Christ Is Reinstated in His Former Glory—His Omnipresent Spirit Is With Us
He was God while upon earth, but he divested himself of the form of God, and in its stead took the form and fashion of a man….He laid aside his glory and his majesty. He was God, but the glories of the form of God he for a while relinquished (abandoned). — {RH July 5, 1887, par. 4} (5LtMs, Lt 11, 1887, par. 16)
Christ's ascension to heaven, amid a cloud of heavenly angels, glorified Him. His concealed glory shone forth with all the brightness that mortal man could endure and live. He came to our world as a man; He ascended to His heavenly home as God….Thus the prayer of Christ was answered. He was glorified with the glory which He had with His Father before the world was….Glory encircles the King of heaven, and was beheld by all the heavenly intelligences. No words can describe the scene which took place as the Son of God was publicly reinstated in the place of honor and glory which He voluntarily left when He became a man. — {ST May 10, 1899, par. 17}
When Christ entered within the heavenly gates, He was enthroned, amid the songs of millions of angels. As soon as this ceremony was completed, the Holy Spirit descended upon His followers in rich currents according to Christ's promise, and they were no more orphans. How quickly Christ fulfilled His promise, and sent from the heavenly courts the guarantee of His love! After His inauguration, the Spirit came and Christ was indeed glorified, even with the glory which He had from all eternity with the Father. During His humiliation upon this earth, the Spirit had not descended with all its efficacy; and Christ declared that if He went not away, it would not come, but that if He went away, He would send it. It was a representation of Himself, and after He was glorified it was manifest. — {ST May 17, 1899, par. 3}
The greatness of God cannot be measured or comprehended. And that doctrine that denies the absolute Godhead of Jesus Christ, denies also the Godhead of the Father; for no man knoweth the Son but the Father…. The sufferings of Christ for the redemption of a fallen race were a necessity, and his exaltation is a part of the plan by which his chosen shall at last behold his full and inexpressible glory. Our Lord Jesus Christ could not have become the Redeemer unless he had first been the Sacrifice. How precious is it to contemplate the faithfulness of God to his promises! After his humiliation, suffering, and death, the Son of God steps back to the position of his former glory, and is one with the Father in power and dominion. — {ST June 27, 1895, par. 5}
In giving His commission to His followers, Christ did not tell them they would be left alone. He assured them that He would be near them. He spoke of His Omnipresence in a special way. Go to all nations, He said. Go, to the farthest portion of the habitable globe, but know that My presence will be there. Labor in faith and confidence, for the time will never come when I shall forsake you….The assurance of His abiding presence was the richest legacy Christ could give His disciples. Having the High Priest of our profession close by our side, we need not imperil our souls by opening the secrets of our hearts to priest or minister. In all confidence we may open our heart to the head over all the church….The Lord’s full favor comes to those who seek Him with the whole heart, and are willing to follow Him in doing God’s will, enthroning Christ in the heart, planting His attributes deep in the life practice. — {12LtMs, Ms 138, 1897}
Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally; therefore it was altogether for their advantage that He should leave them, go to His Father, and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is Himself, divested of the personality of humanity, and independent thereof. He would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit, as the Omnipresent. — {10LtMs, Lt 119, 1895, par. 18}
“I will pray the Father, and he shall send you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” [Verses 16, 17.] This refers to the omnipresence of the Spirit of Christ, called the Comforter. Again Jesus says, “I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth.” [John 16:12, 13.] — {7LtMs, Lt 7, 1891, par. 14}
The Lord is looking upon every individual; He is omnipresent. His eye reads the heart. — {7LtMs, Lt 18, 1891, par. 15}
Christ was the foundation of the entire Jewish economy….An all-powerful and omnipresent Providence is revealed in their entire history. — {9LtMs, Lt 26, 1894, par. 12}
The Holy Spirit, which proceeds from the only begotten Son of God, binds the human agent, body, soul, and spirit, to the perfect, divine-human nature of Christ. This union is represented by the union of the vine and the branches. Finite man is united to the manhood of Christ. Through faith human nature is assimilated with Christ's nature. We are made one with God in Christ. — {RH April 5, 1906, par. 16}