"Consider Him."
His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace." Isaiah 9:6.
In the Teacher sent
from God, heaven gave to men its best and greatest. He who had stood in the
councils of the Most High, who had dwelt in the innermost sanctuary of the
Eternal, was the One chosen to reveal in person to humanity the knowledge of
God.
Through Christ had
been communicated every ray of divine light that had ever reached our fallen
world. It was He who had spoken through everyone that throughout the ages had
declared God's word to man. Of Him all the excellences manifest in the earth's
greatest and noblest souls were reflections. The purity and beneficence of
Joseph, the faith and meekness and long-suffering of Moses, the steadfastness
of Elisha, the noble integrity and firmness of Daniel, the ardor and
self-sacrifice of Paul, the mental and spiritual power manifest in all these
men, and in all others who had ever dwelt on the earth, were but gleams from
the shining of His glory. In Him was found the perfect ideal.
To reveal this
ideal as the only true standard for attainment;
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to show what every
human being might become; what, through the indwelling of humanity by divinity,
all who received Him would become--for this, Christ came to the world. He came
to show how men are to be trained as befits the sons of God; how on earth they
are to practice the principles and to live the life of heaven.
God's greatest gift
was bestowed to meet man's greatest need. The Light appeared when the world's
darkness was deepest. Through false teaching the minds of men had long been
turned away from God. In the prevailing systems of education, human philosophy
had taken the place of divine revelation. Instead of the heaven-given standard
of truth, men had accepted a standard of their own devising. From the Light of
life they had turned aside to walk in the sparks of the fire which they had
kindled.
Having separated
from God, their only dependence being the power of humanity, their strength was
but weakness. Even the standard set up by themselves they were incapable of
reaching. The want of true excellence was supplied by appearance and
profession. Semblance took the place of reality.
From time to time,
teachers arose who pointed men to the Source of truth. Right principles were
enunciated, and human lives witnessed to their power. But these efforts made no
lasting impression. There was a brief check in the current of evil, but its
downward course was not stayed. The reformers were as lights that shone in the
darkness; but they could not dispel it. The world "loved darkness rather than
light." John 3:19.
When Christ came to
the earth, humanity seemed to be fast reaching its lowest point. The very
foundations of society were undermined. Life had become false and
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artificial. The
Jews, destitute of the power of God's word, gave to the world mind-benumbing,
soul-deadening traditions and speculations. The worship of God "in Spirit and
in truth" had been supplanted by the glorification of men in an endless round
of man-made ceremonies. Throughout the world all systems of religion were
losing their hold on mind and soul. Disgusted with fable and falsehood, seeking
to drown thought, men turned to infidelity and materialism. Leaving eternity
out of their reckoning, they lived for the present.
As they ceased to
recognize the Divine, they ceased to regard the human. Truth, honor, integrity,
confidence, compassion, were departing from the earth. Relentless greed and
absorbing ambition gave birth to universal distrust. The idea of duty, of the
obligation of strength to weakness, of human dignity and human rights, was cast
aside as a dream or a fable. The common people were regarded as beasts of
burden or as the tools and the steppingstones for ambition. Wealth and power,
ease and self-indulgence, were sought as the highest good. Physical degeneracy,
mental stupor, spiritual death, characterized the age.
As the evil
passions and purposes of men banished God from their thoughts, so forgetfulness
of Him inclined them more strongly to evil. The heart in love with sin clothed
Him with its own attributes, and this conception strengthened the power of sin.
Bent on self-pleasing, men came to regard God as such a one as themselves--a
Being whose aim was self-glory, whose requirements were suited to His own
pleasure; a Being by whom men were lifted up or cast down according as they
helped or hindered His selfish purpose. The lower classes regarded the
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Supreme Being as
one scarcely differing from their oppressors, save by exceeding them in power.
By these ideas every form of religion was molded. Each was a system of
exaction. By gifts and ceremonies, the worshipers sought to propitiate the
Deity in order to secure His favor for their own ends. Such religion, having no
power upon the heart or the conscience, could be but a round of forms, of which
men wearied, and from which, except for such gain as it might offer, they
longed to be free. So evil, unrestrained, grew stronger, while the appreciation
and desire for good diminished. Men lost the image of God and received the
impress of the demoniacal power by which they were controlled. The whole world
was becoming a sink of corruption.
There was but one
hope for the human race--that into this mass of discordant and corrupting
elements might be cast a new leaven; that there might be brought to mankind the
power of a new life; that the knowledge of God might be restored to the world.
{Ed 76.1}
Christ came to
restore this knowledge. He came to set aside the false teaching by which those
who claimed to know God had misrepresented Him. He came to manifest the nature
of His law, to reveal in His own character the beauty of holiness.
Christ came to the
world with the accumulated love of eternity. Sweeping away the exactions which
had encumbered the law of God, He showed that the law is a law of love, an
expression of the Divine Goodness. He showed that in obedience to its
principles is involved the happiness of mankind, and with it the stability, the
very foundation and framework, of human society.
So far from making
arbitrary requirements, God's law
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is given to men as
a hedge, a shield. Whoever accepts its principles is preserved from evil.
Fidelity to God involves fidelity to man. Thus the law guards the rights, the
individuality, of every human being. It restrains the superior from oppression,
and the subordinate from disobedience. It ensures man's well-being, both for
this world and for the world to come. To the obedient it is the pledge of
eternal life, for it expresses the principles that endure forever.
Christ came to
demonstrate the value of the divine principles by revealing their power for the
regeneration of humanity. He came to teach how these principles are to be
developed and applied.
With the people of
that age the value of all things was determined by outward show. As religion
had declined in power, it had increased in pomp. The educators of the time
sought to command respect by display and ostentation. To all this the life of
Jesus presented a marked contrast. His life demonstrated the worthlessness of
those things that men regarded as life's great essentials. Born amidst
surroundings the rudest, sharing a peasant's home, a peasant's fare, a
craftsman's occupation, living a life of obscurity, identifying Himself with
the world's unknown toilers,--amidst these conditions and surroundings,-- Jesus
followed the divine plan of education. The schools of His time, with their
magnifying of things small and their belittling of things great, He did not
seek. His education was gained directly from the Heaven-appointed sources; from
useful work, from the study of the Scriptures and of nature, and from the
experiences of life-- God's lesson books, full of instruction to all who bring
to them the willing hand, the seeing eye, and the understanding heart.
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"The Child grew,
and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon
Him." Luke 2:40.
Thus prepared, He
went forth to His mission, in every moment of His contact with men exerting
upon them an influence to bless, a power to transform, such as the world had
never witnessed.
He who seeks to
transform humanity must himself understand humanity. Only through sympathy,
faith, and love can men be reached and uplifted. Here Christ stands revealed as
the master teacher; of all that ever dwelt on the earth, He alone has perfect
understanding of the human soul.
"We have not a high
priest"--master teacher, for the priests were teachers--"we have not a high
priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but One that
hath been in all points tempted like as we are." Hebrews 4:15, R.V.
"In that He Himself
hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted."
Hebrews 2:18.
Christ alone had
experience in all the sorrows and temptations that befall human beings. Never
another of woman born was so fiercely beset by temptation; never another bore
so heavy a burden of the world's sin and pain. Never was there another whose
sympathies were so broad or so tender. A sharer in all the experiences of
humanity, He could feel not only for, but with, every burdened and tempted and
struggling one.
What He taught, He
lived. "I have given you an example," He said to His disciples; "that ye should
do as I have done." "I have kept My Father's commandments." John 13:15; 15:10.
Thus in His life, Christ's words had perfect illustration and support. And more
than this; what He taught, He was. His words were the expression,
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not only of His own
life experience, but of His own character. Not only did He teach the truth, but
He was the truth. It was this that gave His teaching, power.
Christ was a
faithful reprover. Never lived there another who so hated evil; never another
whose denunciation of it was so fearless. To all things untrue and base His
very presence was a rebuke. In the light of His purity, men saw themselves
unclean, their life's aims mean and false. Yet He drew them. He who had created
man, understood the value of humanity. Evil He denounced as the foe of those
whom He was seeking to bless and to save. In every human being, however,
fallen, He beheld a son of God, one who might be restored to the privilege of
his divine relationship.
"God sent not His
Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might
be saved." John 3:17. Looking upon men in their suffering and degradation,
Christ perceived ground for hope where appeared only despair and ruin. Wherever
there existed a sense of need, there He saw opportunity for uplifting. Souls
tempted, defeated, feeling themselves lost, ready to perish, He met, not with
denunciation, but with blessing.
The beatitudes were
His greeting to the whole human family. Looking upon the vast throng gathered
to listen to the Sermon on the Mount, He seemed for the moment to have
forgotten that He was not in heaven, and He used the familiar salutation of the
world of light. From His lips flowed blessings as the gushing forth of a
long-sealed fountain.
Turning from the
ambitious, self-satisfied favorites of this world, He declared that those were
blessed who, however great their need, would receive His light and love. To the
poor in spirit, the sorrowing, the persecuted,
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He stretched out
His arms, saying, "Come unto Me, . . . and I will give you rest." Matthew
11:28.
In every human
being He discerned infinite possibilities. He saw men as they might be,
transfigured by His grace--in "the beauty of the Lord our God." Psalm 90:17.
Looking upon them with hope, He inspired hope. Meeting them with confidence, He
inspired trust. Revealing in Himself man's true ideal, He awakened, for its
attainment, both desire and faith. In His presence souls despised and fallen
realized that they still were men, and they longed to prove themselves worthy
of His regard. In many a heart that seemed dead to all things holy, were
awakened new impulses. To many a despairing one there opened the possibility of
a new life.
Christ bound them
to His heart by the ties of love and devotion; and by the same ties He bound
them to their fellow men. With Him love was life, and life was service. "Freely
ye have received," He said, "freely give." Matthew 10:8.
It was not on the
cross only that Christ sacrificed Himself for humanity. As He "went about doing
good" (Acts 10:38), every day's experience was an outpouring of His life. In
one way only could such a life be sustained. Jesus lived in dependence upon God
and communion with Him. To the secret place of the Most High, under the shadow
of the Almighty, men now and then repair; they abide for a season, and the
result is manifest in noble deeds; then their faith fails, the communion is
interrupted, and the lifework marred. But the life of Jesus was a life of
constant trust, sustained by continual communion; and His service for heaven
and earth was without failure or faltering.
As a man He
supplicated the throne of God, till His
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humanity was
charged with a heavenly current that connected humanity with divinity.
Receiving life from God, He imparted life to men.
"Never man spake
like this Man." John 7:46. This would have been true of Christ had He taught
only in the realm of the physical and the intellectual, or in matters of theory
and speculation solely. He might have unlocked mysteries that have required
centuries of toil and study to penetrate. He might have made suggestions in
scientific lines that, till the close of time, would have afforded food for
thought and stimulus for invention. But He did not do this. He said nothing to
gratify curiosity or to stimulate selfish ambition. He did not deal in abstract
theories, but in that which is essential to the development of character; that
which will enlarge man's capacity for knowing God, and increase his power to do
good. He spoke of those truths that relate to the conduct of life and that
unite man with eternity.
Instead of
directing the people to study men's theories about God, His word, or His works,
He taught them to behold Him, as manifested in His works, in His word, and by
His providences. He brought their minds in contact with the mind of the
Infinite.
The people "were
astonished at His teaching (R.V.), for His word was with power." Luke 4:32.
Never before spoke one who had such power to awaken thought, to kindle
aspiration, to arouse every capability of body, mind, and soul.
Christ's teaching,
like His sympathies, embraced the world. Never can there be a circumstance of
life, a crisis in human experience, which has not been anticipated in His
teaching, and for which its principles have not a
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lesson. The Prince
of teachers, His words will be found a guide to His co-workers till the end of
time.
To Him the present
and the future, the near and the far, were one. He had in view the needs of all
mankind. Before His mind's eye was outspread every scene of human effort and
achievement, of temptation and conflict, of perplexity and peril. All hearts,
all homes, all pleasures and joys and aspirations, were known to Him.
He spoke not only
for, but to, all mankind. To the little child, in the gladness of life's
morning; to the eager, restless heart of youth; to men in the strength of their
years, bearing the burden of responsibility and care; to the aged in their
weakness and weariness,--to all, His message was spoken,--to every child of
humanity, in every land and in every age.
In His teaching
were embraced the things of time and the things of eternity--things seen, in
their relation to things unseen, the passing incidents of common life and the
solemn issues of the life to come.
The things of this
life He placed in their true relation, as subordinate to those of eternal
interest; but He did not ignore their importance. He taught that Heaven and
earth are linked together, and that a knowledge of divine truth prepares man
better to perform the duties of daily life. {Ed 82.4}
To Him nothing was
without purpose. The sports of the child, the toils of the man, life's
pleasures and cares and pains, all were means to the end--the revelation of God
for the uplifting of humanity.
From His lips the
word of God came home to men's hearts with new power and new meaning. His
teaching caused the things of creation to stand out in new light. Upon the face
of nature once more rested gleamings of
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that brightness
which sin had banished. In all the facts and experiences of life were revealed
a divine lesson and the possibility of divine companionship. Again God dwelt on
earth; human hearts became conscious of His presence; the world was encompassed
with His love. Heaven came down to men. In Christ their hearts acknowledged Him
who opened to them the science of eternity--
"Immanuel, . . .
God with us."
In the Teacher sent
from God, all true educational work finds its center. Of this work today as
verily as of the work He established eighteen hundred years ago, the Saviour
speaks in the words--
"I am the First and
the Last, and the Living One."
"I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the beginning and the end." Revelation 1:17, 18, R.V.; 21:6, R.V.
In the presence of
such a Teacher, of such opportunity for divine education, what worse than folly
is it to seek an education apart from Him--to seek to be wise apart from
Wisdom; to be true while rejecting Truth; to seek illumination apart from the
Light, and existence without the Life; to turn from the Fountain of living
waters, and hew out broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Behold, He is still
inviting: "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that
believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said," out of him "shall flow rivers of
living water." "The water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of
water springing up unto eternal life." John 7:37, 38; 4:14, R.V.