The sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin is the truth around which all other truths cluster. In order to be rightly understood and appreciated, every truth in the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, must be studied in the light that streams from the cross of Calvary.

The truth as it is in Jesus can be experienced, but never explained. Its significance passes our knowledge.

Moreover, we may task our imagination to the utmost, and then we shall see only dimly the outlines of a love that we hardly explain. In other words, love is the term that describes all in all.

Metaphorically – that is as high as heaven, but that stooped to the earth to stamp the image of God on all mankind.

Not in this life shall we comprehend the mystery of God’s love in giving His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. The work of our Redeemer on this earth is and ever will be a subject that will put to the stretch our highest imagination.

An individual may tax every mental power in order to understand this mystery. But one’s mind will become faint and weary. The most diligent searcher will see a boundless and shoreless sea.

Does this sound complicated to you. Yet it is possible for us to see all that we can bear of the divine compassion.

Take Him at His word

Christ and His character, and work is the center and circumference of all truth. He is the chain upon which the jewels of doctrine are linked. In Him is found the complete system of truth.

Believe that Jesus means just what He says. Take Him at His word and hang your helpless soul upon Him. He says:

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30.

Do not cast away such rich promises as these. The hand that was nailed to the cross for you is stretched out to save you. Believe that Jesus will:

hear your confession

receive your requests

forgive your sins

make you a member of the royal family.

You need the hope which Jesus will give to cheer you under every circumstance.

Jesus came with the truth of heaven, and all who were listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit were drawn to Him. In their attitude toward Christ, all would show on which side they stood. And thus everyone passes judgment on himself and herself.

The Light of the world

Jesus is the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. John 1:9. He is the light of the world and He bids us come unto him and learn of Him.

In the days of Christ the established teachers instructed people in the traditions of the fathers, mingled with the opinions of those who they thought were high authorities. Yet no one could discern any ray of light in their teaching.

What wonder was it that crowds followed in the footsteps of the Lord, and gave Him homage as they listened to His words!

Christ revealed truths that had been buried under the rubbish of error. He freed them from the exaction and traditions of authorities. Moreover, He rescued truth from its obscurity, and set it in its proper framework, to shine in its original luster.

Though, Christ addressed humans in His own name and authority, questions such as those still remain. Why:

should people, professing to be His followers, speak not with authority concerning subjects on which He has given light

take inferior sources of instruction when Christ is the Teacher who knows all things

present inferior authors to the attention of others, when He whose words are spirit and life invites: Come, . . . and learn of me? Matthew 11:28, 29.

Never man spake like this man

Christ is the truth. His words are truth. They have a deeper significance value beyond their appearance. Minds that are quickened by the Holy Spirit will discern His teachings.

Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. Matthew 22:29.

The most learned of the scribes in Christ’s time did not discern His relation to the law. They did not comprehend the salvation which was offered through Him. And many today do not understand the moral excellency of the law, and the power of God to safe and transform.

These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures. Luke 24:44, 45.

In studying the Scriptures we understand our relation to Christ, who is the sin-bearer, surety and substitute for our fallen race. These truths concern our present and eternal interests.

Understanding of God’s compassion is proportioned to the appreciation of His sacrifice for us

This unfolds to the humble and contrite soul. As we search the Word of God in humility of heart the grand theme of redemption will open to our research. It will increase in brightness as we behold it.

Furthermore, as we desire to grasp it, its height and depth will ever increase.

It would be well to spend a thoughtful hour each day reviewing the life of Christ from the manger to Calvary. We should take it point by point. Let the imagination vividly grasp each scene, especially the closing ones of His earthly life.

We should contemplate His teachings and sufferings, and the infinite sacrifice made by Him for the redemption of mankind. Thus we may strengthen our faith, quicken our love, and become more deeply imbued with the spirit which sustained our Savior.

Bound up your life with the life of Christ

Those who have put on Christ will relate their experience, tracing step by step the leading of the Holy Spirit in their:

hungering and thirsting for the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom He has sent

searching results of the Scriptures

prayers

soul agony

hope in the words of Christ to them – Thy sins be forgiven thee.

It is unnatural for any to keep these things secret. Those who are filled with the love of Christ will not do so. All who receive the gospel message into the heart will long to proclaim it.

The heaven-born love of Christ must find expression. As they make known God’s grace, more of the grace of Christ will be imparted to them.

The great storehouse of the truth as it is in Jesus

The written word

The book of nature

Experience in God’s dealing with human life

The written word

It is the written word that most clearly reveals the knowledge of God to fallen man. The word of God includes the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as well. Christ declared that the truths of the Old Testament are as valuable as those of the New.

He was as much man’s Redeemer in the beginning of the world as He is today. Before He clothed His divinity with humanity and came to our world, the gospel message was given as from generation to generation faithful messengers proclaimed the Coming One.

Christ was the foundation of the Jewish system of sacrificial offerings, the great anti-type of all their religious service.

One is not complete without the other

Ever since the first promise of redemption was spoken in Eden, the life, character, and the mediatorial work of Christ have been the study of human minds. The blood shed as the sacrifices were offered pointed to the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

All the typical offerings were fulfilled in Jesus. The truth in Him is the riches of the Old Testament as:

manifested to the patriarchs

symbolized in the sacrificial service

portrayed in the law

revealed by the prophets.

Of Christ’s life, death and intercession, which prophets had foretold, the apostles were to go forth as witnesses. In order to preach the gospel in its fullness, they must present the Savior not only as revealed in His life and teachings, but as foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament.

Christ in His teaching presented old truths as He shed upon them a new light. A flood of light and spirituality was brought in by His explanation. And He promised that the Holy Spirit will enlighten the disciples, that the Word of God should be ever unfolding to them.

In every age there is a new development of truth

The old truths are all essential. New truth is not independent of the old, but an unfolding of it. It is only as the old truths are understood that we can comprehend the new.

For instance, when Christ desired to open to His disciples the truth of His resurrection, He began at Moses and all the prophets and expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself. Luke 24:27.

It is the light which shines in the fresh unfolding of truth that glorifies the old. One who rejects or neglects the new does not really possess the old. For him or her it loses its vital power and becomes but a lifeless form.

As we near the close of this world’s history, the prophecies relating to the last days especially demand our study. The last book of the New Testament scriptures is full of truth that we need to understand.

Satan has blinded the minds of many, so that they have been glad of any excuse for not making the Revelation their study. But Christ through His servant John has here declared what shall be in the last days.

Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein. Revelation 1:3.

The book of nature

Natural science is a treasure house of knowledge from which every student in the school of Christ may draw. There will come to us a new perception of truth as we study:

the beauty of nature

its lessons in the cultivation of the soil

the growth of the trees

all the wonders of earth and sea and sky.

Of Christ it is written: In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. John 1:4.

Before the entrance of sin, Adam and Eve in Eden were surrounded with a clear and beautiful light, the light of God. This light illuminated everything which they approached.

There was nothing to obscure their perception of the character or the works of God. But when they yielded to the tempter, the light departed from them.

In losing the garments of holiness, they lost the light that had illuminated nature. No longer could they read it aright.

They could not discern the character of God in His works. So today mankind cannot of himself or herself read aright the teaching of nature. Unless guided by divine wisdom, one exalts nature and the laws of nature above nature’s God.

We can rightly interpret nature’s teaching In the light from the cross

This is why mere human ideas in regard to science so often contradict the teaching of God’s word. But for those who receive the light of the life of Christ, nature is again illuminated.

The book of nature and the written word shed light upon each other. Both make one better acquainted with God by teaching him or her of His character and of the laws through which He works.

The experience of the psalmist is the experience that all may gain by receiving God’s word through nature and through revelation. He says:

Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work:

I will triumph in the works of Thy hands. Psalms 92:4.

Experience in God’s dealing with human life .

By His lessons of truth, which were eloquent with simplicity He impressed the people with the necessity of spiritual worship. They were impressive, beautiful, and weighty with importance. On the other hand, they were yet so simple that a child could understand them.

The truth He presented was so deep that the wisest and most accomplished teacher could never exhaust it. It was with this kind of teaching that the Lord Jesus exposed the weakness an

Christ came to our world to live out the law of God, and to be our pattern in all things.

He placed Himself between the mercy-seat and the vast number of heartless worshipers who were full of display, pride, and vanity brought to confusion the theories of the most learned.

The greatest possible evidence

The Lord has purchased His people for Himself. He has manifested His love toward them by shedding His blood and yielding His life on Calvary. He came down to our world to redeem us, to betroth and marry us to himself by an eternal covenant.

The marriage union is taken as a symbol of the sacred and enduring character of the relation that exists between Christ and his church.

I will betroth thee unto me forever; Hosea 2:19, and again, I am married unto you. Jeremiah 3:14.

The Lord, infinite in power and wisdom, has declared –For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 54:5. Everything that will serve for the best good and the highest interest of the people of God will be provided.

The Lord, who knows all, will make known the very things that are for the best interests of His children. When He veils the events of the future, it is only because He loves us, and would work out our highest good.

Should He permit us to see the future mapped out before us, some would be distracted by anticipating coming sorrows.

Others would be self-confident and daring, and the very good that our heavenly Father intended to bring about by his all-wise providence, would be thwarted and frustrated.

The system of tithing

The special system of tithing was founded upon a principle which is as enduring as the law of God. It was a blessing to the Jews, else God would not have given it them. So also it will be a blessing to those who carry it out to the end of time.

True liberality in the follower of Christ identifies his or her interest with that of their Master. In God’s dealing with the Jews and His people to the end of time, He requires systematic benevolence proportionate to their income.

The plan of salvation was laid by the infinite sacrifice of the Son of God. The light of the gospel shining from the cross of Christ rebukes selfishness and encourages liberality and benevolence.

Worldliness and covetousness are eating out the vitals of God’s people. They should understand that it is His mercy which multiplies the demands for their means.

If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? Luke 16:11.

The spiritual health and prosperity of the church is dependent in a great degree upon her systematic benevolence. It increases love for the souls of our fellow men.

For by self-denial and self-sacrifice we are brought into a closer relation to Christ, who for our sake became poor.

The present truth

The testimony of Christ, a testimony of the most solemn character, is to be borne to the world. All through the book of Revelation there are the most precious and elevating promises.

Moreover, there are also warnings of the most fearfully solemn import. Here is no guesswork, no scientific deception. Here are the truths that concern our present and future welfare.

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us,

what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:17.

In the typical service, only those who had come before God with confession and repentance, and whose sins, through the blood of the sin-offering, were transferred to the sanctuary, had a part in the service of the day of atonement.

So in the great day of final atonement and investigative Judgment, the only cases considered are those of the professed people of God. The judgment of the wicked is a distinct and separate work, and takes place at a later period.

Christ Likeness

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Through the power of Christ souls that have borne the likeness of Satan have become transformed into the image of God. This change is in itself the miracle of miracles.

A change wrought by the Word is one of the deepest mysteries of the Word. We cannot understand it. We can only believe, as declared by the Scriptures – it is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27.

Christ’s likeness in us is a practical truth. I am not merely a thing that God loves, made to be left in Satan’s temptations. I am a child of God, begotten unto a lively hope, big with immortality and full of glory.

We are to dwell in God, and God in us. Purity in us is like purity in God. Love in my heart is a living principle, like the love in the heart of God. All the treasures of heaven are at my command because I am redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

The Laodicean Message

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. Revelation 3:14-21.

The Lord is coming soon. The watchmen on the walls of Zion are called upon to awake to their God-given responsibilities. God calls for watchmen who, in the power of the Spirit, will give to the world the last warning message.

He calls for watchmen who will arouse men and women from their lethargy, lest they sleep the sleep of death.

In conclusion

In the search after truth humans are to depend upon God. Through His own appointed channels the Lord will impart a knowledge of Himself to every seeker. The truths of redemption are capable of constant development and expansion.

Though old, they are ever new, constantly revealing to the seeker for truth a greater glory and a mightier power.

This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. John 17:3.

Why is it that we do not realize the value of this knowledge? Why are not these glorious truths glowing in our hearts, trembling upon our lips, and pervading our whole being?

In giving us His word, God has put us in possession of every truth essential for our salvation. As the life of Christ and the character of His mission are dwelt upon, rays of light will shine forth more distinctly at every attempt to discover truth.

Each fresh search will reveal something more deeply interesting than has yet been unfolded. The subject is inexhaustible. The study of the incarnation of Christ, His atoning sacrifice and mediator work, will employ the mind of the diligent student as long as time shall last.

Thus looking to heaven with its unnumbered years he will exclaim, Great is the mystery of godliness.

Through eternity

The themes of redemption will employ the hearts and minds and tongues of the redeemed through the everlasting ages. They will understand the truths which Christ longed to open to His disciples, but which they did not have faith to grasp.

Forever and forever new views of the perfection and glory of Christ will appear. Through endless ages will the faithful Householder bring forth from His treasure things new and old.

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