98
February 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
cile God to man.” This is pious mistake, arising from inattention to ■ the language of the Holy Ghost, and indeed to the plain meaning of the word “reconcile:” God never changed—never stepped out of His normal and true position. He abideth faithful. There was , 1 and could be, no: derangement, no confusion, no alienation, so;far as He was concerned; and hence there could be no need of reconciling Him to us. In fact,' it was exactly the con trary. Man had gone astray; he was the enemy, and needed to be reconciled. But this was wholly impossible if sin were not righteously disposed o f ; and sin could only be disposed of by death —even the death of One, who, as being a man; could die, and being God, could impart all the dignity, value, and glory of His divine "Person to the atoning sacrifice which He offered. Wherefore, then, as might be expected, Scripture never speaks of reconciling God to man. There is no such expression to be found within the covers of the New Testament., “God was in Christ recon ciling the world (in its broad aspect- men and things) unto himself, not imput ing their trespasses unto them.” And again, “All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ.” In a word, it is God, in His infinite mercy and grace, through the atoning death of Christ, bringing us back to Himself, and placing us not merely in the original place, or on the original footing, or in the orig inal relationship, but, as was due to the work of Christ, giving us back far more than we had lost, and introducing us into the marvelous relationship of sons, and setting us in His presence, in divine and eternal righteousness, and in the infinite favor and acceptableness, of His own Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. But this leads us to look, for a moment, at the features which characterize this glorious ministry. 1. First, let us mark God’s attitude. He is beseeching sinners. What' a thought! It seems too much for the heart to con ceive. Think of the Most High and Mighty God, the Creator of the ends of the earth—the One who has power to destroy both soul and body in hell—think of Him as beseeching and praying you to be friends with H im ! It is not a ques tion of your praying to Him and His hearing you. No—the very reverse:—He is praying you. And for what does He ask you? Is it to do anything or to give anything? Nay; He simply asks you to be friends with Him because He has befriended you at the cost of His own Son. He spared not His only begotten and well-beloved Son, but bruised Him in your stead. He made Him to be sin for you. He judged your sin in the person of His'Son, on. the cross, in order that He might be able to reconcile you. And now He stretches forth His arms and opens His heart to you, and prays you to be reconciled—to be friends with Him. Sur passing grace! It really seems to us as though human language can only tend to weaken and impoverish this grand reality. 2. Then, what encouragement to the poor trembling heart that -feels the bur den of sin and guilt to be assured that God will not impute, will not reckon, one of his sins! This is another precious feature of the ministry of reconciliation. “Not imputing their trespasses unto them.” This must set the heart at rest. If God tells me that He will not count
ings, the great root-principle, the parent stem, is self-will, and this is sin. Where this great and solemn fact takes full pos session of the soul, by the power of the Holy Ghost, there can be no settled rest until the soul is brought to lay hold on the truth set forth in 2 Cor. 5 :21. The question of sin had to be disposed of ere there could be so much as a single thought of reconciliation. God c o n 1d never be reconciled to sin. But fallen man was a sinner by practice and sinful in nature. The very sources of his being were corrupt and defiled, and God was holy, just and true. He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look Upon iniquity. Hence, then, between God and sinful humanity there could be no such thing as reconciliation. True it is—most blessedly true—that God is good, and merciful, and gracious, But He is also holy; and holiness and sin could never coalesce. ' What was to be done? Hear the an swer : “God hath made Christ to be sin.” But where? Was it in His birth? or in Jordan’s flood? or in the garden of Geth- semane? Nay; though, most assuredly, in that garden the shadows were length ening, the darkness was thickening, the gloom was deepening. But where and when was the holy, spotless, precious Lamb of God made sin? On the cross, and, only there! This is a grand cardinal truth—a truth of vital importance—a truth which the enemy of God and His Word is seeking to darken and set aside iff every possible way. He cares not how he compasses this end. He will make use oT anything and everything in order to detract from the glory of the Cross, that great central truth of Christianity round which every other'truth circulates, and on which the whole fabric of divine revela tion rests as upon an eternal foundation. “He hath made Him to' be sin.” ' Here lies the root of the whole matter. Christ, on the cross, was made sin for us. He died, and was buried. Sin was con demned. It met the just judgment of a holy God who could not pass over a sin gle" jot or tittle of sin; nay, He poured out His unmingled wrath upon it in the person of His Son, when that Son was "made sin.” It is a serious error to be lieve that Christ was bearing the judg ment of God during His lifetime, or that aught save the death of Christ could meet the question of sin. He might have be come incarnate—He might have lived and labored on this earthfiHe might have wrought His countless miracles—He might have healed, and cleansed, and quickened-—He might have prayed, and wept, and groaned; but not any of these things, nor yet all of them put together, could blot out a single stain of that dread ful thing “sin." God the Holy Ghost de clares that “without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb. 9:22). Now, if the holy life and labors of the Son of God—if His prayers, tears and groans could not put away sin; how do you think that your life and labors, your prayers, tears, and groans, your good works, rites, ordinances, and ceremonies could ever put away sin? The fact isj( that the life of our blessed Lord only proved man more and more guilty. It laid the topstone upon the superstructure of his guilt, and therefore left the ques tion of sin wholly unsettled. We often hear it said that “the death of Christ was necessary in order to recon
S uggestive Q uestions What responsibility rests upon all who know God? (Ezekiel 33:8, 9). What occurs in heaven when we lead a soul to Christ? (Luke IS :7, 10). If we expect to win others, what must we expect to do as regards ourselves ? - (1 Cor. 10:33; Matt. 16:24). What is one of the first things God re quires of a Christian? (Mark 5:19). What was Paul willing to do in order that he might win some? (1 Cor. 9:22). What will be the reward of a soul win ner? (Dan. 12:3). :—o— G olden T ext I llustration Ye shall be witnesses unto meSfeActs 1 : 8 . Compare 2 Cor. 5 :20—now then we are ambassadors for Christ. A well-known missionary to Turkey was offered a consulship in one of the chief Turkish cities at a princely salary. “Why in the world did you not accept such a chance?” asked a young man in amazement. “Well,” was the quiet re ply, “I declined to step down from an am bassadorship to a consulship.” An ambassador is a minister of highest rank sent by a nation to the court of an other, to manage the public concerns of his own country and represent the power and dignity of his sovereign. What a privilege is the believer’s to represent in a doomed world the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Selected from Charles H. McIntosh’s Notes on 2 Cor. 5 :14-21. A S to the foundation on which the min- x istry of reconciliation rests, this is enclosing verse of our “For He (G o d) set before us, in chapter. of what we are by nature. There is in "us” nought but "sin;" from the crown of the head to the sole of the 'foot, the whole man is sin. The principle of sin pervades the entire system of fallen hu manity. The root, trunk, branches, leaves, blossom, fruit—all is sin. It is not only that we have committed sins; we are ac tually born in sin. True we have, all of us, our characteristic sins. We have not only, all of us, “gone astray,” but “we have turned everyone to his own way.” Each has pursued his own specific path of evil and folly; and all this is the fruit of that thing called “sin.” The outward life of each is but a stream from the fountain— a branch from the stem; that fountain is sin. And what, let us ask, is sin? It is the acting of the will in opposition to .God. It is doing our own pleasure—doing what we like ourselves. This is the root—this the source of sin. Let it take what shape, or clothe itself in what forms it may; be it gross or be it most refined in its act sin. This latter is h a t h made H i m ■ (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; t h a t we •might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” We h a v e h e r e three parties, name ly, God, Christ, and. simply the expression
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