1881 Watch Tower - A2Z.org

oth human and Divine, and thus became the antitype of bothpriest and sacrifice--Aaron and the beast. Not the life of thePriest, but the lower nature, as represented by the beast, wasrequired as a sacrifice. The Divine is the priest power both inJesus and all His true followers. A body was prepared for Himand He offered it. Heb. 10:5-10. We are to sacrifice our bodies.Rom. 12:1. The power by which we do this is the indwellingDivine Spirit. Rom. 8:13. Christ said He had received power orauthority of His Father to lay down His life." "Therefore dothmy Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might takeit again. No man taketh it from me [this could have no force if itreferred to His pre-existent life. No one thought of taking that.The force of the statement is sure in that while men might seemto take His life by crucifying Him, yet they were mistaken;] inreality "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself."I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.This commandment [authority or power] have I received of myFather." John 10:15-18. And when speaking of the temple of Hisbody, (which is equally true of His own person and of His body,the church, for it is Christ that raises all the dead, i.e. God inChrist, or Christ as a Divine Person) He said: "Destroy thistemple and in three days I will raise it up." John 2:19-22. "I willraise them up at the last day;" Which when applied to thechurch, is the seventh thousand from the first Adam and thethird thousand from the second Adam.Now we can see that the real crucifying power is also the savingpower, and therefore that the only way of salvation is byfollowing Christ. As the Divine is the Priest power, so when theHumanity of Christ was forsaken of that Divinity which held thehuman in His hands, it was (the writer thinks) the antitype ofAaron killing the beast; so Jesus immediately bowed His headand died.It seems certain that the sacrifice was a special preparation ofGod and in the act of sacrifice was a voluntary offering. In thisfact as well as in the ransom thus provided, we may well see theFather's love commended, "in that while we were yet sinnersChrist died for us." And as God has given us the combinedtestimony of three witnesses to the truth, let us believe in thetruth, and thanking Him for it,R198 : page 6may we be able to see also the value of Christ's example, and sofollow the Lord in sacrifice. If we are made conformable to Hisdeath we shall share in His glory.J. H. P.====================R198 : page 6