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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
th a t holiness of ch aracter which a t th e first made him fitting companion of God, one in whose society God could rejoice and who could enjoy God’s society. In th e new creation th is lost qu ality is restored. Every hum an being is capable of th is restoration. There is th a t mysterious personality which can be quickened by God’s Holy Sp irit; no m a tte r how low it may be sunk in sin it is never beyond His reach. Augus tine spoke of it when he said, “Thou h ast made us for Thyself and our h earts are restless till they re st in Thee” The blind hymn w riter, F anny Crosby (Mrs. Van A lstyne), was th ink ing of it when she w ro te,-“ Down in th e hum an h eart, Crushed by the tem pter, Feelings lie buried th a t grace can resto re,” i 3. The “ new” and th e “ old” exist side by side in the p resen t life. The old man does no t pass o ff. th e scene when th e new man is “ born again .” Every reborn man is two men. Hence th e conflict between the “ old” and the “ new ,” between the “ flesh” and the “ sp irit.” “Well, let me sin, b u t not w ith my consenting, Well, let me die, b u t w illing to be whole: Never, O Christ, so stay me from relen ting ,— Shall th e re be tru ce betw ixt my flesh and soul.”— (F . W. H. Myers). The regenerated man, th e man who has seen him self a lost sinner and has accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour en ters on a life-long conflict w ith his old self, a conflict in which he is on th e side of God, and in which he is allied w ith the risen Saviour, and in which he is energized and strengthened by th e indwelling Spirit. I t is to th is conflict, th e victory in which is assured, th a t he is exhorted by th e apostle P aul in th e passage in Ephesians, and in many o th er passages also. T hink of th e dignily and w orth of the being who is the object of th e creative power, th e redeem ing love, and the sanctifying grace of God th e F ath e r, th e Son, and the Holy Spirit. Have we
yielded ourselves to Him? seeking to b ring others to Him? gs» JS§ £
Are we
There is something w ierdly strange in th e first two chapters of Genesis. There we see th e Godhead in th e m idst of chaos, bringing o rder out of ruin. Im agination collapses. HEART OF We cannot fathom it. THE LESSON We read th e strang e T. C. H orton words: We read them glibly, b u t they are We are like little children, happily so, and we accept th e statem en ts abou t creation and go on quickly to get th e th rea d of th e wonderful sto ry of the Bible. This will be a g rea t opportunity for th e teach er to reveal to the scholars God’s g reat plan of redem ption for mankind. The pictures h ere are won derful. We have th e voice of God in His creative, acts. Seven rem arkable statem en ts are made: (1 ) “God said, L et th e re be lig h t.” (2 ) “And God said, L et th ere be a firm ament.” (3) And God said, “L et th e w aters under th e heaven be g athered together under th e heaven.” (4 ) “And God said, Let th e re be ligh ts.” (5 ) “And God said, L et th e w aters bring fo rth abundan tly .” (6 ) “And God said, L et th e ea rth bring fo rth living creatu res.” (7 ) “And God said, L et us m ake m an.” Here are seven g reat declarations of God. Seven is th e perfect number, and we have here God’s own account of His perfect work in reh ab ilitating a ruined world. The climax of creation was man. Behold th e dignity conferred upon him, and the power delegated to him ! He was a sovereign ru ler, w ith grave responsibilities imposed. He was to guard th e world from its enemy, and to utilize th e world for his posterity. He was given a wife. It was a magnificent w orld; th ere were b eau tifu l birds to sing, fair fields to produce food; tree s for fru it; fish and fowl for th e table. largely meaningless to us.
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