270
THE KING’S BUSINESS
give this fact a new emphasis. We are told that the greatest need of our day is a thorough revival of religion that will bring back the sense of God, and of our responsibility to Him. They are saying this because they realize that we need something to make bad and selfish men good. When you talk about making a bad man good, you have in mind the freeing of the man from what we call sin in order that he may be free to do good. In other words we are forced to recognize that sin is an obstruction and not a help. It is also true that generally speak ing men know that they are wrong, and that they ought not to miss the mark. The average man recognizes his guilt. This is just as true as it was in the day of David or in the day of Paul, These facts being so we can never consistently make sin essential to God’s purpose.- On the contrary we must look upon it as an arrest in the de velopment of the Divine purpose to reproduce His own life and therefore an arrest in human progress. We contend that this position is in perfect harmony with the facts of life so far as we know them at present. Let us now in a concluding word re late this to the main thought of these talks. God is our father, and there fore seeking to produce an instrument through which to reproduce His own life. This instrument must be in His own image. To be in the image of God it must be free. In other words it must have the power of choice. This is essential to the reproduction of the life of a free God. We cannot think of this instrument as being perfect in the sense of being complete at the very beginning. Like all of God’s work it was to be completed through respond ing to the purpose for which it was created. It was perfect in the sense in which the acorn is perfect. The acorn as an acorn is perfect, but not complete. It has in it the possibilities
of the towering oak and will be com plete when these are realized. In this respect man was perfect, but not com plete. He had in him the capacity to reflect and interpret the life of God. That was the purpose of his life. To do this was to unfold and realize his own life. In order to do this he must know that this is the law of his life and that this is the path in which he must go. That means that it must be possible for God to speak to him and tell him which way he is to go. This is communion. This communion will be unbroken so long as man responds to the purpose of his being. But man having the power of choice can choose not to respond to this purpose of God in his life. To do this is rebellion, and rebellion means arrest. That is ex actly what we find in human history and experience—a broken instrument in rebellion failing to be what it was intended to be. That means an arrest in the Divine purpose to reproduce the life of God. Does that mean that the purpose of God has failed? Yes, pro viding the Divine Father who is back of this business is tied up by the laws governing the life of the instrument which He has created in such a way that he cannot do anything to correct this tragedy on the part of the instru ment. But that is the very thing that He is not—The Father is free to break it and make it another vessel. We know that here is a breaking of the vessel—we hear the grinding and dis cord on every hand. The whole crea tion groaneth and travaileth in pain. This is but one side of the fact. The other side is that He is making it an-, other vessel. This process we speak of as redemption, and in it we have revealed the power, wisdom and love of our Father. This brings us to an other fact-—the great fact of human history, the fact of redeeming love, purpose, process and issue. This shall be taken up at subsequent sessions. In (Concluded on page 297.)
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker