"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
There are some passages of holy scripture which seem to contain, in a line or two, an entire volume of most precious truth. The verse which we have just penned is one of such. It is part of our Lord's memorable discourse with Nicodemus, and it embodies, in a condensed form, a very full statement of gospel truth—a statement which may well be termed " Glad Tidings."
It should ever be borne in mind, both by preachers and those to whom they preach, that one grand object of the gospel is to bring God and the sinner together in such a way as to secure the sinner's eternal salvation. It reveals a Savior-God to a lost man. In other words, it presents God to the sinner in the very character that meets the sinner's need. A Savior is precisely what suits the lost, just as a life-boat suits a drowning man, or a physician a sick man, or bread a hungry man. They are fitted the one for the other; and when God, as a Savior, and man, as a lost sinner, meet together, the whole question is settled forever. The sinner is saved, because God is a Savior. He is saved according to the perfection which belongs to God, in every character He wears, in every office He fills, in every relationship He sustains. To raise a question as to the full and everlasting salvation of a believing sold, is to deny that God is a Savior. So it is in reference to justification. God has revealed Himself as a Justifier; and, hence, the believer is justified according to the perfection which attaches to God in that character. If a single flaw could be detected in the title of the very weakest believer, it would be a dishonor to God as a Justifier. Grant me but this, that God is my Justifier, and I argue, in the face of every opposer and every accuser, that I am, and must be, perfectly justified.
And, on the same principle, grant me but this, that God has revealed Himself as a Savior, and I argue, with unclouded confidence and holy boldness, that I am, and must be, perfectly saved. It does not rest upon aught in me, but simply and entirely upon God's revelation of Himself. I know He is perfect, in everything; and, therefore, perfect as my Savior. Hence, I am perfectly saved, inasmuch as tire glory of God is involved in my salvation. " There is no God else beside me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside me." What then? "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else." (Isa. 45:21, 2221Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. 22Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:21‑22).) One believing look from a lost sinner to a just God and a Savior, secures eternal salvation. " Look" How simple! It is not " Work"—" Do"—" Pray"—" Feel"—no; it is simply " Look." And what then? Salvation—everlasting life. It must be so, because God is a Savior; and the precious little monosyllable " Look" fully implies all this, inasmuch as it expresses the fact that the salvation which I want is found in the One to whom I look. It is all there, ready for me, and one look secures it—secures it forever—secures it for me. It is not a thing of today or to-morrow; it is an eternal reality. The bulwarks of salvation behind which the believer retreats have been erected by God Himself—the Savior-God, on the sure foundation of Christ's atoning work; and no power of earth or hell can ever shake them. " Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on him, shall not be confounded." Isa. 28:1616Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. (Isaiah 28:16) Pet. 2:6.
But let us now turn directly to the profound and comprehensive passage which forms the special subject of tins paper. In it, most assuredly, we listen to the voice of a Savior-God—the voice of Him who came down from heaven to reveal God in such a way as He had never been revealed before. It is a marvelously blessed fact that God has been fully revealed in tins world—revealed, so that we—the writer and the reader of these lines—may know Him, in all the reality of what He is—know Him, each for himself, with the utmost possible certainty, and have to do with Him, in all the blessed intimacy of personal communion.
Reader, think of this! Think, we beseech you, of this amazing privilege. You may know God for yourself, as your Savior, your Father, your own very God. You may have to do with Him; you may lean upon Him, cling to Him, walk with Him, live, and move, and have your being in His own most blessed presence, in the bright sunshine of His loving countenance, under His own immediate eye.
This is life and peace. It is far more than mere theology or systematic divinity. These things have their value; but, be it remembered, a man may be a profound theologian, an able divine, and yet live and die without God, and perish eternally. Solemn, awful, overwhelming thought! A man may go down to hell, into the blackness and darkness of an eternal night, with all the dogmas of theology at his fingers' ends. A man may sit in the professor's chair, stand in the pulpit, and at the desk; he may be looked up to as a great teacher and an eloquent preacher; hundreds may sit at his feet and learn, thousands may hang on his lips, and be enraptured, and, after all, he himself may descend into the pit, and spend a dismal, miserable eternity in company with the most profane and immoral.
Not so, however, with the one who knows God as He is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. Such a one has gotten life eternal. " This," says Christ, " is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." (Joint xvii. 3.) It is not life eternal to know theology or divinity. A man may sit down to the study of these, as he would to study law or medicine, astronomy or geology, and, ad the while, know nothing of God, and therefore be without divine life, and perish in the end.
So also as to mere religiousness. A man may be the greatest devotee in the world. He may, most diligently, discharge all the offices, and sedulously attend upon all the ordinances of systematic religion; he may fast and pray; hear sermons and say prayers; be most devout and exemplary; and, all the while, know nothing of God in Christ; yea, he may live and die without God, and sink into hell forever. Look at Nicodemus. Where could you find a better sample of religious human nature than in him? A man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews, a master in Israel; one, moreover, who seemed to discern in the miracles of our Lord the clear proofs of His divine mission; and yet the word to him was, " Ye must be born again." We have no need, surely, to go farther than this to prove that a man may be, not only religious, but actually a guide and a teacher of others, and yet not have a single spark of divine life in his soul.
But it is not so with one who knows God in Christ. Such a one has life, and an object. He has God Himself for his priceless portion. This is divine. It lies at the very foundation of personal Christianity and true religion.
It is above and beyond everything. It is not, we repeat, mere theology, divinity, or religiousness; it is God Himself, known, trusted, and enjoyed. It is a grand, unmistakable reality. It is the soul of theology, the groundwork of divinity, the life of true religion. There is nothing in all this world like it. It is something which must be felt in order to be known. It is acquaintance with God, confidence in Him, and enjoyment of Him.
Now, it may be that the reader is disposed to ask, " How can I possess this priceless treasure? How can I know God for myself, in this living, saving, powerful manner? If it be true that without this personal knowledge of God, I must perish eternally, then how am I to obtain it? What am I to do, what am I to be, in order to know God?" The answer is, God has revealed Himself. If he had not, we may say, with decision, that nothing that we could do, nothing that we could be, nothing in us or of us could possibly make us acquainted with God. If God had not manifested Himself, we should have remained forever in ignorance of Him, and perished in our ignorance. But, seeing that He has come forth from the thick darkness, and showed Himself, we may know Him according to the truth of His own revelation, and find, in that knowledge, everlasting life, and a spring of blessedness at which our ransomed souls shall drink throughout the golden ages of eternity.
We know of nothing which so clearly and forcibly proves man's utter incompetency to do aught towards procuring life, as the fact that the possession of this life is based upon the knowledge of God; and tins knowledge of God must rest upon the revelation of God. In a word, to know God is life; to be ignorant of Him is death.
But where is He to be known? This is, in very deed, a grave question. Many a one has had to cry out, with Job, " Oh! that I knew where I might find him." Where is God to be found? Am I to look for Him in creation?
Doubtless, His hand is visible there; but ah! that will not do for me. A Creator-God will not suit a lost sinner. The hand of power will not avail for a poor guilty wretch like me. I want a heart of love. Yes, I want a heart that can love me in all my guilt and misery. Where can I find this? Shall I look into the wide domain of Providence—the widely extended sphere of God's government? Has God revealed Himself there in such a way as to meet me a poor lost one? Will Providence and government avail for one who knows himself to be a hell-deserving sinner? Clearly not. If I look at these things, I may see what will perplex and confound me. I am short-sighted and ignorant, and wholly unable to explain the ins and outs, the bearings and issues, the why and the wherefore of a single event in my own life, or in the history of this world. Am I able to explain all about the loss of The London? Can I account for the fact that a most valuable life is suddenly cut short, and an apparently useless one prolonged? There is a husband and the father of a large family: he seems perfectly indispensable to his domestic circle; and yet, all in a moment, he is cut down, and they are left in sorrow and destitution. While, on the other hand, yonder lies a poor bed-ridden creature, who has outlived all her relations, and is dependent on the parish, or on individual benevolence. She has lain there for years, a burden to some, no use to any. Can I account for this? Am I competent to interpret the voice of Providence in this deeply mysterious dispensation? Certainly not. I have nothing in or of myself wherewith to thread my way through the mazes of the labyrinth of what is called Providence. I cannot find a Savior-God there.
Well, then, shall I turn to the law—to the Mosaic economy—the Levitical ceremonial? Shall I find what I want there? Will a lawgiver, on the top of a fiery mount, wrapped in clouds and thick darkness, sending forth thunders and lightnings, or hidden behind a veil—will such a One avail for me? Alas! alas! I cannot meet Him—I cannot answer His demands nor fulfill the conditions. I am told to love Him with all my heart, with all my mind, and with all my strength; but I do not know Him. I am blind and cannot see. I am alienated from the life of God, an enemy by wicked works. Shi has blinded my mind, blunted my conscience, and hardened my heart. The devil has completely perverted my moral being, and led mo into a state of positive rebellion against God. I want to be renewed in the very source of my being, ere I can do what the law demands. How can I be thus renewed? Only by the knowledge of God. But God is not revealed in the law. Nay, He is hidden—hidden behind an impenetrable cloud, an unrent veil. Hence I cannot know Him there.
I am compeded to retire from that fiery mount, and from that unrent veil, and from the whole economy of which these were the characteristic features, the prominent objects, still crying out, " Oh! that I knew where I might find him." In a word, then, neither in creation, nor in providence, nor in the law, is God revealed as " a just God and a Savior." I see a God of power, in creation; a God of wisdom, in providence; a God of justice, in the law; a God of love, only in the face of Jesus Christ. " God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself."
To tins stupendous fact we call the reader's earnest attention; that is, if he be one who does not yet know the Lord. It is of the very last possible importance that he be clear as to this. Without it there can be nothing right. To know God is the first step. It is not merely knowing some things about God. It is not unrenewed nature turning religious, trying to do better, endeavoring to keep the law. No, reader; it is none of these things. It is God, known in the face of Jesus Christ. " For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath sinned in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." This is the deep and blessed secret of the whole matter. The reader, so far as his natural condition is concerned, is in a state of darkness. There is not so much as a single ray of spiritual light. He is, spiritually and morally, just what creation was, physically, before that sublime and commanding utterance fell from the lips of the Almighty Creator, "Let there be light." All is dark and chaotic, for " 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, 64In 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 Corinthians 4:4)
6For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6).
Here are the two things, namely, the god of this world blinding the mind, and seeking to hinder the in shining of the precious life-giving beams of the light of God's glory; and, on the other hand, God, in His marvelous grace, shining in the heart, to give the light of the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Thus all hinges upon the grand reality of the knowledge of God. Is there light? It is because God is known. Is there darkness? It is because God is not known. No doubt there are various measures in the experience and exhibition of this light; but there is light, because there is the knowledge of God. So also there may be various forms of darkness; some more hideous than others; but there is darkness, because God is not known. The knowledge of God is light and life. Ignorance of God is darkness and death. A man may enrich himself with all the treasures of science and literature; but if he docs not know God, he is in a dark, a primeval night. But, on the other hand, a man may be profoundly ignorant of all human learning; but if he knows God, he can walk in broad daylight.
(To be continued, if the Lord will)