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THE KING’S BUSINESS
W e stco tt p u ts it well, “Poten tially , th e w o rk o f C hrist ex ten d s to th e w ho le w o rld .” In th e u tte ran c e of J o h n th e B ap tist th e re is also d o u b t less a suggestion o f th e tru th u tte re d b y him a t a n e a rlie r d a te which is re c o rd e d in M atthew 3 :9, nam ely, th a t re d em p tio n w as n o t to b e co n fined to Israel, b u t to e x ten d to th e w ho le w orld. M any com m en ta to rs o f a certain school h a v e q u estion ed w h e th e r J o h n th e B ap tist cou ld h a v e given u tte ran c e to th e se w o rd s which show a know ledg e o f th e L o rd Jesu s an d H is w o rk th a t w as fa r b e y o n d Jo h n th e B ap tist’s time. “ B efore P e n te cost n o t one of th e A p o stle s u tte re d so a d v a n c e d th o u g h t as this of J o h n .” It is th o u g h t th a t J o h n th e Evangelist, w riting a t a m uch la te r d a te , m u st h a v e p u t these w o rd s into th e m o u th of Jo h n th e B aptist. But w h en w e ke ep in m ind w h a t w e a re clearly to ld b y J o h n th e B ap tist him self, th a t b e fo re this occasion he h ad h a d a special rev e la tio n concerning th e L o rd Jesus, all th e difficulty d is ap p e a rs. G o d H im self gav e to Jo h n th e B ap tist a t this tim e a con cep tion o f Jesu s fa r b e y o n d th a t w hich an y one a t th a t tim e en te rta in ed . It was a m a tte r o f d ire c t rev e la tio n to J o h n th e Baptist. T h e B ap tist h a d be en sen t in to th e w o rld fo r th e specific p u rp o se o f b e a rin g w itness (vs. 7, 8 ) , a n d w as su p e rn a tu ra lly eq u ip p ed fo r th e w o rk h e h a d to do. A s h as b e e n w ell said, “G o d h a d so o rd e re d it th a t H is w itness should b e fo u n d ed on a rev e la tio n com ing imm ed iately from h e av en .” F u rth e r on (v . 3 4 ) w e shall see a n o th e r rem a rk ab le rev e la tion concerning Jesu s which h a d b e e n m a d e to J o h n th e B aptist. T h is a lto g e th e r ex c ep tion al know ledg e which J o h n th e B ap tist h a d o f Jesu s a t this tim e is qu ite in k e ep ing w ith w h a t is to ld us a b o u t J o h n th e B ap tist's u tte ran c e s in th e synop tic G o spel (see eg. M att.
it aw ay w o u ld Be a con tinuou s work, L o rd ’s b e a rin g ou r sin, H is tak ing a w o rk th a t n ev e r en d ed . T h e w o rd s “T h e sin o f th e w o rld ” a re also v e ry suggestive. J o h n th e B ap tist d o e s n o t say sins, b u t sin, i. e., th e w ho le m ass o f h um an sins a re re g a rd e d as a unity, a n d th a t w ho le m ass is tak en aw ay b y Christ, a n d n o t on ly th e sins o f b eliev ers in Christ, b u t th e sin “of the world.” H e re w e h av e a v e ry definite h in t o f th e tru th so clearly b ro u g h t o u t b y J o h n th e E vangelist in 1 J o h n 2 :2 , th a t th e sacrifice of Jesu s C h rist avails fo r th e w ho le w o rld— it m o v ed ou t of th e w ay th e w ho le m ass o f hum an sin a n d p ro v id e d a g ro u n d u p o n which G o d cou ld d e a l in m ercy w ith th e hum an race. A ll of G o d ’s d e a l ings in m ercy w ith m an since sin e n te re d h um an h isto ry h av e b e e n on th e g ro u n d o f th e shed b lo o d o f th e L am b o f G o d . T h e question m ay arise in som e m inds, “H ow , then, cou ld G o d d e a l in m ercy w ith m an on th e g ro u n d of th e sh ed b lo o d b e fo re th a t b lo o d w as s h e d ? ” T h e answ er is v e ry sim p le: T h e sacrifice o f C hrist is in th e m ind o f G o d an e te rn a l fact, H e is th e ’’L am b slain from th e fo u n d a tio n o f th e w o rld .” (R ev . 13:8. T h e ren d e rin g o f this passage given in th e Am e ric an R. V . is n o t w a rra n te d b y th e G re ek te x t.) T h e sacrifice o f C hrist avails fo r th e w ho le hum an r a c e ; it p ro v id e s a g ro u n d up o n w hich G o d deals, in m ercy w ith men. O f course, it only fully avails a n d b ring s e te rn a l life to tho se w ho a c c ep t H im w ho was slain in th e ir ste a d ; b u t “H e ta k e th aw ay th e sin of the world,” “H e is th e p ro p itia tio n fo r o u r sins, an d n o t fo r ours only, b u t also fo r th e w ho le w o r l d ” (1 J o h n 2 :2 , A . R. V . N o te carefu lly th e d ifference of langu ag e used in this v e rse o f th e sins o f th e b e liev e r in re la tion to th e d e a th o f C hrist a n d th e sins of th e w ho le w o rd , cf. also J o h n 6 :3 3 .)
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