Evening star., 1924-12-20
Sunday School Lesson

, titude for associating with a publ
can and q sinner like Zaccheus
Christ had come to seek and save
the lost. 1t was His mission and He
decided to win His man. There Is no
indication of the conversation that
passed between them, but II is evident
that Jesus by His courageous decision
to dwell with Zaccheus in the old
rriestly city of Jericho had won the
friendship Of the publican. No seeker
after Christ can entertain Jesus with
out having his life changed by con-
tact with the Lord. The genuineness
of Zaccheus' conversion was proven
by his public confession of his sin
and by repaying all whom he had
wronged. His conversion was real
because Jesus had made God real to
him by His conversations. The Mas
ter satisfied that unrest which charac-
terizes the race today without a
knowledge Of God, which filled the
rich publican with dissatisfaction.
Our Lord had solved for Zaccheus, as
He has for US. the oldest question of
humanity, yet it's latest. most tor
| menting and most welcome problem.
Augustine has well said that God
| made US for Himself and our hearts
are unquiet until they rest in Him. "
In the conversion of Zaccheus. Jesus,
who came to reveal God to men and to
bring men to God. exhibited the evil
dence of His incarnation.
Evidence of His Incarnation.
1t was no growth of centuries that
could be considered legendary, as with
many pagan faiths whose dedication
of illustrious teachers and leaders are
the matter of centuries, for within
80 years OF His death men spoke of
His self emptying Himself of His
glory. 1t was his personal act to lay
aside His prenatal glory 70 assume
the flesh. They found that "in one
so supernatural. virgin birth was nat
ural," for 1t harmonized with His
character, which was untainted by
sin. In this the Son Of Man made a
break with a sinful heredity. His
personality revealed the grace OF God,
whose love for the world caused Him
to give His only begotten Son. In
this manifestation of Gods grace Is
seen the greatness of His love that
stoops to reveal Himself unto men
and to bring men unto Himself SO
salvation with the freedom, growth
and power of Christian life.
Gods greatness made possible the
incarnation of the Christ, who came
to reveal God to men and save them
from their sins. While men may look
upon themselves as insignificant IN
view OF the greatness of the physical
world in which we dwell, the fact of
our being made in the likeness of
Jehovah Is our greatness. In this
kinship TO the eternal rests mans
greatness and the possibilities of his
being saved by the Lord Jesus, whose
birth filled the world with song. In
His life was expressed without any
vagueness the love of God. Apart
from Him they would not know God
and His love. The spirit of Christ
mas fills the world with men of good
Will, who have been redeemed con-
Iuering sin through the merits of the
Christ. They owe their change of
heart and new outlook upon life to
the Masters incarnation.
The one great need Of men today
is to know the power of Jesus Christ
to take away their sins. God proved
His love by giving of His only be-
gotten Son, who became our substi-
tute, redeemer, through entering the
world as babe in Bethlehem's man
ger. When we approach the fact of
His incarnation from a historical sur
vey of Christ's life and character the
problem of His personality and Of the
incarnation are brought within our
reach and understanding. We must
either accept the truth of the incar-
nation and obey Christ's command for
us to follow Him, or else accept a
series OF hypothesis about God that
will not satisfy the hearts hunger for
a knowledge OF Him, meet the de-
mands OF reason or have power TO
save us from sin. BY following Him
we Will come to know it's saving
truth and Transforming power.