1. As soon as man had sinned there was a Saviour
Ellen White (1827-1915): “As soon as there was sin, there was a saviour…” (1 SDA BC, p. 1084).
Ellen White: “He then made known to the angelic host that a way of escape had been made for lost man” (EW, p. 126; SR, p.42).
William Kelly (1821-1906): “…that no sooner had man turned against God through the instigation of a mightier rebel than himself, than a way of escape for man on God’s part was opened up in hope” (Stem Publishing: William Kelly: The word of God).
2. Gospel is associated with light
Ellen White: “The gospel is associated with light and life. If there were no sunlight, all vegetation would perish, and human life could not exist. Animal life would die. We are all to consider that there is to be no extravagance in any line. We must be satisfied with pure, simple food, prepared in a simple manner” (RH, August 6, 1914).
John Cumming (1807-1881): “It is remarkable, in this gospel, that life is constantly associated with light: that is a great analogy that we can discover in this world ourselves. If there were no light, all vegetation would die, all animal life would in all probability die also. I believe there are three things that man’s health is very much indebted to; that is, pure food, pure air, and pure light” (Sabbath Evening readings on the New Testament: St. John, p. 5, 1856).
3. The kingdom of grace
Ellen White (1827-1915): “The kingdom of grace was instituted immediately after the fall of man, when a plan was devised for the redemption of the guilty race. It then existed in the purpose and by the promise of God; and through faith, men could become its subjects. Yet it was not actually established until the death of Christ” (GC, pp. 347, 348).
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731): “The Devil had now gained his point; the kingdom of grace, so newly erected had been as it were extinct without a new creation [without another son Seth, the faithful]” (The History of the Devil, p. 97, 1854 [first published in 1726]).
4. Father had a struggle to let His Son to die
Ellen White (1827-1915): “Said the angel, “Think ye that the father yielded up His dearly beloved Son without a struggle?” No, no. It was even a struggle with the God of heaven”” (EW, p. 127).
Thomas Goodwin (1600-1680): “For God to overcome His own heart! Do you think it was nothing for him to put His Son to death? When Christ came to die, what a difficulty did He overcome!” (Fire and Ice: Puritan and reformed Writings: The Riches of God’s Love to His Elect).
5. Here am I, send me
Ellen White (1827-1915): “Not one of the angels could have become surety for the human race: their life is God’s; they could not surrender it. The angels wear the yoke of obedience. They are the appointed messengers of Him who is the commander of all heaven. But Christ is equal with God, infinite and omnipotent. He could pay the ransom for man’s freedom. He is the eternal, self-existing Son, on whom no yoke had come; and when God asked, “Whom shall I send?” he could reply, “Here am I, send me.” He could pledge Himself to become man’s surety; for He could say that which the highest archangel could not say, “I have power over my own life,” power to lay it down and power to take it again” (Youth’s Instructor, June 21, 1900; 12MR, p. 395).
John Ross Mac Duff (1818-1895): “Jesus, our adorable Saviour, had the yoke of no obligation laid upon Him in under taking the great work of atonement. The infinite, the Independent, the Omnipotent… Of the highest created angels it could not be said “upon which never came yoke.” They have the yoke of dependence laid upon them…They are the servants—the delegated messengers of Him. … as such, even if they had been willing for the self- sacrifice, …they could by no personal act, have surrendered their lives as a ransom for the guilty.…On Christ –The Eternal, self-existent Son, alone, had there come no yoke. He alone was free to undertake the suretyship of the fallen. When the question was propounded amid the heavenly hierarchies, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” He alone of the myriad throng was warranted to reply, “Here am I, send me.” He alone could assert, (what neither angel nor seraph could do,) “I have power over my own life: I have power to lay it down, and power to take it again”” (Memories of Olivet, pp. 92, 93, 1868).
6. His life was a preface to death
Ellen white (1827-1915): “His whole life was a preface to His death on the cross. His character was a life of obedience to all God’s commandments, and was to be a sample for all men upon the earth. His life was the living of the law in humanity” (FE, p. 382, 1923).
John Harris (1802-1856): “His whole life was only a preface to his death. Having taken a surety of all that would be required from the surety of sinners” (The Great teacher, p. 105, 1837).
7. Robe of suffering
Ellen white (1827-1915): “We should consider the fact that to Christ our nature was a robe of humiliation and suffering” (Signs of the Times, June 18, 1896).
John Harris (1802-1856): “Our nature to him, was a robe of suffering, assumed especially, that when the crisis of our redemption came, justice might find him sacrificially attired and prepared for the altar” (The Great teacher, p. 105, 1837).
8. Christ came to dispute with Satan
Ellen white (1827-1915): “Christ came to our world to dispute Satan’s sovereignty, to remove from the minds of men the false impressions that they had received of God. He came in human form, that He might come close to the fallen race, and through divine power break the hold that Satan had obtained over them” (Manuscript 33, 1911; MR 17, 1900, p. 32).
John Harris (1802-1856): “But the great object which brought Christ upon earth was to dispute that sovereignty, to re-assert the original and supreme rights of God to the alienated homage of mankind” (The Great teacher, p. 230, 1837).