106
TH E K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
March 1925
----- - r z /
C
- f Ke Philosophy of the Death of Christ BENE A. AESCHLIMAN Speaker of th e Ju n e (1924) C lass'of th e Bible In stitu te of Eos Angeles This splendid essay was delivered by Mr. Aeschliman a t th e g raduating exercises la st Jun e, and is all th e m ore rem ark able in view of th e fac t th a t Mr. Aeschliman came to th e In stitu te from Switzerland, g reatly handicapped by his lim ited know ledge of th e English language. He made, however, very rap id progress in his studies and commended him self highly both to th e faculty and his friends. g S T s a T is w ith reverence I approach H th is subject, realizing in aw N feSl some measure its transcen- dent, ineffable character, and God prepared fo r them th a t love Him. B u t He had revealed it unto us by His Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:7 -9 ; I Tim. 3 :1 6 ). 3. Because we all are deficient and
As we have seen, th e death of Christ is th e main topic of revelation, or the Bible; Christ and Him crucified is P au l’s definition of th e Gospel. The Christian religion claims the death of Christ as its center (1 Cor. 15:1-3). The death of Christ is also th e center of hum an history. Fo r th e study of ancient and modern history, we refer to th is event as th e dividing line— B.C. or A.D. This event is also intended to be the center of hum an experience. Its significance may be apprehended along different lines. 1. By the study of the etymology of the representative term s and words closely connected w ith it: “ A tonement” or “Reconciliation”— Rom. 5:11, “to cover, to appease.” “ Sacrifice”— Eph. 5:2, “substitution, to appease.” , “Redemption”— Rom. 3:24, “ to de liver by paying a price.” “P rop itiation ”— Rom. 3:25, “place of propitiation, mercy-seat.,” “Ransom”— Matt. 20:28; 26:26, “ by a price.” “L ift u p ”— John 12:31-33. “Blood of Christ”— Rom. 3:25. “Grace, Rem ission of S in"— Rom. 3: 24-25. “Justification”— Rom. 3:26. “Delivered fo r o u r offenses”— Rom. 4:25. “H ave now peace w ith God”— Rom. 5:1. “B reak down th e w all of p a rtitio n ” —Eph. 2:14. 2. By th e study of the use of the words and term s. 3. By parables and Christ’s own say ings (John 12:31-37). 4. By prophecy in th e Old Testa ment, th e prophet’s sayings. 5. By types in th e Old Testament, especially sacrifices. Its character and extent is therew ith partly indicated. Because of th e ex tensiveness of th e topic, divers tra d i tional views have always existed, even in the orthodox church. The la tte r, however, did no t necessarily antagonize its central importance in essential characteristics, th e differences having (Continued on page 124)
its g rea t importance. In looking into this g reatest of all God’s unveilings, into which th e angels desire to look, we may well h ear and obey God’s voice: “P u t off thy shoes from off thy feet, fo r the place whereon thou stand- est is holy ground.” Not otherw ise th a n w ith th e holy awe can we stand on Calvary, the sacred spot, where na tu re mourned, where th e sun veiled her face and th e ea rth was rocked under m ighty convulsion, yes, where God H imself tu rned away. Let us remem ber th a t we contemplate here th e “dy ing of God,” for God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. Here it was th a t th e world became one g rea t altar, where once fo r all the Lamb of God bore away the sin of the world. I believe th a t a fu ll ration al under stand ing of th is subject by men here on earth is impossible and in th e la st analysis unnecessary. To sub stan tiate th is proposition, I would allege the following reasons: 1. The Bible, in simply setting the fact of Christ’s death in prophecy, story and doctrine, indicates th a t it is, first of all, a m a tte r of realization and experience and no t necessarily of ra tional understanding. This is verified in history and experience, as seen in th e equal appreciation and realization of salvation by th e highly cultured and mentally developed, as well as by the ignorant and m entally lim ited man. It answers prim arily and essentially to faith , challenging conscience first of all and no t intellect and sensation; by m anifestation of the tru th , commend ing itself to every m an’s conscience (2 Cor. 4 :4 ). 2. Though it allows application of th e m ind and yields to intellectual re search, its deeper understanding is es sentially a m atter of “revelation,” not o f scientific investigation. I t belongs to the g reat mystery of piety, the un d erstanding of which is conditioned to th e illum ination of th e Holy Spirit. “ For w hat no eye saw nor ear heard nor entered into th e h ea rt of man, has
lim ited in moral seriousness and strength. Because it is a perfect, un lim ited and eternal work, done by a perfect, etern al God, for an eternal, unlim ited purpose, it cannot therefore be understood fully by imperfect and lim ited beings. 4; Because of our lim ited knowledge of the cause of Christ’s death, i. e., Satan and sin th a t were conquered by th is act, “We know in part, we see th rough a glass, dark ly” (1 Cor. 13: 12 ). Ignorance of the greatness of the evil, logically entails ignorance of the full remedy to be applied to th a t evil. I. The F a c t of th e D eath of Christ. The death of Jesus Christ is a his torical fact th a t occurred about nine teen centuries ago in Jerusalem under th e legislation of Pontius P ilate, Ro man governor of Judea. As such it is universally recognized. I t is recorded in secular history (Jo sephu s). The ar guments fo r its veracity are as sure and unanswerable as those alleged for th e recognition of any historical per son. The external and in tern al evi dences of the four Gospel accounts are overwhelm ing and unanswerable. The fact of th e death of th e Lord Jesus is the one central and underlying tru th of th e whole revelation. While the dispensations th roughout Bible his tory underw ent various changes, this tru th retained always its central posi tion. P atriarchs, priests, judges, kings and prophets, all of them , in all th eir various offices, had to do w ith sacrifices and “ saw before the suffering of Christ” (1 P eter 1 :4 ). The fact of the death of Christ is mentioned, alluded to and anticipated in th e whole of Scripture in various forms (Heb. 1:1,) in typology, prophecy, parables, prin ciples, precepts. n . The Significance of th e Death of Christ W hatever th e objections to, and the rival theories of the meaning of this historical event may be, its imperative significance is universally recognized.
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker