Gospel Truth #5
In seeking us, Christ came all the way to where we are, taking upon Himself "the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Thus He is a Savior "nigh at hand, not afar off." He "is the Savior of all men," even "the chief of sinners." But sinners have the freedom to refuse Him and reject Him.
Jones sees the love of God in the Incarnation as a powerful truth to motivate the heart.
"The choice to glorify God is the choice that self shall be emptied and lost, and God alone shall be seen, through Jesus Christ. It is that the whole universe and everything in it shall reflect God. That is the privilege that God has set before every human being. What did it cost to bring that privilege to you and me? It cost the infinite price of the Son of God.
"Did Jesus come to this world and then go back as He was before, and thus His sacrifice be for only 33 years? The answer is that it was for all eternity. The Father gave up His Son to us, and Christ gave up Himself for all eternity. Never again will He be in all respects as He was before.
"'He who was one with God has linked Himself with the children of men by ties that are never to be broken.' Wherein did He link Himself with us?—In our flesh; in our nature. That is the sacrifice that wins the hearts of men. Many look upon it, that the sacrifice of Christ was for only 33 years, then He died the death on the cross and went back as He was before. In view of eternity before and after, 33 years is not an infinite sacrifice at all. But when we consider that He sank his nature in our human nature to all eternity,—that is a sacrifice. That is the love of God. And no heart can reason against it. Whether the man believes it or not, there is a subduing power in it, and the heart must stand in silence in the presence of that awful truth. I will say it over: ever since that blessed fact came to me that the sacrifice of the Son of God is an eternal sacrifice, and all for me, the word has been upon my mind almost hourly: 'I will go softly before the Lord all my days'" (General Conference Bulletin, 1895, pp. 381, 382, condensed). (Waggoner Sees Practical Godliness in this Truth)