The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1921-04-01

Great III u let
whose primary business 1t was and Is
to bring into the world what would
relieve man Of the Ills he is heir to.
Certainly Christ viii yet do all this,
but only when He Is given the place
appointed for Him by God-the pre-
eminent place. Then only can man
look for permanent and lasting peace
with God, with nature, with his fell
lows and with himself.
Man Not First With God.
To think of man holding the ore-
eminent place in the counsels of the
fGodhead gives the lie to much we
find in Scripture. For example, when
we read of Christ going to the dis
tressed by the pool of Bethesda, by
which was "a great multitude of Inn
potent folk" to none of them did He
extend the word of healing save only
to one man.
1t is quite true that blessing for the
human race was In the thought of God
when He sent His Son into the world,
but this blessing was In sense mere
ly incidental to the supreme object,
viz.-that In all things Christ might
have the prominence. What God has
been and is doing finds its terminus,
not In man, but In Christ Jesus the
Lord. Keeping Christ out of the place
given Him by God delays the cate
when man will come to the time when
his suffering and sorrow will be turned
TO Joy and gladness.
1t rs sometimes said that the pre-
eminent object of Gods counsels is
the glory of God and the good Of man.
But the organizations founded for the
glory of God and the good of man all
gradually degenerate, until God isi
thrust out and man occupies the SUI
preme place; they become purely hui.
manitarlan, where the Word of God
must give way IL 1t interferes nth
what man supposes makes for his own
good. The motto quickly becomes.
whatsoever ye do, do all to the bene-
ct of man." But not until we give tor
Christ the place God intends Him to,
hold win we ever come, individually or
collectively to the place of blessing
God has for us.
Christ PreemInent From Eternity.
Christ has ever occupied this SUI
preme place with God, and has ever
been Gods resource in working out
His purposes concerning the whole
universe. Even before man was Gre
ated and placed upon earth Christ was.
before God as the one preemihent OBJ
ject of His counsels. SO we are told.
by Christ himself In Prov. $1,000.
"While as yet He had not made the
earth :. then was | by Him as
one brought up with Him; and l was
daily His delight"
And even during the period Of ter
nifty called 'time" II Is still true that
Christ and not man Is the pre-eminent
object of the counsels Of God. We are
told. that during time 1T ;.leased
the Father that In Him Christ
should all fullRess dwell" Col: 1910.
And the Holy Spirit declares In Heb.
1:2 that God hath appointed Him
Christi heir Of all things" For US
men" was Christ surely given but ''us
men" will never End that which Is Jurs
until we find II In Him who has thus
been appointed heir Of all things" BIZ
God the Father.
And this principle Of the preemi-
hence of Christ In the connsels OF the
Godhead win still be rue when time
has forever passed and we enter into
the coming eternity. We read in Eph-
10. Tn the dispensation Of the full
ness Of time He VIII gather together
IN one all things In Christ. both which
are in heaven and which are on eartn,
even In Him."
Exaitina Man Delays Golden Age.
The insistence that man himself u
ne preeminent object before God n
one Of the great hindrances TO the
coming of the golden age for which
nan waits. II Is the exaltatlon Of
nan. seen In much OF the social .erv-
&c Of today. and invites TO Its assist
lnce men who are avowedly opposed
% the authority Of the Bible.
But everywhere and always 4 .
christ Jesus the Lord who Is the re-
smlnent object OF all the counseIs OF
he Gedhead. II was Christ who was
before the mind Of God when BE spoke
o the serpent concerning the -eed OF
he woman. when He gave TO Abraham
he promise Of seed. and when 70
David was promised the seed TO SIT
lpon his throne. THAT In all things
ie Christ might have the ne
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