March 17, 2022 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Ted N.C. Wilson, President, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Greetings, friends. Today we will be talking about our Savior, Jesus Christ, once again. For you see, He is the central focus of Scripture and history, and is also the central focus of Seventh-day Adventist doctrines and experience.
There is so much that could be said about our precious Savior, but today we will be focusing specifically on our Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Belief #9—”The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Friends, this belief is at the very heart of Christianity. It is because of Christ’s life on this Earth, His cruel death on the cross, and His glorious resurrection from the dead that we have the hope of salvation.
In the beginning, when God created Adam and Eve, they were perfect. Sadly, however, when they chose to disobey God, this world was plunged into sin and sorrow. But thankfully, God had already devised a plan to save them, and that plan was revealed to them as God spoke these words to the serpent, Satan, as recorded in Genesis 3:15—”And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
This was a beautiful promise that God the Son, Jesus Christ, would one day come to this Earth, be born of a virgin and would take on our humanity. He would die in our place, taking the penalty of sin for us on Himself and die a cruel death on the cross, so we could be reconciled to God. Jesus was willing to be our substitute, suffering the condemnation that should have been ours so that we could be set free from sin and live forever with Him.
Christ’s amazing sacrifice is described beautifully in the book, The Great Controversy, p. 651:
“The cross of Christ will be the science and the song of the redeemed through all eternity. In Christ glorified they will behold Christ crucified. Never will it be forgotten that He whose power created and upheld the unnumbered worlds through the vast realms of space, the Beloved of God, the Majesty of heaven, He whom cherub and shining seraph delighted to adore—humbled Himself to uplift fallen man; that He bore the guilt and shame of sin, and the hiding of His Father’s face, till the woes of a lost world broke His heart and crushed out His life on Calvary’s cross” (The Great Controversy, p. 651).
And Christ was not alone in this great sacrifice. We are told in that beautiful passage found in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
God gave the incredible gift of His dear Son so that you and I might have eternal life. But we must accept the gift and allow Him to change our hearts to be like Him. For you see, not only did Jesus die for us, but He also lived a sinless life of love so we could have an example to live by. His life, death, and resurrection made way for our salvation and shows us what love really looks like.
Our Fundamental Belief #9 (Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Belief #9—”The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.”) explains it this way:
“In Christ’s life of perfect obedience to God’s will, His suffering, death, and resurrection, God provided the only means of atonement for human sin, so that those who by faith accept this atonement may have eternal life, and the whole creation may better understand the infinite and holy love of the Creator. This perfect atonement vindicates the righteousness of God’s law and the graciousness of His character; for it both condemns our sin and provides for our forgiveness. The death of Christ is substitutionary and expiatory, reconciling and transforming. The bodily resurrection of Christ proclaims God’s triumph over the forces of evil, and for those who accept the atonement assures their final victory over sin and death. It declares the Lordship of Jesus Christ, before whom every knee in heaven and on earth will bow.”
Friends, what an amazing, incredible God we serve! This God who has provided a way for our salvation! The Apostle Paul put it succinctly when he wrote, “For since by man came death, by Man (that is, Jesus) also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:21, 22).
This subject is so rich and so deep, we will be studying it throughout eternity! However, if you would like to learn more now about the incredible life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I encourage you to visit the URL given at the bottom of the screen [www.adventist.org/life-death-and-resurrection-of-christ/].
I also recommend reading an amazing book on the life of Christ, The Desire of Ages, written by Ellen G. White. You will be wonderfully blessed as you read this beautiful book, available free at egwwritings.org.
Friend, if you have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, I invite you to do so right now. There is no better time to do this than this very moment. Or perhaps you once knew Him but have since drifted away. He is waiting for you right now, with forgiveness freely available to all who come. Now is the time to come to Him–the One who loves you, Who died to save you, Who lives again to restore you, and is coming back very soon to take us home to live with Him forever.
I invite you to join me as we pray to Him just now. Father in heaven. Thank you for sending Jesus our Savior, our Creator, our Redeemer. To not only save us from our sins, but to bring us into a right relationship with you and restore the image of God in us. We thank you for this wonderful plan of salvation. We thank you for the righteousness of Christ is justifying and sanctifying righteousness. Thank you that the Godhead, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit decided this momentous plan of salvation even before the foundation of this Earth. Thank you for the gift of Jesus and for His identification with us throughout eternity, as fully divine and fully human what a wonderful God we serve. Thank you for providing us with this eternal connection through Jesus. And we ask all of this in the name of our wonderful Savior, the one who has made all of this possible for us. Jesus Christ. Amen.