am I even suggesting that the oft-quoted, “ Christ is the answer,” is an automatic cure-all for man’s ills. My criticism is not leveled against education or professional therapists. To the contrary, we praise God fo r all valid and constructive humanitarian disciplines, but the issue concerns the true believer who knows that Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Lord o f life and the universe and yet is relegating His person, power, and presence exclu sively to the spiritual realm.
molecular substance. Atomic cohesiveness, said to be a mysterious power by the physicist, is here revealed to be the power o f Christ. He is the supplying and sus taining force o f all life and this universe. Second, He brews 1:3 discloses the astounding fact that Jesus Christ, since the beginning o f creation, has been and shall continue to hold together the molecular structure o f all things, and is simultaneously moving all the ages o f history with their many events toward the pre determined goal o f God. What a tremendous, herculean, astronomical feat! Only God could perform it, and Christ is God (John 1 :1 -2 ; Col. 1 :15 ; 2 :9 ; Heb. 1 :3 ). (3 ) Jesus Christ is the consummator of all things. It follows logically that the One who creates and con tinues all things is also the One who consummates all things. This truth, in addition to Hebrews 1:3, is also revealed in the statements that “ all things were cre ated by Him, and for Him” (Col. 1 :16 ), and “ fo r thy pleasure they are and were created” (Rev. 4 :1 1 ). The main theme o f the divine plan, to be sure, is the fact of redemption, but it is equally true that the ultimate objective o f this plan is to glorify God the Father (John 5 :30 ; 7:17-18). This transcendent goal is the rationale for creation, and the Lord Jesus Christ as the sovereign creator, continuer, and consummator o f all things guar antees its achievement through His own glory and pre eminent exaltation (Phil. 2 :9 -11 ), for it is indeed true that he who honors the Son honors the Father (John 5 :23 ). We believe that the comprehensive work o f Christ in creation is sufficient reason to justify our conviction that He must always remain in the center o f all human activity, and yet to further strengthen this position there is His more than adequate work as Saviour (Luke 2 :11 ; II Cor. 5 :14-21). God’s Word teaches clearly that Jesus Christ has provided a perfect redemption fo r the believer through His once-for-all substitutionary death. While this truth is evident in every book o f the New Testament, it is most prominent in the book o f Hebrews (cf. 1 :3 ; 2:1-4, 9-18; 3:1, 6, 14; 4:14-16; 5 :9 ; 6:19-20; 7 :25 ; 8 :1 ; 9:11-28; 10:10, 14, 19-29; 12:1-4; 13:10- 15, 20-21).
It is my conviction that in these days of skepticism and unbelief during which the vast majority in the world are doing their utmost best to obscure the reality and value o f the Lord Jesus Christ that every child o f God and every God-ordained institution dedicated to the purpose o f serving Him should be proclaiming con sistently and courageously in love, without any mental reservation, the fact that He is the Sovereign Lord of life and the universe. Thus, instead o f leaving Christ out o f any sphere o f life, He must always constitute the center and circumference and the total sum and sub stance o f life (Phil. 1 :21). This means that He, to whom all power has been given in heaven and in earth (Matt. 2 8 :18 ), must always comprise the integrating and co ordinating dynamic of life fo r the redeemed. Beyond shadow o f doubt, the Lord Jesus Christ is the all-suffi cient crystallizing, cohesive, and completing force of life. I believe this truth is scripturally supported by the fact o f Christ’s work as Creator and Saviour. In His work as Creator, the Word o f God teaches clearly that: (1 ) Jesus Christ is the creator of all things. This fact is revealed in John 1:1-3, Ephesians 3:9, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2, 10-12, and Revela- tion 4:11. From among these texts Colossians 1:16 presents in the most concise form the full extent of Christ’s work as Creator fo r it declares that “ by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities, or powers : all things were created by Him and for Him.” No amount o f exegetical gymnastics, apart from denying its clear meaning, can change the interpretation o f this text. It is stating in language simple and clear that Jesus Christ created this complex universe and all forms o f life. (2 ) Jesus Christ is the continuer of all things. In addition to being the creator o f all things, Scripture teaches that “by Him all things consist” (Col. 1 :1 7 ), and that He is “ upholding all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1 :3 ). Two precious truths are dis closed by these profound statements: First, Colossians 1:17 declares that Christ is the cohesive force o f all
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The experience o f salvation is a crisis—* supernat ural, miraculous act performed exclusively by the Holy Spirit resulting in the new birth (John 3:3, 5 ; Titus 3 :5 ; I Peter 1 :23 ). It is through this unique and glori ous experience that a sinner passes out of the state o f death into that o f everlasting life (John 3 :16 ; Eph. 2 :1 -1 0 ); out o f the position o f condemnation into that o f justification (Rom. 5 :1 ) ; out o f the sphere o f dark ness into that o f light (Eph. 5 :8 ) ; out o f the position of
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APRIL, 1966
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