1888 Message
by Hubert F. Sturges,www.144000.cc, December 15, 2010
Since the birth of the Seventh-day Adventist church, we have had a message to the churches and to the world that is important for this time. In a few words this revolves around a strong belief in the soon coming of Jesus Christ, the meaning and sanctity of the seventh-day Sabbath, a belief that the dead "sleep in their graves until Jesus comes and awakens them to eternal life or to eternal punishment, and a judgment hour message for these last days.
To believe in the Seventh-day Sabbath is to believe in a six day Creation by God, and to believe in all ten of the commandments given at Sinai. This, along with the other essentials, were the focus of Adventist sermons and evangelistic lectures. It was a message appropriate for people who were already Christian.
As time went on, it became apparent that there were many people who had little or no knowledge of the grand truths of the Atonement, Jesus life and sacrificial death on Calvary, and God's purpose through grace to change our lives.
This came to a head in meetings held in 1888. The issues were the Atonement, the law in Galatians, the Covenant of God, and the meaning of justification. These are topics that are not easily explained, and vigorous discussion was carried on by the pastors and theologians of the church. The fall-out from that time and since has been in the area of application to our daily lives.
This section is to set forth some of the issues discussed. There is much more material available in books and articles elsewhere.