The life of Christ, the Lord of glory, is our example. He came from heaven, where all was riches and splendor; but He laid aside His royal crown, His royal robe, and clothed His divinity with humanity. Why? That He might meet men where they were. He did not rank Himself with the wealthy, the lordly of earth. The mission of Christ was to reach the very poor of earth. He Himself worked from His earliest years as the Son of a carpenter. Self-denial, did He not know its meaning? The riches and glory of heaven were His own, but for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich. The very foundation of His mission was self-denial, self-sacrifice. The world was His, He made it; yet in a world of His own creating the Son of man had not where to lay His head. He said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.” {TM 177.2}

Kristi liv, herlighedens Herre, er vort eksempel. Han kom fra himlen, hvor alt var rigdom og pragt; men han lagde sin kongelige krone til side, hans kongelige kappe, og klædte hans guddommelighed med menneskelighed. Hvorfor? Så han kunne møde mennesker hvor de var. Han stillede ikke sig selv i række med rige, jordens fornemme. Kristi mission var at nå ud til jordens meget trængende. Han selv arbejdede i hans tidligste år som en søn af en tømrer. Selvfornægtelse, kendte han ikke ordets mening? Himlens rigdomme og herlighed var hans eget, men for vor sag bliv han fattig, så vi igennem hans armod kan blive rige. Det mest grundlæggende i hans mission var selvfornægtelse og selvopofrelse. Verden var hans, han gjorde den; dog i en verden hvor hans egen skabning menneskesønnen ikke kunne lægge sit hoved noget sted. »Ræve har (178) huler og himmelens fugle reder; men Menneskesønnen har ikke det sted, hvor han kan lægge sit hoved til hvile.«