Studies in the Gospel Message
THE subject of the Sabbath-school lesson for August 23 is, The Living Temple Reveals the Mystery of Godliness, and the portion of Scripture upon which it is based is Dan. 2:14-30. “The Word became flesh.” Thus is set forth in brief statement the union which has been made between him whose “name is called The Word of God” and that flesh which “is grass.” This is the mystery which baffles the wisdom of the wise to explain, but which may be known by every one who is willing to become as a little child. “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” Jesus was in himself the revelation of this mystery, this union of divinity with humanity. The prophecy foretold it. “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Through this mystery of the incarnation the divine Son of God became the Son of man, and “brought human nature into a personal relation with his own divinity.” And this was not a mere temporary experience. The Son of God did not assume the flesh simply that he might act a part in it for a few brief years. He was the greater Son of David, in whom the house and the kingdom of David would be established forever. He was the Seed to whom the promises were made, and of whom it was said to Abraham, “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” The Lamb, “as it had been slain,” which John saw “in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts,” is the same Lamb of God which John the Baptist saw among men. “The Lamb of God is represented before us as ‘in the midst of the throne’ of God. He is the great ordinance by which man and God are united and commune together. Thus men are represented as sitting in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. This is the appointed place of meeting between God and humanity.” There is “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” “In taking our nature, the Saviour has bound himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken. Through the eternal ages he is linked with us. ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.’ He gave him not only to bear our sins, and to die as our sacrifice: he gave him to the fallen race. To assure us of his immutable counsel of peace, God gave his only begotten Son to become one of the human family, forever to retain his human nature. This is the pledge that God will fulfill his word. ‘Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder.’ God has adopted human nature in the person of his Son, and has carried the same into the highest heaven. It is the5‘Son of man’ who shares the throne of the universe. It is the ‘Son of man’ whose name shall be called ‘Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.’ The I AM is the Daysman between God and humanity, laying his hand upon both. He who is ‘holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,’ is not ashamed to call us brethren. Christ glorified is our brother. Heaven is enshrined in humanity, and humanity is infolded in the bosom of Infinite Love.” “Unto us a child is born!
Ne’er has earth beheld a morn,
Among all the morns of time,
Half so glorious in its prime.
Unto us a Son is given!
He has come from God’s own heaven,
Bringing with him from above
Holy peace and holy love.” In his teaching, Jesus was constantly revealing this mystery of godliness. He sought to familiarize his hearers with the fact that it was the same invisible life of God which was manifested in the various forms of vegetable growth as was manifested for salvation, and that the same mystery was found in both cases. To his disciples he said, “Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God.” And as a means of opening up this mystery to them he said: “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” “The parable of the seed reveals that God is at work in nature. . . . No strength or wisdom of man can bring forth from the seed the living plant. . . . There is life in the seed, there is power in the soil; but unless an infinite power is exercised day and night, the seed will yield no returns. . . . The life which the Creator has implanted, he alone can call forth. Every seed grows, every plant develops, by the power of God.” The same secret which was revealed to Daniel “in a night vision” was revealed to his disciples by the great Teacher, the Revealer of secrets, and is revealed to us in a vision of the day, if we will look upon the waving grain with eyes anointed. It is the work of the teacher of gospel truth to reveal this secret, this mystery of godliness. The same secret which was made known to Daniel has been made known by the union of divinity and humanity in the person of Jesus. “Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.” This revealed mystery should be proclaimed as “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Note the testimony of the apostle Paul: “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This is the gospel of the revelation of Jesus Christ. When under the condemnation to death, Daniel and his companions earnestly sought from God the knowledge of this secret, that they “should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.” It is the knowledge of this secret which saves from death; “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.” It is the message of life only through Christ. This is the gospel which Daniel proclaimed in Babylon. The Jews as a nation had lost the meaning of the sanctuary and its services, the great truth of the indwelling life, the experience of justification by faith, and their temple service no longer revealed to them the mystery of godliness. But Daniel and his companions knew the truth that “the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands,” and that it is the desire of God to dwell with flesh. And so apart from the typical temple and its services, they revealed in the living temple the mystery of godliness, the gospel of the God who dwells with flesh, the reality of the doctrine of justification by faith. And thus were they saved from death in Babylon.