MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
November 12, 2025
God’s Purposes Revealed by Inspiration
THE PURPOSE OF THE CREATOR’S INCARNATION IN THE ‘GREAT MYSTERY OF GODLINESS’ – Part 2
THAT FALLEN MEN MIGHT KNOW HOW DEEP GOD’S LOVE IS FOR SUFFERING HUMANITY
“For unto the angels hath He [the Father] not put into subjection the world to come [the earth made new] whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that Thou visitest him? Thou madest Him a little lower than angels; Thou crownest Him with glory and honor.” Heb. 2: 5-7, A. V.
M. L. Andreasen, in his scholarly work, The Book of Hebrews, Review & Herald Publishing Asso. 1948, wrote, and I quote (all emphasis mine):
“Christ is here presented as being lower than the angels, though crowned with glory and honor. He is shown to be VERY MAN, as truly as in the first chapter [Heb. 1: 1-14] He was shown to be VERY GOD. His HUMANITY ENABLES HIM TO BE THE HIGH PRIEST [thus, Advocate, Intercessor, and Mediator] men need.
“It is an ever-present source of comfort to the Christian to know that Christ understands our sorrows and perplexities, and sympathizes with us. IF CHRIST HAD NOT BECOME A MAN [by His incarnation—‘the great mystery of godliness”], the question might have easily arisen, HOW CAN WE KNOW THAT GOD LOVES AND CARES FOR US when He never experienced the trials we encounter, has never been poor or forsaken, and has never known what it is to be alone and face an unknown future? He asks us to ‘be faithful unto death, but He has never faced the [life-and-death] issues we face. IF He were one OF us and one WITH us, He would know HOW HARD it is to meet certain trials [and ‘the sins that so easily beset us.’ Heb. 12:1]. BUT IF HE HAS NEVER BEEN A MAN, does He really know all our sorrows, and can sympathize with us when we stray?
“To this we unhesitatingly answer that God, AS GOD, DOES KNOW, and that it was not for His sake, but for OUR sake that He suffered and died [in His adopted human nature]. WE NEEDED THE DEMONSTRATION that Christ came to give, OR WE WOULD HAVE NEVER KNOWN THE DEEP LOVE OF GOD FOR SUFFERING HUMANITY; nor would we have known the SUFFERING WHICH SIN has brought to the heart of God!
[Quoting E. G. White]:
“All heaven suffered in Christ’s agony; but that SUFFERING DID NOT BEGIN OR END WITH HIS MANIFESTATION IN HUMANITY. The cross is a revelation of our DULL SENSES OF THE PAIN that from its very inception, SIN has brought to the heart of God.’ (Education, p. 263).” pp. 88-90.
I encourage all to prayerfully read and contemplate Isaiah chapter 53, and compare it with Acts 8: 26-40.
To be continued next MWM, God willing. Bless all, NMF.