JESUS CHRIST is a complete Saviour. He paid the penalty for sin in its fullness, and left nothing for us to pay. He has delivered us completely, and presents that deliverance to us freely. But what is this all for? and why has the penalty been paid?—In order to make it possible that our lives might conform to the life of God as shown in Jesus Christ. There are many standpoints from which we may look at the life of Christ. It is many sided. While we look at one side, we should not forget the other sides. Every side is just as perfect as any other side. There is perfection on every side, and we do not get a view of the fullness of the work of Christ simply by looking at it from one side. While the work he has done in delivering us from the curse of the law is complete and perfect, there is more to it. It does not stop here, but goes right on, and here we have it: “Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” He provides salvation from sins past, present, and future, if we need to think about sins that are future. It is a complete deliverance from sin, the love of sin, and the power of sin. Man was made in the image of God, but lost that image. Jesus Christ came in the flesh to restore that image. He is the perfect image of God. In the first chapter of Hebrews, Christ is spoken of as the brightness of God’s glory and “the express image of his person.” So also 2 Cor. 4:4: “In 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.” And Col. 1:15: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature.” The design of God in creating man was that there should be a visible revelation of the invisible God. But man lost that image by sin, and he was no more a visible revelation of the invisible God. Christ came to be a revelation of the invisible God. He came to be the image of God in the flesh. Man had failed to be the visible revelation of the invisible God; but Christ came, and he was the image of the invisible God. That is, Christ lived his life in our flesh in order to reveal the invisible God, that the life of God might become visible. Note a statement on this point by the apostle John: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.)” That was the life of God manifested so that it could be seen and handled. Christ lived this life to show God’s ideal concerning humanity, to show that God’s eternal purpose was that man should be a visible revelation of the invisible God. And he died to make it possible that that life might be imparted to us. He was raised again that that resurrection power might be given to us; and now he lives on high in order that that image of God, that life of God, might be lived in us. Christ lived on earth in order that he might show forth the image of the invisible God in his life; he lives in heaven in order that he may show forth on the earth the image of the invisible God in our lives. And his work was not completed when he paid the penalty on the cross. That avails only for those who will co-operate with God. The life he lives in heaven he lives for us. He took our humanity, he lived for us here, and lives for us there. Christ is God with us. “Lo, I am with you alway,” he says, “even unto the end of the world.” His being with us did not end when he ascended. He was God with us on earth, and God present with us after he ascended. The fact of his visible presence being taken away does not interfere with his continuing his work in us. We must not stop with the cross. We must see the continuance of the work in heaven. That means present life. What did Jesus Christ’s life do for man when he came here to earth? We read that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” Up to the time of Christ’s first advent, taking in all that had been given them, men had what Christ always referred to as the Scriptures, what we speak of as the Old Testament. That was the Word. Christ was all the way through that Word. That Word was simply given to reveal Christ. All his life on earth was to put into language. This Word was made flesh; the Scripture was put into life and was manifested, so that the instruction which God had given in the Scriptures he gave in the life of Jesus Christ. He was the perfect revelation of God’s ideal in sinful flesh. His perfect life was lived in order to have a life to be put in the place of our sinful one. When we believe with the whole heart, the perfect life of Christ is put in the place of our life, and God does not see our sinful life; he looks on Christ. We can not separate Christ’s life on earth and his life in heaven. His life is a continuing life, a present life. We accept the life of Christ to be put in the place of our life, and then we are accepted in the Beloved. The fact that God says, “This is my beloved Son,” is a perfect assurance that when we have accepted Christ, God will say to each one of us, “Thou art my beloved son,” because he has accepted the Beloved, and he accepts us in the Beloved. But in accepting Christ for the remission of sins that are past, we can not separate the life of Christ on earth from the life of Christ in heaven, and his life in heaven is to keep us from sin. This is not a passive salvation. All this remission of sins in the past is with reference to our life now, that this present life may be in harmony with the will of God. What was the test of Christ’s life?—He expressed it in the words, “I have kept my Father’s commandments.” What is the test for Christ’s life in us?—The same. Christ came here, suffered, and died to make it possible that our lives now might be in harmony with his life. He delivers us from the curse of the law, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. Jesus Christ was joined to us that the union between God and the human family might be made perfect. That is eternal life. The purpose of Christ’s work was that we might receive that life. The whole plan of salvation is distorted when we stop short of the idea that we, mortal and erring, open to the assaults of Satan, should yet be more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. The visible revelation of God is yet to be carried out. Even in this flesh of sin God’s original plan shall be carried out; for his plan is sufficient. Man shall be a visible revelation of the invisible God. The devil can not defeat that plan, though we ourselves can defeat it. The devil can not defeat it if we purpose to co-operate with God. The purpose of God is to put away sin. That means a present life union with Christ, which brings us into harmony with the will of God.