Smyrna times., 1893-12-27
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| at time that best conserved the interests
| of the whole human family. In the first
/ place he was most ardently looked for.
| About that period there prevailed a gen.
eral opinion that the Almighty would send
forth some eminent messenger to cOmmu-
nicate a more perfect discovery of his will
to mankind. The thinking jew of that
age concluded that the time preordained of
| God was completed and that the promised
Messiah was about to appear. We have
seen how the Magi came. But they were
not a lone in their conclusions. Other hea-
then believed that a prince would arise in
Judea who would change the face of the
world, and extend his empire from one Of
the earth to the other.
In the annals of the Celestial Empire,
there is historical evidence of Ambassadors
| or wise men" having been sent towards
| the West in search of the Great Saint who
| was to appear" So sensible were these
wise men, of the time and place of the
| SaviOur's birth, that they set forth to hail
| the expected Redeemer. The envoy en-
countered in their way the missionaries of
| Buddhism coming from India announcing
an incarnate Cod these the Chinese took
| for the disciples of the true Christ. en-
braced their teaching and introduced them
to their fellow countrymen as the teachers
of the true religion. The question is often
| asked: why did this Incarnation take
| y
the course of historyP The answer is
1t was for the good of mankind that it
| happened at that particular time"
| NOW, had Christ been manifested at an
earlier period the world would not have
been prepared to meet him with the same
tondness and zeal; had his appearance been
| put off for any considerable time mems
expectations would have begun to languish,
and the warmth of desire, from DELAY of
! gratlhcatlon, might have cooled and died
| away irTeparably. The birth of Christ
iodS, indeed, IN the fitineSs of time. If me
conStde7 the then political state ofthe aCorld
For the first time in history the same laws
were everywhere established and the same
language everywhere understood; men an
| prOach9d nearer to one another in senti-
ments and manners, and the intercourse
| between the most distant corners of the
earth was rendered secure and agreeable
Peace was resting like bendiction on that
! vast empire.
Under these favorable circumstances the
| dlsclples of Christ were enabled to execute
| their commissions with great ADVANTAGE
Under this situation they successfully and
rapidly ditfused the knowledge of Christ
over the earth, and since nations were now
| accessible which formerly had been un-
| known, the joyful sound of the GOSPEL in a
| few years, reached those remote corn ers of
| the world into which it could not otherwise
have penetrated for many ages. again, If
'oe c9nS1deT the StGte Of the 10Orid aCith re-
| CARA to morals, 1t still more erideRtLv ap-
pears that the coming Of Christ qCas at the
most appropriate time.
mat was wicked age At the time
christ was born the moral life of the world
nad reached the lowest possible stage of
degradation. In Palestine religion was a
whlted sepulchre; there was no life. nor
warmth nor beauty left. And among the
ineaVheh the moral sense was well-nigh OBJ
liberated; morality had been swallowed up
IN vice and irreliglOn. Read the first chan
ter OF the Eplstle to the Romans, which
describes that period Can you conceive
darker picture? Can the worst imagina-
ton add one single feature TO its horrors
human refOrmers had arisen and sunk
back In the sea of iniquity. What the
wisdom of men could do for the encourage
ment of virtue had been tried during sew
eral centuries, but all human devices were
found by experience to be of very small
avail, so that no juncture could have bsen
more proper for publishing a religion.
which, independent of human laws and in
stitutlons, explained the principles of NOR
ais with admirable clearness and enforced
their practice with the most persuasive ar
guments. In that first century that the in
Garnatlon OF Christ stopped the downward,
headlOng career of the world and changed
the entire drift Of human history can bo
doubted by no sensible man.
ana mere we see fOreshadowinR Of the
glad purpose and design of God in uniting
the human and divine natures in the per-
son OF Jesus Christ. Realizing that this
downward career of human life must be
checked and could only be stayed by some
plan OF his own, God adopted this as the
wisest scheme for restoring to human na-
ture the capacity for union with God.
a chlet consequence of the fall of man
was that 1t necessitated the propagation in
al men OF the likeness of their fallen fore
father Adam, instead of that of the IMAGE
OF God. And up to the time of the incar-
h9tion no remedy had been found by
whlch this continuous force of the fall
eoulu oe Gounteracted. The relation be-
tween God and man lad been changed.
human nature itself was not as God crea-
tea 1t; and so instead of its travelling
nearer to God it was drifting steadily away
from Him. Even for those who wished to
unite again with the author of their exist
ence there was no model by which TO
chlsel their lives; for all were in the same
cO1demnatlon; IN fact the world had set
Ileu down to the conviction that there was
no model possible. Then it was that Jesus
came TO show them that it was possible
came TO represent human natuTo in ito
original relation to GOd-as it existed he
fore the fall. For the benefit of mankind
ne brought back human nature to its origi-
nal starting point. For them he repTe-
sentea manhood as it was formerly. as it
ought to be now. You could trace tho
image of God in him; for he was the
second God-made man, the second Adam.
he was man unfallen
but Whlle he came as q model he nust
De more than this to do the work for which
he came. He could not have restored
human nature had he been only man. He
must be also God. But why this necessity
I0r 10 tne union of God and man in Christ?
t$tlY w snow mankind the lOng-lOst path
70 heaven. Not every sculptor who Sits
down before the dying Gladiator can cow
HIIn M periectlyi he has to learn how to do it.
NelIher was 1t possible for any man to fol-
low ChrlSh to initiate his virtues even
aller ne saw that beautiful life. Sin was
700 strong, within him; he had been going
wrong so long that he knew not the wav
" 70 ohlsel out for himself perfect character.
hence II was necessary that this restorer of
human nature should 20 about the world
teachlng men how to follow him: it was
necessary that he should reveal TO tbem
the way, the truth and life. And since no
IilortAis could do this, owing to the fact
that righteousness had become a lost art
II remained for God himself to do il. II
was needtul, then, that while the perfect
man was showing his life to men. he
should also be God in order to lead them
into all truth, to show them how to live.
FULL REDEMPTION,
There was still another reason for the
union OF God with man in the person of
Jesus Christ. Before the model could be
initiated, before men could learn. before |
the restoration could be effected before |
the union could be formed of eternal |
friendship between man and God. sin |
would have to be swept away, atoned for |
by perfect life snch as Christ's was. And |
SO 1t was that we find Jesus introduced to |
the world, at the beginning of his public |
ministry, US "the Lamb of God that taketh |
away the sins of the world" So IL wos |
that we find him at the close of that min |
lstry, after he had shown men the model |
after he had taught them how to initiate r. |
hanging there upon the cross, numbered |
with the transgressors and bearing the sins'' /
OF men, Between these events we find him
emphasizing the fact that he had come to
re9eem, to take away sin, as the one foun-
talh IN winch human stain was to be
washed off.
When you come to think the matter ovor
IN your mind you realize that such a union
ofthe human and divine natures as wa find
IN Jesus was necessity under the circum-
stances. For there were two things TO be
taught men, which could in no other wav
be taught. The one was the ~ Love Of
God; the other was (2) the dignity of man,
We observe the pOtoer. of God brightly
SHINING in creation; the iCiSdOna of God NAV
be distinctly discerned in his government
OF all things; but it is in the incarnation
that we perceive the divine goodness con-
spicuously displaying itself Gould God
haVO demonstrated his love more elo-