THE last hundred years are undoubtedly marked by the greatest advance in scientific knowledge and in engineering and mechanical skill that the world has ever witnessed.
The secrets of the stars have been searched out so that the sizes and distances of many and their very composition are known; the depths of the sea and earth have been made to tell their own stories; and the forces of nature so yoked in man’s service that they drive his factories and his ships, transmit his messages, carry his merchandise, and enable him to move on sea and land and in the air with speed, ease, and luxury.
Yet although man has been so successful in many spheres, there are two in which he has made no advance whatever. It is not that he has not tried, for by a multitude of methods that have extended over centuries he has grappled with these two problems, and the magnitude of his failure is witnessed by the tremendous efforts he has put forth to wrest from what he is pleased to call “nature” the secrets of the origin of life, and the fate of those who enter upon “the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns.”
For he cannot with the whole range of created things at his disposal produce life from anything that is not itself living, so that to fashion the tiniest seed, or gnat, or mollusk is as impossible for him as to order the march of the celestial orbs, or to create the world on which he stands.
Nor can he restore to life again that which was once living, be it bird or plant or animal.
His knowledge of physics and mathematics affords no assistance here, nor does his acquaintance with chemistry and geology give him any light when investigating the ways of God, or the fate of his immortal soul.
See him as he stands beside the death-bed of the one he loves most, and for whom he would willingly give ten times over every penny he possesses, could he but stay the approach of death, and note that all the combined skill and resource of the medical profession cannot give him the desire or his heart. He may rebel, he may rage, he may lament, but yield he must.
Lord Leighton on his death-bed cried out in the intensity of his dying agony, “Is there nothing in the whole range of the British Pharmacopoeia that can annul this pain?”
No! There was no antidote, nothing that could allay his suffering, much less avert the fast-approaching end.
Here man is face to face with what he is pleased to call the “Ultimate facts of nature.” Here in the presence of the wisdom and strength of God the infidel is either mute, or compelled to confess alike his ignorance and impotence.
But is this really an “undiscovered country”? Are these the “Ultimate facts of nature”? Are its secrets unrevealed and its power capricious though infinite?
Apart from revelation there is no answer to these questions. But happily no prolonged search of Holy Scripture is needed to arrive at their just and proper solution.
Man’s inability to produce life is plainly declared, for he is shown to be in death, for the Lord Jesus declares of men, “Ye have no life in you.” We read also that the sinner is without strength and is moreover “dead in trespasses and sins,” and “death has passed upon all for that all have sinned.”
Thus whether he will have it or no, man is away from God, is in his sins, and has no life in him!
But this is not the worst feature, for of a truth eternal severance from God must be the portion of those who die without having learned the truth as to their awful condition, although the remedy for this is unfolded in the very pages where the depths of man’s weakness and sin are announced.
For it requires but little further search before that which can dissipate the gloom and despair is opened to the view of the true seeker—to the one who seeks as for hid treasures (see Prov. 2:44If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; (Proverbs 2:4)). There in shining letters may be seen, that though death may be never so powerful in its sway, and never so terrible of mien to men, yet it has been taken in hand, met in all its terrible force, and annulled by One competent to do it.
How magnificent is the declaration that “Through death He destroyed (literally annulled) him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and delivered them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14, 1514Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14‑15)). Thus is the Lord Jesus announced as the mighty Victor, who has broken the devil’s power, and brought deliverance to the fearful and to the captive. Having risen He has burst all the bonds of death, and is thus its Conqueror.
And blessed be God, all that He has gained by His death for man is available to the one who believes in Him. What a blessed gift! Who would not willingly bow to such a Saviour?
But let the search be continued, and it shall be seen what is the spring whence this wisdom flowed. It is no less a fountain than the heart of God. “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” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
How sharp and clearly defined then are the respective spheres of man and of God. Death and sin are man’s; life, power, and glory, God’s.
“Death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:1212Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12)). Sin has brought death in its train, no matter what his estate or condition. Poverty or wealth, unselfish devotion or selfish lust, pleasurable indulgence or asceticism―all are practiced in the domain of death.
What keen satisfaction then must come to the one who has learned his helplessness and his true state in death, when he hears for the first time that there is One who has proved Himself superior to all that terrified him, and who shows Himself to be the Resurrection, and in whose mouth such a declaration is no mere boast.
In the greatest struggle that has ever been witnessed He is the Victorious One. He laid down His life―not died merely, or was a martyr―but in an act of amazing power, did what was never done before―He laid down His own life, and then in another action as great took back again that life He had laid down.
Neither death, nor the sealed and sentineled sepulcher could keep Rim in the power of the king of terrors.
Could the accumulated wisdom of the ages suggest such an answer to the difficulty in which man finds himself? Jesus by His death and resurrection has made a way of escape from the realms of death to those of life. He has made the grand highway and thrown it open for faith to tread. There are no barriers on it. Everything that could obstruct the way to God has been done away with. Death, Satan, man’s weakness, unrighteousness, sin are ineffectual to stop the way to Him who has life in Himself, who is the Originator of Life, the Sustainer of Life, and the Giver of Life, to all who put their trust in Him.
What folly then is it to seek to gain by dead works (carried on by those who are spiritually dead, in a scene of death) that which is so freely given to all who will take of the water of life freely.
Oh! for ten thousand tongues to proclaim to the millions that know it not, the glad news of John 5:24: “He that heareth My word and believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.”
This is the only way, this is the divinely appointed way. Why not take it, and come in for all the blessing, that God is waiting to bestow on those that come unto Him by Christ?
“Let every kindred, every tribe,
On this terrestrial ball,
To Him all majesty ascribe,
And crown Him Lord of all”