By sin man was shut out from
God. Except for the plan of redemption, eternal separation from God, the
darkness of unending night, would have been his. Through the Saviour's
sacrifice, communion with God is again made possible. We may not in person
approach into His presence; in our sin we may not look upon His face; but we
can behold Him and commune with Him in Jesus, the Saviour. "The light of the
knowledge of the glory of God" is revealed "in the face of Jesus Christ." God
is "in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." 2 Corinthians 4:6; 5:19.
"The Word became
flesh, and dwelt among us, . . . full of grace and truth." "In Him was life;
and the life was the light of men." John 1:14, R.V.; 1:4. The life and the
death of Christ, the price of our redemption, are not only to us the promise
and pledge of life, not only the means of opening again to us the treasures of
wisdom: they are a broader, higher revelation of His character than even the
holy ones of Eden knew.
And while Christ
opens heaven to man, the life which He imparts opens the heart of man to
heaven. Sin not
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only shuts us away
from God, but destroys in the human soul both the desire and the capacity for
knowing Him. All this work of evil it is Christ's mission to undo. The
faculties of the soul, paralyzed by sin, the darkened mind, the perverted will,
He has power to invigorate and to restore. He opens to us the riches of the
universe, and by Him the power to discern and to appropriate these treasures is
imparted.
Christ is the
"Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." John 1:9. As
through Christ every human being has life, so also through Him every soul
receives some ray of divine light. Not only intellectual but spiritual power, a
perception of right, a desire for goodness, exists in every heart. But against
these principles there is struggling an antagonistic power. The result of the
eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is manifest in every man's
experience. There is in his nature a bent to evil, a force which, unaided, he
cannot resist. To withstand this force, to attain that ideal which in his
inmost soul he accepts as alone worthy, he can find help in but one power. That
power is Christ. Co-operation with that power is man's greatest need. In all
educational effort should not this co-operation be the highest aim?
The true teacher is
not satisfied with second-rate work. He is not satisfied with directing his
students to a standard lower than the highest which it is possible for them to
attain. He cannot be content with imparting to them only technical knowledge,
with making them merely clever accountants, skillful artisans, successful
tradesmen. It is his ambition to inspire them with principles of truth,
obedience, honor, integrity, and purity--principles that will make them a
positive force for the stability and uplifting
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of society. He
desires them, above all else, to learn life's great lesson of unselfish
service.
These principles
become a living power to shape the character, through the acquaintance of the
soul with Christ, through an acceptance of His wisdom as the guide, His power
as the strength, of heart and life. This union formed, the student has found
the Source of wisdom. He has within his reach the power to realize in himself
his noblest ideals. The opportunities of the highest education for life in this
world are his. And in the training here gained, he is entering upon that course
which embraces eternity.
In the highest
sense the work of education and the work of redemption are one, for in
education, as in redemption, "other foundation can no man lay than that is
laid, which is Jesus Christ." "It was the good pleasure of the Father that in
Him should all the fullness dwell." 1 Corinthians 3:11; Colossians 1:19, R.V.
Under changed
conditions, true education is still conformed to the Creator's plan, the plan
of the Eden school. Adam and Eve received instruction through direct communion
with God; we behold the light of the knowledge of His glory in the face of
Christ.
The great
principles of education are unchanged. "They stand fast for ever and ever"
(Psalm III:8); for they are the principles of the character of God. To aid the
student in comprehending these principles, and in entering into that relation
with Christ which will make them a controlling power in the life, should be the
teacher's first effort and his constant aim. The teacher who accepts this aim
is in truth a co-worker with Christ, a laborer together with God.