you for sending Christ, our Redeemer, our Powerful Advocate, the One who is making a way of escape plain for each of us, through his life, death, and resurrection. Now Lord, we place ourselves in your care and through the grace and blood of Jesus Christ, we ask that You will give us eternal life and give us a fuller experience right now, as we share with others this magnificent plan of salvation. Thank you for hearing us. In Jesus name we ask it, amen.