Part 6

A Threefold Obligation rests upon man to serve and glorify God,

"1. On account of his creation by God, the Father.

"2. On account of his redemption by God, the Son.

"3. On account of his regeneration and sanctification by God, the Holy Ghost."

The Great Concern of Man should be conformity with the divine likeness (John 5:30; Matthew 6:10,33; 16:26; Romans 14:8; I Corinthians 10:31). "Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2). It is only when man succeeds in bringing his will to do God's will and makes God's plan his plan of life that he comes to his best and highest estate. The world is full of sin and misery, and there are many burdens heavy to be borne, because man insists upon having his way instead of seeking God's way. Many great civilizations have gone down and many forms of society have been disrupted because, in them, man strove to set up his glory, rather than God's glory, as the standard to be striven for. Man has repeatedly attempted to attain to "the dominion" promised him only to fail because he has desired such "dominion" to spend it upon himself. God desires to crown man with glory and honour and to do exceedingly large things for him, the Scriptures are filled with great promises, but man only grasps at the shadow of power, when he might have the substance. All great inventions and discoveries but point to still greater ones, when man shall be fitted by spiritual grace and goodness to be intrusted with them. The kingdom of heaven must come in man's heart before any great material or spiritual advancement can come in the world. Education, commerce, art, science, in all their majesty of strength, can never do what the Christian religion can do for men when it shall succeed in getting them to seek to be conformed to "the divine likeness": this is a truth too little emphasized, but it is fundamental and necessary to any real progress in the world. "There is a higher law for life than self-will and unregulated impulse; the real world goes deeper than things of sense; this temporal life is related to eternity; and God is the central verity of all."

THE PERFECT EXAMPLE

God's Measure of a Man.--What is the standard by which man is to compare himself? Great things are expected of a man but how is he to work them out? These are fair questions.

Jesus Christ has two titles in the New Testament, "The Son of God" and "The Son of Man." If we want to know what God is like we look into the face of Jesus Christ. If we want to know what man ought to be we look into the face of Jesus Christ (John 14:5-9; Matthew 5:48).

Jesus Christ is the Perfect Example.

He is the Perfect Example of a Physical Man.--The test here is bodily endurance and perfect control over the body. Look at Jesus Christ and note His physical endurance tests. He was forty days without food (Matthew 4:2); this is not a weakling's task. A man must have a strong body to endure through such a starvation period. For a man to be crucified upon a cross, after being scourged, was to undergo the most terrible agony; yet Christ so had His body under control upon His cross that He could speak forgiveness for His enemies and commend His mother to the care of a disciple. "How can I start a religion?" said one great Frenchman to another. "Go and be crucified," was the reply. If we want to behold the perfect physical man, who had His body in complete control and made it do His will, we must look to Jesus Christ. How many sins come to man through a weak physical control!

He is the Perfect Example of an Intellectual Man.--What man can compare with Jesus Christ in the power of His intellect? He stands ready before all to state and defend His precepts and principles. He so spoke to the people that they listened with growing conviction. "Never man spake like this man." Difficult questions were brought to Him, questions which would make the wisest judges hesitate in their answers, and at once He gave His replies which stand unimpeached to-day for marvellous wisdom and power. Living in an age long before modern science had its birth, He handles Nature as her Master and makes no mistake. His words to-day are a power in the court, in the senate and the marts of the world, as well as in the pulpit. He is the perfect intellectual man for our example.

He is the Perfect Example of a Moral Man.--Many intellectual and physical giants fail upon the moral test; but in Christ we find no moral flaw. He is the standard of moral perfection. He is the perfect moral example for all men.

Here is the foundation for physical and intellectual progress, but without a true moral foundation they will both fail.

No man ever so ministered to men as Jesus Christ.

QUESTIONS

What is man? What shall we think of him? What is the Christian thought of man? Give the five points in the Christian conception of man. Man made in the image of God; give a statement of this case. What is the image of God? Did God make the good man, the evil man? What is the chief end of man? What threefold obligation rests upon man to serve and glorify God? What should be the great concern of man? What can be said of God's measure of a man? What can be said of Jesus Christ as the perfect physical, intellectual and moral man?

STUDY IV

THE CHRISTIAN'S FELLOW MAN

Scripture references: Luke 10:29-37; Matthew 7:12; 5:16; Luke 12:13-15; 1 Corinthians 13; Matthew 7:3-5; 5:42-49; John 21:21, 22.

MAN AND OTHER MEN

The Question of Relationship.--One of the most important questions is that of the relation which a man shall hold to other men.

1. It is fundamental in every system of philosophy and religion. The answers, which are given, show their widespread practical bearing in the social, industrial and political spheres, as well as in the religious.

2. It is imperative from the fact it demands a reply which becomes at once the basis of action. A man, amongst men, is under the necessity of deciding how he will conduct himself towards his fellow men.

There are many divergent opinions, in regard to the relation which a man should sustain to his fellow man, which lead to widely divergent courses of action and largely affect the world for good or ill.

Jesus Christ was outspoken on this matter. His words (Luke 10:29-37; Matthew 22:36-40) go at once to the heart of the question and give its only possible solution.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN

The Inequalities in the Lives of Men are many and far reaching. They divide men from each other and tend, if brooded over, to make them live lives apart, with a lessening sympathy and a growing hostility. They pertain to race, education, business and society. They may be natural, or artificially induced.

The great inequality to-day, however, upon which men place an acute emphasis is that of wealth or the lack of it. A man once came to Jesus and said, "Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me" (Luke 12:13); there is the same demand to-day. Men are not seeking to share the responsibility of a self-denying service to their fellow-men, such as Jesus gave; neither are they greatly desirous of advancing the cause of righteousness in the world, but they are too largely looking to the betterment of their material condition. It is this state of affairs which often spurs men on to accumulate wealth by the oppression of their fellow men. Many men work and plan for certain great results in financial matters (as though these were the supreme things), only to be disappointed and in consequence lose their interest in life. It is the making of the struggle for material betterment the chief thing in life which causes strikes, lockouts and most of our modern industrial troubles. Here we find also the cause of heart-burnings and jealousies and deep-seated hatreds.