A Redeemer promised in Eden – Genesis 3:14 & 15 – ¹⁴”And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. ¹⁵And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

Hope and Promise of Redemption
But man was not abandoned to the results of the evil he had chosen. In the sentence pronounced upon Satan was given an intimation of redemption… This sentence, spoken in the hearing of our first parents, was to them a promise. Before they heard of the thorn and the thistle, of the toil and sorrow that must be their portion, or of the dust to which they must return, they listened to the words that could not fail of giving them hope. All that had been lost by yielding to Satan could be regained through Christ. This intimation also nature repeats to us. Though marred by sin, it speaks not only of creation by of redemption. Though the earth bears testimony to the curse in the evident signs of decay, it is still rich and beautiful in the tokens of life=giving power. The trees cast off their leaves, only to be robed with fresher verdure; the flowers die, to spring forth in new beauty; and in every manifestation of creative power is held out the assurance that we may be created anew in “righteousness and holiness of through: (Ephesians 4:24). Thus the very objects and operations of nature that bring so vividly to mind our great loss become to us the messengers of hope. As far as evil extends, the voice of our Father is heard, bidding His children see in its results the nature of sin, warning them to forsake the evil, and inviting them to receive the good. Ed 27

Savior to be born of a virgin. – Isaiah 7:14 – Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Birth of Christ predicted. – Isaiah 9:6 & 7 – ⁶For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Heaven’s Best and Greatest
In the Teacher sent from God, heaven gave to men its best and greatest. He who had stood in the councils of the Most High, who had dwelt in the innermost sanctuary of the Eternal, was the One chosen to reveal in person to humanity the knowledge of God. Ed 73

Savior to be born in Bethlehem. – Micah 5:2 – “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”

Christ’s First Advent Prophesied
The prophecy of Micah designated His birthplace; Daniel specified the time of His advent (Micah 5:2; Daniel 9:25). God committed these prophecies to the Jewish leaders; they were without excuse if they did not know and declare to the people that the Messiah’s coming was at hand. Their ignorance was the result of sinful neglect. The Jews were building monuments for the slain prophets of God, while by their deference to the great men of earth they were paying homage to the servants of Satan. Absorbed in their ambitious strife for place and power among men, they lost sight of the divine honors proffered them by the Kind of heaven. With profound and reverent interest, the elders of Israel should have been studying the place, the time, the circumstances, of the greatest event in the world’s history – the coming of the Son of God to accomplish the redemption of man. All the people should have been watching and waiting that they might be among the first to welcome the world’s Redeemer. But, lo, at Bethlehem two weary travelers from the hills of Nazareth traverse the whole length of the narrow street to the eastern extremity of the town, vainly seeking a place of rest and shelter for the night. No doors are open to receive them. In a wretched hovel prepared for cattle, they at least find refuge, and there the Savior of the world is born. GC 313

Luke’s record of Christ’s birth. – Luke 2:10-16 – ¹⁰Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹²And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” ¹⁵So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has  come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.

Jesus grew physically and intellectually. – Luke 2:40 – And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

At age 12, Jesus realizes His mission. – Luke 2:42-49 – ⁴²And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. ⁴³When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and his mother did not know it; ⁴⁴but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. ⁴⁵So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. ⁴⁶Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. ⁴⁸So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” ⁴⁹And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

That we may have everlasting life. – John 3:16 & 17 – 16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish by have everlasting life. 17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

To save us from sin. – Matthew 1:21 – And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

Saved From Sin
Satan was exulting that he had succeeded in debasing the image of God in humanity. Then Jesus came to restore in man the image of his maker. None but Christ can fashion anew the character that has been ruined by sin. He came to expel the demons that had controlled the will. He came to life us up from the dust, to reshape the marred character after the pattern of His divine character, and to make it beautiful with His own glory. DA 37, 38

Christ’s death predicted and described. – Isaiah 53:1-9 – ¹Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? ²For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. ³He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. ⁴Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. ⁶All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every on, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. ⁷He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and was a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. ⁸He was taken from prison from prison and from judgement, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people, He was stricken. ⁹And they made His grave with the wicked – but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Truly Seeing Jesus
When we see Jesus, a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief, working to save the lost, slighted, scorned, derided, driven from city to city till His mission was accomplished; when we behold Him in Gethsemane, seating great drops of bleed, and on the cross dying in agony – when we see this, self will no longer clamor to be recognized. DA 439

Love and Sacrifice
It was to redeem us that Jesus lived and suffered and died. He became “a Man of Sorrows,” that we might be made partakers of everlasting joy. God permitted His beloved Son, full of grace and truth, to come from a world of indescribable glory, to a world marred and blighted with sin, darkened with the shadow of death and the curse. He permitted Him to leave the bosom of His love, the adoration of the angels, to suffer shame, insult, humiliation, hatred, and death. “The chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Behold Him in the wilderness, in Gethsemane, upon the cross! The spotless Son of God took upon Himself the burden of sin. He who had been one with God, felt in His soul the awful separation that sin makes between God and man. This wrung from His lips the anguished cry, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). It was the burden of sin, the sense of its terrible enormity, of it separation of the soul from God – it was this that broke the heart of the Son of God. But this great sacrifice was not made in order to create in the Father’s heart a love for man, not to make Him willing to save. No, no! “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). The Father loves us, not because of the great propitiation, but He provided the propitiation because He loved us. SC 13

From love for us, Jesus gave His life for us. – 1 John 3:16 – By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Jesus dies on the cross. – John 19:28-30 – ²⁸After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” ²⁹Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. ³⁰So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

The Universe Forever Secure
Well, then, might the angels rejoice as they looked upon the Savior’s cross; for though they did not then understand all, they knew that the destruction of sin and Satan was forever made forever made certain, that the redemption of man was assured, and that the universe was made eternally secure. Christ Himself fully comprehended the results of the sacrifice made upon Calvary. To all these He looked forward when upon the cross He cried out, “It is finished.” DA 764

Jesus is resurrected. – Matthew 28:5-8 – ⁵But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. ⁷And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” ⁸So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring His disciples word.

At Last, Victory Over Sin and Death
Christ arose from the dead as the first fruits of those that slept. He was the antitype of the wave sheaf, and His resurrection took place on the very day when the wave sheaf was to be presented before the Lord. For more than a thousand years this symbolic ceremony had been performed. From the harvest fields the first heads of ripened grain were gathered, and when the people went up to Jerusalem to the Passover, the sheaf of the first fruits was waved as a thank offering before the Lord. Not until this was presented could the sickle be put to the grain, and it be gathered into sheaves. The sheaf dedicated to God represented the harvest. So, Christ the first fruits represented the great spiritual harvest to be gathered for the kingdom of God. His resurrection is the type and pledge of the resurrection of all the righteous dead… During His ministry, Jesus had raised the dead to life… But these were not clothed with immortality. After they we raised, they were still subject to death. But those who came forth from the grave at Christ’s resurrection were raised to everlasting life. They ascended with Him as trophies of His victory over death and the grave. These, said Christ, are no longer the captives of Satan; I have redeemed them. I have brought them from the g reave as the first fruits of My power, to be with Me where I am, nevermore to see death or experience sorrow… To the believer, death is but a small matter. Christ speaks of it as if it were of little moment… To the Christian, death is but a sleep, a moment of silence and darkness… At the Savior’s resurrection a few graves were opened, but at His second coming all the precious dead shall hear His voice, and shall come forth to glorious, immortal life. DA 785-787