Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-12-20

to include all the demands of modern
geology until you are unable to find the
heavens and the earth, for they had not
been created as yet and you will find
that the Word was then In existence
While John expressly would exclude the
eternity of matter. he clearly presents
the eternal existence OF Christ who
therefore must be God. by the use OF the
term .ogos, that we translate as the
Word" Whence came the term we do
not know, but its meaning is clear.
1t may have been a pebble from tho
brook of the Old Testament Scriptures
gests. from the current talk OF Ephesus."
Reunited by the Spirit of God. We be-
hold Jesus in the beginning as the Word,
acting as the Thought Revealer mirror
ing back to the divine mind its own
mind, presenting his pre-existent char
acter as a person to be none other than
God, through whom all things were made
that was made. so that by Him all things
came into being. In spite of the fact that
Jesus, as the Word, became identified
with God and that He sought by the
gift OF His light and life to win men
from their life of sin, the world knew
Him not. Amidst the disorganization.
despair and disorder of the darkness. due
to their unbelief, there appeared the
Prophet of Righteousness. crying Re
pent-" who came to witness to the char
acter of Jesus and introduce Christ to
the world by prophetic preaching.
Prophetic Preaching.
It was the glory of the Baptist to re-
vive the function of a prophet and in
augurate the movement that developed
into Christianity. 1t was through tue
personal testimony of John the Baptist
that the beloved John became an
apostle of the Christ. John the Baptist's
ministry was primarily a work OF wit
Messing and testifying to Jesus. Almost
all of human knowledge comes through
witnessing. and practically all of our
knowledge of the higher truths, OF
Christianity comes to men by testi-
mony and of the witness. In John tile
Baptist and the beloved disciple. whose
gospel we are studying, We have the
testimony OF men who are Thoroughly
reliable and trustworthy because they
were eyewitnesses of the life and
character of Jesus.
The spirit of unbelief is being re-
pea ted in our own day and generation.
The Baptist sought To counteract the
faithlessness of Israel by a fearless pre-
sentation of the message OF God that
proclaimed sin and judgment that Won
the popular heart to trust him, al
though they did not accept Jesus Christ
when he appeared as their SAVIOR and
sovereign God. When Jesus coi..men ced
His ministry among men he found thaL
he, the Creator of the universe, was
rot welcomed by all classes. To those
that did acknowledge Him as their
Lord He gave them the right to be
come the sons Of God. 1t was at this
period Of religious depression, marked
only by a change that came with the
Messianic Kings advent that to as
many as received Him to them gave he
power TO become the sons of God. The
coming of God into human flesh WIS
the greatest event in all history. Tie
purpose of the incarnation was the
revelation of God to men.
Divine Revelation.
The coming Of the Divine one into
human flesh, confirmed by the prophecy
of John the Baptist, was not realized in
its fullness by the men of Christs time.
The prologue that starts with the sub
lime sketch of the revelation OF God cul-
inmates in the mission of Jesus Christ ~
time that furnishes the Key to the gospcl
of John and gives us matches inspsra-
ton to attempt to live a Christian life.
Faith is necessary for the enjoyment o.
the grace of Christ. The great BENEFITS
of eternal life are open to US throu2h
trust in the promises of Christ Jesus. IN
assuming temporarily human nature. 50
that mankind might understand the reye-
latlon that Jesus made of the grace,
Gods great and unmerited favor beslow-
ed upon men, Christ furnishes the great
transforming power of the gospel.
The law, which could not perfect men,
has been replaced by the gospel OF
grace and truth. Jesus by becoming
flesh has given unto us the privilege OF
becoming ike Him ana SHARING his Ire.
ne has endowed US with light so that We
might have the blessings Of His light as
We journey through life. He has shared
with us the heart beats OF His love 40
that We are prepared to follow Him all
the way home.
The Christ who lived in the beginning
and who in the fullness OF time was born
in Bethlehems manger. proved Gods
love for US by the life that lie lived by
the lessons He taught and the legacy or
service that He bequeathed to men 10
preach the gospel to every creature with
its message of pardon for the past sin.
peace for the present, power for service.
and the promise of paradise for a life
hereafter. He summons Us TO give up
all and follow Him Our Christmas les
son speaks of Gods gift to US and call
us to give unto Him our lives as
reasonable service. No greater event
will ever come to you than the admit
lance OF Christ into your life. No bet
ter time exists than this Christmas sea-
son 10 present unto our Lord our lives
for His service to help win the world for
our eternal God and Savior. Jesus Christ