NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
"IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." "In the beginning," that is, before creation, before time was; for in his prayer at the last supper he, said: "O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold the glory which thou hast given me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." John 17:5, 24. How long before, no finite mind can measure; for in the announcement by the prophet of the place of his birth, when he came into the world, it is said: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Micah 5:2. The margin reads, Hebrew, from "the days of eternity." The mind must be able to grasp eternity before it can measure the length of days of the Saviour of the world; before it can know how long the Word was before the world was. THAT the Word was Jesus Christ is evident from verse 14. He is called the Word of God because through him is revealed to us the thoughts of God, as our words express our thoughts and feelings to others. He is the expression of God's will to the children of men. "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Col. 2:9. In him is shown the love of God to the children of men. "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him." 1 John 4:9. The words which he spake are the words of God: "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. . . . Whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." John 12:49, 50. In short, in him God revealed himself; for said Jesus, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." John 14:9. Christ is the Word of God. "AND the Word was God." "Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Heb. 1:4-9. The Father calls the Son, God.187 "ALL things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made." "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." Heb. 1:1, 2. "God . . . created all things by Jesus Christ." Eph. 3:9. "For by him were all things created, that are in Heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him; and he is before all things, and by him all things consist" (exist). Col. 1:16, 17. Now as Jesus Christ made all things, "and without him was not anything made that was made;" and as "the Sabbath was made" (Mark 2:27), it follows that Christ made the Sabbath. And as the Sabbath was made as the memorial of creation, that man might thus remember and honor the Creator; and as the seventh day is declared to be "the Sabbath of the Lord thy God," who "made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it," it follows that the seventh day is the Sabbath of Christ the Lord. It is Christ who rested the seventh day. It is Christ who blessed and sanctified the seventh day. It is Christ who made the seventh day the Sabbath. And as long as he remains what he is, "The same yesterday, and to-day, and forever," the seventh day must remain the Sabbath. It can change no more than he can change; for he has declared by his living word that it is the Sabbath; and he cannot deny himself. It is the duty of all men to "honor the Son, even as they honor the Father." John 5:23. It is not enough to honor the Son as Redeemer and King. He must be honored as Creator also, or else he is not honored even as is the Father. Now the Creator has appointed a memorial of creation, by the keeping of which he is remembered and honored as Creator. That memorial is the Sabbath, which he himself has made and declared to be the seventh day. That is the day which Christ the Creator made the Sabbath; it is the day by the observance of which he is honored as Creator. Therefore it is the duty of all men to keep the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord. The seventh day is the Sabbath of Christ the Creator. Will you keep it, and so honor him as Creator? "IN him was life." "The wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23. "All have sinned." Rom. 3:23. Death has passed upon the whole human race. But in Christ there is life. "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:23. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life." John 3:36. "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." John 6:53. "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5:11, 12. "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Col. 3:4. "AND the Word was made flesh." That Word which was in the beginning; which was with God before the world was, even from the days of eternity,—that Word was made flesh. Mark, it does not say that the Word came and dwelt in a body of flesh, though distinct from it, as it is said the immortal soul dwells in the body, so that when the body died the Word left it, as it is said the immortal soul at death leaves the body of man. It says nothing of the kind. It does say, "The Word was made flesh." John says: "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." 1 John 1:1. This could not be said if that Word dwelt in a human body, as the immortal soul is said to do; for no man ever saw what is called the immortal soul, much less did any man ever handle one with his hands. If it be said that it was so, and that only the body died, while the real Word left the body and did not die, then what but a human sacrifice was ever made for the sins of the world? No; "The Word was made flesh," "for the suffering of death." Heb. 2:9. He "poured out his soul unto death;" "Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin." Isa. 53:10, 12. "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." Rev. 1:18. "The Word was made flesh." The Word of God died. And we have a divine sacrifice for sin. "Whosoever believeth on him shall not perish;" for "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Heb. 7:25. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the Sons of God. . . . Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3:1, 2. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.