Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-09

Now, the first of these mysteries re-
vealed to us by Jesus Christ is the mys-
terry of God. 1 do not mean to say that
we are indebted to Christ for the knowl-
edge that there is a God. This thought
seems rather to be intuitive. only the
fool hath said in his heart there is no
God!' Some dim conception that there is
a God may be found among all peoples
and at all periods of the worlds history.
The great question that has perplexed
them and us is. what is that God? Among
the heather He is the counterpart of them
selves. They have nothing higher than
their own inclinations and aspirations, and
their gods are but the expression of their
own life and feelings; therefore, the gods
of ancient Egypt and Greece are more
cultured and refined than those of other
heather nations, because their creators
are more cultured and refined. With Israel
the case is different. God called Abraham,
and led him out from his country and
for the express purpose of revealing to
men what God is. And the history of
Israel is but an account of the mighty eff
fort of God to reveal to men something of
His character and person. And yet when
Christ came, how little the people really
knew of God. His power they did not
question.
His justice and judgment they accepted.
But not until they have gone with Him
over the hills of Judea, as He went about.
strewing goodness and mercy along His
pathway, relieving want, easing burdens,
healing broken hearts, raising the fallen,
and finally pouring out His life upon the
cross, do they get any conception of the
heart Of God. His mission was to show US
God. And out there upon Golgotha's cross,
alone and unsupported by a single friend,
He met the heavy stroke Of heavens hot
displeasure, in all the calm magnifcence
Of thought and purpose, and flung the
dying splendors of His eye, radiant with
His foes, while He prays, Father, forgive
them; they know not what they do" And
unto heaven, unto earth there is given a
revelation Of God such as had never been
before. And the world now knows that
God is Father, and that God is love.
The second mystery revealed to us by
Christ is the mystery Of man. Not his
origin, nor the how Of his creation, but the
purpose and mission of his creation. This
is the mystery that Christ explains-and
which without Him would have remained
unknowable. Man toiling here, bearing his
burdens, his sorrows and disappointments,
is meaningless, except in the light Of re-
is this seen. The philosopher has no way
of unlocking the secrets which lie beyond
the grave. Infidelty says there is no des-
tiny beyond. See the intellect Of the
world, cropping in blindness through the
mists of philosophy. Witness it in the
Limbus and Elysium Of the Latins, the
Greeks and Romans, the metemphsychosis
of Pythagoras, the manicheisms Of tho
Persians, the legends Of the Celts and
Druids and the affairs Of Ancient Mexico
indeed, everywhere. What other field Of
investigation has furnished SO much food
for thought and speculation, and yet
brought back such meager returns? Phi
losophy and invention, try as they may,
have never been able to span the chasm
separating US from the great beyond, or
bring us one ray of light from the other
side. But Jesus Christ comes upon the
scene, and. passing through death, takes
His stand at the right hand of the throne
Of God, bearing still in His body the
marks and scars of the conflict, and de-
claring Himself alive forevermore. With
redeemed humanity crowding about Him
for spaces wider than an angels vision
can sweep, saved from the second death,
and wearing upon their brow the laurels
plucked from the monster death, by Gods
own Son, show us a destiny for man
above and beyond the heartaches and dis
appointments of life, which explains not
man.