The Humanity of Jesus

A Compilation of a Few Statements by E.G. White

“He could not come in the form of an angel; for unless He met man as man, and testified by His connection with God that divine power was not given to Him in a different way to what it will be given to us, He could not be a perfect example for us.”  EGW, SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, p. 925.

“Christ ascended to heaven, bearing a sanctified, holy humanity.  He took this humanity with Him into the heavenly courts, and through the eternal ages He will bear it, as the One who has redeemed every human being in the city of God.” EGW, SDA Bible Commentary, vol 6, p. 1054.

“When Jesus took human nature, and became in fashion as a man, He possessed all the human organism.  His necessities were the necessities of a man.” EGW, SDA Bible Commentary, vol.5 p. 1130.

“as He worked in childhood and youth, mind and body were developed.”  EGW, Adventist Home, p. 290.

“With deep earnestness the mother of Jesus watched the unfolding of His powers… Through the Holy Spirit she received wisdom to co-operate with the heavenly agencies in the development of this child, who could claim only God as His Father.”  Desire of Ages. P. 69

“The Saviour has bound Himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken.”  Desire of Ages, p. 25.

“To assure us of His immutable counsel of peace, God gave His only-begotten Son to become one of the human family, forever to retain His human nature.”  Desire of Ages, p. 25.

“The humanity of the Son of God is everything to us.  It is the golden chain that binds our souls to Christ, and through Christ to God.  This is to be our study.  Christ was a real man; He gave proof of His humility in becoming a man.  Yet He was God in the flesh.  When we approach this subject, we would do well to heed the words spoken by Christ to Moses at the burning bush, ‘Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.’”  EGW, Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 243-244.

“By His obedience to all the commandments of God, Christ wrought out a redemption for man.  This was not done by going out of Himself to another, but by taking humanity into Himself… Christ took human nature that men might be one with Him as He is one with the Father, that God may love man as He loves His only-begotten Son, that men may be partakers of the divine nature, and be complete in Him.” EGW, SDA Bible Commentary, vol 7, p. 927.

“From all eternity Christ was united with the Father, and when He took upon Himself human nature, He was still one with God.  He is the link that unites God with humanity.”  EGW, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 228.

“That He might accomplish His purpose of love for the fallen race, He became bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh (Romans 8:3), Divinity and humanity were mysteriously combined, and God and man became one.”  The Faith I Live By, p. 48.

“In taking upon Himself man’s nature in its fallen condition, Christ… was subject to the infirmities and weaknesses by which man is encompassed.”  EGW, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1131.

“Christ, who knew not the least taint of sin or defilement, took our nature in its deteriorated condition.”  Selected Messages, book 1, p. 256.

“Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin.”  Desire of Ages, p. 48.

“When Christ bowed his head and died, He bore the pillars of Satan’s kingdom with Him to the earth.  He vanquished Satan in the same nature over which in Eden Satan obtained the victory.  The enemy was overcome by Christ in His human nature.  The power of the Saviour’s Godhead was hidden.  He overcame in human nature, relying upon God for power.  This is the privilege of all.  In proportion to our faith will be our victory.”  EGW, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5. 1108.

“He was to take His position at the head of humanity by taking the nature but not the sinfulness of man.”  Signs of the Times, May 29, 1901.

In “identifying Himself with our needs, our weaknesses and our feelings…He was a mighty petitioner, not possessing the passions of our human, fallen natures.”  Testimonies, vol. 2, pp. 508, 509.

“He is a brother in our infirmities, but not in possessing like passions.  As the sinless One, His nature recoiled from evil.”  Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 202.

“He took upon Himself human nature, and was tempted in all points as human nature is tempted.  He could have sinned; He could have fallen, but not for one moment was there in Him an evil propensity.”  EGW, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1128.

“He took upon His sinless nature our sinful nature.”  Medical Ministry, p. 181.

“He was unsullied with corruption, a stranger to sin; yet He prayed, and that often with strong crying and tears.  He prayed for His disciples and for Himself, thus identifying Himself with our needs, our weaknesses, and our failings, which was so common with humanity.  He was a mighty petitioner, not possessing the passions of our human, fallen natures, but compassed with like infirmities, tempted in all points even as we are, Jesus endured agony which required help and support from His Father.”  Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 508.

“Christ was not in as favorable a position in the desolate wilderness to endure the temptations of Satan as was Adam when he was tempted in Eden.  The Son of God humbled Himself and took man’s nature after the race had wandered four thousand years from Eden, and from their original state of purity and uprightness.  Sin had been making its terrible marks upon the race for ages; and physical, mental, and moral degeneracy prevailed throughout the human family.

“When Adam was assailed by the tempter in Eden he was without the taint of sin.  He stood in the strength of his perfection before God.  All the organs and faculties of his being were equally developed, and harmoniously balanced.

“Christ, in the wilderness of temptation, stood in Adam’s place to bear the test he failed to endure.  Here Christ overcame in the sinner’s behalf, four thousand years after Adam turned his back upon the light of home.  Separated from the presence of God, the human family had been departing, every successive generation, farther from the original purity, wisdom, and knowledge which Adam possessed in Eden.

“Christ bore the sins and infirmities of the race as they existed when He came to the earth to help man.  In behalf of the race with the weaknesses of fallen man upon Him, He was to stand the temptations of Satan upon all points wherewith man would be assailed.”  Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 267-268.

“The Spirit was given Him without measure, for His mission on earth demanded this.  Christ’s life represents a perfect manhood.  Just that which you may be, He was in human nature.  He took our infirmities.”  EGW, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1124.

“Be careful, exceedingly careful as to how you dwell upon the human nature of Christ.  Do not set Him before the people as a man with the propensities of sin.  He is the second Adam.  The first Adam was created a pure, sinless being, without a taint of sin upon him; he was in the image of God.  He could fall, and he did fall through transgressing.  Because of sin his posterity was born with inherent propensities of disobedience.  But Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God.  He took upon Himself human nature, and was tempted in all points as human nature is tempted.  He could have sinned; He could have fallen, but not for one moment was there in Him an evil propensity.  He was assailed with temptations in the wilderness, as Adam was assailed with temptations in Eden.”  The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1131.

Avoid every question in relation to the humanity of Christ which is liable to be misunderstood.  Truth lies close to the track of presumption.  In treating upon the humanity of Christ, you need to guard strenuously every assertion, lest your words be taken to mean more than they imply, and thus you lose or dim the clear perceptions of His humanity as combined with divinity.  His birth was a miracle of God…. Never, in any way, leave the slightest impression upon human minds that a taint of, or inclination to, corruption rested upon Christ, or that He in any way yielded to corruption.”  The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, pp. 1128, 1129.

“He was tempted in all points like as man is tempted, yet He is called ‘that holy thing.’  It is a mystery that is left unexplained to mortals that Christ could be tempted in all points like as we are, and yet be without sin.  The incarnation of Christ has never been, and will ever remain, a mystery.  That which is revealed, is for us and for our children, but let every human being be warned from the ground of making Christ altogether human, such an one as ourselves; for it cannot be.”  The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, pp. 1128, 1129.