The Newtown bee., 1901-10-25

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less he wondered at it, and yearned to
understand it. This is a point
would emphasize. Men used to hold
concerning Christ, and, l suppose,
some do to-day, that life had no mys-
terry for him; that all was clear and in
telligible, that all knowledge resided in
Him, that in his human capacity He
had the mind, the interest of God.
Nothing could be more absurd than
this view! The New Testament does
not warrant it; rather, such view is
excluded by the New Testament. How
could he be tempted in all points like
as we are", if all were clear to him.
Some of the greatest temptations of
our lives, those that never leave us but
keep gnawing away at our soul, have
their origin in this very fact of the
mystery of life. Take, for instance,
unbelief, pessimism, hopelessness;
these take their rise partly in the fact
that we cannot see, that impenetra-
BILE clouds of uncertainty envelop us
constantly. Now, ifall were clear to
Christ, if there were no clouds in His
horizon, in the very necessities of the
case, He could not be tempted as we
are. Hence He would be of little COM
fort tc us.
What was His attitude, then? One
of expectancy, of hope, of trust. When
Paul said "Now we see through glass
darkly, but then face to face. Now l
am known in part, but then shall l
know even as also am known" Ibe-
lleve he was expressing not only his
own attitude toward life's problem,
but the attitude of his Master, Christ,
as well. A heavy veil, the veil of this
earthly temple, shut off the view even
of the son Of man, 50 that He, Gods
Son though He was, might not pene-
trate the holy of holes where all mys-
terry is dissolved. But when upon the
cross He cried ''It is Finished" then for
him the veil was torn asunder. and he
passed forever beyond its limits.
WE MUST WAIT
and hope and trust as did He, patient
ly,especially until we, too, pass through
the veil into that existence whose en-
blem is unfailing, perpetual day. For
Christ's attitude toward life's mystery
then, hold him in grateful remem-
brance.
Thirdly, He has taught me some
thing concerning God. Jesus was not
the first to suggest that God is our
Father. limitations of this trans
cendent truth may be found in the
Old Testament: Like as a father
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth
them that fear him. In jeremiah,
God is represented as saying, "Behold,
[ will bring them from the north
country and gather them from the
uttermost parts of the earth, and with
them the blind and the lame, the wom-
an with child and her that travaileth
with child together: great company
shall they return hither. They shall
come with weeping, and with suppl
cations will l lead them: l will cause
them to walk by rivers of waters, in a
straight way wherein they shall not
stumble; or am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my tirstborn." What :
language is this, and how
beautifully it sets forth God as Father! |
And Malachi, the last in the canon of !
the minor prophets, says: "Have we
not all one father? hast not one God !
created u.s."
But though Christ was not the first !
to make known this truth, yet he filled
it with new meaning, and thus gave it :
the force of fresh revelation. He
revealed the universal Fatherhood of
God, His nature as spirit and that
the whole world is His temple so
that He may be worshipped anywhere
by those who worship in spirit and
N truth. The very center and soul of
jhe new gospel of Christianity was
made to be Gods universal Father
hood.
land see how practically Christ appli-
ID it. We were saying few moments
lgo that Jesus believed in men. Have
We not the secret of that belief right
II Lol 20 -