Читать книгу The Gospel Day; Or, the Light of Christianity - Charles Ebert Orr - Страница 46

Holiness is the image of God. A holy seer, in a vision, saw the Lord and his high throne. He saw the angels hovering over and heard one shouting, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isa. 6:1–3. Nothing in earth or in heaven is so beautiful as holiness. The Scriptures are [pg 125] sublime in their description of the loveliness of the celestial world. Poets have sung of the exquisite delights of that better land. The crowning feature of attractiveness is holiness. Should the despiser of holiness be permitted to stroll through the fields of heaven he would find no object of beauty there. The rose of Sharon would be but a faded flower, “no beauty that we should desire him.” Isa. 53:2.

The one object and desire in the life of the sweet singer David, a holiness admirer, was to dwell in the house of the Lord all his days to “behold the beauty of the Lord.” Psa. 27:4. The beautiful holy image of God was seen upon man in his creation. He manifested the holy character of his Creator. He was in nature like God. The Almighty in looking over the works of creation saw that everything he had made, man included, was very good (Gen. 1:31); therefore we can rightly conclude that as he looked upon man he looked upon a creature as pure and holy and faultless as an angel in heaven, else he would not have pronounced him very good. Such without controversy was the state of man by creation: as holy and as pure in his nature as his Maker. But a sorrowful change came to man. He transgressed the law of his God, and as a result the holy image of the Creator was supplanted by the hideous deformity of sin.

After the transgression, God again looked upon man and “saw that his wickedness was very great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of [pg 126] his heart was only evil continually.” Gen. 6:5. This grieved him at his heart, and he repented of having made man. However he purposes that man shall yet enjoy the blessing of a holy state. Accordingly he sent his Son to this world to redeem him. This Son was in the image of the Father “in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” 2 Cor. 4:4. “Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature.” Col. 1:15.

The Father has ordained that man in the Son should be made holy or in his original purity. “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” Eph. 1:4. “In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.” Luke 1:75.

In being restored to holiness man is conformed to the image of the Son. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.” Rom. 8:29. It is true God foreknew that some would not believe on his Son and be redeemed, and he foreknew that others would. Here we behold the wonderful mercy of God. He strives with the heart of the sinner and brings all influences possible to bear upon him to turn him from his sin, and all the time knowing he would never be saved; however [pg 127] he thus leaves him without excuse and makes him wholly responsible for his loss.

What is the image of the Son? He was holy, harmless, and undefiled. Heb. 7:26. He was equal with God. Phil. 2:6. He was in the glory and holiness of the Father. God after creation looked over the work of his hands and pronounced all very good. After the “transgression” he saw that all was very wicked. Now Jesus comes and presents to the Father one who has been redeemed by the all-atoning blood, and as God views him over he stands “holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight.” Halleluiah! Read Col. 1:21, 22. The redemption obtained through the blood of Jesus is perfect and complete. It makes us “complete in him.” Col. 2:10. Dear reader, this moment, with open heart before the all-seeing eye of God, does the Spirit witness clearly to your soul that you are “holy and without blame before him in love?” To be like Jesus includes only his holy nature. We are not to be like him in power to forgive sins, but in a holy life. We are to be thus like him in this present life; “because as he is, so are we in this world.” 1 John 4:17. In this world, we are to be like him in holiness. “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, ‘Be ye holy; for I am holy.’ ” 1 Pet. 1:15, 16. God predestinated that we should be like him. He is holy, therefore he calls the believer unto holiness.

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When we are restored to the holy nature of God it will be our nature to be as merciful as he is merciful. “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” Luke 6:36. The mercy of God consists in showing favor unsolicited; in bestowing blessings upon the ungrateful. God in his mercy gave his Son to die for a wicked world. When we are made partakers of the divine nature, we go about showing favor and kindness to all; though men scorn us, revile us, and trample us down without mercy, we eagerly seize every opportunity to do them good.

With respect to the principles of Christianity we are, when fully redeemed, perfect as our Father in heaven. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Mat. 5:48. By reading the contexts we find he is speaking of love. When fully saved there is naught in our heart but love, loving just as God loves. Such love enables us with joy to show kindness to our enemies, to feed them when they are hungry, and give them drink when they thirst. Rom. 12:20.

When we are fully saved we are like the Lord in purity: “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” 1 John 3:3. Every crimson stain of sin is cleansed away and we are whiter than the snow. The evil nature incurred by Adam's sin is perfectly destroyed and we are made as pure as though there had never been a sin in this world.

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We will be like our Creator and Redeemer in righteousness: “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.” 1 John 3:7. Some do teach that we can not be righteous. The Word of God declares they are deceivers.

When we thus become of the pure, holy, righteous and merciful nature of Jesus it will of necessity separate us as far from this world and worldliness as he was separated. “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” John 17:14. There lies a great and wide gulf between the Christian and the world. Jesus is the bridge for the sinner to cross to the Christian's land. Sin and Satan is the bridge for the return of the Christian to the world.

When the children of God are fully redeemed they are one even as the Father and the Son are one. “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” John 17:22. This means a complete annihilation of every partisan spirit, a destruction of all strife and division. Should every professed Christian get salvation to the full Bible standard there would not be a sect left upon earth.

God predestinated you to be conformed to the image of his Son; holy as he is holy; merciful as he is merciful; perfect as he is perfect; pure as he is pure; [pg 130] righteous as he is righteous; as far separated from the world as he is from the world, and one even as God and his Son are one. Such is the perfect redemption offered to man in this life through God's beloved Son. What can be more beautiful upon this earth than a soul redeemed from sin and a life reflecting the holy life of the Savior. “Christ before Pilate” is a rare and much admired work of art, but Christ in the soul and life is a work more grand and beautiful. For man to properly reflect the divine character necessitates a very close walk and deep communion with the Deity. There must be a constant feeding upon the divine life. There must be a careful watching and an effort to cultivate a deeper sense of the presence of God. Happy and blessed is the man whose heart is so filled with heavenly love and reverence to God as to cause him to give “all diligence” to develop into his own glorious image.