Was Jesus a volunteer?

Jerry Thomas states in your December 2005 issue (“How God Became One of Us”) that “Jesus volunteered to make this sacrifice. He could have stayed at His Father’s side in the glory of heaven. . . . Instead, He chose to step down from the throne of the universe to bring light and life to a dark world.” I notice that Mr. Thomas did not give a biblical reference to support the view that Jesus volunteered to come to this world. John 7:28 says, “I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true” (KJV).

Donald Robertson, Rock Hill, South Carolina

Editor’s response: To be sent doesn’t necessarily mean “forced to go.” If a supervisor tells a group of employees that he needs a volunteer to represent him at a conference, the person who agrees to go would still be considered at the conference to have been sent by the company. Hebrews 7:27 says that Jesus “offered himself” for the sins of the people—He volunteered.

Correction, please!

I found a grave error in your answer (December 2005) to the question of who were the “sons of God that saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” You stated that they were “most likely males of the human race, followers of the true God, who made the unfortunate mistake of marrying ‘outside the faith.’ ” However, they were not of the human race. Please read Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4. Jude says that these “sons of God” were the fallen angels that Satan persuaded to cohabit with women and who were confined immediately because of the gross nature of that sin.

Carrousel Besterci, Waynesboro, Virginia

Editor’s response: Jude 6 does talk about the fallen angels, and it says that they were “kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment.” However, their sin was that they “did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home.” There is no mention of their having copulated with human females. Second Peter 2:4 is even less specific. It says that these evil angels sinned, but it doesn’t say what their sin was.

Changed by a picture

Mr. Martin Mato’s short article “Picture Lesson” (February 2006) touched me. I, too, was struck by the photo (of a tiny Sudanese girl lying face-down on the ground, awaiting death) that he says turned him from a “Wait, Lord” feeling about the Second Advent to “I’m ready to go home, Lord.” The photographer of that haunting picture killed himself a few years later. Apparently, he didn’t see much worth in life in a world in which pain and suffering abound. I can only think of how different it might have been had he had a belief in the coming of a God who will forever wipe away all death and heartache.

Pastor Kevin James, email

Jesus’ long hair revisited

Regarding your response to a question about pictures of Jesus with long hair (Letters, February 2006), if Paul was taught by Christ (Galatians 1:12) and he stated that it was a shame for men to have long hair (1 Corinthians 11:14), why does anyone want to teach something different?

Ruth Martin, Afton, Oklahoma

Editor’s response: Whether hair is long or short depends on the culture in which one lives. In the 1950s in America, “long” was anything over the tops of the ears. Today it’s anything below the ears, and for some people “long” has to drop below the shoulders. “Short hair” in Bible times was apparently much longer than it is for us.

Thank you for Signs!

I have been receiving Signs of the Times® through the kindness of friends. I look forward to each issue and devour the spiritual principles every month. Thank you for such a special magazine.

Gloryjean Halstead

Your Thoughts by Readers	From the May 2006 Signs