Sabbath School

Adult Sabbath School Bible study guide.

According to 1 John 4:1–3, the test of belief in Jesus’ incarnation would quickly rule out people who claim to be prophets from other major world religions, or from those who claim to connect to the spiritual realm without subscribing to a particular religion. If a person “does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh,” that person “is not of God” (1 John 4:3, NKJV).

When John wrote these verses, he was thinking of false teachers who were teaching that Jesus was not a human being, but merely appeared to be human. This test, however, goes further. It is not saying only that a prophet should agree that Jesus was a real person who lived on earth. Most Christians believe this about Jesus. John was dealing with a very specific issue at the time; however, John’s prophetic words, though needed for a particular circumstance, still contain important truths for later generations, as well.

What do the following verses tell us about Jesus? John 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:21; John 11:25; Heb. 4:14, 15; John 14:1–3.

True prophets must believe that Jesus was God incarnate yet truly a human being. They must also embrace the complete truth about Jesus—His mission, sinless life, atoning death, resurrection, and high-priestly ministry in heaven, as well as His second coming. This is more than an intellectual agreement that Jesus lived on earth. Jesus must be the center of a prophet’s teachings and not just something added on. His or her messages should lead people to a saving relationship with Jesus.

The Holy Spirit–inspired prophetic word is God’s spotlight, dispelling the darkness in us until Jesus, the Morning Star, dawns in our hearts, and the prophetic gift unites us with Him and continually points us to Him.

Prophets who are uplifting Jesus will not try to create their own following or promote themselves (Acts 4:12). They will be ready to serve and not to take advantage of those to whom they have been sent. At the same time, as we will see tomorrow, God’s prophets were human beings and, like the rest of us, sinners who needed the gospel.

Jesus, fully God, died as our Substitute, bearing the penalty for our sins. Why is understanding this so central to our faith? What do we lose if we lose that teaching?

Supplemental EGW Notes

The incarnation of Christ is the mystery of all mysteries. Christ was one with the Father, yet. . . He was willing to step down from the exaltation of one who was equal with God. That He might accomplish His purpose of love for the fallen race, He became bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. How wide is the contrast between the divinity of Christ and the helpless infant in Bethlehem’s manger! How can we span the distance between the mighty God and a helpless child? And yet the Creator of worlds, He in whom was the fullness of the Godhead bodily, was manifest in the helpless babe in the manger. Far higher than any of the angels, equal with the Father in dignity and glory, and yet wearing the garb of humanity! Divinity and humanity were mysteriously combined, and man and God became one. It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man’s nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life. Those who claim that it was not possible for Christ to sin, cannot believe that He really took upon Himself human nature. But was not Christ actually tempted, not only by Satan in the wilderness, but all through His life, from childhood to manhood? Our Saviour took humanity, with all its liabilities. He took the nature of man, with the possibility of yielding to temptation. We have nothing to bear which He has not endured.—The Faith I Live By, p. 48.

His divine life could not be reckoned by human computation. The existence of Christ before His incarnation is not measured by figures. Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. He was with God from all eternity, God over all, blessed forevermore. The Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, existed from eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father. He was the surpassing glory of heaven. He was the commander of the heavenly intelligences, and the adoring homage of the angels was received by Him as His right. He was equal with God, infinite and omnipotent.—The Faith I Live By, p. 46.\

The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.