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Behold
Your God
by
Fred T.
Wright
Chapter Fourteen
The Supreme Revelation
There are no contradictions
in the Word of God; it must not be interpreted according to private or human
methods; the Bible is its own dictionary and therefore its own interpreter;
God’s ways and man’s way are entirely different from each other; and the only
way in which God destroys is by trying to save; any destruction eventuating
is because of rejection by man and not the action of God.
This established,
the groundwork has been prepared for studying the various incidents of
history in which God has played a part. Reference is made here to the flood,
the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the plagues of Egypt, the execution of
those who worshipped the golden calf, the stoning of the Sabbath breaker, the
adulterer, the glutton, and Achan, the slaughter of the Canaanites, the
obliteration of Sennacherib’s army, and many other such events, right through
to the concluding one—the final liquidation in the lake of fire.
The study of these
happenings has left the majority with definite ideas of the character of God.
He is viewed as a stern judge Who, ruling His kingdom like any earthly
potentate, has visited deadly punishments upon those who do not obey Him.
These concepts are formed because of the human tendency to think of God as
being like themselves.
That such a mistake
should be made is quite understandable, for it is natural for men to think in
terms of the familiar. The only kind of kingdoms, kings, governments, laws,
punishments, and destruction known to men are in the context of this earth.
They are familiar with the connection between possession of great power and
despotism. In their own hearts they long for power so that they can rule over
others rather than be ruled by them. They know that acquired power can only
be maintained by the suppression or destruction of those who oppose them.
Thus, when they see
God in a position of absolute rulership combined with infinite power, they
cannot conceive of His using that in any other way than they would if they
were in the same situation. So natural is this way of thinking to man, that
the standard view of God’s conduct in the Old Testament is accepted without
question. Not even a second thought is given to it. To them, God is simply
acting in the accepted and expected way for a person situated as He is. How often
as I have spoken to people about this, the response has been, “Well, I just
never had any occasion to question whether God does or does not destroy. I
have read that He does, and that is as far as I have gone into it. After all,
He is the Creator, He does have absolute power, and therefore He has the
right to destroy us if we do not please Him. It seems as simple as that to
me.”
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But to others, the
Old Testament has presented serious problems. They shudder as they read the
stories of Israel’s conquests wherein men, women, beautiful little girls and
boys, together with tender infants in arms were ruthlessly put to the sword.
That God should command such atrocities, projects a frightening rather than
attractive picture of Him. It brings but scant comfort to the soul, and tends
to produce a service of fear rather than love.
In her hospital
bed, a woman, sick and despairing, turned to reading the Bible to find rest
and comfort. She naturally began at the beginning and soon found herself wading
through grim accounts of bloody slaughters. The picture was revolting and
disturbing, causing her very shortly to lay the Book aside forever.
Her reaction is
understandable when it is considered that her study was without an
understanding of what God actually did in these situations. Had she seen
God’s real character, as it was truly revealed in those instances, then her
love for Him would have been quickened, and her soul would have been rested
with joy and hope. But tragically it was not so.
Evidence will now
be presented to show that the Old Testament is not the place to begin
searching out the character of God. The convincing arguments for this is that
not even the holy angels were able to understand God’s character as it was
revealed in the Old Testament. Not until the advent of Christ, and especially
until the demonstration of infinite love and justice given on Calvary, were
they able to see God as He really is. At the same time, Satan was revealed in
his true light. For the first time, the angels were truly convinced of the
righteousness of God’s cause. The Scriptural evidences for this have already
been quoted, but it is appropriate to re-quote them here.
“Not until the
death of Christ was the character of Satan clearly revealed to the angels or
to the unfallen worlds. The archapostate had so clothed himself with
deception that even holy beings had not understood his principles. They had
not clearly seen the nature of his rebellion.” The Desire of Ages, 758.
At the cross “Satan
saw that his disguise was torn away. His administration was laid open before
the unfallen angels and before the heavenly universe. He had revealed himself
as a murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he had uprooted
himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings. Henceforth his work was
restricted. Whatever attitude he might assume, he could no longer await the
angels as they came from the heavenly courts, and before them accuse Christ’s
brethren of being clothed with the garments of blackness and the defilement
of sin. The last link of sympathy between Satan and the heavenly world was
broken.” ibid., 761.
There is a direct
relationship between the misunderstanding of Satan’s character and the
falsification of God’s. Therefore, to whatever extent the angels were not
able to see the true nature of Satan and his work during the
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Old Testament era, then to that extent were they unable to
correctly comprehend God’s principles of character and conduct. If holy
angels, mighty in intellectual and spiritual power and personally participant
in God’s workings in the Old Testament dispensation, still had clouded views
of God, then it is impossible for human minds to understand God for these
evidences alone.
When the
revelations of God as given by Christ at the cross swept away the haze with
which Satan had obscured God’s character, they were able to go back and
review the past in a new light. In the glory streaming from Christ and
Calvary, they found the mysteries solved and the dark spots illuminated.
Perfect peace filled their soul as they rejoiced in eternal deliverance from
the misconceptions of the past.
What was necessary
for them, is even more so for earthbound travellers seeking the knowledge of
God which is life eternal. This search must start with the finest and fullest
existing revelation of Him—the life of Christ and the marvel of Calvary.
Entering the study at this point will quickly impress on the searcher’s mind
the necessity of penetrating beyond the commonly held view of the Old
Testament God.
To too many for too
long, the Old Testament revelation of God, compared with Christ’s unfolding of
Him in the New, has provided an altogether contradictory picture. God is seen
as a stern, exacting lawmaker Who will not permit His will to be thwarted,
while Christ is viewed as a tender, benign, loving forgiver of all sins. To
God is ascribed one character and to Christ another. This destroys the
precious truth that Christ and the Father are one in authority, character,
spirit, aims, and works. The belief is spawned that Christ is the Appeaser of the Father’s fury,
influencing Him to act contrary to His real character by showing mercy when
it is not in His heart or nature to do so.
The further men are
steeped in the darkness of Satan’s misrepresentations of the Father and the
Son, the more exaggerated this appeasement doctrine becomes. In its worst
form it is found among those religionists who offer human sacrifices to the
deities to placate their wrath. Consider how such a concept of God makes Him
to be altogether such an one as ourselves.
Yet, strange as it
may seem, the average professed child of God today is prepared to believe, on
the one hand, that the Father and Son are one in character, spirit, and
power, while, on the other hand, holding to the view that the Father, as
revealed in the Old Testament in particular, and the Son, as manifested in
the New, are two very different characters.
It is grossly
inconsistent to hold such apposition and only possible if the two ideas are
carefully compartmentalized into separate areas of the brain so that they are
never thought of at the same time. Let them be brought together, and the
honest, thoughtful student will realize that one or the other has to go.
Either Christ and the Father are one, or they are not.
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Solving this
problem is not difficult, for the Scriptures are emphatic that the Father and
the Son are one in every particular. Jesus testified to this repeatedly.
“I and My Father
are one.” John 10:30.
“If I do not the
works of My Father, believe Me not.
“But if I do,
though ye believe not Me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe,
that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” John 10:37, 38.
“If 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 shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
“Jesus saith unto
him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me,
Philip? He that hath seen Me hat seen the Father; and how sayest thou then,
Shew us the Father?
“Believest thou not
that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto
you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the
works.
“Believe Me that I
am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very
works’ sake.” John 14:7-11.
“Then answered
Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you. The Son can do
nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever
He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” John 5:19.
By these words,
Christ, on His Father’s behalf, denied that there was any difference
whatsoever between Them in character and work. Both are joined in the most
intimate way, in dedicated purpose to save the perishing. Christ does not have
to appease the Father for He is doing exactly what the Father has
commissioned Him to do.
Division is Satan’s
objective, but God’s great purpose is to bring all things in heaven and earth
into unity as it is written; “Having made known unto us the mystery of His
will, according to His good pleasure which He has 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 in
Him.” Ephesians 1:9, 10.
Evidence was
presented back in chapter three that the specific method employed by Satan to
drive wedges between God and His creatures was the false presentation of
God’s character.
“Sin originated in
self-seeking. Lucifer, the covering cherub, desired to be first in heaven. He
sought to gain control of heavenly beings, to draw them away from their
Creator, and to win their homage to himself. Therefore he misrepresented God,
attributing to Him the desire for self-exaltation. With his own evil
characteristics he sought to invest the loving Creator. Thus he deceived angels. Thus he deceived men. He led them to
doubt the word of God, and to distrust His goodness. Because God is a
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God of justice and terrible majesty, Satan caused them to look
upon Him as severe and unforgiving. Thus he drew men to join him in rebellion
against God, and the night of woe settled down upon the world.” The Desire of Ages, 21, 22.
“By the same
misrepresentation of the character of God as he had practised in heaven, causing
Him to be regarded as severe and tyrannical, Satan induced man to sin.” The Great Controversy, 500.
“Adam believed the
falsehood of Satan, and through his
misrepresentation of the character of God, Adam’s life was changed and
marred. He disobeyed the commandment of God, and did the very thing the Lord
told him not to do. Through disobedience Adam fell; but had he endured the
test, and been loyal to God, the floodgates of woe would not have been opened
upon our world.
“Through belief in Satan’s
misrepresentation of God, man’s character and destiny where changed, but
if men will believe the Word of God, they will be transformed in mind and
character, and fitted for eternal life.” Selected
Messages 1:345, 346.
Satan’s method of destroying
the unity of the universe can only be countered by the restoration of the
truth about God. That character was manifested in all God’s dealings with
both loyal and rebellious individuals and nations between the fall and the
first advent, but men, influenced and blinded by Satan, were not able to see
the verities offered there.
Therefore, an
incontrovertible revelation of God’s character had to be supplied to
counteract Satan’s lies and make clear the real message of the Old Testament.
There was only one being who could give such a demonstration and that was
Christ, “Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His
person, . . .” (Hebrews 1:3) was
commissioned by God to do so.
“The Saviour was
deeply anxious for His disciples to understand for what purpose His divinity
was united to humanity. He came to the world to display the glory [character]
of God, that man might be uplifted by its restoring power.” The Desire of Ages, 664.
Note by Ron Beaulieu: But what
about all those who lived between the fall and the coming of Christ to the
world to display the character of God? How would they have been uplifted and
restored? This is why regeneration is so important. It appears that Fred
Wright did not think of this huge problem. End note.
“Christ came to the
earth to reveal to men the character of His Father, and His life was filled
with deeds of divine tenderness and compassion.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 469.
“. . . Jesus, the
express image of the Father’s person, the effulgence of His glory; the
self-denying Redeemer, throughout His pilgrimage of love on earth was a
living representative of the character of the law of God. In His life it is
made manifest that heaven-born love, Christlike principles, underlie the laws
of eternal rectitude.” God’s Amazing
Grace, 102.
So total is the
revelation of God’s character as given by Christ that “All that man needs to
know or can know of God has been
revealed in the life and character of His Son.” Testimonies 8:286.
Note by Ron
Beaulieu: It should be obvious that all who lived between the fall and
the display of Christ’s life on this earth, had no way of knowing “All that
man NEEDS to know or CAN KNOW of God, because it had not yet been revealed in
the life and character of His Son. The regeneration of all who have lived,
for the real, live, Investigative Judgment, solves this issue, for all will
have THEN had equal opportunity to KNOW what he/she needed to know relative
to the character of God revealed through His Son as displayed after His first
coming to this earth. End note.
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There is not a
single reason for doubting the veracity of these statements. Jesus confirmed
the truth of it in His words to Philip, “Have I been so long time with you,
and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the
Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” John 14:9
Jesus is the Word
of God. This is a most important and significant title whereby we are
informed of Christ’s special mission to mankind. It is a serious mistake to
limit Christ’s role to that of a sacrifice by which the penalty of sin was
paid. He certainly came to pay that ransom and this aspect of His work must
never be minimized or disparaged, but it is just as important to see the
other tasks He came to fulfil. He also came to prove that any human being who
will permit Christ to take away the old nature and then make him a partaker
of divine nature can, by living faith, keep all the commandments to
perfection.
Note by Ron Beaulieu:
Here
again the issues arises as to how those who lived between the fall and
Christ’s special mission to mankind (His life’s example of overcoming on this
earth), could have received the inspiration and aid of the divine nature and
the life of Christ on this earth. This issue is of great magnitude inasmuch
as God is a just God, and it would not be fair to those who lived between the
fall and Christ’s sojourn on this earth, if they did not have the same
privilege of being inspired by Christ and His divine nature in overcoming sin
and the opportunity for striving to be Christ’s bride. End note.
But, great and
essential as those works are, they are not sufficient to end the great
controversy without the third work; that of revealing God’s righteous
character to the point where Satan’s lies are shown for what they are.
As a description of
this work, the title, “The Word of God,” is most appropriate. Falling from
the lips of one who is entirely honest and truthful, words are an exact
expression of the thinking and character of the speaker. Upon this earth,
Jesus Christ was the word of God. That is, He did not speak His own words but
those of the Father. He did not do His own deeds but the deeds of the One Who
had sent Him.
These great truths
are not to be construed to mean that Christ did not have a mind or an
individuality of His own. “In Christ is life, original, unborrowed,
underived.” The Desire of Ages,
530. He could certainly have come to the earth to express His own mind, to do
His own works, and to reveal His own character. But, He came with a
commission other than that. He was sent to reveal the words, thought,
character, and deeds of the Father of righteousness. With perfect
faithfulness, He fulfilled that commission, thereby assuring all that God can
be seen and understood, simply by looking to the life and teachings of His
Son. [A privilege those living between
the fall and the cross did not have access to without regeneration of all men
of all ages for the live
Investigative Judgment since 1844. Without the truth of regeneration,
thinking individuals will consider this otherwise
problem as injustice on the part of God. rb].
“He was the Word of God—God’s thought made
audible.” The Desire of Ages, 19. Therefore, He declared of His mission,
“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words
that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in
Me. He doeth the works.” John 14:10.
“Then said Jesus unto
them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am He,
and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father hath taught Me, I speak
those things.” John 8:28.
Therefore, great
care should be taken to understand this aspect of Christ’s mission. The truth
that Jesus was the very expression of the thought and character of God should
hold so firm a place in the mind, that
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no matter what contradictory pictures of God may be presented,
the only acceptable ones are those in harmony with Christ’s representations
of God.
Already mentioned
is the apparent difference between
the image of God as seen through the history of the Old Testament and
Christ’s revelation of Him. Many are convinced that they are faced with a
choice of which picture of God they will accept, but, if the principle laid
down above is grasped and followed, it will be seen that the contradictory
view of God, as gained from the incorrect understanding of the Old Testament,
must be rejected. This is because it
does not agree with the revelation of
God as given by Jesus Christ. His presentation of God’s character is the
clearest, the most convincing, and the most easily understood.
In other words,
those who wish to know what God is like, how He relates Himself to the sinner
and to the righteous, have only to look at God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Any ideas about God which find no reflection in Christ’s life and teachings
must be unhesitatingly rejected as error. This can only mean that belief
cannot be retained in both the popular view of God and Christ’s presentation
of Him. One or the other has to go. God is utterly consistent and, therefore,
His Word is consistent with itself. It cannot and certainly does not present
a concept in one place and the opposite in another. This cannot be. Every
searcher for truth must be convinced of this as a provision motivating him to
reject any tendency to accept contradictory views of Scripture, while he
searches with earnest perseverance for biblical
solutions which will bring them into perfect harmony.
In the New
Testament, Christ gave us the true picture of God. Let that truth be forever
and without question established in the mind. As surely as the Lord is
consistent, then the Old Testament presentation of Him must coincide with the
New. The student must not rest until the two are harmonized.
In working to
achieve that harmony, begin where the truth is clearest. This means that the
starting point must be the life of Christ—not the history of the Old
Testament. For four thousand years, both human and angelic minds failed to
see the revelation of Himself which the Lord had sought to transmit
throughout all His dealing. Having failed to penetrate the devil’s
sophistries during that time, He sent Christ to accomplish what had before been impossible. It
was impossible, not because of any shortcoming on God’s part, but because of
the blindness and prejudice of men’s darkened minds and the sheer subtlety of
Satan. It is much easier to spread a lie than to establish the truth. Raising
a doubt, or insinuating an evil motive is a simple thing compared to the
vindication of a righteous character.
Christ came, then,
to settle forever the question of God’s character. He did it by bringing that
which had been distant and obscure into the closest contact with the human
race. So intimate is the proximity of that spotless life, that it is
impossible not to see it as it is. There are none to argue that Christ
possessed any other than an impeccable righteousness in which is
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embodied all that is most precious and desirable in any being,
divine or human. It would be impossible to give a more convincing argument
than that. What Christ came to accomplish, He was pre-eminently successful in
doing. The question of what God is in character, is forever settled.
To appreciate the
full value of Christ’s matchless presentation of God’s character, it is
necessary to recognize how all-encompassing it was. Did Christ come to
present a partial view of God? Was it simply a shifting of emphasis? Did God,
feeling that He had most satisfactorily convinced men in the Old Testament of
the sterner and uncompromising side of His nature, leave Christ to emphasize
the qualities of love, forgiveness, and mercy?
Such a view is
adopted by many as a solution to what they feel would otherwise be a
contradiction between the messages of the Old and New Testaments, but it is
not the message of the Scriptures themselves. Therein, it is asserted that
Christ’s manifestation of the Father was complete. It leaves nothing more to be shown. This is not saying that
everything about God’s character can be understood in one contact with the
Saviour, for it will take eternity to see all that Christ came to tell. What
must be recognized and accepted as truth is that the revelation of God in the
face of Christ is complete. Therefore
it is written: “All that man needs to know or can know of God has been
revealed in the life and character of His Son.” Testimonies, 8:286.
This statement is specific,
comprehensive, and accurate. It leaves no space for the supposition that
Christ revealed only a certain aspect of God’s character or even the larger
part of it. It does not admit to the notion that Chris’s ministry provided a
further stage in this revelation with final unfolding to be given in the
future. Rather, it confirms in language so simple that no doubt is left of
its meaning, that Christ came to give a manifestation of God so complete that
there is nothing more which can be
shown. Nothing was overlooked or omitted. There is no inquiry about God which
can be raised except it be answered in the life and teachings of the Saviour.
The work is complete. It has all been unfolded. All that remains is for the
eager, spiritual child of God through earnest study and prayer to come into
possession of this richest of all treasures. Some may counter that eternal
life is the richest of all treasures. This is true and in its truth
establishes this point, for the knowledge of God is eternal life. “And this is
life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
Whom Thou has sent.” John 17:3.
Christ Himself
declared the totality of His revelation of His Father.
“Then answered
Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do
nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever
He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” John 5:19.
This Scripture is a
key in understanding Christ’s ministry as the Word of the living God. Let the
precious truths contained therein be examined with thorough care.
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Christ testified
that He did nothing of Himself. Thus He denied that any act of His during
this earthly ministry was original with, or from, Himself. Unlike men, who
feel they must do something that is distinctly themselves, Christ had come
with only one great purpose in mind which was to do the works and will of His
Father. He had not come to glorify Himself, but the Almighty God Who had sent
Him.
Therefore, as
certainly as His life, so filled with activity, contained nothing done of
Himself or from Himself, so all that He did was of God and from God. It was
the Father Who was acting out His life and character through the medium of
His beloved Son. Therefore, in Christ’s every act, we see God at work and
know thereby exactly what the Father does in relation to His subjects, be
they sinful or righteous.
This is confirmed
in Christ’ words, “For what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son
likewise.” John 5:19.
The witness of
Christ here is not simply in these terms, “What things He doeth,” but “What
things soever He doeth.” The addition of this word means that everything the Father does is
included. This is a word which carries the idea of completeness, of
infinitude. Therefore Christ is attesting that everything the Father does, without
any exceptions, the Son does likewise.
The student must
not fail to observe the insertion of the word, “likewise.” It adds
significant meaning to the Saviour’s message. It is important that we believe
that Christ did upon this earth, everything the Father did. It is equally
essential for us to know that He did it likewise as the Father did it. Not
only did He do all the Father did,
but He did it exactly as the Father
did it.
Therefore, the
revelation of God as given by Christ was not only complete but it was a
facsimile. If the Father Himself had come down in place of Christ, the
picture would have been so identical that it would have been impossible to
tell them apart.
In a further
attempt to argue that the revelation of God by Christ was incomplete, it may
be claimed that during the earthly interval, Christ did not have a full
knowledge of the works of God. Such an argument is stifled in the very next verse
where Christ claimed complete knowledge of the ways and works of God.
“For the Father
loveth the Son, and sheweth Him all things that Himself doeth: and He will
shew Him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.” John 5:20.
What Christ says,
we believe, for He is the Truth. By His testimony, then, we know that
everything the Father does, the Son did in the same way precisely, and
inasmuch as there was nothing of His ways which the Father did not reveal to
the Son, that revelation is complete.
What a challenge
this is to the old ideas about God. Every idea in which God is seen as the
destroyer of those who refuse His offers of mercy, can be sustained only if we find Christ doing the same thing.
What citadels of error
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must collapse before the onslaught of this impregnable truth!
What an entirely new and glorious structure of living verities about the
Father must now arise from the wreckage of those edifices of lies!
Consider the
time-honored theories about God. He is viewed as One Who initially seeks the
salvation of His creatures. From His position of supreme authority, He calls
upon men to repent of their sins and obey His will. He demonstrates patience
while men play with His appeals, but the time comes when that patience is
exhausted. Then He arises to perform His “strange act.” With terrifying
power, wielded in His own hands, He wipes the rebellious from the face of the
earth, thus demonstrating that He is not a God to be scorned. He thus asserts
His will by the naked use of destructive force, convincing men that they must
obey Him or perish. This is the view of the white-haired traditionalist.
Is this what God
does? Is this a true picture of His patterns of behavior? It is important to
know the answer, for if it is not correct, then it is a lying representation
of God designed by the devil to separate us from Him and to effect our
destruction. Certainly, it is the time-honored view of God and Hs ways, so
that, if this were the determining factor, it would be the truth. But, the
fact that a belief is hoary with the dignity of age and majority acceptance,
does not make it correct.
There is another
and altogether reliable means of testing the veracity, or otherwise, of these
concepts. That proof is offered in the life of Christ. He came to show us
exactly how God behaves in any situation. Therefore, if this long-standing
and popular concept of God is correct, it is certain that it will be
supported by Christ’s doing the same thing in the same way.
But where can this
pattern of behavior be found in His life upon this earth.
It cannot be found. Search as
exhaustively as possible. Investigate every word and act. Listen to His
inspired utterances. See Him dealing with those who had rejected His last
appeals of mercy. Behold Him receiving abuse and mockery in return for love
and mercy and never once can any suggestion be found of His even entertaining
an idea of doing as men have understood God to do. Not even by a thought did
He enter into any work whereby He would use the mighty power available to Him
to destroy the impenitent.
Men have long seen
God as having two faces. One of these is the forgiving, merciful face which
He turns toward man during the period of pleading for their repentance, while
the other is the face of thunder as He is about to destroy him. Christ
exhibited no such duality. Throughout His life only one role was ever played
by Him—that of a Saviour and a Saviour only. Not once do we find Him lifting
His hand to destroy anyone. He lived only to bless, to heal, to restore, and
to save.
“How God anointed
Jesus Of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: Who went about doing
good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with
Him.” Acts 10:38.
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“Christ stood at
the head of humanity in the garb of humanity. So full of sympathy and love
was His attitude that the poorest was not afraid to come to Him. He was kind
to all, easily approached by the most lowly. He went from house to house,
healing the sick, feeding the hungry, comforting the mourners, soothing the
afflicted, speaking peace to the distressed. . . . He came as an expression
of the perfect love of God, not to
crush, not to judge and condemn, but to heal every weak, defective character,
to save men and women from Satan’s power.” Welfare Ministry, 53, 54.
“Constantly He went about doing good.
By the good He accomplished, by His loving words and kindly deeds, He
interpreted the gospel to men.” ibid.,
56.
“Just as we trace
the pathway of a stream of water by the line of living green it produces, so
Christ could be seen in the deeds of mercy that marked His pathway at every
step. Wherever He went, health sprang up, and happiness followed wherever He
passed. The blind and deaf rejoiced in His presence. His words to the
ignorant opened to them a fountain of life. He dispensed His blessings
abundantly and continuously. They were the garnered treasures of eternity,
given in Christ, the Lord’s rich gift to man.” ibid. 57.
“Christ, the
outshining of the Father’s glory, came to the world as its light. He came to
represent God to men, and of Him it is written that He was anointed ‘with the
Holy Ghost and with power,’ and ‘went about dong good.’” Christ’s Object Lessons, 416, 417.
This statement is
very much to the point declaring that Christ came to this earth to represent God to man and then telling
us that in order to do that, He went about doing good. How tragic that so
many have failed to appreciate that Christ is the exact and complete revelation
of the Father of lights. When this truth is seen as it should and must be,
then it will be understood that God is committed to only one work—that of going about and doing good.
He, together with Christ, is the great Healer, Restorer, Saviour, and Friend
of all mankind. It is not His way to destroy them. They are destroyed only
when they take themselves out of His care and beyond the limits of His circle
of protection.
“The life of Christ
was filled with words and acts of benevolence, sympathy, and love.” Early Writings, 160.
So it was. It was
not partly, but overflowingly filled so that there was space for nothing else
but that. The truth of the statements just quoted can be verified by studying
the inspired records of His life. Such a study will fail to bring to light a
single act of destruction or the administration of any punishment.
Some may raise the
objection that Christ cursed and destroyed the barren fig tree and that He
drove the money changers out of the temple on two occasions by using a whip
to do so. Both these events will be studied in the next chapter. The
presentation of Scriptural evidences will show that the
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wasting of the fig tree was not an act of destruction on Christ’s
part. It will be shown that He related Himself to it exactly as He does to
every sinner, by permitting His protection and life to be withdrawn from it.
Likewise, it will be shown that it was not by personal, physical force that
He was successful in clearing the temple of the money changers.
These are the only
events which could be offered as an exception to the rule of Christ’s
ministry. When it is successfully shown that they are not an exception, then
it will be recognized that Christ did only good while upon this earth. He
came as a Saviour only. “For God sent not His Son to condemn the world; but
that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:17.
This is the great
and thrilling message from the life of Christ. It testifies that throughout
all the ages before He came, men held to a serious misconception of God’s
character. Christ had come to dispel that error, and by acting out the ways
and works of His Father, declares, “Here is the correct view of My Father.
This is what you are to believe that He is and does.”
At this point, some
will be thinking that if they accept Christ’s life as the full and complete
picture of what God is, then how will they ever understand God’s actions in
the Old Testament?
Let all such be
earnestly encouraged to take hold of Christ’s words by faith. Jesus said that He had come to do the works of His
Father. He has told us that to see Him is to see the Father. Therefore, faith in those words assures us that
the picture of the Father which Christ came to give is the truth in regard to
the Father. Faith then comforts us
with the happy thought that there is a better and more beautiful
interpretation of the Old Testament scriptures than we have had in the past.
Thus we are filled with eager anticipation as we return to the study of
events prior to the first advent of the Word of God
Later many of the
great happenings of that period will be re-examined. To the glad surprise of
many of our readers, and we would hope all, it will be seen that God is a Saviour
and Saviour only.
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