The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-04-07

| pendent existence IN the Etti hal Ofu+T-
II We could read Alright we would find in
all the manifold forms about US. in the
gorgeous tints of the heavens. in the
very air that breathes upon US, and in
every flower that gladdens our eyes some
expression Of God. Nature is one vast
system OF synbolisms that must be read
rs an Illustration OF Gods work. It is
our business to untangle the riddle and
to read il out clear and true. The old
| testament scriptures make this divine
use Of nature, and human nature itself.
weak and imperfect, is there made the
medium Of spiritual revelation. Isaiah.
for instance, in his weakness, touched by
the divine consciousness, has left Us =
record OF spiritual revelation unparalleled
in the literature OF the world. Through
all forms OF life and literature. IN bio
graphy, psalms, proverbs and prophecies
God gave some CLEAN of himself 10 man.
Human personality IS therefore the medi-
I'm Of the highest expression OF Gods
viii. Man is the top OF the order OF crea-
| ton. No other eye can read the story Of
| the stars and no other heart can answer
back the message Of the heavens. The
| highest point Of this humanity is reached
in Christ.
Nineteen centuries ago there anne into
the word a man who occupied an exclu-
sive position. He was of the race of Abra-
ham and belonged to the royal line. He
was born Of q woman who had the faith
! to dare any thing till the time OF mature
life. After baptism and wilderness temp
~tations ne went forth to q life Of unpar-
allcled activity. He was gentle and kind
! and although he denounced the tradition
| alism and hypocracy of the Pharasees he
1,-o--- .-,oo ~ q rraa1 for hajn IL
finally came to his death because Of his
exalted character.
The Interpretation of this life has been
| a task of the ages. He was more than
prophet or law giver. he asserted his
own authority over this natural world
Of ours. What place shall we therefore
| give him in human history and how are
we to class him? BY common consent he
is the first among men with that mighty
force of person that mas never been ex-
| hibited in the previous or following his
tory Of the world. His character has been
made the standard by which all things
| are tried and judged. An explanation Of
this has been sought in the Jewish
thought and civilization of the times, but
no one who knows that period Of history
can believe that he is merely q result of
his age, neither can We account for him
by the theory of evolution. There was
no force or form of life that could pro-
duce such development. - we were to
take Moses and Abraham and Isaiah and
Elijah and blend them into one great
, character. still reaching far above them,
with his head among The stars, with his
face alight with a glory that never
shone on Carmel or Sinai, would be Jesus
Christ, the Alpha and Omega of all hu-
man thought, towering by right of his
| personal character over all men and over
all things. How are we to account for
this? Did ever man live and speak like
this man. Was he truly man? OF his
humanity we may be certain; he hunger
ed and was tired; men cursed him and
| put their stripes upon him: he was ac-
~quainted with grief; his life was filled
with experiences of our poor humanity:
men in all conditions came to him, and
his presence hallowed all the places and
incidents of earthly life. In the fullest
| sense he was human and lived our NJ
! man life, though such q man as the
world has never seen before or since.
giving the world it's only adequate ex-
r~ression of God, he was man for all that.
He was, however, more than this. He was
the consistent union of the human and
the divine; he was God manifested in
the flesh. So fully was this true that he
could say Of himself: He that hath seen
me hath seen the Father"
The first truth We see in the life of
Christ is hat he was the assertion of
the universal relation between the natur-
al and the spiritual, between man and
God. He shows the possibility of the
bringing of man in the flesh into the
closest and most intimate relations with
the eternal God. The belief in the early
church that the difference between man
| and God was SO wide that they could not
be united, made it impossible for many
to see the possibility of the union Of God
and man in Christ. The attempt was
made by the Ebionites to explain away
the human life Of Christ. The Docetists
attempted to show that there was only
the appearance of humanity in him. The
Gnostics attempted to bridge the chasm
between the human and divine by a
series of subordinate beings mediating
between God and matter, which they rec
ognized as hostile and eternally opposed.
The theory Of Kenosis. or "emptying,"
was also used to explain the possibility
of the incarnation Of the divine in the
human. The Nicene creed finally pro-
nounced Christ very God Of very God,
| and also very man, and asserted forever
the unity of the two. thus throwing aside
the old dualism and asserting the unity
of the human and the divine.
There is no very great metaphysical
difficulty involved in the idea of the
union of the human and the divine. We
know in experience the possibility of the
| perfect surrender Of the human will to
God. Human nature at it's highest each
es is an expression of the character and
will of God. The coming of God into hui
| man life is in accordance with the eter-
nal law of love, which, in it's final analy-
sis, is sacrificed, and the assertion of
the impoSsibility of the union of the hu-
man and the divine is the assertion that
God does not possess this sacrificial love.
The incarnation is in the ultimate the
| assertion of the unity of the divine and
the human and gives to man forever the
knowledge of the possibility of the man
Hesitation in human life Of the will and
purpose of God.
ROBBED THE GRAVE.