) BUS I NESS
June 1931
260
T h e
K i n g ’ s
R evealer 7* of G lory and R epresentative of D iv in e C haracter
Do You Need Extra Money? Become an agent for THE KING’S BUSINESS. Send in clubs of new subscriptions and receive valuable book premiums free. A new and specially prepared list of books will be sent upon request. If you prefer cash, try this plan: Get 11 subscriptions at the regular rate, $1.50 each (in U. S.) (In Canada and foreign countries, 2 5 cents extra) SEND US ONLY $10.00 Retain the balance — $6.50— for your own use. ¡1 This is an offer that you cannot afford ' to overlook. It will mean money to you and blessing to each subscriber. No man has any bright prospect for the future unless he is linked by saving faith to this Son, the appointed heir, The only matter of abiding concern is a right re lationship with Him, as a sinner saved by grace and as a servant adjusted to His will, which is revealed in His Word. Nothing else counts. To know Him and to make Him known is the true satisfaction and the supreme am bition. T h e A gent in C reation He is the agent in creation, for by Him the worlds were made. The truth of Christ as the creative agent is clearly taught in Scripture. See John 1:3, 10; Colossians 1:16; Ephesians 3:9; and 1 Corinthians 8:6. Then turn to Proverbs 8:22-31, where a vista of truth concerning the creative work is opened to us with a beauty unsur passed anywhere. The word translated “worlds” in our text is the word aionas, generally translated “ages.” In this instance, the word “world” is used in most of the translations. In the Authorized Version, we read: “By whom also he made the worlds.” The Revised Version follows this, but gives the word “ages” in the margin. Conybeare’s translation reads: “By whom also he made the universe.” Dr. Mof- fatt translates i t : “By whom also he created the world.” Dr. Rotherham keeps to the original and renders it: “Through whom also he made the ages.” This last writer contends that there is no good reason to make an excep tion here to the general rule in the use of the word “ages.” He asks the pertinent question: “Are there more worlds than one? There may be, but I believe that the Bible knows nothing of them by that name; at least not when the original or a uniform translation is consulted. We do know that there are ‘ages’ and ‘ages of ages.’ It redound's quite as much to the Saviour’s honor to say that through Him the ages have been made as to say that through Him the worlds have been formed.” From Scripture we- may conclude that the Son is not only the agent in the creation of the universe, but also in the framing of the ages. All things are made through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and by Him all things bold together.
He is the revealer of God’s glory and the representa tive of the divine character. In the spiritual world, the Son is the effulgence, or outshining, of the Father’s glory, even as, in the physical world, light is the outshining of the sun. We could know very little of the sun apart from the light that comes from it. In like manner, we could know very little of God apart from Him who said : “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world.” He is the image of the invisible God. He came to make the Father known. The burden on the heart of the Son of God at the close of His ministry finds expression in the great prayer recorded in John 17 : “O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee.” That means shadow, darkness, and night. “But . . . these have known that thou hast sent me.” This means vision, light, and day. The children of light can now say with one of their num ber : “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Not only is the Son the brightness of the Father’s glory, but He is “the express image of his person.” That is, He is the exact representation of the divine being. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” This revelation is perfect and permanent. Some one has said: “As a seal on wax gives forth its exact image, so is the Son the exact image or representation of deity.” Hence, He could say.: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” T h e U pholder of A ll T h ing s He is the upholder of all things. Taken at its face value and in its obvious meaning, this clearly teaches the lesson of omnipotence. We do not wonder, then, at the words found later in this first chapter: “Let all the an gels of God worship him.” The word of His power is all- sustaining. The laws that operate in the universe are the expression of His creative will. He upholdeth all things by the word of His power. Such matters require medita tion rather than explanation and are intended, with other scriptures of a similar nature, to lead the reader to say with Thomas : “My Lord and my God.” T h e P ur ifier F rom S in He is the purifier from sins, by virtue of His sac rifice. He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He is not only the propitiation for our sins, but He is our purifier as well. Sin incurs guilt and brings con demnation, from which we must be justified, or cleared. This is secured by the ransom price, “the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). But sin defiles as well as condemns. It leaves a stain on the conscience. From this defilement we must be cleansed,, or purified. He achieves purification for us as well as justification. We are “justified by his blood”. (Rom. 5:9). And then “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” This marvelous provision includes the past, the present, and the future of those who are in Christ Jesus. For national Israel, there was a judgment for sin when the passover lamb was slain, and the people went out of Egypt cleared and free. Then, for their perpetual cleansing, the Levitical system of sacrifices was given, at the center of which was the day of atonement. This “was a figure for (Continued on page 263)
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