By sin the members of the human family were shut out from God. Without the plan of redemption, eternal separation from God, the darkness of unending night, would have been theirs. But through the Savior's sacrifice, communion with God is again possible. We may not in person approach into His presence and look on His face, but we can see Him and commune with Him in Jesus, the Savior. "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 to 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 all people." John 1:14; 1:4, NRSV. The life and 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 us, the life that He imparts opens our hearts to heaven. Sin not only shuts us away from God, it destroys in the human soul both the desire and the capacity for knowing Him. Christ's mission is to undo all this work of evil. He has power to invigorate and restore the darkened mind, the perverted will, the faculties of the soul paralyzed by sin. He opens to us the riches of the universe and imparts the power to discern and appropriate these treasures.
Christ is the "Light, which enlightens everyone." John 1:9, NRSV. 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 an antagonistic power is struggling against these principles. The result of eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is manifest in every person's experience. There is in our nature a bent to evil, a force which, unaided, we cannot resist. To withstand this force, to attain that ideal which in our inmost soul we accept as alone worthy, we can find help in but one power. That power is Christ. Cooperation with that power is our greatest need. In all educational effort should not this cooperation be our highest aim?
True Teachers Aim to Inspire
True teachers are not satisfied with second-rate work. They are not satisfied with directing their students to a standard lower than it is possible for them to reach. They cannot be content with imparting only technical knowledge, with making merely clever accountants, skillful artisans, successful professionals. It is their ambition to inspire students with principles of truth, obedience, honor, integrity, and purity--principles that will make them a positive force for the stability and uplifting of society. They desire 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, students have found the Source of wisdom. They have within their reach the power to realize their noblest ideals. In the training gained they are 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, "no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 3:11.
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 forever and ever" (Psalm 111:8), 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 constant aim. The teacher who accepts this aim is in truth a coworker with Christ, a laborer together with God.