Blessed by Waggoner
Today has been a most wonderful Sabbath day for me. Having slept in my sunroom last nite, I awoke to a glorious sunrise over Lake Macquarie. Even now, as i look out at the clear blue sky and sparkling sun-kissed water, i am in awe of the majesty of God. I was also blessed to read Christ and His Righteousness by E.J. Waggoner this morning, a dynamic little book that has further opened my eyes to the love of God. The first few chapters, in particular, are an unequivocal reminder of who Christ is - the Son of God. Here is an example:
We find that God the Father is the speaker, and that He is addressing the Son, calling Him God. See Heb. 1:1-8. This name was not given to Christ in consequence of some great achievement, but it is His by right of inheritance. Speaking of the power and greatness of Christ, the writer to the Hebrews says that He is made so much better than the angels, because "He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." Heb. 1:4. A son always rightfully takes the name of the father; and Christ, as "the only begotten Son of God," has rightfully the same name.
A son, also, is, to a greater or less degree, a reproduction of the father; he has, to some extent, the features and personal characteristics of his father; not perfectly, because there is no perfect reproduction among mankind. But there is no imperfection in God, or in any of His works; and so Christ is the "express image" of the Father's person. Heb. 1:3. As the Son of the self-existent God, He has by nature all the attributes of Deity.
It is true that there are many sons of God; but Christ is the "only begotten Son of God," and therefore the Son of God in a sense in which no other being ever was or ever can be. The angels are sons of God, as was Adam (Job 38:7; Luke 3:38), by creation; Christians are the sons of God by adoption (Rom. 8:14, 15); but Christ is the Son of God by birth. Christ and His Righteousness Page 11,12
He makes it clear that Christ is begotten, not created, just as the Scriptures declare. And it gets better. My favourite part is the last few chapters from the Lord our Righteousness onwards, where Waggoner spells out that God does not adopt us as His children because we are good, but so that He can make us good. This is truly a most precious message from the Lord, just as Ellen White described it.
