[This article appeared in The Youth’s Instructor, August 4, 1898.]
(1SM 301)
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VC
“I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25). He who had said, “I lay down my life, that I might take it again” (John 10:17), came forth from the grave to life that was in Himself. Humanity died; divinity did not die. In His divinity, Christ possessed the power to break the bonds of death. He declares that He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will.
(1SM 301.1)
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All created beings live by the will and power of God. They are recipients of the life of the Son of God. However able and talented, however large their capacities, they are replenished with life from the Source of all life. He is the spring, the fountain, of life. Only He who alone hath immortality, dwelling in light and life, could say, “I have power to lay it [my life] down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:18).
(1SM 301.2)
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The words of Christ, “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25), were distinctly heard by the Roman guard. The whole army of Satan heard them. And we understand them when we hear. Christ had come to give His life a ransom for many. As the Good Shepherd, He had laid down His life for the sheep. It was the righteousness of God to maintain His law by inflicting the penalty. This was the only way in which the law could be maintained, and pronounced holy, and just, and good. It was the only way by which sin could be made to appear exceeding sinful, and the honor and majesty of divine authority be maintained.
(1SM 301.3)
MC
VC