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Contents
The Sinner's
Need of Christ
Chapter 2
(17)
Man was originally endowed with noble
powers and a well-balanced mind. He was perfect in his being, and in harmony
with God. His thoughts were pure, his aims holy. But through disobedience, his
powers were perverted, and selfishness took the place of love. His nature became
so weakened through transgression that it was impossible for him, in his own
strength, to resist the power of evil. He was made captive by Satan, and would
have remained so forever had not God specially interposed. It was the tempter's
purpose to thwart the divine plan in man's creation, and fill the earth with woe
and desolation. And he would point to all this evil as the result of God's work
in creating man.
In his sinless state, man held joyful
communion with Him "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge." Colossians 2:3. But after his sin, he could no longer find joy
in holiness, and he sought to hide from the presence of God. Such is still the
condition of the unrenewed heart. It is not in harmony with God, and finds no
joy in communion with Him. The sinner could not be happy in God's presence; he
would shrink from the companionship of holy beings. Could he be permitted to
enter heaven, it would have no joy for him. The spirit of unselfish love that
reigns there --every heart responding to the heart of Infinite Love --would
touch no answering chord in his soul. His thoughts, his interests, his motives,
would be alien to
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those that actuate the sinless dwellers
there. He would be a discordant note in the melody of heaven. Heaven would be to
him a place of torture; he would long to be hidden from Him who is its light,
and the center of its joy. It is no arbitrary decree on the part of God that
excludes the wicked from heaven; they are shut out by their own unfitness for
its companionship. The glory of God would be to them a consuming fire. They
would welcome destruction, that they might be hidden from the face of Him who
died to redeem them.
It is impossible for us, of ourselves,
to escape from the pit of sin in which we are sunken. Our hearts are evil, and
we cannot change them. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not
one." "The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be." Job 14:4; Romans 8:7. Education,
culture, the exercise of the will, human effort, all have their proper sphere,
but here they are powerless. They may produce an outward correctness of
behavior, but they cannot change the heart; they cannot purify the springs of
life. There must be a power working from within, a new life from above, before
men can be changed from sin to holiness. That power is Christ. His grace alone
can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract it to God, to
holiness.
The Saviour said, "Except a man be
born from above," unless he shall receive a new heart, new desires,
purposes, and motives, leading to a new life, "he cannot see the kingdom of
God." John 3:3, margin. The idea that it is necessary only to develop the
good that
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exists in man by nature, is a fatal
deception. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned." "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be
born again." 1 Corinthians 2:14; John 3:7. Of Christ it is written,
"In Him was life; and the life was the light of men"--the only
"name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." John
1:4; Acts 4:12.
It is not enough to perceive the
loving-kindness of God, to see the benevolence, the fatherly tenderness, of His
character. It is not enough to discern the wisdom and justice of His law, to see
that it is founded upon the eternal principle of love. Paul the apostle saw all
this when he exclaimed, "I consent unto the law that it is good."
"The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." But
he added, in the bitterness of his soul-anguish and despair, "I am carnal,
sold under sin." Romans 7:16, 12, 14. He longed for the purity, the
righteousness, to which in himself he was powerless to attain, and cried out,
"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of
death?" Romans 7:24, margin. Such is the cry that has gone up from burdened
hearts in all lands and in all ages. To all, there is but one answer,
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John
1:29.
Many are the figures by which the
Spirit of God has sought to illustrate this truth, and make it plain to souls
that long to be freed from the burden of guilt. When, after his sin in deceiving
Esau, Jacob fled from his father's home, he was weighed down with a sense
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of guilt. Lonely and outcast as he was,
separated from all that had made life dear, the one thought that above all
others pressed upon his soul, was the fear that his sin had cut him off from
God, that he was forsaken of Heaven. In sadness he lay down to rest on the bare
earth, around him only the lonely hills, and above, the heavens bright with
stars. As he slept, a strange light broke upon his vision; and lo, from the
plain on which he lay, vast shadowy stairs seemed to lead upward to the very
gates of heaven, and upon them angels of God were passing up and down; while
from the glory above, the divine voice was heard in a message of comfort and
hope. Thus was made known to Jacob that which met the need and longing of his
soul--a Saviour. With joy and gratitude he saw revealed a way by which he, a
sinner, could be restored to communion with God. The mystic ladder of his dream
represented Jesus, the only medium of communication between God and man.
This is the same figure to which Christ
referred in His conversation with Nathanael, when He said, "Ye shall see
heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of
man." John 1:51. In the apostasy, man alienated himself from God; earth was
cut off from heaven. Across the gulf that lay between, there could be no
communion. But through Christ, earth is again linked with heaven. With His own
merits, Christ has bridged the gulf which sin had made, so that the ministering
angels can hold communion with man. Christ connects fallen man in his weakness
and helplessness with the Source of infinite power.
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But in vain are men's dreams of
progress, in vain all efforts for the uplifting of humanity, if they neglect the
one Source of hope and help for the fallen race. "Every good gift and every
perfect gift" (James 1:17) is from God. There is no true excellence of
character apart from Him. And the only way to God is Christ. He says, "I am
the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by
Me." John 14:6.
The heart of God yearns over His
earthly children with a love stronger than death. In giving up His Son, He has
poured out to us all heaven in one gift. The Saviour's life and death and
intercession, the ministry of angels, the pleading of the Spirit, the Father
working above and through all, the unceasing interest of heavenly beings,--all
are enlisted in behalf of man's redemption.
Oh, let us contemplate the amazing
sacrifice that has been made for us! Let us try to appreciate the labor and
energy that Heaven is expending to reclaim the lost, and bring them back to the
Father's house. Motives stronger, and agencies more powerful, could never be
brought into operation; the exceeding rewards for right-doing, the enjoyment of
heaven, the society of the angels, the communion and love of God and His Son,
the elevation and extension of all our powers throughout eternal ages--are these
not mighty incentives and encouragements to urge us to give the heart's loving
service to our Creator and Redeemer?
And, on the other hand, the judgments
of God pronounced against sin, the inevitable retribution, the
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degradation of our character, and the
final destruction, are presented in God's word to warn us against the service of
Satan.
Shall we not regard the mercy of God?
What more could He do? Let us place ourselves in right relation to Him who has
loved us with amazing love. Let us avail ourselves of the means provided for us
that we may be transformed into His likeness, and be restored to fellowship with
the ministering angels, to harmony and communion with the Father and the Son.
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