265
T h e
K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s
June 1932
C^Jluclies in {he EPISTLE io iL HEBREWS . . . B y J ohn C. P age
peared on earth. It is real to them. They follow Him from His incarnation to His ascension, from the cradle to the grave, and from the grave to Olivet, and then they lose Him. His appearance in the presence of God is, to them, vague and unreal. Yet the same word is used of His ap pearing in heaven as of His appearing here on earth. It carries exactly the same meaning and the same truth. He is now in heaven an object of sight just as He was when He appeared on earth—a real Man is now in the presence of God. This is a fact of revelation, a truth revealed, and a truth to be believed. There is joy in believing it, even as Peter wrote in his epistle, “ Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye re-, joice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” e who appeared on earth, and who now appears in the heaven, shall appear the second time. Leaving out all the details for the present, let us get hold of the fact stated with simplicity and directness— “ He shall appear the sec ond time.” The word “ appear” in verse 28 is precisely the same as the word “ appear” in verses 24 and 26. He ap peared on earth as an object of sight. He appears in heaven now as an object of sight. He shall appear the second time, when, in the words of 1 John 3:2, “We shall see him as he is.” A T hreefold S tatement of P urpose Coupled with this threefold statement of fact, we have a threefold statement of purpose: “ He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Fact, purpose, and method are all seen in these words. Sin must be put away. Conscience forbids any intelligent approach to and fellow ship with God until sin has been removed. Moreover, con science can never be satisfied until the righteous require ments of the law are satisfied. On this one condition, con science can find rest. A cheap forgiveness is impossible. The forgiveness that is found in Christ JeSus is not cheap, although it is free, so free that any one can have it by coming to Christ as a sinner and receiving Him as a per sonal Saviour. In order to make this forgiveness pos sible, there was involved “ the sacrifice of himself.” He bore our sins in his own body up to the cross, and there He put them away by the sacrifice of Himself. There was none other good enough to pay the price o f sin, He only could unlock the gates of heaven and let us in. Let us not fail to dwell on the words of this twenty- sixth verse, “ he appeared.” That is a statement of fact. “ To put away sin” is the stated purpose. “ By the sacrifice of himself” indicates the method. And there is no other method. Whether it is believed or not, there never was and there never can be any other satisfactory or effective way of approach to the infinite God. “ No man cometh to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). “ In Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2 :13). Our drawing near to God is on the basis of the putting away of sin, which our Lord accom plished for us “ by the sacrifice of himself.”
HEBREWS 9 :2 4 -2 8
T hese five verses have been reserved for separate con sideration because of the clear and comprehensive state ments they contain concerning our Lord’s redemptive work. In verse 26, we read that He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. In verse 24, we are told that He entered heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. Again, in verse 28, it is written that He shall ap pear the second time. These three statements of fact are simple, without ambiguity or confusion. They present the past, the present, and the future aspects of our Lord’s sav ing work, and they display His threefold glory. They point backward to His cross, upward to His present ministry, and forward to His return. A R eal A ppearance on E arth These three statements are linked together by a word common to each, the word “appear,” which means that He appeared as an object of sight. He appeared on the plane of the senses, so that, when John the apostle wrote his epistle, he could truly say, “ That . . . which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled . . . declare we unto you.” Our Lord’s appearance on earth was that of a real man, visible, audible, tangible. He did not come up out of our race, but He came down into it. “ Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same” (Heb. 2:14). At the junction of the ages, in the fullness of time, “ he appeared.” This fact is universally received and steadfastly held by millions of people. Every legal document and every let ter written concedes this fact by the very date that it bears. We reckon time from that point in history when “ he ap peared.” A R eal A ppearance in H eaven When Christ had finished the work given Him to do, He returned to heaven and “ now appears in the presence of God.” If His appearance on earth was visible, tangible, and real, certainly His appearance now in the presence of God is equally real. The same word is used on both occa sions to convey this truth. He appeared, He appears. •The body in which He arose from the dead was the same body in which He appeared on earth. He gave abundant evi dence of this for forty days after His resurrection. On the first of these forty days, He assured His disciples that He was not a spirit, but a Man of flesh and bones, “ the man Christ Jesus.” Here are His words, “ Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.” His appearance on earth was for a special pur pose, as we shall see presently. He did not come to stay. He now appears in heaven, but not to stay; for it is writ ten, “ He shall appear the second time.” A great many people believe the statement that He ap
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs