THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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w rought by sin is etern al and no temp oral advantage can make amends for it. Some day we will all have to look back over our lives w ith all th e tempta- tations, tria ls and ambitions. W hat will be th e pictu re you will see? W hat will it m a tte r th en if you have gained the whole world, if it has cost your soul? When we th in k of, or ta lk about sin, we are likely to blame some one else ra th e r th a n ourselves. Let us not forget th a t each one of us “shall give account of him self to God” and God has made us free agents. Man Regaining God’s Image. P aul, in th is fou rth chapter of his wonderful le tte r to the Ephesians, has been comparing th e church to “ the body of Christ.” He th ink s or the life of sin as an evil, sick body which may be throw n off as a man tak es off his clothes, and of th e Christian life as a strong, h ealthy body, which may he pu t on as a man puts on b eau tifu l clean garm ents. In some such way we may regain the likeness to God which we have lost by sinning. God created us in His image b u t we spoiled th e like ness by sin; now He has created this second likeness of H imself and invites us to p u t it on. Christ holds ou t the fresh clean garm en t to us— we have only to ta k e it. The way to leave any sin is to p u t it off. Thinking about it, worrying abou t it, planning to forsake it sometime are all of no avail. P u t ting on th e new man is a m a tte r of the h e a rt first of all. The change must begin w ithin and work outw ard. This work of m aking ourselves over again in th e image of God cannot be done by ourselves alone. Give your h e a rt unre servedly to th e Lord Jesu s Christ and let H im have His way w ith you th a t you may have th e righteousness of God “ in H im .” If you have no t already done this, will you do it now?
when we consider man made in the image of God. Man Made in God’s Image. God created man in His own image and likeness. Of course m an’s m aterial body is not like God for God is sp irit; We do not understand “ image and like ness” to designate physical likeness but ra th e r moral, intellectual and sp iritu al qualities. It is m an’s soul which is especially in God’s image, his reason ing m ind, his free will, his self con sciousness, his conscience, his feeling afte r God and his capacity for holiness. In all these, each one of you are cre ated “ in the image and likeness of God.” Do you realize w hat a trem end ous th ing it is to be made in H is image? E arth ly p aren ts are always pleased when th e ir children are like them and follow in th e ir lead; how much more pleasing is it to our heavenly F ath e r. Man Destroys God’s Image. Man was no t made a mere animal. God gave him a soul— a n a tu re capable of eith er good or evil. God H as given each one of us a conscience which tells us God’s will for us and urges us to obey it. The possibility of likeness to God in holiness implies to us th e pos sibility of th e deliberate choice of sin as well. If man had been so made th a t th e re was no possibility of falling, he would have been made so lifeless th ere would have been no possibility of his rising. Man’s fall was no t necessary, of course, b u t it was necessary th a t he should be a free agent— else he would have been no more th a n one of the anim als. M God’s command th a t man should not e a t of th e tree of knowledge of good and evil, was a te st of his ch aracter. Some such te st was necessary. W ith mjan’8 failu re to m eet th e test, sin en tered into th e world, and has been here ever since. The evil w ork of sin is seen in w asted health , in lo st repu tation , in poverty and loneliness, in ru in ed homes, in sorrow and remorse. The rq in
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