Christ, the Incomparable

                    1. Christ, the Answer to Man's Quest
                    2. Christ: Creator and Saviour
                    3. Christ, the Eternal One
                    4. Christ, the Great I AM
                    5. Christ, the Messiah-1
                   6. Christ, the Messiah-2
                   7. Christ, Our Mediator
                   8. Christ: Servant of Man's Necessity
                   9. Christ: Transformer of Men
                  10. Christ, the Truth
                  11. Christ, Our Full Salvation
                  12. Christ: Justifier and Sanctifier
                  13. Christ, the Way to Heaven

                  Copyright, 1970, by Pacific Press Publishing Association
                        Cover art by John Steel, artist;   P.P.P.A.
                                 Drawings by Vance Locke

                   My Pledge
As one who greatly desires to improve his knowledge of the Scriptures, I pledge myself to the careful and prayer- ful study of some portion of my Sabbath School lesson each day of the week.




                       (signed)




                                                             3

                                                  LESSON OUTLINE   Like Nicodemus of old, many Christians       1. Life's Great Quest today are willing to accept Jesus as a great      Acts 16:25-31 prophet, philosopher, and teacher. They are ready to acknowledge Him as the greatest       2. The Gift of Infinite Love man of all time, His life as an inspiring example for us to follow, and His words as        John 3:16-18 the most sublime ever spoken. But a belief     3. God's Provision for Man's Need in Christ that does not go beyond this will       John 6:51, 54, 55 not save anyone. The great central fact about Jesus of Nazareth is that He came        4. Jesus Christ Is God Incarnate to this earth as the Son of God; He is
                                              Matt. 16:13-17 God in the full and supreme sense of the word. Only the recognition of this sublime     5. The Great Invitation truth can rescue a man from his depraved
                                              Matt. 11:28-30 nature, transform his life, and make him eligible for life eternal.                     6. The Two Doors to Destiny
                                              1 John 5:6-12
                                                                              5

            Part 1      "At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises
     LIFE'S GREAT    unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly
            QUEST    there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of
                     the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors
                     were opened, and everyone's bands were loosed. And
                     the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and
                     seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and
                     would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners
                     had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying,
                     Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called
                     for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell
                     down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and
                     said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said,
                     Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,
    Acts 16:25-31    and thy house."

                        Sooner or later life confronts every man, as it did the Philip-
                     pian jailer, with a choice between the way of life eternal and
                     the way of death from which there is no resurrection. Thinking
                     he had no alternative to certain death as prescribed by Roman
                     law, the jailer preferred death at his own hand. But he had
                     not reckoned with the transforming influence of Paul and Silas
                     on their fellow prisoners, and he now recognized the presence
                     of that supernatural power as the alternative that saved him
                     from physical death. Perhaps it would also save him from a
                     life that he had found meaningless, hopeless, and disappointing.
                     Thus it came to pass that the Philippian earthquake released
                     the jailer from the shackles that bound him—as it had already
                     released his prisoners physically—and made him a free man in
                     Christ Jesus.
                         What decisive act of faith did Paul commend to the
                     jailer as the key to release from a meaningless, hopeless,
                     and disappointing existence?
THINK IT THROUGH         In what ways does my life experience resemble that
                     of the Philippian jailer?
                         What does belief in Jesus involve? How does belief
                     save a person?

          Part 2     "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-
    THE GIFT OF begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should
  INFINITE LOVE not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not
                  His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
                  world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on
                  Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is con-
                  demned already, because he hath not believed in the
    John 3:16-18 name of the only-begotten Son of God."

                       To believe in Jesus Christ as the world's greatest teacher
                    or its ideal man is not saving faith. There must be recognition
                    that Jesus the Christ is, indeed, God incarnate. This essential
                    fact of the Christian faith is the theme of John's Gospel: "In
                    the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
                    the Word was God." "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt
                    among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only
                    Begotten of the Father)." John 1:1, 14.
                       The union of Deity and humanity in the person of Jesus of
                    Nazareth is the very heart of the Christian faith, and without
                    this—to borrow the words of Paul—"then is our preaching
                    vain, and your faith is also vain." "Your faith is vain; ye are
                    yet in your sins." 1 Cor. 15:14, 17. Read verses 12-23.
                       But even to believe that Christ is, indeed, the God-man is
                    not, in and of itself, sufficient to save a sinner. "The devils
                    also believe" that—"and tremble." James 2:19. It is necessary
                    also to receive Him in a personal way into one's heart and life
                    as well as to believe in Him; this alone brings with it "power
                    to become the sons of God." John 1:12.
                       What must a person believe "about" Christ in order
                    that belief "in" Him may be effective for salvation?

                                                                                 7

           Part 3      "I am the living Bread which came down from heaven:
GOD'S PROVISION if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and
 FOR MAN'S NEED the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give
                    for the life of the world."
                       "Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath
                    eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For
 John 6:51, 54, 55 My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed."

                         As physical food is essential to the nourishment of physical
                     life, so spiritual food is essential to the sustenance of spiritual
                     life. In this graphic figure our Lord affirms the close, vital rela-
                     tionship that is necessary if belief in Him is to bring salvation
                     —a relationship as vital as food to the body. Here Jesus again
                     affirms the sublime fact that He had come from God in heaven.
                     Christ lives in us, and we live in Him; as a result of this
                     mutual—felationship it will be our joyous privilege to live for-
                     ever.
                         It is becoming ever more popular among professed Christians
                     to believe that Christ was divine in the same sense that all
                     good men are—no more and no less. They hail Him as the
                     greatest teacher of all time and as the best man who ever lived,
                     but emphatically deny that He was in any special sense divine.
                     But if Jesus is not the God-man, then there is no forgiveness
                     of sin, no justification, no salvation, no eternal life, no home
                     in heaven. "If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your
                     sins," Jesus warned. John 8:24.
                         Read John 6:25-59 thoughtfully, tracing the development of
                     thought in Jesus' remarks.
                         How did Jesus illustrate and explain the keystone truth
                     that He had come forth from God, and that eternal life
                     is possible only by receiving Him into the life?

THINK IT THROUGH         On what sort of spiritual diet am I sustaining my Chris-
                     tian experience—one that is nourishing, or one that ap-
                     pears to be good food but from which the vital elements
                     have been removed? Am I starving spiritually?
                        What practical difference does it make whether I think
                     of Christ as the One who came from heaven to unite
                     humanity with divinity, or simply as a good Man and a
                     great teacher?
"Only the day before [Christ's ser-       that we are to come forth from the mon on the Bread of Life], the great          grave,—not merely as a manifestation multitude, when faint and weary, had          of the power of Christ, but because, been fed by the bread which He had            through faith, His life has become given. As from that bread they had            ours. Those who see Christ in His true received physical strength and refresh-       character, and receive Him into the ment, so from Christ they might re-           heart, have everlasting life. It is ceive spiritual strength unto eternal         through the Spirit that Christ dwells in life."—"The Desire of Ages," page 386.        us; and the spirit of God, received into
"Christ became one flesh with us, in      the heart by faith, is the beginning of order that we might become one spirit         the life eternal."—"Ibid.," p. 388. with Him. It is by virtue of this union

         Part 4      "Jesus . . . asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men
JESUS CHRIST IS say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say    GOD INCARNATE that Thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others,
                  Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But
                  whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
                  said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And
                  Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou,
                  Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed
 Matt. 16:13-17 it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven."

                       This conversation between Jesus and His disciples took place
                    toward the close of His earthly ministry, after they had had
                    ample opportunity to listen and to observe. They knew that
                    other people thought Him saint-like in character and were
                    willing to accept Him as a messenger sent from God. Did the
                    disciples merely reflect popular opinion, or had their more
                    intimate association with Jesus given them a deeper insight?
                       Peter summed up the consensus of his fellow disciples when
                    he answered Jesus: They knew Him to be the Messiah of
                    prophecy, very God in human flesh. This conviction, Jesus
                    pointed out, had been impressed upon their hearts by the
                    Holy Spirit as they heard Jesus' words and witnessed His
                    mighty works. Happy indeed the men in whom this conviction
                    is fixed! This sublime truth, this conviction, Jesus went on to
                    explain, is the great rock of truth on which He would build
                    His church. Matt. 16:18.
                        Read Peter's stirring affirmation of faith in Jesus as the
                    Christ, written thirty-five years or so later, as recorded in
                    2 Peter 1:16-21.  THINK IT THROUGH           Of what two facts concerning Jesus were His disciples
                    fully convinced? How had they arrived at this conclusion?
                        If I had been in Peter's place, how would I have re-
                    sponded to Jesus' question as to who He really is?
                        Is my personal opinion about Jesus merely the reflec-
                    tion of what others say, or is this knowledge the result of
                    my own experience and conviction?

          Part 5        "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden,
      THE GREAT      and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and
     INVITATION      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
   Matt. 11:28-30    My burden is light."

                        By virtue of His personal knowledge of the Father and the
                     Father's will for men (Matt. 11:27), Christ was preeminently
                     qualified to reveal the Father to men. The wise and learned
                     of earth (verse 25) cannot do so because they have not known
                     the Father as He knows the Father. He speaks authentically
                     for the Father, and in Him we will find true rest of soul.
                        The rest to which Christ invites us is rest from our heavy
                     loads of sin. These heavy loads are the burden of sin and igno-
                     rance of God's divine love and will. But God made man to
                     enjoy the glorious freedom of sons (Rom. 8:21), and, chained
                     like a slave to the burden of sin, his soul cannot be at rest
                     until he finds release from the shackles of sin and enters into
                     the glorious freedom for which the Creator designed him. As
                     Augustine wrote in his Confessions, "Thou hast made us for
                     Thyself, 0 Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in
                     Thee."
                        To those who follow Him, Christ offers the yoke of loving
                     service. It is "easy" and "light," compared with the yoke of
                     sin. No burden, says the proverb, is heavy to a loving heart,
                     and genuine love for Christ makes it one's supreme joy to live
                     in harmony with His revealed will.
                        For further inspired comment on the rest of the soul in
                     Christ, read Hebrews 4:1-11.
                        What surcease from life's burdensome quest did Christ
                     offer those who come to Him in faith and submission?

       Part 6       "This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus    THE TWO DOORS Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And
  TO DESTINY it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit
                is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven,
                the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three
                are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth,
                the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three
                agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the wit-
                ness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God
                which He hath testified of His Son. He that believeth on
                the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that be-
                lieveth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believ-
                eth not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is
                the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and
                this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and
 1 John 5:6-12 he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."
                        At the beginning of Jesus' public ministry the Holy Spirit
                    visibly acknowledged Him to be the Messiah, and a voice from
                    heaven attested Him to be the Son of God. To this event John
                    points as a witness to the deity of our Lord. "The blood of
                    his death" at the close of His life mission likewise provided
                    supernatural confirmation of His Messiahship. On both occa-
                    sions at least some of the bystanders witnessed these evidences
                    of divinity and were convinced. Read John 1:31-34; Matt.
                    27:54.
                        As we conternpAts these events in the life of Christ, the Holy
                    Spirit impresses our hearts, as it did the heart of John the
                    Baptist at the baptism and the heart of the centurion at the
                    crucifixion, that Jesus is indeed God's Son. We thus have a three-
                    fold witness concerning the deity of the God-man Jesus Christ.
                    It is our privilege to accept this witness, not only as a sublime
                    truth to be apprehended by the mind, but to be accepted also
                    into the heart and life. As we accept this witness, we enter
                    upon life eternal—by faith in Him. Read John 1:12.
                      To what threefold evidence of the divine sonship of
                    Christ did John point?

                                                                                   11

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                                                                  July 11, 1970




                 CHRIST: CREATOR AND SAVIOUR                               2    "God . . . hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." Heb. 1:1-3.


                                                   LESSON OUTLINE

                                            1. Partners in Creation
                                               Gen. 1:1, 26, 27

                                            6. The Sabbath Witnesses to the
                                                 Creator
                                               Ex. 20:8-11

                                                                              13

          Part 1       "In the beginning God created the heaven and the
   PARTNERS IN earth."
      CREATION         "And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after
                    Our likeness. . . . So God created man in His own image,
                    in the image of God created He him; male and female
 Gen. 1:1, 26, 27 created He them."

                        In decisive contrast to the polytheism of all other ancient
                     religious systems, the Old Testament stresses the fact that there
                     is but one true God. This sublime truth was set forth succinctly
                     in the great affirmation of Israel's faith: "Hear, 0 Israel: The
                     Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy
                     God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
                     thy might." Deut. 6:4, 5. Nevertheless, in a few select places
                     in the Old Testament there are clear hints of a plurality of
                     persons within the one true God.
                        Perhaps the clearest of these indications occurs in the crea-
                     tion record, where God communes with Himself, "Let Us make
                     man in Our image." Here the Old Testament, while not explicitly
                     identifying the promised Messiah as the divine Creator, pro-
                     vides for that more complete revelation later enshrined in the
                     New Testament, identifying man's Saviour as the One who, in
                     the beginning, created him.
                        It is fitting that the One who created man should be the
                     One to save and re-create him. Who could have a more per-
                     sonal and profound interest in man than the One who gave
                     him being and breath? Furthermore, the same creative power
                     that gave man being to begin with, was needed to restore him
                     to favor with God and to make him once more in the divine
                     likeness from which, through sin, he fell.
                        Read also Isaiah 48:16, and the SDA Bible Commentary
                     comment on this.
                        How does the inspired account of creation hint at the
                     sublime truth of a plurality of persons within the one
                     true God?

        Part 2    "The Father . . . hath delivered us from the power of
CREATOR AND darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His  SAVIOUR ARE ONE dear Son: in whom we have redemption through His
               blood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of
               the invisible God, the Firstborn of every creature: for by
               Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that
               are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
               thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all
               things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is be-
  Col. 1:12-17 fore all things, and by Him all things consist."

                        The New Testament repeatedly and consistently ascribes to
                     Christ the role of Creator of this world, and indeed of all
                     things. Read, for example, such passages as John 1:3, 10; Rom.
                     9:5; Heb. 1:1, 2. Awesome power was required to create "all
                     things." No less power was required in order to restore what
                     had been lost as a result of sin, and the sublime fact that the
                     work of salvation called for the personal sacrifice of the Creator
                     Himself exalts the work of salvation to the highest possible
                     level of importance.
                        The expression, "Firstborn of every creature," ascribes to
                     Christ priority in rank above all created beings. By virtue of the
                     fact that He is "before all things," in both time and rank, He is
                     superior to all other beings. "Firstborn" is a figurative expres-
                     sion based on the dignity and office of the firstborn son in a
                     family of Bible times. As Creator of all things, Christ's position
                     in the universe is unique and absolute. The greatness of salva-
                     tion can be properly understood only in terms of the greatness
                     of the Saviour, who alone could accomplish the task.
                        What sublime facts does the apostle Paul cite in exalt-
                     ing Christ as the Captain of our salvation?

                                                                                    15

          Part 3        "The Lord is the true God, He is the living God. . . .
   CREATORSHIP       The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth,
      IDENTIFIES     even they shall perish from the earth, and from under
  THE TRUE GOD       these heavens. He hath made the earth by His power, He
                     hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath
    Jer. 10:10-12    stretched out the heavens by His discretion."

                        When the prophets of old sought to draw a clear line of
                     distinction between the true God and all false gods, they always
                     came back to the fact that the true God had created the
                     heavens and the earth. The difference was not only one of
                     degree—with the true God greater than all other gods, so-called
                     —but of kind. He alone had the power to create ; they did
                     not. Turn to Ps. 96:3-5 for one of the finest Bible statements
                     of this sublime truth.
                        Isaiah looks with scorn upon those who make a graven
                     image and worship it as if it were God. The fact that it is a
                     man-made object proves that man is superior to it. On the
                     other hand, the true God made man as well as everything else
                     in the world, and this is conclusive evidence that the true God
                     is greater than man and that He alone deserves man's worship
                     and service. Read Isa. 44:6-20.
                        To deny that God created all things is to deprive the Chris-
                     tian religion of its validity and its power. It reduces Christianity
                     to a man-made religion like all other religions. Those who call
                     themselves Christians and yet reject the Bible account of crea-
                     tion have a structure of faith poised precariously in the tenuous
                     atmosphere of their futile imaginations, without any substantial
                     foundation. Salvation and the Christian faith are true because
                     their Author is the One who created and who sustains all things.
                        To what do the Bible writers point as the supreme
                     distinction between the true God and all false gods?

           Part 4     "This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal
  JESUS CHRIST:   life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath
     TRULY GOD life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."
                      "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath
                  given us an understanding, that we may know Him that
                  is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son   1 John 5:11, 12, 20 Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life."

                       Only the One who imparted life to man in the beginning
                    can impart eternal life to him now. No less divine power is
                    involved in the second gift of life than in the first. Unless I
                    believe that human life originally came from God, I have no
                    rational basis for believing that man can become eligible to
                    eternal life. Only He who made man is able to save man.
                       In this passage John declares his own absolute faith in
                    Christ. "The Son of God is come"—John knew that to be an
                    incontestible fact. 1 John 1:1-3. In the second place, John
                    knew Jesus Christ personally as the Son of God and refers to
                    this personal relationship with Christ as being in Christ. In
                    the third place, life eternal is in Jesus Christ, and the person
                    who, by virtue of his faith, is in Christ possesses eternal life
                    here and now. Recognition of the sublime fact that Christ is
                    truly God in the supreme sense of the word is the key to
                    eternal life.
                       By what line of reasoning did the apostle John come
                    to the sure conclusion that he and all other believing
                    Christians are already in possession of life eternal?

          Part 5      "God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love where-
    SALVATION with He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath
      REQUIRES quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye
 CREATIVE POWER saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us
                  sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the
                  ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His
                   grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."
                      "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
                   unto good works, which God hath before ordained that
   Eph. 2:4-7, 10 we should walk in them."

                         In the beginning the Creator imparted physical life to the
                     lifeless form of Adam. Intellectually and morally Adam was
                     in the likeness of his Creator; but sin entailed moral death,
                     which eventually involved man in physical death as well. At
                     the appropriate time, however, the Creator Himself came to
                     earth, with the goal of re-creating fallen man in His own
                     glorious likeness.
                         In His new role as Saviour and Redeemer Christ set about
                     the task of creating men anew, morally, or "unto good works,"
                     as John expresses it. As the Creator formerly imparted life to
                     the lifeless form of Adam, He now imparted moral life to men
                     "dead in sins." He "quickened" them, that is, made them
                     morally alive again. As Christians "we are his workmanship,"
                     even as in the beginning Adam was His workmanship. Saly_atiqp
                     requires creative power no less certainly, and no less mighty,
                     than physical creation. The essential difference between the two
                     is that moral re-creation requires that human cooperation and
                     effort be united with divine power.
                        In what expressive words does John describe what
                     takes place in the experience of the individual sinner
                     when the Saviour restores Him to divine favor?

          Part 6
  THE SABBATH            "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. . . . For
  WITNESSES TO       in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and
  THE CREATOR        all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore
     Ex. 20:8-1 1    the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."

                        Having completed the work of creation in six days, God
                     ceased on the seventh day and set it apart as a memorial to
                     His creative work. Read Gen. 2:1-3. As we have already seen
                     (Jer. 10:10-12), the Bible points to the creative power of God
                     as the supreme evidence that He is the true God and as dis-
                     tinguishing Him from all false gods. A denial of the Bible rec-
                     ord of creation is a denial of the Creator Himself.
                        As a memorial to the great creative acts recorded in Genesis
                     1, the Sabbath becomes in a unique and superlative sense the
                     means ordained by the Creator to bind men to Him with a
                     knowledge of why He is the true God—His Creatorship. From
                     a theological point of view this is the primary significance of
                     the Sabbath. The person who remembers the Sabbath day in
                     the way God intended will never forget that "in six days the
                     Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is."
                     Every seventh day will remind him of that first seven days;
                     and, ever mindful of his Creator, the worshiper will be less
                     inclined to forget Him.
                         According to Ezek. 20:12, the Sabbath is likewise a "sign"
                     of the re-creative power of God in sanctifying men. It is thus
                     a memorial of the re-creation of man in the moral image of
                      God, as well as of the original creation of man in the likeness
                      of his Creator.   THINK IT THROUGH          Of what two things was the seventh-day Sabbath de-
                     signed to be a perpetual memorial?
                        How can I and my family best utilize the hours of the
                     Sabbath to accomplish God's purpose that the Sabbath
                     be a memorial of His creative power?
                        Why would some other day of the week not memo-
                     rialize the work of creation as effectively as the seventh
                     day?




"God designs that the Sabbath shall       the opening buds and the delicate flow-  direct the minds of men to the contem-       ers. All speak to us of God. The Sab-  plation of His created works. Nature         bath, ever pointing to Him who made  speaks to their senses, declaring that       them all, bids men open the great book  there is a living God, the Creator, the      of nature and trace therein the wisdom,  Supreme Ruler of all. . . . The beauty       the power, and the love of the Crea-  that clothes the earth is a token of         tor."—"Patriarchs and Prophets," page  God's love. We may behold it in the          48.  everlasting hills, in the lofty trees, in

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                                                    LESSON OUTLINE

                                              1. From Everlasting
                                                 Micah 5:2   A concept of Christ that traces Him back only to the manger in Bethlehem and not           2. Christ, the Son of God back to the beginning, before all past ages,         Acts 13:32, 33 falls infinitely short of the eternal existence assigned Him by the inspired writers of           3. God Incarnate the Bible. Only a being fully divine as well         John 1:1, 14 as human could live out before us the ex- ample of a sinless life, or come forth from       4. Father and Son the tomb by life in Himself (John 10:18),            Heb. 1:8-12 or impart to us the power and grace to overcome sin and to live in harmony with          5. Laid Aside the Prerogatives the Father's revealed will.                            of Deity
                                                 Phil. 2:5-8

                                              6. The Eternal One Dwells in Us
                                                 Isa. 57:15

                                                                                21

      Part 1    "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little  FROM EVERLASTING among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He
             come forth unto Me that is to be Ruler in Israel; whose
   Micah 5:2 goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

                       This prediction that the Messiah was to be born in Bethle-
                    hem is given in the setting of His role as a royal Son of David
                    and heir to his throne. In prophecy (Isa. 9:6, 7; 11:1-4) and
                    by the people (Matt. 20:30; 21:15) the Messiah is acclaimed
                    as "the Son of David." It was thus appropriate, and signifi-
                    cant, that Jesus be born in the town of David, Bethlehem.
                       Micah refers to the Messiah by the cryptic pronoun "He."
                    The future ruler of Israel was to be a Bethlehemite; but it is
                    said of Him that His "goings forth have been from of old,
                    from everlasting"—long before the founding of Bethlehem.
                    The coming Messiah is here declared to have existed in the
                    long ago, prior to the "thousands [literally, 'the clans'] of
                    Judah."
                       Christ's eternal preexistence is reflected throughout the
                    Bible. The Old Testament gospel prophet Isaiah ascribes to
                    Him the title "everlasting Father." Isa. 9:6. Jesus in His in-
                    tercessory prayer spoke of the glory He shared with the
                    Father "before the world was." John 17:5. According to John
                    1:1-3, the eternal Word was God in the supreme sense of the
                    word in the most remote ages of eternity past, and as Creator
                    He necessarily preceded all created things. According to Col.
                    1:17, He was "before all things."
                        What information does the prophet Micah give con-
                    cerning the origin, heritage, birthplace, and future role
                    of the coming Messiah?

         Part 2          "We declare unto you glad tidings, how that the prom-
    CHRIST, THE      ise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled
   SON OF GOD        the same unto us their children, in that He hath raised
                     up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm,
   Acts 13:32, 33    Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee."

                        Another cryptic prediction concerning the Messiah, in the
                     setting of His being heir to David's throne, occurs in Ps. 2:6, 7.
                     Reference here is specifically to the divinely appointed "king
                     upon My holy hill Zion," and in this context occurs the divine
                     announcement concerning the future King, "Thou art My Son;
                     this day have I begotten Thee."
                        The speaker is "He that sitteth in the heavens . . . : the
                     Lord." Verse 4. He addresses the future Messianic King as His
                     Son, a term which in ancient Hebrew usage stressed relation-
                     ship and character as well as filial descent. The speaker also
                     declares, "This day have I begotten Thee." If this be pressed
                     as a literal statement, of a father begetting a son in the literal
                     sense, there was necessarily a time before which Christ was
                     not, as Arius claimed sixteen centuries ago. But as we have
                     already seen (Part 1), such a conclusion would be in conflict
                     with the explicit statements of the Bible writers concerning the
                     eternity of Christ.
                        In Acts 13:32, 33 we have the inspired answer to the ques-
                     tion posed by Ps. 2:7. "This day" is the day of Christ's resur-
                     rection from the tomb, and the begetting referred to is not the
                     literal begetting of a son by a father, but the calling forth of
                     Christ from the grave. As Paul explicitly states in Col. 1:18,
                     Christ is "the firstborn from the dead." Read also Rev. 1:5,
                     where He is called "the first begotten of the dead." He was
                     "declared to be the Son of God with power, . . . by the resur-
                     rection from the dead." Rom. 1:4.
                        In what sense, and by virtue of what glorious event, is
                      Christ the "firstborn" or "begotten" of the Father?

                                                                                    23

         Part 3       "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
 GOD INCARNATE with God, and the Word was God."
                      "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
                   (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begot-
    John 1:1, 14 ten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

                        As applied to Jesus Christ, the title "Word" is unique with
                    John, in his Gospel and also in his epistles. Volumes have been
                    written in an attempt to plumb its depth of meaning.
                       A word is the verbal expression of an idea. The incarnate
                    Christ was a living demonstration, or expression, of the infinite
                    character and love of God for men lost in sin. John 3:16. He
                    came from heaven to 'earth to reveal the Father, and in His
                    sinless life, His tender ministry to the needs of men, and His
                    vicarious death on the cross He was expressing Heaven's love
                    for the lost human race. He did this in order that men might
                    believe and know God for what He really is, a gracious and
                    merciful Father, and thus find salvation from the power of
                    sin. John 17:3.
                        In the opening words of his Gospel, John affirms the absolute
                    deity and timeless preexistence of Christ; then he goes on to
                    say that this same divine Being became incarnate and lived
                    as a man among men. Divinity was shrouded in humanity; but
                    at times, notably on the mount of the transfiguration, the glory
                    of heaven shone through the mask of humanity.
                        The King James Version expression, "Only begotten," is a
                    mistranslation of the Greek, which is more accurately rendered
                    "unique," "only," or "one of a kind." John is not declaring
                    that, at some moment in remote eternity past, Christ came
                    into being by a process analogous to human fatherhood and
                    sonhood. Here he is declaring that the glory he and the other
                    disciples beheld in Christ was glory such as could be accounted
                    for only as the glory of Deity, and John offers this as absolute
                    proof that Jesus was indeed divine. Read 2 Peter 1:16-18.
                       What unique title does John use in introducing Jesus
                    Christ to his readers, and what sublime truths does John
                    give concerning Christ's preexistence and His mission to
                    earth?

       Part 4      "Unto the Son He [the Father] saith, Thy throne, 0 God,   FATHER AND SON is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the
                scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness,
                and hated iniquity; therefore God, even Thy God, hath
                anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fel-
                lows. And,, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the
                foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works
                of Thine hands: they shall perish; but Thou remainest;
                and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a
                vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be
                changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not
  Heb. 1 :8-1 2 fail."

                     The Bible presents Jesus Christ as the incarnate Son of God,
                  in His many-faceted relationship to the plan of salvation and
                  to the human family lost in sin. The Bible writers have little
                  to say about Him apart from His work on behalf of fallen
                  humanity. But here in the first chapter of Hebrews the curtain
                  of eternity is drawn aside as Inspiration gives us a brief glimpse
                  of the absolute, eternal relationship between the two members of
                  the Godhead we know as the Father and the Son. In awe
                  and wonder it is our privilege to listen in on this divine con-
                  versation between them.
                     Here the Father addresses the Son as God and attributes to
                  Him sovereign status. This was the "glory" that Christ shared
                  with the Father "before the world was" (John 17:5), and the
                  "all power" (Matt. 28:18) that was restored to Him at the
                  resurrection. When Jesus came to this earth, He emptied Himself
                  of this glory and power. (Read Phil. 2:7, 8.)
                     Inasmuch as the Scriptures are concerned almost exclusively
                  with Christ in His role as the Saviour of men, in which He
                  divested Himself of divine power and prerogatives (Phil. 2:5-8),
                  most of the statements about Christ in Scripture picture Him
                  in His role as a man among men, and thus subordinate to the
                  Father. These expressions of subordination are not to be con-
                  strued as reflecting the absolute relationship between these two
                  members of the Trinity.
                      Point out seven sublime truths concerning Christ and
                   His status in heaven as set forth in this declaration by
                   the Father.

        Part 5       "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
 LAID ASIDE THE Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not
  PREROGATIVES robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no
      OF DEITY reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant,
                  and was made in the likeness of men: and being found
                  in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became
     Phil. 2:5-8 obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

                       Literally in the Greek, the expression "made Himself of no
                    reputation" reads "emptied Himself." The Revised Standard
                    Version translation reflects the original more precisely. Christ
                    laid aside the prerogatives of Deity when He assumed humanity
                    and came to live as a man among men.
                       Christ was God, says Paul, and might rightfully have de-
                    clined, even temporarily, to relinquish His status of full equal-
                    ity. Instead, He "emptied Himself" of the "glory" and power
                    of Deity in order that He might take upon Himself "the form
                    of a servant" and "be made in the likeness of men," infinitely
                    inferior to the Father and subject to Him. He not only did so,
                    but became the most despised of men when He went to the
                    cross. Amazing love! What greater "emptying" could be imag-
                    ined—from ruling as sovereign of the universe, to being con-
                    demned as the vilest of criminals by wicked human beings!
                       He did it for us. If any passage of Scripture can help us
                    understand what Christ's mission to earth must have meant to
                    Him and to the inhabitants of heaven and the other worlds,
                    this is it. In love and gratitude let us bow our hearts before
                    Him, and purpose anew to live for Him as He lives for us. Let
                    us be willing to "empty" ourselves and to serve our fellowmen,
                    as He emptied Himself on our behalf.
                       What "mind" was in Christ as He looked down in com-
                    passion upon the human family lost in sin, and what did
                    this "mind" prompt Him to do?

        Part 6         "Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth   THE ETERNAL ONE       eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and
  DWELLS IN US      holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and hum-
                    ble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive
       Isa. 57:15   the heart of the contrite ones."

                       No inspired affirmation of divine greatness and majesty ex-
                    ceeds this one in beauty and impressiveness. To say that God
                    inhabits eternity is more than a jeweled figure of speech. We
                    usually think of space being habitable, but why not time as
                    well? And if time, why not eternity? Space and time both
                    belong to God. Here we have a pen picture of God in the calm
                    and unhurried tranquillity of His reign as Sovereign of the
                    universe.
                       But, marvel of marvels, the Sovereign of the universe awaits
                    the faltering invitation of every contrite heart to dwell with
                    him, to inhabit his mind, affections, and life. How could He
                    be concerned about us fragile specks of cosmic dust, who have
                    strayed into sin and forgetfulness of God?
                       In similar vein Paul wrote: "I am crucified with Christ:
                    nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and
                    the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the
                    Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." Gal.
                    2:20. Today the True Witness to the Laodiceans makes the
                    same offer: "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." Rev. 3:20.
                       Read also 1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 3:17.
                       What exalted privilege does the Sovereign of the uni-
                    verse offer those who are humble and contrite of heart?

                                                                                  27

                                                                  July 25, 1970




                               CHRIST, THE GREAT I AM    "Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." Isa. 26:4.


                                                  LESSON OUTLINE

                                           1. The Great I AM.
                                              Ex. 3:13, 14; 6:3   The New Testament presents Christ as Creator and Sustainer of all things, as God    2. Before Abraham Was, I AM in the full and unqualified sense of the          John 8:56-59 word, and as the great "I AM" of the Old Testament. He was the Sovereign of Israel      3. The Alpha and Omega under the old covenant, as He is our Lord         Revelation 1:4, 8; 22:12, 13 under the new covenant. It was He who led Israel out of the lard of their bondage, who   4. The Rock of Ages cared for them through forty years of wan-        1 Cor. 10:1-4 dering in the wilderness, and who led them in the conquest of the land of Canaan.         5. The Way to the Father
                                              John 14:6-9

                                           6. The Fullness of the Godhead
                                              Col. 2:6-9

                                                                             29

            Part 1      "And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto
 THE GREAT I AM the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God
                     of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall
                     say to me, What is His name? what shall I say unto them?
                     And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said,
                     Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath
                     sent me unto you."
                        "I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto
                     Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by My name
  Ex. 3:13, 14; 6:3 JEHOVAH was I not known to them."

                       Calling Israel out of Egypt to be His chosen people, God re-
                    vealed Himself to them by a new name by which they were to
                    know Him. That name was Yahweh (incorrectly transliterated
                    into English as Jehovah). In Bible times a personal name was
                    significant in that it reflected a person's character, ideals, as-
                    pirations, or some great experience in life. The name Yahweh
                    (usually rendered in the King James Version as LORD, in capital
                    and small capital letters) is thought to be a form of the verb
                    "to be," and may be rendered freely into English as "the self-
                    existent One," "the Eternal," "the ever-living One."
                       This name, which occurs more than five thousand times in
                    the Old Testament, distinguished the true God from all false
                    gods. Because of the importance ancient peoples attached to
                    personal names, and because of the transcendent majesty of
                    the true God, Sovereign of the universe, the Jews eventually
                    came to regard the name itself with such sanctity that they
                    never took it upon their lips, and as a result knowledge of its
                    true pronunciation was eventually lost. Sometimes scribes, com-
                    ing to the sacred name Yahweh, would leave the space blank,
                    though usually they added the vowels of the ordinary word
                    for "lord" to the consonants of Yahweh, and read the name
                    as "Lord." This combination of the consonants for Yahweh
                    and the vowels for the Hebrew word for "lord," when vocal-
                    ized, sounds something like Jehovah. However, a Jewish reader
                    coming to the word always read "Lord," and never "Jehovah."
                        By what new name did God make Himself known to
                     Moses and the Hebrews when He summoned them out
                    'of Egypt to become His chosen, covenant people?

        Part 2        "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and   BEFORE ABRAHAM       he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto Him,
    WAS, I AM      Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abra-
                   ham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
                   Before Abraham was, I AM. Then took they up stones to
                   cast at Him: but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the
                   temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed
   John 8:56-59    by."

                       For millenniums those who honored the true God had been
                   looking forward to the promised Messiah, and with earnest
                   longing the devout yearned for His coming. When Jesus came
                   in fulfillment of all that the prophets of old had written con-
                   cerning Him, those of contrite heart and spiritual discernment
                   recognized in Him this Promised One. Spiritual pride prevented
                   others from accepting Him. "He came unto His own, and His
                   own received Him not." John 1:11.
                       Present truth in Christ's day proclaimed Jesus of Nazareth
                   to be the Messiah of prophecy, incarnate. "Jesus is the Christ"
                   was the watchword of the early church (John 20:31; 1 John
                   5:1), their creed and confession of faith.
                       When, during the course of a heated discussion with the
                   leaders of the nation, Jesus referred to Himself by the sacred
                   name "I AM" (Yahweh), thus identifying Himself as the God
                   of the Old Testament, they took up stones intending to kill
                   Him on the spot for what they assumed to be blasphemy. For
                   a mere human being to make the claim would, indeed, have
                   been blasphemy. This, in fact, was one of the charges upon
                   which His enemies based his death warrant. Matt. 26:63-66.
                   Upon another occasion when they took up stones to kill Him,
                    they justified their proposed course of action with the explana-
                    tion "that Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God." John
                   10:33.
                      Account for the crisis that arose when Jesus declared,
                    "Before Abraham was, I AM."

                                                                                 31

            Part 3     "Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is,
      THE ALPHA and which was, and which is to come."
    AND OMEGA          "1 am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end-
                   ing, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which
                   is to come, the Almighty."
                       "Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me,
                   to give every man according as his work shall be. I am
                   Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first Rev. 1:4, 8; 22:12, 13 and the last."

                      John's title for the last book of Holy Writ is, "The Revela-.
                   tion of Jesus Christ." Rev. 1:1. He begins (verses 4, 5) by
                   ascribing to God the Father three expressions that express His
                   timeless eternity: (1) He "was" in all time and eternity past,
                   He "is" now, and He "is to come," or "will be," in all time
                   and eternity future. (2) He is the "Alpha and Omega"—the
                   "A" and "Z" as we would say—the first and last letters of the
                   Greek alphabet. (3) He is "the beginning and the ending," not
                   in the sense that He ever had a beginning or that He will ever
                   have an end, but in the sense that He existed in all eternity
                   past, before other beings and things, and that none will exist
                   after Him, inasmuch as He will never cease to exist.
                      John closes His revelation of Jesus Christ by ascribing these
                   same attributes to Christ, in a context where it is evident that
                   he refers to Christ. Rev. 22:13, 16.
                      The Greek expression translated "Him which is," literally
                   "the being [One]," is identical with the Septuagint translation
                   of the sacred name "I AM" in Exodus 3:14. Whether John's
                   omission of the timeless triad—is, was, and is to be—when he
                   applies the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, to
                   Christ in chapter 22, was intentional, we do not know. How-
                   ever, it is evident from such passages as John 1:1-3 ; 8:56-59;
                   10:33 and others, that John did, in fact, apply the sacred name
                   reflected in this expression, to Christ. Compare John 20:31.
                      By what expressions does John refer to the timeless,
                   eternal nature of God the Father and of Christ, and what
                   do these expressions tell us about both members of the
                   Trinity?

         Part 4      "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be  THE ROCK OF AGES ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud,
                  and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized
                  unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat
                  the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same
                  spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that
  1 Cor. 10:1-4 followed them: and that Rock was Christ."

                       In Deut. 32:4 Moses refers to the God of Israel as "the
                    Rock." A rock aptly represents solidity, strength, endurance,
                    and security. Also, in Israel's wilderness wanderings, a rock
                    was the source of life-giving water. The metaphor "Rock" was
                    thus fraught with meaning and assurance for those who trust
                    in Him.
                        Writing to the Corinthians, Paul explicitly declares that the
                    Rock accompanying the people of Israel in the wilderness was
                    none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. They were under the
                    personal guardianship of the Almighty. In his valedictory
                    address to Israel Moses said of the Lord: "Be strong and of
                    a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them [the nations of
                    Canaan]: for the Lord thy God, He it is that doth go with
                    thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Deut. 31:6.
                        In particular, Paul alludes to the smitten rock from which
                    streams of water poured forth for the wanderers in a dry,
                    desolate, and weary land. Like Israel of old, it is our privilege
                     to have that spiritual Rock with us as we journey through
                    life.
                       With what appropriate and meaningful figure of
                    speech does the apostle Paul sum up the tender watch-
                    care of the Lord for His people?

        Part 5      "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and
   THE WAY TO the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. If
    THE FATHER ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also:
                 and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him.
                 Philip saith unto Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it
                 sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long
                 time with you, and yet host thou not known Me, Philip?
                 he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how
    John 14:6-9 sayest thou then, Show us the Father?"

                      Jesus' mission to earth may be summed up by saying that
                   He came to reveal the Father. This Jesus accomplished by the
                   gracious words He spoke, by His tender ministry to the needs
                   of mankind, and above all by His own perfect life of conform-
                   ity to the eternal principles of heaven. He was, in and of
                   Himself, the perfect revelation of the Father. Sin had opened
                   a wide and deep chasm of ignorance and suspicion between
                   God and man; Jesus came to earth to build a bridge by which
                   we might find our way back to God. In fact, He was that
                   bridge. He is the way by which we can return to God, and
                   there is no other; "No man cometh unto the Father, but by
                   Me." Read John 17:3-8.
                      Down through the centuries men have sought to reach
                   heaven by many paths other than the one over which Jesus
                   pioneered the way—by self-righteous living, by philosophy, by
                   a form of religion without its transforming power, by wor-
                   shiping the works of their hands. But, one and all, these are
                   dead-end streets. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for
                    there is none other name under heaven given among men,
                   whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12.
                       How did Jesus, on the night that He was betrayed,
                    sum up for the disciples the purpose of His mission to
                    earth?

         Part 6      "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,
THE FULLNESS OF so walk ye in Him: rooted and built up in Him, and stab-
  THE GODHEAD lished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding
                  therein with thanksgiving. . . . For in Him dwelleth all
      Col. 2:6-9 the fullness of the Godhead bodily."

                         Jesus is "the way" in which we are to "walk," that is, to
                      conduct ourselves. Like trees firmly rooted in the soil, we are
                      to be anchored to Him and to gain our nourishment from
                      Him. Read Psalm 1. Like a sturdy building, we are to build
                      and establish ourselves on Him as the foundation of our lives.
                         All that Jesus means to us is anchored to the fact that
                      "In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." In
                      nature, in character, in divine attributes, in solicitous care for
                      the creatures of His hand, Christ and the Father are one. Christ
                      is God in every sense of the word, and this sublime fact is our
                      assurance and hope.
                         During the early centuries of the Christian Era a number
                      of heresies arose to trouble the church with respect to (1) the
                      nature of Christ as a divine-human being, and (2) His rela-
                      tionship to the other members of the Trinity. Among these
                      heresies were Docetism, Gnosticism, Sabellianism, Monarchian-
                      ism, Arianism, and Nestorianism. In a series of church coun-
                      cils from A.D. 325 at Nicea to A.D. 680 at Constantinople, the
                      church found its way through to the truth that Christ is God
                      in every sense, and that there is one God in three divine Persons.
                         The Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451) declared: "We . .
                      confess .    . Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and
                      also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a rea-
                      sonable [rational] soul and body; consubstantial with the
                      Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us
                      according to the manhood; in all things like unto us, without
                      sin."—Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 2, p. 62.
                         What positive affirmation by the apostle Paul settles
                      for all time the degree of Christ's divinity?   THINK IT THROUGH            Is there any sense, or any degree, in which Christ the
                       Son is divine in a subordinate sense or to a lesser degree?
                         How shall we understand the repeated statements by
                       Christ while on earth, that of Himself He could do nothing
                       and that the Father was greater than He?

                                                                                     35

                                                                           but by Me."

                                                                     August 1, 1970




                                   CHRIST, THE MESSIAH -1                         5    "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." 2 Tim. 1:12.

                                                                                    37

         Part 1       "The next day after John stood, and two of his dis-    WE HAVE FOUND ciples; and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith,
   THE MESSIAS Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him
                  speak, and they followed Jesus."
                      "One of the two which heard John speak, and fol-
                  lowed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first
                  findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We
                  have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the  John 1:35-37, 40-42 Christ. And he brought him to Jesus."

                        Four thousand years had passed since the first promise of
                     a Saviour in the Garden of Eden. Gen. 3:15. For centuries the
                     prophets had foretold His coming, and with earnest desire men
                     and women of contrite hearts yearned for the fulfillment of the
                     promises. Then one day, in the fullness of time, God sent forth
                     His Son into the world (Gal. 4:4), and a voice was heard
                     proclaiming that the Lamb of God had, at long last, appeared.
                        With what joy of heart the devout must have passed the
                     word from lip to lip, "We have found the Messias !" The day
                     of deliverance was at hand. The day for which all Israel hoped
                     had at last dawned. The promised Deliverer had come. Eager
                     expectation took possession of hearts and minds.
                        At the beginning of His ministry Christ was anointed by
                     the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38), thereby receiving Heaven's seal
                     of approval as the One sent by God to be the Saviour of the
                     world. The names "Messiah" and "Christ" thus express the
                     divine commission with which He came to this world.
                         By what meaningful symbols did John the Baptist
                     introduce Jesus to the throng that had come to hear him
                     speak, and how did some in the audience interpret John's
                     announcement when they reported it to their friends?

       Part 2      "When He was come into His own country, He taught
  A PROPHET them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were aston-   WITHOUT HONOR ished, and said, Whence hath this Man this wisdom, and
                these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's Son? is not
                His mother called Mary? and His brethren, James, and
                Joses, and Simon, and Judas? and His sisters, are they
                not all with us? Whence then hath this Man all these
                things? And they were offended in Him. But Jesus said
                unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his
Matt. 13:54-57 own country, and in his own house."

                       John, Andrew, Simon, Philip, and Nathanael accepted Jesus
                    as the Messiah immediately and without question. With spir-
                    itual insight they saw in Him more than simply another human
                    being like themselves. To be sure, they were far from under-
                    standing all that was involved in Christ's mission to earth, and
                    in fact they had some very mistaken concepts about Him and
                    why He had come. But they did recognize and accept Him at
                    once for what He was, the Messiah.
                       Not so with the people generally, whose spiritual eyesight
                    was dim. Most people were impressed with His gracious words
                    and His miracles. Never before had they listened to such heart-
                    stirring messages, and they recognized in Him a power at work
                    far beyond human ability. But Jesus appeared to be another
                    human being essentially like themselves. They knew about His
                    human ancestry and were personally acquainted with members
                    of His family. "He came unto His own, and His own received
                    Him not." "He was in the world, . . . and the world knew
                    Him not." John 1:11, 10. The prince of this world had blinded
                    them with spiritual myopia; they could not see beyond the
                    material to the spiritual reality behind it.
                        Isaiah had foretold this spiritual blindness. Read Isa. 53:2.
                     Eventually a majority of people "went back, and walked no
                     more with Him"; but a few remained firm in their faith,
                    saying, "We believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the
                    Son of the living God." John 6:66, 69.
                        Into what dilemma did Jesus' return to Nazareth
                     plunge the townspeople? With what result?

                                                                                  39

           Part 3      "That which was from the beginning, which we have
  THE TESTIMONY heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have
 OF EYEWITNESSES looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word
                  of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen
                  it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life,
                  which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
                  that which we have seen and heard declare we unto
                  you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly
                  our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus
     1 John 1:1-3 Christ."

                        One of the noteworthy aspects of the New Testament record
                     of the life and mission of Jesus is the absolute confidence its
                     writers reflect in Jesus as the promised Messiah and the Son
                     of God. Those closest to Him and best able to judge the validity
                     of the evidence He offered accepted it as conclusive proof of
                     His Messiahship. The last lingering doubt, even on the part
                     of Thomas, was dispelled. This certainty in what they be-
                     lieved gave convincing power to the message the apostles bore
                     as they went out to the world with the gospel story.
                        The evidence John cites is threefold: he had seen, heard,
                     and touched Jesus. He saw the miracles Christ performed, he
                     heard the gracious words of truth Jesus spoke, and by touch
                     he knew Jesus to be a real being and not a phantom, as the
                     Docetists of John's time claimed. John's account of events
                     was that of an eyewitness, and no one could shake his testi-
                     mony. Read also John 6:66-69.
                        What reasons did the apostle John give for his firm
                     conviction that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Son
                     of God?

          Part 4    "We have not followed cunningly devised fables,
      FULFILLED when we made known unto you the power and coming
     PROPHECY of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His
                 majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and
                 glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the
                 excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
                 well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven
                 we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount.
                 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto
                 ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth
                 in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the daystar
 2 Peter 1:16-19 arise in your hearts."

                     Like John (see Part 3), Peter presents himself as an eye-
                  witness of the things he proclaimed concerning Jesus of Naza-
                  reth. He was there; he knew whereof he spoke. Whereas John
                  is content, in his epistle, to make a general statement to this
                  effect, Peter cites the outstanding incident in his association
                  with Christ that proved to him that Christ was divine—the
                  transfiguration on the mount. Read Matt. 17:1-8. With his
                  own eyes Peter had seen the celestial glory that radiated,
                  momentarily, from the person of Christ. With his own ears
                  he had heard the voice from heaven proclaiming Jesus to be
                  the Son of God. This, says Peter, confirmed the words of
                  the prophets of old and proved that the Messianic predictions
                  of the Old Testament had, indeed, met their fulfillment in
                  Christ.
                     To Peter, it was this correspondence between prophecy on
                  the one hand, and its fulfillment in history, on the other, that
                  provided conclusive, incontestable evidence of the Messiahship
                  of Jesus of Nazareth.
                      Sum up Peter's affirmation of faith in Jesus Christ as
                   the Messiah of whom the prophets of old had spoken.

           Part 5       "Then He [Jesus] said unto them, 0 fools, and slow
    CONVINCING of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
       EVIDENCE ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to
                    enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the
                    prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures
                    the things concerning Himself."
                        "And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn
                    within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while
                    He opened to us the Scriptures?"
                        "And He said unto them, . . . All things must be ful-
                    filled, 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 under-
                    stand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is writ-
   Luke 24:25-27, ten, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from
       32, 44-46 the dead the third day."

                       How we wish Luke had reported the passages of Scripture
                    to which Jesus pointed the two disciples on the road to Em-
                    maus, in proof that His life and ministry, and especially His
                    recent death and resurrection, were indeed a fulfillment of
                    prophecy! What a Bible reading that would make! Perhaps
                    in the glory land we can ask Jesus for a repeat performance
                    of that Bible study, which led its recipients later to comment
                    to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us, while He
                    talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the
                    Scriptures?"
                        How did Jesus lift the gloom from the hearts and
                    minds of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and
                    prepare them to understand and appreciate fully the per-
                    sonal evidence of the resurrection He presented to them
                    a little later?

         Part 6       "[God] hath saved us, and called us with an holy call-
     PERSONAL ing, not according to our works, but according to His own
  CONVICTION purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
                  before the world began, but is now made manifest by
                  the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath
                  abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality
                  to light through the gospel."
                      "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded
                  that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto   2 Tim. 1:9, 10, 12 Him against that day."

                      John, Peter, and the other apostles were eyewitnesses to the
                   life and ministry of Jesus, and their conviction that He was
                   all that He claimed to be was absolute. But can others who
                   have not had the privilege of personal association with Jesus
                   be equally convinced? Those who listened to the disciples tell
                   about Christ, and all since then, have had to take the word
                   of the disciples for it.
                      The experience of the apostle Paul in accepting Christ, and
                   his role as the great foreign missionary of New Testament
                   times as well as writer of a major part of the New Testament,
                   prove that a person who is not an eyewitness can be just as
                   certain about the gospel record as the eyewitnesses themselves
                   were. Thus Paul's emphatic declaration, "I know whom I have
                   believed," is fraught with meaning and assurance to us today.
                   Paul knew. So can we.
                      In what dramatic words did Paul affirm his own faith
                   and confidence in Christ and in the salvation He came
                   to make possible?  THINK IT THROUGH         On what basis can I be as sure about Christ and the
                   gospel as Paul was?
                      How can I convince others that what I believe is really
                   so and persuade them to believe also?

                                                                               43

                                                                               45

           Part 1        "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and
 DIVINITY UNITED shall call His name Immanuel."
 WITH HUMANITY           "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given:
                      and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His
                      name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty
                      God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the
                      increase of His government and peace there shall be no
                      end; upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to
                      order it, and to establish it with judgment and with
  Isa. 7:14; 9:6, 7 justice from henceforth even forever."
                        The essential truth about Jesus Christ is the fact that, in
                     Him, divinity and humanity were united in one person. He
                     was God incarnate. This union was accomplished by providing
                     that a virgin should give birth to the Messiah. His divine
                     nature was in no way diminished by being united with human-
                     ity, nor was His humanity in any way diminished by being
                     united with divinity. The two natures were mysteriously blended
                     in one divine-human Person in such a way that each nature re-
                     tained its identity. Only thus could divinity enter directly into
                     the human experience. Only thus could His life be a perfect
                     example of what God would have us become. His death a
                     vicarious sacrifice in our stead, and His resurrection our guaran-
                     tee of eternal life.
                        The virgin birth of the Messiah as a human being with a
                     human mother, and His status as God, were both the subject
                     of prophecy. Both of these sublime facts are likewise attested
                     in the gospel record (Matt. 1:23; Luke 1:31-35) as having oc-
                     curred in the birth of Jesus.
                        At the same time, Christ's divine nature was veiled in His
                     humanity. He was tempted, and He overcame as a man, mak-
                     ing use of no attributes or powers not available to us. He
                     suffered and died as a man. Deity could not be tempted; Deity
                     could not die. But in the intimate association of the divine
                     and the human in Jesus Christ, Deity entered into close fel-
                     lowship with fallen humanity; and in Christ humanity, by
                     power from above, overcame temptation and triumphed over
                     death. Read Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 2:14, 17; 4:15.
                        What sublime facts about the nature and person of
                     the coming Messiah were foretold by the prophet Isaiah
                     seven centuries before His coming?  THINK IT THROUGH           Why was it necessary that the Messiah be divine? Why
                     must He also be a human being? By what divine provi-
                     sion was it possible for both natures to be united in one
                     person?
                        From the union of the two natures in Christ, what can I
                     learn about my own relationship to God?

         Part 2      "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I well  THE SON OF DAVID raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall
                  reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and jus-
                  tice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and
                  Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby
   Jer. 23:5, 6 •He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."

                      When He selected David to be king over Israel, the Lord
                   chose "a man after His own heart." 1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22.
                   David made mistakes, some of them grievous indeed, but when
                   called to account for them he manifested a humble, contrite
                   heart and repented of his evil deeds. Read 2 Sam. 11:1 to
                   12:14; Psalm 51. Such a spirit "is in the sight of God of great
                   price" (1 Peter 3:4), and God is able to "dwell . . . with him
                   also that is of a contrite and humble spirit" (Isa. 57:15) de-
                   spite his mistakes. With God the attitude, the spirit, the intent
                   of the heart is more-important than the overt act because, when
                   a man has the right frame of mind and heart, divine power
                   can unite with human effort to transform the life.
                      With such a spirit, David became an able ruler of God's
                   people, despite his mistakes, and thus also a type of the Mes-
                   siah as ruler of all God's people throughout eternal ages. Ac-
                   cordingly, God promised to "stablish the throne of His king-
                   dom forever" (2 Sam. 7:13), a promise yet to meet its complete
                   fulfillment in the eternal reign of Jesus Christ as Lord.
                       What prophecy of Jeremiah is significant with respect
                   to the Messiah in His role as Lord over the people of God?

                                                                                 47

           Part 3       "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little
 PLACE AND TIME      among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall
    OF HIS BIRTH     He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose
                     goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
                        "Know therefore and understand, that from the going
                     forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jeru-
                     salem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks,
       Micah 5:2;    and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built
       Dan. 9:25     again, and the wall, even in troublous times."

                        The time and place of Messiah's birth were both subjects
                     of prophecy. Micah foretold the place where He was to be
                     born, and Daniel the approximate time. Inasmuch as Messiah
                     was to be known as "the Son of David" and to sit upon the
                     throne of David, it was appropriate that he should be born in
                     Bethlehem, the City of David. But, though Jesus was to be
                     born in Bethlehem, Micah emphatically affirms His eternal
                     preexistence.
                        According to Daniel, Messiah was to appear at the close of
                     "seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks" of years, or
                     sixty-nine weeks of years (69 x 7), or 483 years "from the
                     going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jeru-
                     salem." The effective decree that resulted in the complete res-
                     toration of Jerusalem was that issued by Artaxerxes, king of
                     Persia, in the seventh year of his reign (read Ezra 7:1, 8, 11,
                     13), or 457 B.c. Four hundred eighty-three years from 457 B.C.
                     brings us to A.D. 27, in which year Christ entered upon His
                     public ministry. Thirty was the age at which it was customary,
                     among the Jews, for a person to enter public service. See
                     Num. 4:3 ; 1 Chron. 23:3. Jesus doubtless had this prophecy
                     of Daniel in mind when He declared, "The time is fulfilled, and
                     the kingdom of God is at hand." Mark 1:15; compare Gal. 4:4.
                        In what words did the prophets foretell the place and
                     the approximate time when Messiah was to be born and
                     enter upon His ministry?

          Part 4     "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the
 OBJECTIVES OF Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the
JESUS' MINISTRY meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to
                 proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
                 prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable
                 year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God;
                 to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that
                 mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the
                 oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the
                 spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of
                 righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might
     Isa. 61:1-3 be glorified."

                         Jesus chose this passage of Isaiah as the text for His first
                      recorded sermon, in the synagogue of Nazareth at the begin-
                      ning of His Galilean ministry. After reading it, He announced,
                      "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." Luke 4:21.
                      The theme of Jesus' message was, "The kingdom of heaven is
                      at hand" (Matt. 4:17), by which He referred to the kingdom
                      of divine grace in the hearts of men.
                         This was the "good tidings," the good news or gospel, that
                      Jesus brought to all who would listen. He came to proclaim
                      liberty to those whom Satan held captive in the prison house
                      of sin; there was freedom for all who wanted to escape. He
                      came to announce the "acceptable year" of salvation, the day
                      of grace for all who would accept it. Jesus came to bind up
                      those who, upon hearing the gospel, were brokenhearted over
                      their sins, to comfort those who mourned for the wrong they
                      had done, and to plant them as "trees of righteousness" in the
                      garden of divine grace. Compare Psalm 1.
                         In your own words, summarize Isaiah's prediction of
                      the nature of Christ's message and the purpose of His
                      ministry.

           Part 5     "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was
    A VICARIOUS bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace
       SACRIFICE was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All
                  we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every-
                  one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the
                  iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted,
                  yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb
                  to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is
                  dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. . . . For He was cut
                  off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of
                  my people was He stricken.... Thou shalt make His soul
                  an offering for sin. . . . By His knowledge shall My righ-
                  teous Servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniq-
                  uities. . . . He hath poured out His soul unto death: and
                  He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare
                  the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgres-
     Isa. 53:5-12 sors."

                       The sublime beauty of Isaiah's word portrait of the suffering
                    Servant of God is a literary as well as a spiritual masterpiece.
                    Read from the preceding chapter Isaiah's introduction (Isa.
                    52:7-15) to the fifty-third chapter. There the Messenger of the
                    Lord bursts upon the scene like a courier arriving in haste with
                    good news—"good tidings" of "peace" and "salvation" (verse
                    7) addressed to all men everywhere (verse 10). He would
                    prosper as God's appointed Ambassador to earth (verse 13),
                    but would also suffer "more than the sons of men" are called
                    upon to suffer (verse 14).
                       Isaiah stresses the vicarious nature of Christ's sacrifice. In
                    one way or another this refrain is repeated again and again
                    in Isaiah 53. See how many times you can find this aspect of
                    Christ's sacrifice mentioned, and note the different forms in
                    which it is expressed.
                       What aspects of Messiah's sufferings and death are
                    graphically portrayed by the prophet Isaiah?

           Part 6   "Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell; neither wilt Thou   HIS' RESURRECTION suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption."    AND ASCENSION        "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right
 Ps. 16:10; 110:1 hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool."
                       The inspired writers of the New Testament have picked up
                    both of these passages from the Psalms and applied them to the
                    resurrection of Christ from the grave, and to His exalted posi-
                    tion in heaven following His ascension. Read Acts 2:25-32;
                    Heb. 1:13. Isaiah foretold that after Messiah's death. He would'
                    "see His seed," that is, "see of the travail of His soul" and
                    "be satisfied" (Isa. 53:10-12). He would "prolong His days,"
                    or live on after death. Having borne the iniquities of His people
                    in His death, He would "justify many" and make "intercession
                    for the transgressors."
                       In the Bible "my soul," as used in Ps. 16:10,. means "me."
                    "Soul" is often substituted for the personal pronoun and is
                    so translated in modern translations such as The Torah, a Jew-
                    ish version issued by the Jewish Publication Society of Amer-
                    ica, that reflects the best contemporary Jewish scholarship. The
                    word "hell" means the grave,, or abode of the dead. Speaking
                    on the Day of Pentecost, Peter placed the words of Ps. 16:10
                    in the mouth of Christ, as a prediction .that He would rise
                    from the dead.
                       The writer of Hebrews (Heb. 1:13) attributes the word's of
                    Ps. 110:1 to God the Father at the enthronement of Christ as
                    High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. Read Heb. 2:1; 10:20-22.
                       In what cryptic word's does the psalmist foretell the
                    resurrection of our Lord and His exalted position in
                    heaven following the ascension?  THINK IT THROUGH          How was the assurance that Jesus would not "see cor-
                    ruption" fulfilled in the experience of His death and
                    resurrection?
                       Is Christ's relationship to the Father and to the uni-
                    verse now any different from what it was before the
                    incarnation?

                                                  LESSON OUTLINE   Sin came into the world as a result of       1. God's Concern for Sinners Adam's transgression, and death as a result       John 3:16, 17 of sin. Read Rom. 5:8-10, 18. Man was estranged from God, and in his perverted,      2. God With Us sinful nature had no desire to be reconciled      Matt. 1:21-23 to God. Unless God took an effective ini- tiative, the separation would be eternal.      3. Justification and Reconciliation Thus it was that Deity stooped to take on         Rom. 5:8-10, 12, 18 the nature of fallen humanity, in order that He might effectively represent God to us,      4. Our Great High Priest and that in His human nature He might             Heb. 2:14, 15, 17, 18 represent our plight to the Father and rec- oncile us to God. He came to this earth as     5. Jesus Intercedes for Us God's ambassador of peace to fallen hu-           Heb. 7:24, 25 manity and returned to heaven as our am- bassador at the throne of the universe.        6. In Time of Need
                                              Heb. 4:14-16

                                                                            53

         Part 1      "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-
 GOD'S CONCERN begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should
   FOR SINNERS not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not
                  His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that
   John 3:16, 17 the world through Him might be saved."

                        How fitting that God in His mercy did not abandon the
                     human family to the results of its evil choice! How fitting that
                     deep in the heart of the Creator was a yearning for His erring,
                     earthborn children! How thankful we can be that while "to
                     err is human, to forgive {is] divine."
                        God's love for lost humanity consists in infinite compassion
                     for man and concern for his eternal happiness and well-being.
                     He might properly have sent His Son into the world to con-
                     demn the world for its rebellion, but He did not do so. Justice
                     would have approved of such a course of action, but mercy
                     not so. Though it appeared that all was lost, divine wisdom
                     knew that there was still hope, yes certainty, that some at
                     least might yet be saved. To all the universe, throughout all
                     eternity, the most sublime facet of the divine character is
                     revealed through the plan of salvation—mercy, the supreme
                     demonstration of love. This abiding confidence in the infinite
                     goodness of God will safeguard the universe against the plague
                     of sin ever breaking out again.
                        God provided a way of escape from the death grip of sin,
                     but divine wisdom provided that every man should make his
                     own decision as to whether he would accept the gift of infinite
                     grace. Satan made death inevitable by taking from man the
                     power of choice; Christ made life possible by restoring to man
                     the power to choose between death and life.
                        With what alternatives did the entrance of sin into
                     this world confront God? With what alternative did the
                     entrance of Christ into the world confront lost sinners?

          Part 2      "She [Mary] shall bring forth a Son, and thou [Joseph]
  GOD WITH US shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people
                  from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be
                  fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
                  saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall
                  bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel,
   Matt. 1:21-23 which being interpreted is, God with us."

                       The names "Jesus" and "Immanuel" express the purpose of
                   the Saviour's mission to earth. "Immanuel" is a transliteration
                   of the Hebrew meaning "God with us." The name "Jesus" is
                   also from the Hebrew, and means "the Lord will save." In the
                   person of Jesus of Nazareth, God came into intimate associa-
                   tion with His people on earth. He was not content to be for-
                   ever estranged from them, but came to make peace. Think of
                   it! The infinite God desires the companionship of beings who
                   have revolted against Him! He came to be with us, to save
                   us from our sins and to qualify us for restoration to the family
                   in heaven.
                       Isaiah's prophecy that a young woman would bear a child
                   (read Isa. 7:14), which originally expressed God's purpose to
                   be with His people Israel in their confrontation with the
                   Syrian hosts, is clothed by the angel who came to Joseph with
                   the higher spiritual significance that, in our confrontation with
                   Satan and the hosts of evil, God came, in the person of Jesus
                   Christ, to be with us and to rescue us from his power. The
                   earlier, historical experience was fulfilled—filled with a fuller
                   meaning—when the Son of God took upon Himself the nature
                   of mankind.
                      What name and what title were given the Saviour by
                   the angel who appeared to Joseph, and how does he
                   explain their meaning?

                                                                                 55

                       Paul argues the justice of God in accepting the death of
                   one person—Jesus Christ—on behalf of the entire human race,
                   on the basis that the entire race had fallen into sin as the result
                   of the wrong choice of one other person, Adam. If all men
                   could become sinners as a result of Adam's sin, then it is
                   right and proper that all men can become righteous through
                   the gift of divine grace in the person of Jesus Christ. "God
                   commendeth his love toward us, . . . while we were yet sin-
                   ners," by sending Christ to die for us.
                       If Christ died for us while we were still enemies of God,
                   with no desire to be reconciled to God, surely, having been
                   reconciled to God by that infinite sacrifice, we can with all
                   confidence believe that He will rescue us from death, which
                   is the result of sin.
                       As a result of Adam's sin all men inherited a sinful nature.
                   But by their own choice this sinful nature has involved all men
                   in sin.
                      In your own words, summarize Paul's argument about
                   the justice of God in granting divine amnesty to all re-
                   pentant sinners.

          Part 4       "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh
    OUR GREAT and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same;
    HIGH PRIEST that through death He might destroy him that had the
                   power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who
                   through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
                   bondage."
                       "Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made
                   like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and
                   faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make
                   reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He
                   Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to suc- Heb. 2:14, 15, 17, 18 cor them that are tempted."

                       By taking upon Himself humanity, the Son of God identified
                    with the human race. For the duration of His mission to earth
                    He laid aside the prerogatives of Deity (Phil. 2:5-8) ; He "emp-
                    tied himself," as the Greek of Phil. 2:7 reads literally, and
                    came to live as a man, with a human body, a human nature,
                    and human frailties and limitations. In His confrontations with
                    the tempter He relied on the same help from above that is
                    available to us. He never performed a miracle to benefit Him-
                    self. There was no make-believe about His struggle with the
                    enemy ; He was tempted, and He suffered as He struggled
                    against His wily foe.
                       The Saviour chose to meet the tempter as we must meet
                    him, in order that He might be able to help us when we are
                    tempted. Now, as a merciful and faithful High Priest, He is
                    our representative before God, in order that He may recon-
                    cile us to God. He was made like us in all things, in order
                    that He might become our representative, in all things, before
                    the Father.
                        In what ways did Jesus identify Himself with human-
                    ity? Why?  THINK IT THROUGH           Knowing all things, why could the Son of God not have
                     become "a merciful and faithful High Priest" and "make
                     reconciliation for the sins of the people" without a per-
                     sonal encounter with temptation?
                        Did Jesus meet temptation in His divine nature or in
                     His human nature?    "Would that we could comprehend             "Satan finds in human hearts some the significance of the words, Christ       point where he can gain a foothold; 'suffered, being tempted.' While He was     some sinful desire is cherished, by free from the taint of sin, the refined     means of which his temptations assert sensibilities of His holy nature rendered   their power. But Christ declared of contact with evil unspeakably painful       Himself, 'The prince of this world com- to Him. Yet with human nature upon          eth, and hath nothing in Me.' The Him, He met the archapostate face to        storms of temptation burst upon Him, face, and single-handed withstood the       but they could not cause Him to swerve foe of His throne. Not even by a            from His allegiance to God."—Ellen G. thought could Christ be brought to yield    White Comments, "SDA Bible Commen- to the power of temptation.                 tary," Vol. 7, p. 927.

                                                                                 57

         Part 5      "But this Man [Jesus], because He continueth ever,   JESUS INTERCEDES hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore He is able
       FOR US also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by
  Heb. 7:24, 25 Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them."

                       The writer of the book of Hebrews has been comparing the
                    priesthood of Christ with that of the ancient Levitical system.
                    Writing to the Hebrew people, who understood and esteemed
                    the Levitical system and priesthood, he sought to create in
                    their minds an understanding and appreciation of the infinite
                    superiority of Christ's priesthood and a desire for participation
                    in its benefits. The great advantage of Christ's priesthood, he
                    says, is its permanence and reliability. "By reason of death,"
                    the Levitical priests were prevented from continuing their
                    ministry. In contrast, Jesus "ever liveth to make intercession"
                    for all who "come unto God by Him." He is always accessible
                    when we need Him, and He is able to save "to the uttermost."
                       Human language reflects eternal realities imperfectly at best.
                    The word "intercession" may seem to imply that God the
                    Father is not kindly disposed toward us (compare John 3:16),
                    and that were it not for Jesus' persuasiveness He would deal
                    harshly with us, as we deserve. Not so. Sin separated the human
                    family from God, for sin cannot live in the sight of a holy
                    God. But God, who loves us with an everlasting love, does not
                    need to be reconciled to us; we stand in need of being recon-
                    ciled to Him.
                        Point out two great benefits that are ours through the
                     priestly ministry of Jesus Christ.

         Part 6    "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that    IN TIME OF NEED is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us
                hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest
                which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmi-
                ties; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet
                without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne
                of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
   Heb. 4:14-16 help in time of need."

                       We have no reason for hesitation in approaching the throne
                    of grace. Those who fall into sin and are sorry need sym-
                    pathetic understanding, and the writer of the book of Hebrews
                    here assures all who read that they need have no fear of a
                    cold, harsh, severe reception when they return to God. Jesus
                    is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities" because He
                    knows from personal experience what it is to be tempted.
                       Furthermore, there is no point on which we can be tempted
                    that He did not experience, and no sin into which we may fall
                    for which His experience and sympathetic understanding are
                    inadequate. When we have sinned—literally, fallen short of
                    the mark at which we are aiming—we need forgiveness first
                    of all. But we also need strength and courage to go and "sin no
                    more," that is, to overcome next time where we fell short this
                    time. Read John 5:14.
                       As our High Priest, Christ provides for both of these needs:
                    (1) "We may obtain mercy," or forgiveness for our sins, and
                    (2) we may "find grace to help in time of need," that is, the
                    grace of Christ to enable us to overcome as He overcame. It is
                    the Saviour's purpose not only to forgive us our sins when
                    we confess them, but "to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,"
                    includin g the natural tendencies and weaknesses that lead us
                    into sin when we are tempted. 1 John 1:9.
                        What two great benefits may be ours when we come
                    to the throne of divine grace?

                                                                                59

                                             for them."

    CHRIST: SERVANT OF MAN'S NECESSITY                                  8    "I am the living Bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." John 6:51.


                                                 LESSON OUTLINE

                                           6. There Is No Alternative
                                              John 6:67-69

                                                                        61

         Part 1     "I am that Bread of Life. Your fathers did eat manna   THE BREAD OF LIFE in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which
                cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof,
                and not die. I am the living Bread which came down
                from heaven: if any man eat of this Bread, he shall live
                forever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which
   John 6:48-51 I will give for the life of the world."

                       Christ addressed these words to people who, the day before,
                    had been among the five thousand He fed miraculously and
                    who had then been ready to acclaim Him as the Messiah and
                    crown Him King of Israel. Read verses 14, 15, 22. They con-
                    ceived of Him as a political Messiah, however, and intended
                    to make Him their leader in overthrowing the Roman power
                    and liberating their nation.
                       In providing the throng with literal food, Jesus had been
                    ministering to a genuine human need. The people had come
                    from a distance to hear Him speak. They were hungry, and
                    there was nothing to eat. By this miracle Jesus sought to direct
                    their minds to the spiritual food He was offering them. Spiri-
                    tually, they were far from their Father's home, and their
                    vaguely felt spiritual hunger made them eager for the spiritual
                    food with which He provided them that day.
                       Both the literal food and the spiritual fare were from His
                    Father's table. Jesus gave them a taste of both, in the hope
                    that their desire for more would lead them back from the far
                    country, in which they were largely unmindful of spiritual
                    things, to their Father's home where there was plenty.
                         By what practical illustration did Jesus explain the
                     purpose of His mission to earth? To what two advantage;
                     of this did Jesus point their minds?

"As our physical life is sustained by    asking God for the aid of the Holy  food, so our spiritual life is sustained    Spirit, that we may understand His  by the Word of God. And every soul is       Word. We should take one verse, and  to receive life from God's Word for         concentrate the mind on the task of  himself. As we must eat for ourselves       ascertaining the thought which God has  in order to receive nourishment, so we      put in that verse for us. We should  must receive the Word for ourselves.        dwell upon the thought until it becomes  We are not to obtain it merely              our own, and we know 'what saith the  through the medium of another's mind.       Lord." "—"The Desire of Ages," page  We should carefully study the Bible,        390.

        Part 2      "When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of
 SINS FORGIVEN the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were
                 certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their
                 hearts, Why doth this Man thus speak blasphemies? who
                 can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when
                 Jesus perceived in His spirit that they so reasoned within
                 themselves, He said unto them, Why reason ye these
                 things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the
                 sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say,
                 Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may
                 know that the Son of man hath power on earth to for-
                 give sins, (He saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto
                 thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into
    Mark 2:5-11 thine house."

                      Man needs not only food to sustain life, but physical heal-
                   ing as well, for disease often fastens upon him. The same is true
                   of man's spiritual life. He needs healing from the wounds
                   sin has inflicted, and from the virus of sin that infects his
                   life. As Jesus taught a spiritual lesson from the physical food
                   with which He had provided them (Part 1), He now draws
                   a lesson from the act of physical healing He is about to per-
                   form.
                      Only God can forgive sins. Had Jesus been merely a man,
                   the unspoken complaint of the scribes would have been justified.
                   He would have been guilty of blasphemy. But, because Jesus
                   was divine as well as human, He had the right and the power,
                   even on earth, to forgive men their sins. Read John 1:29;
                   1 John 1:7. The refusal of the scribes to recognize Jesus as
                   divine prompted the suggestion that His forgiving of sins was
                   an act of blasphemy.
                       In what incident, and by what means, did Jesus dem-
                    onstrate the nature of sin and forgiveness?

                                                                                 63

         Part 3        "Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of   MIRACLES ATTEST       His disciples, which are not written in this book: but these JESUS' MESSIAHSHIP      are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
                    the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life
  John 20:30, 31    through His name."

                       Each of Jesus' miracles was His response to a real, imme-
                    diate human need. He never performed a miracle just to prove
                    that He could do so; and when Herod asked for one to satisfy
                    his curiosity, Jesus refused—even though this would, presum-
                    ably, have procured His release and averted His crucifixion.
                    Luke 23:8, 9. When asked for a "sign" (a miracle), which Jesus'
                    critics presumably offered to accept as evidence of His Messiah-
                    ship and of His authority for deeds such as the cleansing of
                    the temple, Jesus refused. Read Matt. 12:38, 39; John 2:18;
                    6:30, 31; Mark 8:11, 12.
                       Jesus' miracles were also a means of teaching spiritual truth.
                    For instance, the miracle of the loaves and the fishes taught a
                    lesson about spiritual food, particularly about Jesus Himself
                    as the Bread of Life. By the healing of the paralyzed man let
                    down through the roof, Jesus illustrated spiritual restoration.
                    By healing the man born blind, He taught the importance of
                    spiritual eyesight.
                       Most important of all, the miracles attested Jesus' Messiah-
                    ship and affixed to His message and mission the approval of
                    Heaven. He called on His disciples to believe Him "for the
                    very works' sake." Read John 14:10, 11. On the Day of Pente-
                    cost, Peter declared that Jesus was "approved of God among
                    you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him
                    in the midst of you." Acts 2:22.
                        How does John state Jesus' purpose in the many
                     miracles He performed?

        Part 4      "Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay  THE LIVING CHRIST down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh
                it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to
                lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This com-
John 10:17, 18 mandment have I received of My Father."

                        Of the Son of God coming to this world John wrote, "In
                     Him was life; and the life was the light of men." John 1:4.
                     "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
                     through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:23. In a sense death
                     is man's worst enemy, for it deprives him of everything else.
                     1 Cor. 15:26. The prince of light and life came to destroy this
                     enemy, and with it the prince of darkness and death. Heb.
                     2:14, 15.
                        At the resurrection the angel from heaven came with the
                     message, "Come forth, Thy Father calls Thee."—The Desire of
                     Ages, page 780. And by the divine life Christ always possessed,
                     even in death, He rose from the tomb.
                        In what words did Jesus set forth the voluntary nature
                     of His coming death, and the manner of His resurrection?

                                                                                 65

          Part 5       "The bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will MANY REJECT JESUS give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove
                   among themselves, saying, How can this Man give us His
                   flesh to eat?"
                       "Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard
                   this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?"
                       "From that time many of His disciples went back, and John 6:51, 52, 60, 66 walked no more with Him."

                      At Jacob's well the year before, Jesus had presented salva-
                   tion as "living water" (John 4:10-14) ; now He refers to Him-
                   self as "living bread." As water and bread sustain the natural,
                   physical life, so Christ imparts and sustains the supernatural,
                   spiritual life. The former is temporal and must be continually
                   replenished, whereas the latter is permanent and results in
                   everlasting life. Read John 4:14; 6:51, 58.
                      Upon this occasion Jesus foreshadowed His death a year
                   later. The throng, which the day before had been ready to
                   crown Him King of Israel for salvation from the Romans (John
                   6:14, 15), began to realize that the salvation He offered was
                   personal salvation from the power of evil, and they refused
                   this living bread. Like Nicodemus dodging the import of
                   Christ's affirmation concerning the new birth, they professed
                   to take Christ's metaphor literally in order to make it appear
                   absurd. With this excuse the Galileans now rejected Christ, and
                   He terminated His Galilean ministry.
                      What excuses did the majority of the people who
                   heard Jesus' sermon on the Bread of Life give for their
                   refusal to accept it?

         Part 6      "Then said Jesus unto the Twelve, Will ye also go
    THERE IS NO    away? Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom
   ALTERNATIVE     shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And
                   we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the
   John 6:67-69    Son of the living God."

                      To the vast majority of those who had partaken of the
                   miraculous bread, and who the following day listened to His
                   sermon on the bread of life, it appeared unattractive; they
                   would have none of it. The rejection appeared to be unani-
                   mous. Only the Twelve, seemingly, were left. Would they
                   follow the crowd? Jesus placed the question to them directly,
                   in order to strengthen their faith.
                      Speaking for his fellow disciples, Peter asked in reply, "To
                   whom shall we go?" They realized that there was no real
                   alternative. A year later Peter and John declared, "Neither is
                   there salvation in any other: for there is none other name
                   under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
                   Acts 4:12.
                       Even though, like the twelve disciples, we may have been
                    following Christ for years, we shall do well to face up to this
                    question. To whom shall we go today? Is there anything else
                    worth living for? Are we accepting, and partaking of, the living
                    bread from heaven, or are we, in effect though perhaps not
                    directly, turning away from it?
                       Weigh carefully Peter's response to Jesus' searching
                    question. What understanding of Jesus' mission to earth
                    does this question, and Peter's own answer to it, reflect?

"'To whom shall we go?' Not from        the disciples,—'Thou art that Christ.'  the teaching of Christ, His lessons of     The very thought of losing this anchor  love and mercy, to the darkness of         of their souls filled them with fear and  unbelief, the wickedness of the world.     pain. To be destitute of a Saviour was  While the Saviour was forsaken by          to be adrift on a dark and stormy sea."  many who had witnessed His wonder-         —"The Desire of Ages," page 393.  ful works, Peter expressed the faith of

                                                                                  67

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                   CHRIST: TRANSFORMER OF MEN                              9    "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:18.

                                                                                 69

          Part 1        "They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the
     THE SET OF flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the
      THE SOUL Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spir-
                    itually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind
                    is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of
                    God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
                    flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but
                    in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
                    Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none
                    of His."
                        "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are
   Rom. 8:5-9, 14 the sons of God."

                       In Paul's writings "the flesh" includes all of the evil, natural
                    tendencies of human nature. Read Rom. 13:14; Gal. 5:16-24.
                    Though sins of intellect and pride are as heinous in God's sight
                    as any others, so many of what appear to men to be the grosser
                    sins are related to material things and to the physicSI nature.
                       With Paul, "the Spirit" is the opposite of "the flesh." To
                    be "in the flesh" or "after the flesh" is to let natural inclination
                    determine one's choices, whereas to be "in the Spirit" or "after
                    the Spirit" is to be governed by the principles of heaven. By
                    "the carnal mind" Paul means the natural desires and motives
                    of the unregenerate heart. Only those, he says, who have opened
                    their hearts and minds to the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ
                    are able to resist the temptations of the evil one; and those in
                    whom this experience has become a living reality God acknowl-
                    edges as His sons.
                       How does Paul describe the differences between a life
                     motivated by a desire to cooperate with God's will, and
                     one motivated by natural inclination?

        Part 2     "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of    A TRANSFORMED God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
        MIND acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
                And be not conformed to this world: but be ye trans-
                formed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
                what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of
   Rom. 12:1, 2 God."

                       The two great alternatives of life are: (1) to be "conformed
                    to this- world" by modeling one's life and conduct after the
                    pattern provided by those who live exclusively for this world
                    and what it has to offer, or (2) to be "transformed" by having
                    one's desires and motives altered to be in harmony with the
                    principles of heaven. There is no middle ground. A person is
                    in either one category or the other.
                       Our English word "metamorphosis," which is derived from
                    the same Greek word here translated "transformed," denotes
                    a basic, fundamental change in nature. This change is well illus-
                    trated in the metamorphosis of the butterfly through the stages
                    of caterpillar, pupa, and adult insect. No stage resembles any
                    of the others. At each change there is a complete metamorpho-
                    sis. When transformed by the grace of Christ, the life from that
                    point forward—despite mistakes—is oriented heavenward, the
                    exact opposite of what it was before.
                       This transformation, says Paul, comes about as the result
                    of God's mercy and of the human act here described as present-
                    ing oneself as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.
                       This sacrifice is made by an act of the will inviting the divine
                    Spirit to take complete and permanent control of the mind, the
                    affections, and the life. Thereupon the Spirit goes to work—
                    silently, persistently, continuously—to remold a person's de-
                    sires, motives, thoughts, words, and actions to correspond to
                    God's will. The goal is a life morally in God's image, after His
                    likeness, as in the beginning.
                        How is the fundamental change by which a person's
                    life is reoriented heavenward accomplished? Point out
                    four steps in this process.

                                                                                    71

          Part 3        "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except
        BORN OF a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter
       THE SPIRIT into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
                    is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Mar-
                    vel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The
                    wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound
                    thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither
       John 3:5-8 it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit."

                         In conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus described the change
                     from being "in the flesh" to being "in the spirit" as a rebirth.
                     As there can be no physical life without birth, so there can be
                     no spiritual life without spiritual birth. As physical birth is the
                     beginning of physical life, so spiritual birth is the beginning of
                     spiritual life. Read John 1:12, 13 for John's further explana-
                     tion of this process, noting the steps and the means by which
                     it is accomplished.
                         As physical birth results in children that resemble their par-
                     ents, so to be born by the Spirit of God will result in children
                     who resemble their heavenly Father, whose wills are in harmony
                     with His. In a later conversation with the Pharisees, Jesus
                     charged them with being children of the devil because they
                     resembled him. See John 8:39, 44. If, as they claimed, they
                     were "Abraham's children," they "would do the works of
                     Abraham." Even so today, a person's moral profile is a sure
                     index to his spiritual ancestry.
                        What truths with respect to conversion did Jesus set
                     forth in His conversation with Nicodemus?

          Part 4      "Put off concerning the former conversation the old
  THE NEW MAN man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
                   and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye
                   put on the new man, which after God is created in righ-
                   teousness and true holiness."
                      "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby
 Eph. 4:22-24, 30 ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."

                       The person who has been "born again" is altogether different
                    from what he was before, so different in fact that those who
                    know him best would not even recognize him from his manner
                    of speaking and acting. It is a matter of "off with the old and
                    on with the new"—as a person would cast aside a threadbare
                    garment for one that is new, attractive, and becoming.
                       In the English language in the days when the King James
                    Version was translated—the days just after Queen Elizabeth I
                    and William Shakespeare—the word "conversation" meant
                    "conduct" or "way of life." It is one's conduct, or way of life,
                    that determines whether the inner change to the garment of
                    Christ's righteousness has taken place. If there is no change in
                    the conduct, it is evident to all that there has been no true
                    change of mind and heart. Conversely, a changed life is proof
                    positive that the inner change has, indeed, taken place.
                       As we have seen (Part 2), the Spirit of God is at work in
                    the life of the person who exchanges the old way of life for
                    the new. But if, in desire and persistently in action, we cling
                    to the old, we grieve the Spirit of God and thereby prevent
                    Him from making the change.
                       How does Paul describe the "old" or unconverted man,
                    and the "new" or converted man?

                                                                                 73

        Part 5        "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear  ABIDING IN CHRIST fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can
                   ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the
                   branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same
                   bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do
                   nothing."
                      "Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much
 John 15:4, 5, 8 fruit; so shall ye be My disciples."

                       Paul warns against hindering the work of the Holy Spirit
                    in effecting a transformation of the life to conformity with
                    God's perfect will. Eph. 4:30. Christ here deals with the positive
                    aspect of the process of Christian transformation, under the
                    illustration of a branch remaining attached to the grapevine
                    out of which it grew and of which it is part. Everything de-
                    pends on maintaining that vital connection, or it will wither
                    and die. Unless a branch is nourished by the life-giving sub-
                    stances the vine provides, it is lifeless and fruitless.
                       The objective of the vinedresser in tending his vines is fruit;
                    the objective of Christ's solicitous care for us is the fruit of a
                    character that will be an honor to Him as Owner of the vine-
                    yard. It is the purpose of the heavenly Vinedresser to demon-
                    strate that His vines and His method of care are superior in
                    every way to all other vine stock and methods of culture. Under
                    His care every branch will produce prizewinning clusters of
                    grapes for exhibition on the great day of eternal awards.
                       In His metaphor making Himself the vine and His
                    disciples the branches, what aspects of the branch-vine
                    relationship does Christ specifically mention?

          Part 6      "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet
 FRUITS OF THE not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now  INDWELLING CHRIST live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
                   loved me, and gave Himself for me."
                      "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffer-
                   ing, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance:   Gal. 2:20; 5:22, 23 against such there is no law."

                        In this description of his personal experience as a Christian,
                     Paul's thoughts, and the words in which he expressed them, soar
                     into the stratosphere of human experience. It all began when
                     Paul chose to follow his Master's footsteps all the way to the
                     cross. The apostle develops this aspect of Christian experience
                     more fully in the sixth chapter of Romans. Read especially
                     verses 3-11.
                         In the natural course of events nothing can be more final
                     than death. The same is true of the person who, in spirit and
                     in truth, yields mind and heart to the transforming power of
                     God's Spirit. He burns all bridges behind him. He does not
                     look back with wistful longing at the spiritual Sodom he has
                     left behind. His death to the old way of life is final, complete,
                     and all-pervasive.
                         Death does not occur so long as there is a spark of life—so
                      long as the least desire for the world and the flesh remains—and
                      unless death occurs there can be no resurrection. But when
                      death to the old does take place, the resurrection of which Paul
                      speaks is sure and certain, and the fruits of the Spirit are sure
                      to follow.
                        How is Christ's death, burial, and resurrection re-
                     peated in the experience of the Christian? In what ways
                     does the experience of the born-again Christian resemble
                     the resurrected Christ?

     .q !e; (9) :asp' (g) :papas `anap2 (t) !114.1pq (E) !q (z) !apead 'al!! 'LIMP (I) :siahistIV

                                                         September 5, 1970




                                    CHRIST, THE TRUTH 10   "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." John 14:6.


                                                 LESON OUTLINE    One of Satan's principal weapons in the    1. Blinded Minds great confrontation between good and evil
                                             2 Cor. 4:3-7 is to keep men in ignorance of the truth. Totalitarian governments resort to censor-    2. Love of the Truth ship, a denial of free speech and press,         2 Thess. 2:7-12 jamming the air waves, and similar proce- dures in order to prevent the people under    3. Test the Spirits their control from learning what is going        1 John 4:1-3, 6 on elsewhere and from hearing about the benefits of freedom. Dictators spare no       4. Personal Conviction effort to keep their people in ignorance of      Matt. 16:15-19 truth and feed them with propaganda de- signed to shackle their minds and their       5. Human Traditions lives. These procedures and the principles       Mark 7:6-9 on which they are based aptly illustrate those on which Satan operates.                6. Christ Is the Truth
                                             John 8:31, 32; 14:6; 17:3, 17

                                                                             77

        Part 1       "If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
 BLINDED MINDS in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds
                  of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious
                  gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine
                  unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus
                  the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
                  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of dark-
                  ness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
                  knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
                  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the
    2 Cor. 4:3-7 excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."

                         The Creator's first act in preparing this world as a suitable
                      habitation for man was to command physical light to shine
                      forth and dispel the darkness that shrouded our planet. Read
                      Gen. 1:3-5. In like manner our hearts were spiritually dark, in
                      ignorance of the true character of God and His infinite purpose
                      for us. Compare Isa. 9:2. But Jesus brought the light of heaven
                      into this spiritually dark world; He was "the true Light, which
                      lighteth every man that cometh into the world." John 1:4-9.
                         The prince of darkness blinded the minds of those who
                      chose not to receive the true light, but closed their minds to
                      its saving rays. To reject truth is to choose darkness, and the
                      result is blindness of mind, heart, and soul. Jesus restored sight
                      to the blind and spiritual sight to their souls. He would per-
                      form this miracle for us today.
                          What two factors does Paul point out as contributing
                      to spiritual blindness? Conversely, what can restore spir-
                      itual sight? What is the real cause of spiritual blindness?

         Part 2      "The mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he  LOVE OF THE TRUTH who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
                  And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord
                  shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall
                  destroy with the brightness of" His coming: even him,
                  whose coming is after the working of Satan with all
                  power and signs and lying wonders, and with all de-
                  ceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; be-
                  cause they received not the love of the truth, that they
                  might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them
                  strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they
                  all might be damned who believed not the truth, but
 2 Thess. 2:7-12 had pleasure in unrighteousness."

                      In words that cannot be misunderstood the apostle Paul
                   points out the basic cause of spiritual blindness on the part of
                   those who have had an opportunity to gain spiritual sight:
                   "They received not the love of the truth." The attitude we
                   take toward revealed truth is the crux of the matter. Do we
                   love truth wherever we encounter it, or do we resent it and
                   reject it because it reveals our imperfections and would require
                   us to change our beliefs and practices? There is no room in
                   heaven for those who do not love truth.
                      God does not force anyone to accept truth. But in resenting
                   or rejecting truth a man deliberately chooses to believe a lie.
                   The "strong delusion" God sends, or permits to come, upon
                   those who deliberately inflict spiritual blindness upon them-
                   selves, is to abandon them to their chosen attitude and fate.
                   This fate came upon literal Israel when God said, "Ephraim
                   is joined to idols: let him alone." Hosea 4:17. The same truth
                   is expressed in Ephesians 4:30, in the form of a warning against
                   grieving the Holy Spirit.
                       What is the role of the individual in coming to the
                    place where he stands eternally condemned in God's
                    sight? The role of Satan? The role of God?

                                                                                79

          Part 3      "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits
 TEST THE SPIRITS whether they are of God: because many false prophets
                  are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit
                  of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is
                  come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that con-
                  fesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not
                  of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye
                  have heard that it should come; and even now already
                  is it in the world."
                      "We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us;
                  he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the
  1 John 4:1-3, 6 spirit of truth, and the spirit of error."

                         No man will be condemned because he honestly believes
                     error, but for a knowing rejection of truth or for carelessly
                     failing to accept it. The difference between truth and error
                     is the difference between life and death, and, having equipped
                     every intelligent being with the ability to discriminate be-
                     tween truth and error, God requires that the faculties of the
                     intellect be used to seek truth, to incorporate it into one's store
                     of knowledge, and to apply it in making the decisions of life.
                         A sincere desire for truth is essential to the acquisition and
                     recognition of truth. A man is not likely to find that which
                     he is not looking for, or may, indeed, be trying to avoid.
                     Nothing so effectively blinds a man to truth as a distaste for
                     it because it is uncongenial or unwelcome.
                         In John's day the great issue between truth and error cen-
                     tered in the question as to whether Jesus Christ was truly God
                     incarnate in humanity. The Docetists claimed that He ap-
                     peared to be a man but was, in reality, only a phantom and
                     not truly human. Thus in John's day present truth centered in
                     recognition of the sublime fact that true humanity and true
                     divinity were united in the one person Jesus Christ.
                        What factors are essential in discriminating between
                     truth and error?

          Part 4     "He saith unto them, But-whom say ye that I am? And
     PERSONAL Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the
   CONVICTION Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
                  him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh and blood
                  hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in
                  heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and
                  upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of
                  hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto
                  thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever
                  thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and
                  whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in
  Matt. 16:15-19 heaven."

                      John declared that Jesus Christ was truly a human being as
                   well as truly God. Confidently he wrote, "We are of God: he
                   that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth
                   not us." John and the other disciples knew personally that this
                   was true. Lesson 5. How could they be so sure?
                      In the passage here quoted, Matthew goes back to the origi-
                   nal confession of faith that Jesus of Nazareth was "the Son of
                   the living God." Upon that occasion Jesus immediately pointed
                   out to Simon Peter, spokesman for the group, that this great
                   central truth of the Christian faith could not be attained through
                   intellectual processes alone. It must come as a conviction in the
                   heart and mind that the evidence provides conclusive proof
                   that Jesus is the Messiah foretold by the prophets of old, and
                   moreover that He is the Son of God.
                      "Blessed"—happy—said Jesus, is the person who believes
                   this truth. True happiness in life comes through accepting it.
                      How can a person know with absolute certainty the
                   truth about Jesus Christ?

                                                                                  81

      Part 5      "He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias HUMAN TRADITIONS prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people
               honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from
               Me. Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for
               doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the
               commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as
               the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like
               things ye do. And He said unto them, Full well ye reject
               the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own
   Mark 7:6-9 tradition."

                         All truth about God comes from God. Human intellect is at
                     its highest in perceiving this truth, which must come as a reve-
                     lation from God. Human reasoning about God is a precarious
                     compound of truth and error, and "the commandments of men"
                     —human requirements—are unacceptable to God as a valid
                     basis of worshiping Him. The traditions of men have always
                     been, and always will be, opposed to the truth God has re-
                     vealed about Himself.
                        The pretense of honoring God with one's lips is worthless
                     when a person's heart is far from God. Here Jesus emphasizes
                     the same truth expressed by Paul (Part 2), that the crucial
                     factor in knowing truth is to love it—to desire it, to accept it
                     with joy, and to cherish it. Not along with human traditions
                     and commandments, but exclusively and single-heartedly.
                        Here Jesus declares that true religion does not consist in
                     forms and regulations, but in accepting divine revelation. This
                     is especially true with respect to man-devised forms and regu-
                     lations that tend to obscure truth rather than make it mani-
                     fest. Man-devised commandments and traditions tend to exalt
                     man and to lead him to forget God or to minimize what God
                     has explicitly enjoined.
                         In what forceful language did Jesus distinguish be-
                     tween true and false religion?  THINK IT THROUGH            Are any aspects of my personal practice of religion of
                     human origin—merely form? How can I enter more fully
                     into the experience Christ here invites sincere believers
                     to enter?

         Part 6        "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him,
  CHRIST IS THE     If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples in-
         TRUTH      deed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall
                    make you free."
                        "Jesus saith unto him [Thomas], I am the way, the
                    truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but
                    by Me."
                        "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee
                    the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
  John 8:31, 32;    sent."
  14:6; 17:3, 17        "Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth."

                       Jesus not only came to reveal the great ultimate truth about
                    God and His infinite purpose for man; He was ultimate truth
                    incarnate—in action, lived out so that men of all time can see
                    it—not in theory but in practice. In such discourses as the
                    Sermon on the Mount He presented the theory also and placed
                    it on record in Scripture to accompany the demonstration of
                    truth He gave us in His perfect life.
                       The theory and practice of truth revealed by Jesus Christ
                    liberates fallen men and women from the bonds of ignorance
                    about God and from the shackles of their own sinful nature
                    and Satan's, power over their lives. Without this knowledge
                    and this power men are bound to collect the wages of sin and
                    the sinful nature that binds them. But by receiving Jesus Christ
                    as the infinite revelation of divine truth, and by believing that
                    He is the truth, they receive also "power to become the sons
                    of God." John 1:12. Sanctifying power liberates men from
                    the kingdom of error and death and opens to them the gates
                    of eternal truth and eternal life.
                       Point out at least four things about the revelation of
                    divine truth as set forth by Jesus.

                                                                                   83

                       pop Jo suns atp (p) `suouuldwal s,uuns JsIsai oa ane (o) ‘aalj (q) cuoInnius own asyu (v) „           noX alum Hulls

                                          „.al/\i woJj nj si                            Raga

                          poo jo uos agp s! 3sliqD snsaf ntp paDupluoo atueD

                                           op st tpnil qmal oa ssajoid °gm asotp jo

                                 „•panus aq JITSItu Aatp iEga `tprui alp jo
       alp you pan!apaz Aatp asneaaq„ anj JIatp Jay's Jsoi ai oqm asota 7


                                                              Js!JqD jo iadso2 snopoiS

                                                                 'Pat's slap Jo wolloq alp n siamsuu alp tpyu SIDAASUE inoA loaqD •suopsanb &rpmi qoj alp Jamsuu palyun an noX uossai sup payms axeq noX 1up moN

                                                      OL NOSS31                  atll 'mato

                                                         September 12, 1970

   ,..".,




                  CHRIST, OUR FULL SALVATION 11:1    "It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him,  and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad  and rejoice in His salvation." Isa. 25:9.


This lesson is concerned with ultimates.          LESSON OUTLINE  It begins with the universal, ultimate need  of all men for salvation because all have     1. Universal Need  sinned. It continues with the ultimate val-      Rom. 3:23-25  ues of life, the things that are ultimately  and supremely worth living for. Man's uni-    2. Ultimate Values  versal need is met by God's abounding            Matt. 16:24-26  grace, which is sufficient for even the  worst of sinners. God's eternal purpose is    3. God's Abounding Grace  to obliterate sin and death, and the fact         1 Tim. 1:12-16  that Christ did come into the world gives  us confidence that God can and will work      4. God's Eternal Purpose  things out according to His purpose. If we       2 Tim. 1:9-12  patiently endure, holding firmly and con-  fidently to God's promises, we shall enter    5. Patient Endurance  into His eternal rest. Ultimately the time        Heb. 3:12-15  will come when one pulse of harmony  again beats throughout the universe, and      6. Predestined to Unity in Christ  the plan of salvation will be complete.           Eph. 1:3-5, 9, 10


                                                                               85

          Part 1     "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
 UNIVERSAL NEED being justified freely by His grace through the redemp-
                  tion that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to
                  be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His
                  righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,
    Rom. 3:23-25 through the forbearance of God."

                       Deeply embedded in everyone's heart—unless and until it
                    is suppressed—is the awareness that he ought to be a better
                    person than he is. He is ashamed of himself for selfish and mean
                    words and acts, for doing to others as he would not want them
                    to do to him. Often his associates are more aware of his short-
                    comings than he is, and those who do not have a personal
                    interest in him may react negatively to him. If despite our
                    personal limitations we are thus aware of our own imperfec-
                    tions, how must others see us! How we need to see ourselves
                    as others see us and, most important of all, as God sees us!
                       Even the most nearly perfect man on earth, one who is hon-
                    ored and respected by all of his associates and especially by
                    those who know him best, is imperfect and in need of salva-
                    tion. Unless he avails himself of God's mercy, his very best
                    falls short of perfection. A gloomy prospect indeed ! But the
                    apostle hastens on to brighten the dark picture: All have
                    sinned, to be sure, but all can be made just by God's free grace,
                    which is available to us through Christ Jesus! Divine forbear-
                    ance is infinite, even as divine justice is infinite.
                        To what universal condition of the human race does
                     Paul point, and to what universal provision to meet that
                     need? What is necessary on our part?

         Part 2     "Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will    ULTIMATE VALUES come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his
                 cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life
                 shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake
                 shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain
                 the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall
 Matt. 16:24-26 a man give in exchange for his soul?"

                       In these dramatic contrasts Jesus set forth the ultimate aims
                    of life. He who makes himself and his own interests first is
                    certain to lose everything. He who forgets himself and his
                    own interests will gain everything. Herein lies the great paradox
                    of Christianity. No man works more effectively against his
                    own best interests than the man who works for them exclu-
                    sively, but the man who lives most fully for God and his fel-
                    lowmen is working most effectively for himself.
                       A man may amass a great fortune and live in luxury, but
                    he must have life in order to enjoy his riches. To this funda-
                    mental truth the rich fool (read Luke 12:13-21), who had
                    amassed wealth sufficient to live in luxury the rest of his days,
                    seems to have been oblivious. That very night his life was
                    required of him. "Then," God asked, "whose shall those things
                    be, which thou hast provided?" The surest road to eternal
                    poverty is the road along which a man plods in pursuit of
                    material riches.
                       Enumerate your three major objectives in life. If you were
                    granted the privilege of making three wishes, and only three,
                    with respect to the things you want to get out of life, what
                    would they be? Be honest with yourself. How do these three
                    compare with what your conscience tells you you ought to live
                    for?
                       With what two supreme alternatives did Jesus confront
                    those who proposed to follow Him?

                                                                                  87

        Part 3      "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me,  GOD'S ABOUNDING for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the
       GRACE ministry; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecu-
                tor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did
                it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was
                exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in
                Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
                acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
                save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause
                I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show
                forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which
1 Tim. 1:12-16 should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting."

                     Out of the blindness that overtook Paul on the Damascus
                  road came first a glorious vision of Jesus Christ as the Saviour
                  of the world, and then a candid view of himself. He saw himself
                  as God saw him—a great sinner. Perhaps this candid view of
                  oneself is prime evidence that the gospel has penetrated one's
                  mind and heart with the realization that "in me . . . dwelleth
                  no good thing." Read Rom. 7:13-25.
                     This sense of utter need is prerequisite to a desire for the
                  gracious gift of salvation Christ offers to sinners. As Paul re-
                  flected on his past life, he could think of nothing for which
                  to commend himself; and this utter worthlessness of his past
                  life prepared him to appreciate to the full the gracious gift of
                  God in Christ Jesus. "God forbid," he wrote, "that I should
                  glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Gal. 6:14.
                  At the time he had been sincere, but he had been so wrong.
                  Paul thought of his personal experience as an example of the
                  abounding grace of God. Paul was the worst possible prospect,
                  but divine grace had transformed him into a first-prize exhibit
                  of what God can do to make useless men into men of infinite
                  worth for Him and their fellowmen. And if God could do that
                  for him, says the apostle, surely He can do the same for anyone.
                      To what personal experience did Paul point as evi-
                  dence of the abounding grace of God for saving the worst
                  of sinners?

        Part 4       "[God] hath saved us, and called us with an holy call-
 GOD'S ETERNAL ing, not according to our works, but according to His own
      PURPOSE purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
                 before the world began, but is now made manifest by
                 the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath
                 abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality
                 to light through the gospel: whereunto I am appointed
                 a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gen-
                 tiles. For the which cause I also suffer these things: never-
                 theless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have be-
                  lieved, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that
   2 Tim. 1:9-12 which I have I committed unto Him against that day."

                       Paul's absolute confidence in the gospel and his absolute
                    commitment to it have thrilled and inspired all believers who,
                    like him, did not have the privilege of personal association with
                    Jesus during His earthly ministry. If Paul could be so certain,
                    so can we. To Paul, the logical response to this certainty, di-
                    vinely implanted in mind and heart, was to dedicate his ability,
                    life, energy, and fortunes without stint to proclaim the message
                    so that others might learn to know Jesus Christ as he did and
                    to share the same joy that had brought a depth of meaning
                    into his own life.
                        We did not deserve the infinite provision made for us.
                    Credit belongs wholly to divine grace. In fact, says Paul, the
                    divine purpose operating through Christ was in effect even
                    before the creation of this world, and thus before there was
                    any need for it. A man who foresees the needs of his fellowmen
                    and makes provision for them earns their eternal gratitude.
                    This being so much more true of God, says Paul, it should
                     inspire a like response to Him.
                        What facts about the plan of salvation gave Paul such
                     abounding confidence in Jesus Christ, and what aspects
                     of his personal response does the apostle mention?

"The plan for our redemption was         throne. From the beginning, God and  not an afterthought, a plan formulated      Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan,  after the fall of Adam. It was a reve-      and of the fall of man through the de-  lation of 'the mystery which hath been      ceptive power of the apostate. God did  kept in silence through times eternal.'     not ordain that sin should exist, but He  Rom. 16:25, R.V. It was an unfolding        foresaw its existence, and made pro-  of the principles that from eternal ages    vision to meet the terrible emergency."  have been the foundation of God's           —"The Desire of Ages," page 22.

                                                                                  89

        Part 5     "Take heed, brethren, lest there t. in any of you an  PATIENT EDURANCE evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
               But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest
               any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
               For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the be-
               ginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end; while
               it is said, Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your
  Heb. 3:12-15 hearts, as in the provocation."

                       Eagerly expecting soon to reach the promised rest in the
                    land of Cannan, the liberated Hebrew slaves set out from the
                    land of their servitude. There they were to find "rest" from
                    the bitter slavery of Egypt, rest from the weary wilderness, rest
                    from being strangers in a land that was not theirs. Canaan was
                    to be their permanent home.
                       But upon reaching the borders of the Promised Land "they
                    could not enter in because of unbelief." Verse 19. They doubted
                    God's power to subdue the giants and the walled cities before
                    them.
                       As Christians we have set out from the land where we were
                    once bondslaves of sin. Our goal is the heavenly Canaan, where
                    we expect to find rest from sin and its baleful results. "If we
                    hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end,"
                    all will be well. The way may be long and weary and beset by
                    dangers of every kind; it may call forth every ounce of reserve
                    energy and fortitude. But if we persevere to the end, we will
                    enter the eternal "rest" that remains to the people of God. God
                    is able; let us persevere, in His strength overcoming the many
                    dangers that beset pilgrims of the heavenward way.
                       What supreme danger lurks along the way to the
                    heavenly Canaan, and what is necessary if a person is
                    to reach his ultimate objective?

          Part 6     "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus    PREDESTINED TO Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in    UNITY IN CHRIST heavenly places in Christ: according as He hath chosen
                  us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we
                  should be holy and without blame before Him in love:
                  having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
                  by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure
                  of His will."
                     "Having made known unto us the mystery of His will,
                  according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed
                  in Himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of
                  times He might gather together in one all things in Christ,
                  both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even
Eph. 1:3-5, 9, 10 in Him.

                      From our point of view as sinners saved by grace, the pur-
                   pose of the plan of redemption was to rescue us from the pit
                   into which the human race fell when Adam sinned. From the
                   point of view of the inhabitants of the unfallen worlds its
                   purpose is to reunify the universe, whose harmony was inter-
                   rupted by sin. The first makes possible the second.
                      The concept that God has arbitrarily accepted certain indi-
                   viduals and rejected others is the result of misunderstanding
                   this passage. God's original purpose was that "all men" be
                   "saved" and "come unto the knowledge of the truth" (read
                   1 Tim. 2:4-6), and that "whosoever believeth in Him [Christ]
                   should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. God
                   made provision for saving all men, but He coerces no one to
                   believe or to accept His gracious gift. It is those who accept
                   Christ and believe in Him who actually receive "power to be-
                   come the sons of God." John 1:12.
                       In what words does Paul set forth the twofold objec-
                    tive of the plan of salvation?

                                                           September 19, 1970




        CHRIST: JUSTIFIER AND SANCTIFIER                                12   "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:1.

        Part 1       "To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that
 RIGHTEOUSNESS justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteous-
      BY FAITH ness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of
                  the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without
                 works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are for-
                  given, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man
     Rom. 4:5-8 to whom the Lord will not impute sin."

                        In this passage the great apostle of righteousness by faith
                     uses a number of different expressions to describe the keynote
                     experience of his own life as a Christian, and of the gospel
                     message as he proclaimed it. Careful study of this passage
                     etches a clear outline of what the sometimes misused expres-
                     sion, righteousness by faith, means.
                        The key difference, as here set forth, is between working and
                     believing as the means by which to attain to righteousness,
                     that is, acceptance by God. The difference is between doing
                     something oneself to merit God's acceptance, or believing that
                     what Christ has done for him is acceptable in God's sight as
                     meeting the requirement of moral rectitude. Faith, then, is the
                     key factor in attaining to righteousness by faith.
                        The person who comes to God on the basis of faith in Christ
                     has his iniquities forgiven, his sins covered. Verse 7. Thereafter,
                     God no longer imputes sin to such a person (verse 8), but
                     considers him just, or upright. Verse 5. It is important to note
                     further that a man attains to this status, not on the basis of
                     anything he does, but on the basis of his faith in what Christ
                     has done for him. God imputes Christ's righteousness to him
                     as if it were his own (verse 6), that is, credits, or counts it to
                     him as his very own (verse 5), and in so doing justifies him.
                     The "blessed," or happy, state of such a man is mentioned
                     three times in verses 6 to 8.
                        Summarize in your own words the apostle Paul's
                     description of the status of a person before and after
                     he comes to Christ in faith, and the means by which the
                     change is accomplished.

       Part 2       "There is therefore now no condemnation to them NO CONDEMNATION which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
                  but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in
                  Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
                 death."
                    "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spir-
 Rom. 8:1, 2, 6 itually minded is life and peace."

                       Those who have been justified on the basis of their faith
                    in Christ Jesus stand before God without condemnation. The
                    charges against them have been dropped; there is "no con-
                    demnation." Here the apostle refers to the Christian experience
                    of such persons as walking: They do not stand still in the
                    happy experience of being declared free from the charges
                    against them in their former state as sinners, but they make
                    progress (walk) toward the destination God has marked out
                    for them. This walk is "after the Spirit," that is, they follow
                    where the Spirit leads them, not where their fleshly lusts
                    formerly led them. Read all of verses 1 to 6.
                       In verse 2 Paul contrasts "the law of the Spirit of life in
                    Christ Jesus" with "the law of sin and death." As here used,
                    the word "law" might better be translated "principle." It is a
                    fundamental principle that sin brings death, and another funda-
                    mental principle that faith in Christ results in life. In Christ,
                    says Paul, the higher principle of life in Christ transcends the
                    lower principle that sin results in death. Christ has provided
                    the antidote for effectively counteracting the principle that
                    sin brings death.
                       How does Paul describe the Christian experience of
                    a person who has been justified by faith in Christ?

                                                                                  95

           Part 3      "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace
AT PEACE WITH with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we
             GOD   have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and
                   rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
                       "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of
                   God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which
                   is given unto us."
                       "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that,
                   while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
                       "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled
                   to God by the death of His Son, much more, being re-  Rom. 5:1, 2, 5, 8, 10 conciled, we shall be saved by His life."

                        The "ungodly" (Rom. 4:5) are at war with God. The un-
                     regenerate mind "is enmity against God"; "it is not subject to
                     the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7. But Christ
                     came to earth as the "Prince of peace," with an embassage
                     of peace (Isa. 9:6) and reconciled us to God. 2 Cor. 5:18. God
                     does not consider the sinner an enemy, but a son held captive
                     by sin and brainwashed by the enemy. God loves the sinner,
                     but hates the sin that binds him. When a sinner repents and
                     is justified before God by faith, he is no longer an\ enemy;
                     then he is at peace with God.
                        One thus reconciled and at peace with God rejoices in hope
                     and God's love fills his heart. Rom. 5:2, 5. It was Christ's
                     death that effected reconciliation with God. Verse 10. To carry
                     through Paul's thought in verse 10, we would be reconciled
                     but without the prospect of life except for Christ's resurrection.
                     The fact that He lives again saves us from death. Read Romans
                     6:3-11. As Christ arose, so we rise from a moribund state in
                     sin to "walk in newness of life."
                       Point out at least four aspects of the experience that
                     comes to the person who has been justified by faith.

          Part 4       "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new crea-
 A NEW PERSON tore: old things are passed away; behold, all things are
                   become new. And all things are of God, who hath recon-
                   ciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us
                   the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in
                   Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing
                   their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us
  2 Cor. 5:17-19 the word of reconciliation."

                       The key concept in this passage is in the word "new." The
                    contrast between what a person used to be before finding
                    reconciliation with God, and what he is afterward, is evident
                    in every aspect of his life. He has new objectives to live for.
                    New impulses stir his life and, one by one, sweep away the old
                    desires and aspirations. New ideals replace the old. New emo-
                    tions swell in the heart. New traits of character take root and
                    grow to maturity.
                       As the newborn Christian sets out to mortify, or put to
                    death, his former desires and evil practices (Rom. 8:13), a
                    pitched battle ensues. No longer, in his inmost heart, does he
                    care for these things, yet he finds that the old thoughts, emo-
                    tions, habits, and practices must be resolutely put down. He
                    battles with one, marches on, and then battles with another.
                    One and all, he hates them (Rom. 7:15-25), struggles for
                    victory over them, and finds deliverance through Jesus Christ.
                    He is walking "after the Spirit" (Rom. 8:1) ; and resolutely,
                    by the grace and power of Christ, he subdues every un-Christ-
                    like trait of character, until he grows up in character, as well
                    as in name, to be a son of God.
                       What exhilarating, joyful experience comes to the per-
                    son who has been reconciled to God?

                        The person who finds righteousness by faith, who stands
                     justified before God, at peace with Him, and a new person in
                     Christ Jesus, is declared to be holy. Bible writers use the word
                     "holy" to describe a person or an object as set apart or dedi-
                     cated to the service of God. God is holy by virtue of His in-
                     trinsic righteous character as God; man is holy by virtue of
                     his relationship to God, never in his own right. Thus, Israel is
                     commonly referred to as a holy nation, not because its people
                     were uniformly upright and without moral fault, but because,
                     as a nation, they sustained a special relationship to God as the
                     one nation on earth dedicated to God as the instrument of His
                     divine purpose on earth.
                        As the apostle Peter here points out, however, the person
                     who enters into this relationship with God will reflect that
                     relationship in all his "conversation," that is, his conduct or
                     manner of life. Those whose lives are thus dedicated to Christ
                     constitute a "holy nation" like Israel of old. Furthermore, they
                     are a "peculiar people," that is (as the Greek reads) "Go  d's
                     own people," and as such they are His personal possession. A
                     privilege indeed!
                        How does Peter describe the special relationship that
                     exists between God and those who accept Christ as their
                     Saviour?

          Part 6    "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the
     CHRISTIAN dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep,
    PERFECTION through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you
                 perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you
                 that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus
  Heb. 13:20, 21 Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever."

                        The Greek word translated "perfect" means "mature," "full-
                     grown," "that which has reached its objective." By this defini-
                     tion, a "perfect" Christian is a mature Christian. He has a
                     reasonably symmetrical understanding of his relationship to
                     God and to his fellowmen. He assumes the responsibilities of
                     Christian maturity, along with its privileges. He acts like a
                     mature person, spiritually, not with the irresponsibility that
                     sometimes characterizes childhood and youth. In his attitude
                     toward the various situations of life he is consistent, steady,
                     self-reliant, considerate of others.
                        It is the purpose of the mature Christian to order his life
                     in harmony with the divine will, to bring every aspect of his
                     life into harmony with that will. This is his steadfast objec-
                     tive, one toward which he works persistently and steadily.
                     When he misses the mark, he does not become discouraged and
                     let setbacks stop his progress toward his ideal. He may fall
                     into temptation, but he rises again.
                         In this lesson we have traced the experience of a person in
                     coming to Christ (Parts 1 and 2) and then his relationship to
                      God as a sinner justified by the blood of Christ. The person
                     who by the grace of God has complied with the divine will each
                     step of the way attains to perfection in Christ.
                        What is the goal of the born-again Christian, and how
                     does God look upon a life thus dedicated to reflect the
                     character of Jesus Christ?

 "While we cannot claim perfection       God that we are not dealing with im-  of the flesh, we may have Christian         possibilities. We may claim sanctifica-  perfection of the soul. Through the sac-    tion. We may enjoy the favor of God.  rifice made in our behalf, sins may be      We are not to be anxious about what  perfectly forgiven. Our dependence is       Christ and God think of us, but about  not in what man can do; it is in what       what God thinks of Christ, our Substi-  God can do for man through Christ.          tute. Ye are accepted in the Beloved.  When we surrender ourselves wholly          The Lord shows, to the repenting, be-  to God, and fully believe, the blood of     lieving one, that Christ accepts the  Christ cleanses from all sin. The con-      surrender of the soul, to be molded and  science can be freed from condemna-         fashioned after His own likeness."—  tion. Through faith in His blood, all may   "Selected Messages," Bk. 2, pp. 32, 33.  be made perfect in Christ Jesus. Thank

                                                                                  99

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                                                          September 26, 1970




                  CHRIST, THE WAY TO HEAVEN                           13    "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way . . . ; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." Heb. 10:19-22.


                                                   LESSON OUTLINE   In the plan of salvation Christ has            1. A New and Living Way opened up before us a way by which we               Heb. 10:19-22 can attain to His original purpose for the human race. It is new, it is living, it is the   2. Union With Christ way of union with Christ. He identified             John 14:20; 15:5-8 Himself with humanity in order that we might identify ourselves with divinity. The      3. The Pathway of Obedience Christian life is a life of pressing toward         John 14:21; 15:10 the mark, the ideal set by Christ. The fu- ture reward of the faithful, the eternal         4. Pressing Toward the Mark inheritance, is one for which those who are         Phil. 3:10-14 faithful in this life qualify by accepting the gift of salvation in Christ and by conform-      5. A Reward for Every Man ing their characters to the ideal He set be-        Matt. 16:24-27 fore them in His own life.
                                             6. The Eternal Inheritance
                                                Matt. 25:31-34

                                                                           101

          Part 1    "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into
    A NEW AND the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living
    LIVING WAY way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil,
                 that is to say, His flesh; and having an High Priest over
                 the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in
                 full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from
                 an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure
   Heb. 10:19-22 water."

                       The "new and living way" of which the author of Hebrews
                    writes is "new" in contrast to the "old" way operative under
                    the "old covenant," of approaching God through the ancient
                    sacrificial system. Read Heb. 9:1-15; 8:6-10; 10:1-12. It is
                    "living" in the sense that it does "take away sins," whereas
                    "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should
                    take away sins." Heb. 10:4. The ancient sacrificial system never
                    did take away sins, for it was a "ministration of death." 2 Cor.
                    3:6-8.
                       But to us in our day, when we come to Christ, His min-
                    istry in heaven on our behalf can also be "new" and "living"
                    —new because we have entered into a new experience and
                    relationship, and living because Christ's power to cleanse from
                    sin is a living reality in the experience of the born-again Chris-
                    tian.
                       The four prerequisites to this experience are simple and
                    clear: (1) "a true heart," that is, faith and sincere motives;
                    (2) "full assurance of faith," or complete confidence and trust;
                    (3) "our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience," that is, a
                    clear conscience, clear because we have made everything right
                    with God and with fellowmen whom we may have wronged,
                    and with a sincere purpose to cooperate willingly and gladly
                    with all that God may require of us; and (4) "our bodies"
                    have been "washed with pure water"—we have complied with
                    the outward sign of inward regeneration, baptism.
                       What four requirements are set forth with which those
                    are to comply who would enter upon the "new and living
                    way" Christ has opened for us?

          Part 2    "At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and
  UNION WITH ye in Me, and I in you."
         CHRIST     "I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth
                 in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit:
                 for without Me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in
                 Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and
                 men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they
                 are burned. If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in
                 you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto
                 you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much   John 14:20; 15:5-8 fruit; so shall ye be My disciples."

                        The new and living way upon which the person enters who
                     accepts salvation in Christ requires a continuous living connec-
                     tion with Christ in order to maintain a healthy experience.
                        For those who have found the joy of salvation in Christ,
                     Satan has a new temptation—to stray from Christ, or to sup-
                     pose that one's present experience is enough to guarantee eter-
                     nal life. To many he whispers the subtle error, "You are a
                     Christian now. Your name is on the church books. You are
                     sure of heaven. Now you can relax and enjoy life." To others he
                     comes with a subtle variant of the same temptation: "Yes,
                     you're saved. Once saved, always saved. God's grace has re-
                     leased you from obeying God's commands. You can do as you
                      please without any worry. God is obliged, now, to let you into
                     heaven. From now on out He won't be concerned with what
                     you do or don't do. You're in!"
                         What vital facts with respect to discipleship did Jesus
                     illustrate by the brief parable of the vine and its
                     branches?

                                                                                 103

        Part 3      "He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them,
THE PATHWAY he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be
OF OBEDIENCE loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest
                 Myself to him."
                    "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My
                 love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments,   John 14:21; 15:10 and abide in His love."

                        The modern mind resents the idea of having to comply with
                    any objective requirements, whether human or divine. It wants
                    to do only what it pleases. This attitude is a modern version
                    of the temptation Satan presented to Adam and Eve in the
                    Garden of Eden, a sophisticated manifestation df the spirit of
                    rebellion and defiance that has characterized Satan from the
                    first. As the apostle Paul says in Rom. 8:7, "The carnal mind
                    . . . is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."
                        The "situation ethics" concept that permits a man to ratio-
                    nalize away his obligation to obey God at all times and under
                    all circumstances and to decide for himself that something
                    God has declared to be all wrong is, after all, all right, is of the
                    devil.
                        Situation ethics errs by placing love and commandment in
                    oppositon to each other, as if one could love God without
                    obeying Him. This is a modern version of the same charge
                    Satan made against God before being cast out of heaven.
                    In our scripture for today Christ declares that genuine love for
                    Him will be reflected in obedience to His commands. Love is
                    not contrary to the law of God, but the "fulfilling of the
                    law." Rom. 13:10. We are to "abide," or "continue," in
                    Christ's love by keeping His commandments.
                        What relationship did Jesus repeatedly affirm as ex-
                    isting between genuine love for Him and obedience to
                    His requirements?

         Part 4    "That I may know Him, and the power of His resur-  PRESSING TOWARD rection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made
    THE MARK conformable unto His death; if by any means I might
                attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though
                I had already attained, either were already perfect: but
                I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which
                also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count
                not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I
                do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reach-
                ing forth unto those things which are before, I press
                toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God
  Phil. 3:10-14 in Christ Jesus."

                     On no other aspect of the Christian life does there seem to
                  be so much misunderstanding as on the point of Christian per-
                  fection. In part, this is because the English word "perfect" does
                  not accurately reflect the meaning of the Greek word from
                  which it is translated in the various New Testament passages
                  where it occurs. "Mature" more closely reflects the meaning
                  of the Greek word. It denotes an animal or a person who is
                  able to function effectively as may properly be expected of
                  him at the time; he is mature for his age and station in life.
                  In this sense, a child of twelve is mature when he conducts
                  himself as a child of that age should. But his perfection as a
                  twelve-year-old child does not mean that he has attained to
                  the mature attitudes, ability, and conduct that will be expected
                  of him when he is twenty-one. He is "perfect" as a child of
                  twelve; but, like Paul, he is still pressing toward the mark of
                  full maturity. For that matter, he should be growing in char-
                  acter, ability, and conduct throughout life.
                      There is, thus, an immediate perfection that all may have
                  instantly the moment they accept Christ and may retain con-
                  tinuously throughout life; there is also an ultimate perfection
                  to which they attain at the end of life's journey. The first is
                  relative; the second is absolute. God does not expect, nor does
                  He require, the sincere, earnest Christian to attain to ultimate
                  perfection before he reaches the end of life's journey; but He
                  does require him, like Paul, to be earnestly pressing toward
                   the mark of absolu te perfection in Christ Jesus. And God ac-
                   counts such a Christian perfect so long as he maintains this
                   attitude and relationship to Christ.   THINK IT THROUGH        Should I expect to attain to a state of sinless perfec-
                   tion at any point in life prior to the close of probation?
                      If I fall unwillingly before the tempter, does God take
                   away from me the robe of Christ's righteousness until I
                   confess my sin and ask His forgiveness?

                                                                               105

           Part 5     "Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will
  A REWARD FOR come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his
     EVERY MAN cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall
                   lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall
                   find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the
                   whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man
                   give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall
                   come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then
   Matt. 16:24-27 He shall reward every man according to his works."

                       Christ here uses the words "save" one's life, "find" one's
                    life, and "reward" to express the ultimate goal of Christian
                    living. To this end He invites His followers to follow His
                    example, to deny themselves, to take up their crosses and fol-
                    low Him, and to lose their lives. The mature Christian does not
                    think of doing these things in order to earn the reward Christ
                    here promises. He now purposes to live in harmony with the
                    principles of heaven because it is in his heart to be in harmony
                    with those principles. It is by being in harmony with heaven's
                    principles now that we become eligible for the reward of life
                    eternal in that new universe. There, all will be perpetually
                    in harmony with God's will on the basis of an unalterable con-
                    viction that God's way is best.
                       It is one of the great paradoxes of life that no one works
                    more effectively against himself than the man who works ex-
                    clusively for himself. God will never forget those who forget
                    themselves by becoming so involved in their concern for others
                    that they neglect themselves for others.
                       What requirements did Jesus set forth to be met by
                    those who aspire to the reward of eternal life at His
                    coming?

          Part 6      "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and
   THE ETERNAL all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the
  INHERITANCE throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered
                  all nations: and He shall separate them one from another,
                  as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and He
                  shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on
                  the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right
                  hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
  Matt. 25:31-34 prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

                       "The kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
                    world" is the original dominion over this earth granted to
                    Adam in the Garden of Eden but forfeited because of Adam's
                    sin. It is restored by virtue of the righteousness of the second
                    Adam. Read Rom. 5:12-19. In other words, the Creator's
                    original plan for this world, interrupted though it has been
                    by six thousand years of sin, will eventually be carried out.
                    When? "When the Son of man shall come in His glory." Christ
                    is now the Great Shepherd of the flock, but then He will sit
                    as man's righteous Judge and King.
                       An Oriental flock was often composed of both sheep and
                    goats. They would graze together, rest together, go about to-
                    gether. But there was a time of separation when each would
                    be called to fulfill its destiny, as determined by its inherent
                    nature as a sheep or a goat and by the product it had to
                    offer. In the same way our eternal destiny is determined by the
                    character we develop in this life, and by whether or not that
                    character qualifies us to inherit the kingdom God has prepared
                     for us from the foundation of the world.
                        In what expressive figures of speech does Christ set
                    forth the eternal reward of those who aspire to the prize
                    of eternal life in Christ Jesus?

                                                                                107

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