Gods Sabbath

C HRIST S HOWS T HE W AY

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Him.” Matthew 27:42 (NKJV). But He absolutely refused to turn to His own works. Forsaken by humanity and apparently deserted by God, Christ fought that battle and won, even though in the end it cost Him His life. “Christ bowed His head and died, but He held fast His faith and His submission to God.” The Desire of Ages , 761.1. It was His holding fast to His submission to God that was the victory. We all need to understand the full significance of this perfect example of trust and submission, for then we will know the exact nature of the issues Jesus battled against. We will see that Christ proved forever that the only way in which God’s work can be done successfully is by absolute submission to His will and leadership. The nature of the trial through which Christ passed, and the victory He gained, should be the constant study of all of us who are preparing to be the Lord’s instruments in the final struggle against the powers of darkness. The relationship with His Father which Christ so flawlessly maintained while upon this earth was “according to his eternal purpose which he [God] accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 3:11. Therefore, it was not a special performance limited to His so journ on this earth. It began when the mystery of God was es tablished so far back in the distant recesses of eternity that it is virtually without beginning, and it will continue throughout the everlasting future. He who was equal with God in every respect accepted and adopted the position of the Son, the Receiver to whom the everlasting Father transmits the riches of life and power, so that He, in turn, could dispense all this to the crea tures and worlds making up the universe. Earthly sons have a way of growing up and casting off their submission and obedience to their fathers, but not so with Jesus. Now that He has returned to the heavenly courts, He still main tains the same submissive, obedient trusting relationship to His Father that He manifested on earth. So it must be, for it is writ ten of Him that He is “Jesus Christ ... the same yesterday and Eternally Obedient