The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-12-26

cover SluCJNlng or that likeness ID 1 God In which he was originally made. Jesus coming brought mo sudden
 change, Human life immediately after His advent would show no advance oyer
 human life Immediately before, The l work or restoration is in process, The | Incarnation and the atonement removed all barriers between God and man, ! but they did not then, and do not now,
 bring man to God by virtue of their 1 existence, By that | mean to say that ] just because the Son of GGd has come
 in the flesh, and accomplished His atom
 ing work, We are not therefore saved. ] Salvation is the reward of an eucr-
 getc and persistent struggle on our ] part to overcome sin, and every man or
 woman has to pay the same price for it, 1 But in our struggle for the supremacy
 over sin. and for the winning of sal
 yation, we can turn back with thank ! full hearts to the great fact of the lncar-
 nation, by which fact all our struggle
 is given a meaning, and by which fact
 We are enabled to sec our struggle issue
 at last in the glorious victory that
 awaits every faithful child of God,
 I have been speaking of the coming
 of Christ in relation to salvation as ] made possible by that coming, that is to
 say, l have been speaking of the In
 carnation as the restoration of harmony | between God and man. which harmony
 was destroyed through sin. But the | Incarnation, the dwelling of God among
 Us in flesh, involves more than the
 mereunionof the Godhead and creation, the making of salvation a possibility. "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their
 sins" The incarnate Lord then not only brought release from the stigma
 of the sin of our first parents, but
 through Him are we saved from those sins which we are so apt 10 commit in our life here from day to day. You
 see what a bearing then the incarnation
 hes on our life as Christian men and
 women, on our life as struggling men and women. Jesus saves His people from their sins. He makes no claim to save any other than His people, But all people may be His people who
 are willing to submit their wills to His will, and to strive to pattern their life
 after His life. There is no limitation to His work only as men themselves limit it.
 But now comes the question, How
 will Jesus save His people from their
 sins? How does Jesus save you from your sins? Is it not by removing the
 sins from you? That cant be, for where man is there are the sins. Jesus
 saves you from your sins by insipring you to live pure and true lives, by Siv- ing you strength to resist and over
 come temptation. and by perfecting you
 in holiness and in the fear and love of God The Son of God took our nature
 upon Him and dwelt among men, and | endured the Limitations of humanity,
 for the very purpose of making linn
 self an example for us to pattern after Jesus Christ can help men, and lead them on and up to a n0bler conception
 of life's duties. far better than He could
 have done if He had not known what human life was like Suppose Christ mad come to earth in the capacity of God | only. and in the manner be- 1 fitting God. do you think that He would
 or could appeal 10 you as He now does
 that His life would or could exercise lllt lIlH utiItt bll DLAl illE ti4''N '' '''''
 exercises? No! It is the Christ brought
 into this world through the travail of His mother just like any other child,
 reared amid the toiling m5n and women
 of His day, sharing in that toiI suffer
 ir.y the limitations of humanity endur-
 ing pain and sorrow, dying, that is en- shrined in our affections, woven into
 our life, and guiding our thought and 1 action. l. is that Christ. | say, and rot the Christ of heaven whose advent
 was made amid the matchless splendor
 and transcendent glory of a celestial pageant, whose sojourn down here was one continuous triumph potentates yielding homage to Him, the multitude
 admirng, but drawing not nigh, whose departure was like His coming, grand magnificent, the splendid pageant float ing up the heights of heaven until lost
 to sight beyond the clouds. You and I know which Christ it is that we love- that we initiate. that we make the guI- ing principle of our life. It is the 1 Christ whose little white face looked up from the manger-cradle a { Bethlehem to the wondering shepherds bending | over u. It IS the NnlISJ NnOSe Ddle
 white face looked down from the cross upon His enemies and friends beneath. It is the Christ which God in His in- ! frite goodness gave to us. Now this Christ can save us from our sins just ! because lie is the Christ He is Is there any doubt in your mind, 1 assure ! you there is none in mine, that Christ's influence on man is due to the fact 1 that He Himself was man? l said
 a moment al go that Christ saves us from
 ou" sins by inspiring us to lead pure
 and true lives, by giving Us strength ! t1 resist and overcome temptation, and 1 by perGecting Us in the fear and love ! of God. When We member that He
 was tempted like as we are, that He 1 had to meet and vanquieh foes inimical 1 to His human nature, then we under
 stand the value of His example upon OuY lives. Christ saves us from our 1 sins. Who does not know how true 1 that is? Who does not know how through him men and women. have l been reclaimed from a life of sin and | shame? Who does not know how the 1 thief has been saved from his dishon- esty, the malicious man from his maI- | ice, the impure man from his unclean-
 ness, by and through Jesus Christ? | TTv-,, ,T,s. r1