The Finality of Christ
Romans vi. 9 v. “Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more.”
A bold assertion; the man who made it must have been a great man. In a world of change, in an age of special changes, he declared that the human race had reached finality. This faith in the Crucified, he says, will be the last religion. Men will never outgrow it, never get beyond it.
Times shall change, manners shall change, customs shall change, the order of life shall change; but this faith shall abide. The heavens shall pass away with a loud noise. A new science of the stars shall dawn. The earth shall move round the sun instead of the sun moving round the earth. But there shall be no new Christ in the firmament; His eye shall not grow dim, His strength shall not be abated. A thousand systems shall fall at His side, but their crash shall not touch Him. He shall be the survivor in the struggle for existence. He shall have the dew of His youth when the world is old. He shall have the last judgment. There shall be no verdict after His, no appeal to the Caesar of a future age. His feet shall touch the final ridge of the mountains, and the beauty of His tidings shall be a joy for ever.
Oh, Thou, who art the latest flower of the garden, I am glad that I can rest in Thee. My heart is weary of its wandering. Scarce has it found an hour’s repose. Oft has it sat down by the wayside dreaming that its work was done; and a gleam from beyond has said, “Arise and depart, for this is not thy rest.” Therefore I am glad that at last I see no beyond. Hope is k 2 beautiful, but satisfaction is better; and I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness. No likeness shall ever eclipse it. I do not need to look forward any more, not even to heaven. Heaven is not beyond me when Thou art beside me. Faith and hope are lost when love to Thee is found. There is no morrow to Thy love, any more than there is evening. Thou Thyself mayst grow brighter; but no brighter than Thee shall come. When I have reached the vision of Thee, I shall for the first time live in the present — be a child of the hour. The butterfly’s wing shall be mine when I soar in Thy air. Without Thee, my sigh has been for to-morrow; with Thee, my cry shall be, “Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.”