The Crises of the Christ

“Christ has come, the Light of the world. Long ages may yet elapse before His beams have reduced the world to order and beauty, and clothed a purified humanity with light as with a garment. But He has come: the Revealer of the snares and chasms that lurk in darkness, the Rebuker of every evil thing that prowls by night, the Stiller of the storm-winds of passion, the Quickener of all that is wholesome, the Adorner of all that is beautiful, the Reconciler of contradictions, the Harmonizer of discords, the Healer of diseases, the Saviour from sin. He has come: the Torch of Truth, the Anchor of hope, the Pillar of faith, the Rock for strength; the Refuge for security, the Fountain for refreshment, the Vine for gladness, the Rose for beauty, the Lamb for tenderness, the Friend for counsel, the Brother for love. Jesus Christ has trod the world. The trace of the Divine footsteps will never be obliterated. And the Divine foosteps were the footsteps of a Man. The example of Christ is such as men can follow. On! until mankind wears His image. On! towards yon summit on which stands not an angel, not a disembodied spirit, not an abstract of ideal and unattainable virtue, but THE MAN JESUS CHRIST.” — PstTer Bayne, A.M.

“The Testimony of Christ to Christianity.”

HE authoritative literature concerning the history of the Lord Jesus Christ is contained within the New Testament. He is the supreme subject of the whole library. Every several book gathers its value from its testimony to His person, His teaching, or His work. The perfection of the whole is created by its unification in Him. The first four of its books chronicle His deeds, and His words, during the brief span of a lifetime lasting for a generation. The rest of the book is occupied with the subject of His deeds and His words through all subsequent generations. The book of Acts is the first chapter in that history of the Church, which is the history of the deeds of Christ by the Holy Spirit through His people. The epistles contain the teaching of Christ by the Spirit, through chosen men, for the guidance of His Church until His second advent. The last book contains a prophetic vision of the final movements, which shall firmly establish His reign over the whole earth.

The Old Testament foretells His coming, and chronicles for these days the methods by which the hope of His advent was kept alive; and, indeed, burned ever more brightly through the processes of the past. The New is the history of that advent; and the new

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message of hope, under the inspiration of which men move through the confusion of conflict towards the certainty of ultimate victory.

The history of the New Testament is at once the story of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, and the account of the accomplishment of the mission of the Christ. These are phases forming the one perfect story. The life of Jesus was the carrying out of the mission of the Christ. The work of the Messiah was accomplished in the orderliness of the life of Jesus.

In this connection it is interesting to notice the opening and closing verses of the New Testament. Matthew, the evangelist, places Jesus in His relation to the race. “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham.”1 The reference is not to the whole of the New Testament, nor even to the whole of the Gospel, but to the genealogy which immediately follows. The use here of the word “Christ” declares the appointment of this Man to definite service. It is rather a title than a name. By His name “Jesus” He is indicated as united to the race, coming through the chosen people. By the title “Christ” He is identified as the One Who comes to fulfil the promise of the past, by the accomplishment of Divine purposes.

The last verse of the New Testament reads, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with the saints. Amen.”2 Here there is prefixed to the name “Jesus,” the title “Lord.” The Revised Versions, both English and American, have relegated the word “Christ” to the margin. Some ancient authorities, however, include it. The essential value of this comparison of verses is not interfered with, whichever view may be taken. The New Testament opens with a declaration, introducing the Man Jesus, and declaring His appointment to service. It closes with a benediction, which announces the crowning of Jesus as Lord, consequent upon His accomplishment of the purpose appointed; and the use of the word “grace” as the portion of the saints, reveals the glorious issue of that work.

He came for a purpose. The purpose is realised. He was anointed of God for the doing of a work. The work is accomplished. and He is now the Lord through Whom the grace of God is expressed towards, and becomes operative in, such as are subject to

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Matt. 1. 1. 2Rey. 22. 21.

Him. Thus between the opening words of Matthew, and the closing statement of John, there lies the story of His life and the account of His mission.

The literature of the Church has been enriched by many lives of Jesus. Some of these have emphasized the facts of His humanity, while others have emphasized the truth of His Deity. All have been of value. They have however been largely devoted to the contemplation of the Person of Jesus, rather than to a consideration of the accomplishment of a Divine work. It is to this particular aspect of the life of Jesus Christ. that the present volume is devoted. Interest in Jesus Himself is of pre-eminent importance. The mystery of His Person, the graciousness of His teaching, the beauty of His character, the wonder of His deeds, all these are of such value that it is impossible to attend to them too closely, or to write too much concerning them. It is, however, of equal importance that this wonderful life should be seen as that of the anointed Servant of God, the Christ, Who in all the details of the passing days, was working a larger work, and towards a mightier issue than a mere contemplation of the human life might seem to suggest. Indeed, the beauty of the life itself is only fully appreciated when it is seen as related in its every part to this mighty movement of God towards the redemption of man.

Here therefore attention is to be fixed, not so much upon the words of His lips, or His working of wonders and signs, as upon His uttering of a Divine word, and His accomplishment of a Divine work.

It is for this reason that the volume is entitled “The Crises of the Christ.” In all the works of God there is to be discovered an unvarying method of process and crisis. The process is slow, and difficult to watch in its progress. The crisis is sudden, and flames with a light, which flashing back upon the process, explains it; and forward, indicates a new line of action, which after all is the continuity of that which has preceded it. This might certainly be illustrated by reference to the observation of all natural phenomena. The story of the earth, as read by scientists, is the story of slow movements, and of mighty upheavals. The history of the butterfly of many hues, is that of the pupa, dormant to all appearance, which through crisis emerges into the flower of the air. The crisis 12 INTRODUCTORY

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