Back to top

Sabbath Bible Lessons

The Plan of Redemption and the Sanctuary Service

 <<    >> 
Lesson 13 Sabbath, March 26, 2011

Christ’s Preexistence

“O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was” (John 17:5).

“Christ was indeed glorified, even with the glory which He had with the Father from all eternity.”—The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 38, 39.

Suggested Readings:   Evangelism, pp. 615, 616
  Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 247. 
  The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 38, 39

Sunday March 20

1. HE WAS BEFORE ALL THINGS

a. How does the Bible refute the claim that Christ did not exist before His birth in Bethlehem? John 8:58; 17:5, 24.

“While God’s Word speaks of the humanity of Christ when upon this earth, it also speaks decidedly regarding His preexistence. The Word existed as a divine being, even as the eternal Son of God, in union and oneness with His Father.”—Lift Him Up, p. 16.

b. Who was the Creator of all things? John 1:1–3; Colossians 1:13–17; Hebrews 1:2, 8–10.

“If Christ made all things, He existed before all things. The words spoken in regard to this are so decisive that no one need be left in doubt. Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. He was with God from all eternity, God over all, blessed forevermore.”—Ibid.

“Christ is the preexistent, self-existent Son of God. . . . In speaking of His preexistence, Christ carries the mind back through dateless ages. He assures us that there never was a time when He was not in close fellowship with the eternal God.”—The Faith I Live By, p. 46.


Monday March 21

2. HE WROUGHT THE DELIVERANCE FROM EGYPT

a. What deeply influential relationship did Christ have with Moses? Exodus 3:2–8; Hebrews 11:24–27.

“The burning bush, in which God appeared to Moses, revealed Christ. There is living truth in this spectacle. In mercy God was about to deliver His people from Egyptian bondage; and He appeared to Moses, telling him that he had been selected as the visible leader of God‘s people. . . .

“He who sees the end from the beginning, watched over and guarded His servant. God transferred Moses from the courts of luxury, where his every wish was gratified, to a more private school. Here the Lord could commune with Moses, and so educate him that he would obtain a knowledge of the hardships, trials, and perils of the wilderness. He gave him sheep to care for, that he might become qualified to be the shepherd of God’s people.”—The Youth’s Instructor, December 13, 1900.

b. Who was the Angel from whom Moses received the moral law (Exodus 20:3–17) to be given to the Hebrews and to us? Malachi 3:1; Acts 7:37, 38.

“Christ was not only the leader of the Hebrews in the wilderness—the Angel in whom was the name of Jehovah, and who, veiled in the cloudy pillar, went before the host—but it was He who gave the law to Israel. Amid the awful glory of Sinai, Christ declared in the hearing of all the people the ten precepts of His Father’s law. It was He who gave to Moses the law engraved upon the tables of stone.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 366.

“When the law was spoken, the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth, stood by the side of His Son, enshrouded in the fire and the smoke on the mount. It was not here that the law was first given; but it was proclaimed, that the children of Israel, whose ideas had become confused in their association with idolaters in Egypt, might be reminded of its terms, and understand what constitutes the true worship of Jehovah.”—The SDA Bible Commentary [E. G. White Comments], vol. 1, pp. 1103, 1104.

“The ten holy precepts spoken by Christ upon Sinai’s mount were the revelation of the character of God, and made known to the world the fact that He had jurisdiction over the whole human heritage.”—Ibid., p. 1105.


Tuesday March 22

3. HE LED ISRAEL THROUGH THE DESERT

a. How was Christ involved in leading the people of Israel through the desert? Exodus 23:20–23; 32:34; 1 Corinthians 10:4.

“Shrouded in the pillar of cloud, the world’s Redeemer held communion with Israel. Let us not say, then, that they had not Christ. When the people thirsted in the wilderness and gave themselves up to murmuring and complaint, Christ was to them what He is to us—a Saviour full of tender compassion, the Mediator between them and God.”—The SDA Bible Commentary [E. G. White Comments], vol. 6, p. 1061.

b. Whom did the Israelites tempt and provoke during the wilderness pilgrimage? Psalm 78:18, 56; 1 Corinthians 10:9.

“Moses smote the rock, but it was Christ who stood by him and caused the water to flow from the flinty rock. The people tempted the Lord in their thirst, and said, If God has brought us out here, why does He not give us water, as well as bread. That if showed criminal unbelief and made Moses afraid that God would punish them for their wicked murmurings. The Lord tested the faith of His people, but they did not endure the trial. They murmured for food and for water, and complained of Moses. Because of their unbelief, God suffered their enemies to make war with them, that He might manifest to His people from whence cometh their strength.”—The Story of Redemption, pp. 132, 133.

“One equal with God, His only begotten Son, carried out His Father’s mind in the deliverance of the Israelites. God had promised Moses, ‘My presence shall go with thee,’ and He fulfilled this promise by giving Christ to be the invisible Leader of His people, while Moses was chosen to be their visible general. Christ guided them in their travels through the wilderness, indicating where they should encamp. Through Moses He communicated His will and purpose to more than a million people. Through 40 years of wilderness-wandering He was their instructor.”—Manuscript Releases, vol. 13, pp. 185, 186.


Wednesday March 23

4. HE SPOKE THROUGH THE PROPHETS

a. Describe Christ’s relationship with Noah, a mouthpiece who preached the Gospel to the “spirits in prison” that were “dead” in trespasses and sins. 1 Peter 3:18–20; 4:6.

“ ‘The Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil’ (1 John 3:8). Christ was engaged in this warfare in Noah’s day. It was His voice that spoke to the inhabitants of the old world in messages of warning, reproof, and invitation.”—The SDA Bible Commentary [E. G. White Comments], vol. 1, pp. 1088, 1089.

b. Describe Christ’s relationship with other Old Testament prophets, such as David (Psalms 22:7, 8; 40:6–8; 110:1), Isaiah (chapter 53), and Jeremiah (31:33, 34). 1 Peter 1:9–11.

“Since the sin of our first parents there has been no direct communication between God and man. The Father has given the world into the hands of Christ, that through His mediatorial work He may redeem man and vindicate the authority and holiness of the law of God. All the communion between heaven and the fallen race has been through Christ. It was the Son of God that gave to our first parents the promise of redemption. It was He who revealed Himself to the patriarchs. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses understood the gospel. They looked for salvation through man’s Substitute and Surety. These holy men of old held communion with the Saviour who was to come to our world in human flesh; and some of them talked with Christ and heavenly angels face to face. . . .

“It was Christ that spoke to His people through the prophets.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 366.

“The ceremonial law was given by Christ. . . .

“Jesus was the light of His people—the Light of the world—before He came to earth in the form of humanity. The first gleam of light that pierced the gloom in which sin had wrapped the world came from Christ. And from Him has come every ray of heaven’s brightness that has fallen upon the inhabitants of the earth. In the plan of redemption Christ is the Alpha and the Omega—the First and the Last.”—Ibid., p. 367.


Thursday March 24

5. HE IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE

a. Describe the experience of Simeon as he held the infant Jesus in his arms. Luke 2:25–33.

“Simeon had lived in the atmosphere of heaven. The bright beams of the Sun of righteousness gave him spiritual discernment.”—The SDA Bible Commentary [E. G. White Comments], vol. 5, p. 1116.

b. Why were the other priests unable to recognize Jesus as the promised Saviour? John 9:40, 41.

“God could not manifest His glory and power to His people through a corrupt priesthood. The set time to favor His people had come. The faith of the Jews had become clouded, in consequence of their departure from God. Many of the leaders of the people brought in their own traditions, and enforced them upon the Jews, as the commandments of God.”—Ibid.

c. How does the Bible describe the Son of God as the source of life? John 1:4; 10:10 (last part).

d. What assurance is given to all who die as faithful followers of Christ? John 11:25.

“In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived. . . . The divinity of Christ is the believer’s assurance of eternal life.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 530.


Friday March 25

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Quote at least one verse saying that Christ made all things.

2. How can you show that the law of Ten Commandments, given “unto us” (Acts 7:38), was received from the hands of Christ?

3. Describe Christ’s leading the Israelites in the wilderness.

4. Give examples showing that Christ spoke through the prophets.

5. Why did only a few in number recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah?

 <<    >>