bring him face to face with the Christ he loved so devotedly and trusted so im plicitly, the trials of. the present were but momentary and his heavy afflictions light. Present trials and afflictions were hardly worthy of consideration in the light of future glory (Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:16-18). O NLY those who are “ in Christ” and who possess the hope of eternal life have a bright and certain future before them. Those who live only for this world have nothing ahead. They know not whether they will even enjoy the future for which they are making such preparation in the present. Our Lord related the story of the rich farmer, who, while he was planning a good time for himself in the future, was suddenly called into God’s presence, a bankrupt in faith (Luke 12:16-21). The future of the believer is as real as Christ Himself. The more we abide in Christ, in His love, in His will, the more sure we are that there is nothing, not even death, that can separate us from the love of God in Christ. The deeper we sink the roots of our life in Christ and in His Word, the brighter becomes our future, and the less we are troubled by those things which cause the hearts of the ungodly to tremble. T HE future of youth can only be a true success as it is inspired by Christian faith and hope. So many young people go astray because they live only for the things of time and sense. Such living can only bring disillusionment and disappointment. To gain ' some little world and lose one’s soul is a very bad bargain, for “what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). Live only for this world and you live for an uncertain future, for “ ye know not what shall be on the morrow” (Jas. 4:14). To live for Christ, for His world of love, truth and righteousness, is to live for the things that abide, the things which bring true joy, peace and liberty. Then to die is gain. When we live for Christ, for eternity, and are supported and in spired by the glorious hope of the gospel then the future grows brighter as the days go by, for “ the path of the just [righteous] is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Prov. 4:18). “ There have been many times in my life when I have been driven to my knees in prayer to God, with the over whelming conviction that there was no where else in all the world for me to go for help. My own wisdom and the wisdom of all about me seemed absolutely insuf ficient. I remembered God said ‘If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God,’ and I knelt down and asked of God, and my prayers were answered, for some invisible power outside of me helped me to solve the problems of the day.” —Abraham Lincoln
Central Park, New York
T HERE is a science more important and vastly more significant than all other sciences; more important than physics and chemistry, than an thropology and sociology, than botany and biology and zoology and psychology; yes, a science more important than all the discoveries in the realm of nuclear physics, even in an atom bomb era. It is theology—the science of God. For it is God who gives significance to human life; it is God who gives meaning to history; it is God who gives worth to the totality of existence. Without Him, human history is but the uncertain and perilous march of man through the dark valley of a temporary cosmic accident. Without Him, there is no ultimate mean ing in the structure of things. Without Him, nothing ultimately matters. With out Him, there is nothing in the universe to underwrite morality in any enduring and eternal sense. Without Him, nothing is eternally true, eternally good. Without Him, all is change; there is nothing eternal. W E must bring back to its own the science of God, and not only the conception of the God for whom the heart of man cries out. The need is not merely for the God that man “wills to believe” exists in order that life may continue significant, but it is the God who has revealed Himself, the God who has spoken; the God who is not at the mercy of the philosophers as they con struct their systems of thought, but the God at whose mercy the whole creation stands; the God, who, because He is merciful, has made an abundant pro vision for us and for our salvation in Jesus Christ, His Son, our Saviour. The science of God and His self-revelation of Himself in the sacred scriptures—God’s unique revelation to man—is of burning interest to all who know whom they have believed and are persuaded that the Lord is able to keep that which they have committed unto Him against that day.
By Carl F. H. Henry, Th.D. T HE Christian message is a message for the whole man—for the mind and for the will and for the emotions—a message which centers in the glorious news that God is a merciful God, that He has provided in Jesus Christ a suffi cient provision for the sins of man, a forgiving God who, at tremendous cost, has purchased for us eternal salvation. I F God has not spoken, if He has given no sure witness of Himself, He has not clearly confronted man. If there is no sure divine message for this hour, then there is no sufficient reason for a ministry, there is no “good news” for the heart and mind weighed with the guilt of sin, there is no sure light for the world’s present darkness. But He has spoken! Some theologians, tired at last of the conflicting babblings of men, are realizing anew that God has spoken. But, this neo-orthodox theology thinks God stuttered when He spoke. Our God is not a stuttering God; He speaks in accents clear and plain. B ECAUSE the Word of God is given, there is a divine message of redemp tion which we convey; there is a need for workers consecrated to the service of Christ Jesus the Saviour and the Lord of Life; there is the good news of salva tion for all who turn to God by faith; there is need as never before for theol ogy to point the way to the Light divine for the present darkness of a world at the end of its tether. God has spoken: that is the message. A holy God has spoken, and disclosed the desperate and sinful lostness of man. But this God has spoken mercifully; He provides salva tion in Christ Jesus our substitute. These are the good tidings; without them, the church has no message; be cause of them, she has a mission. Page Nine
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