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T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
THE JUNIORS NOTH (The su ggested ou tlines g iv en herew ith are b ein g used b y the W eek D ay H om e B ib le C lasses conducted b y the C hurch of the Open D oor, Dos A n geles, C a lifo rn ia , fo r children o f P rim a ry and Ju n io r ag e. O ver one hundred and tw en ty o f these classes are now fu lly organ ized, w ith an atten dance o f over 2000 each w eek. THE STORY OP TWO STRANGE MEN J o h n 1 :2 9 -3 4 (Note to th e teacher: These ou t lines are, of course, for th e use of the teacher. Each teacher will go over th e passage selected, get th e story in her own mind, m ake th e p ictu re real to th e children and be conversational yet definite in teaching it.) This is a re a l story— a wonderful story. Every one listen hbw. P erhaps next week one of you will tell th e story to ' us. One of these men was raised in the woods, and wore queer clothes. (Read Matt. 3:4.) “And th e same John had his raim en t of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins.” This man was a preacher. He preached to all kinds of people— on th e street, by th e side of th e lake, to anybody and everybody th a t would stop and listen. He told th e people to tu rn away from th e ir sins,— to stop doing wicked things— and to tu rn to God. One day while th is strange man was preaching, ano ther young man from th e village came along. The preacher stopped preaching, pointed his finger a t th e other young man, and said: “Behold th e Lamb of God which tak eth away th e sins of th e world.” (v. 29.) W asn’t th a t a strange name to give to a young man— a Lamb? Have you ever seen a lamb? Tell us something about lambs.
of Deity- He was a t the beginning; all things “became” b u t He “was” . He was w ith God, and He was God. There can be no question as to w hat th is au tho r m eant w h en 'h e spoke of Christ as “th e Son of God.” He did not mean th a t He was “ a son” , or even “ a God” , but th a t He was God. The Greek language is not capable of pu tting th a t declara tion any plainer. 2. Christ’s relation to creation is also plainly stated. He is th e origin of all things and the source of th e process by which everything became. Not even one th ing could become ap art from Him. He is the source of life and the life is the ligh t of men. .Here we have m atter, life and intelligence accounted for, and the g reat gaps, before which evolution stands speechless, intelligently bridged. 3. He is also th e life and ligh t of history. This ligh t of life is superior to all opposition and th e darkness can no t “ down ta k e it ” . He is th e source of every ray of illum ination th a t has ever come into hum an experience. In th e world He is in the m idst of “Hie own th ing s” , bu t they who are “His own ones” received Him not. This is the source of th e moral conflict of the ages. “But to as many as received Him gave He power to become the children of God.” This is th e secret of all moral and sp iritual progress in history. This process is consummated in th e In carn a tion in which men are finally brought face to face w ith redeem ing grace and reality. In a living experience of these, John th e Baptist, and th e first group of disci ples— th e nucleus of the imm ortal apos tolic band—w itnessed th a t Jesus is the Son of God. This is th e source of all v ital and effective witnessing. In this short paragraph of inspired literatu re we have creation, history and redemption in terp reted through a glimpse th a t makes bare the throbbing h e a rt of our world.
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