TWO PRINCIPLES—TWO MANIFESTATIONS.
IN our last issue we spoke of the two great opposing forces in the universe—God and Satan—actuated by two opposing principles—love, or unselfishness, and hatred, or selfishness. God is love, and whatever he does is actuated by love. God's love is exercised for the greatest good of all his creatures, yet in the wondrous wisdom of his plan its exercise is also for God's glory. This is not so by reason of any arbitrary enactment, but in the very nature of the case. The exercise of infinite love must bring glory to the Infinite Being who thus exercised it. And this love must also work for the highest good and purest happiness of all God's creatures; for it is exercised in harmony with infinite wisdom, and made capable by infinite power. Its purpose is the highest good and greatest happiness of all, but its results, which are only good, all return with increased blessing to the Giver. This is the very nature of love; and it is always the working of infinite love. These results may not always be seen in the exercise of love by the human; for exercised in harmony with human wisdom, its object will be only that discernible by human sense. But God's love is always exercised in infinite wisdom; while the events of to-day may seem to deny it, the unrolling eternity will demonstrate the truth, "that all things work together for good to them that love God." That is right, therefore, which the result—the final result—demonstrates to be best. Of course, we may not, cannot, wait till the dawn of eternity to determine what is best by results. Our limited knowledge even then could not decide. But we may do what is infinitely better, trust God, who knows the end from the beginning, who sees the results of all things, who has proved his love to us by withholding not his Son to die that we might live, and who teaches us by demonstration, in the shorter lessons of nature and experience, that what is of love is eternal, and will never die; that love ever works for our best and highest good. Love is therefore righteousness, or right doing. It lives and must act. It finds its very highest pleasure in action. Says our Saviour, "If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments." John 14:15, R. V. And again: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5:3. And such was God's love for his creatures. He loved them, sinners though they were; and because he loved them, he gave his Son, and Christ gave himself, to die for them. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10. Love is God's glory, and in its exercise he was simply acting out his character, which is righteous. John 17:25. And he who in love to God keeps his commandments does righteousness. Ps. 119:176. Selfishness, on the other hand, seeks only the good of the one individual. Its object is the ego, the great I. Its language is: "How may I be made happy? How may I be exalted? How may I be profited? How may I win honor and homage from others?" He who is ruled by self sees no world beyond his own little sphere, knows no interests but what are subservient to his own interests, recognizes no standard but his own standard, and desires others to recognize him too. Such principles may seem to be successful for a time, so far as the one is concerned; but in the end it will ever work for the greatest evil and misery of all concerned, and will eventually prove the destruction of him who persistently cherishes it. He who is selfish cares not for others, but for self; and if he cares for others at all, it is for the purpose of self-aggrandizement, or because he can do it just as well as not without interfering with his own interests. It is easily seen just what results would arise if all in a community possessed such a spirit uncontrolled by love. Envy, pride, hatred, evil surmising, debate, malignity, slander, murder, would run riot till all save one would be destroyed, or the weaker would be slaves to a cruel tyrant, who would reign till death, or till overthrown by a selfish one stronger. Thus, if selfishness ruled in a community, it would prove the destruction of those over whom it ruled. Selfishness would, therefore, be the opposite of righteousness, or sin. Sin is missing the mark; the mark is God's glory, and God's glory is his character, his righteousness, his love. But not so with love. If every soul in a community thought only of doing good to every other soul, every soul would be built up and supported by the mutual efforts of all the others. Such a community could never be destroyed. Its strength would be not in any one, but in all.18These two principles of love, or righteousness, and selfishness, or sin, are clearly set forth in the word of God. They are manifested in two opposite characters which control the universe, in one way or the other, to-day. We print them in opposite columns:— "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being originally in the form of God, thought it not a thing to be grasped to be on an equality with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him." Phil. 2:5-9, R. V., margin. "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer [margin, 'daystar'], son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! for thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High, yet shalt thou be brought down to hell." Isa. 14:12-15. Christ was in the form of God. He proceeded and came forth from God. John 8:42. He was of one nature and substance with his Father. Heb. 1:3; John 1:1-3. His angel, or messenger name, Michael ("who is like God"), shows the same thing. Certainly, if any being in all this universe had any right to be ambitious to be like God, it was he "who is like God." If anyone among that glorious throng had a right to aspire to the throne of universal dominion, it was the Son of God. But did he?—No; this was not his mind. He emptied himself. But of what? Was he not good in every respect?—Most certainly. In himself he possessed all power and wisdom, and dwelt in the presence of ineffable glory. But Love, Infinite Love, could not be happy while his creatures were in misery, without doing all that omniscience and omnipotence could do to save them. Christ "emptied himself." Of what? Of what only can anyone empty himself?—Manifestly of himself. And this Christ did; he emptied himself of himself. He laid the foundation of the great scheme of salvation, in which nothing of self should find place. He stepped down from his position in glory; he laid aside his royal majesty; he took upon himself the form of a servant and became the messenger of the covenant from Jehovah to his people; he was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he came at last to the climax of his sacrifice, and died upon the cross. His self-denial, his sacrifice, was not made at the cross; it was there that the climax of all was reached. The whole sacrifice was made in purpose in the very beginning; the sacrifice on the cross was but the carrying out of the mind which formed the purpose. Christ emptied himself, and God came in by his Spirit and filled him with his fullness. And so we read that "God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." John 3:34. And, again, "For it pleased the Father that in him [Christ] should all fullness dwell." Col. 1:19. Christ having emptied himself, he left room for God to come in; and by this very means God could and did manifest himself—his infinite love, wisdom, and power—to the world. For it was not self which Christ came to manifest, but God; and he emptied himself that he might reveal God's love to the world. It could be said before Christ came, "God loves the world, God loves sinners," but when Christ came and toiled and suffered and died, he said to the world, "See how much God loves you." It was with this in view that the apostle thus wrote:— "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." 2 Cor. 5:18, 19. And all through the teaching of Christ the same great truth is presented again and again, that Christ did not represent himself, but that self was wholly eliminated, and the Father's character was manifested. In seeing Christ, the love, mercy, and wisdom manifested by him, they saw the Father; in seeing his works of power and compassion, in listening to his wondrous teaching, men were listening to the Father. All this is abundantly proved by the following:— "Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." John 14:8-10. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do." John 5:19. "My doctrine [teaching] is not mine, but his that sent me." John 7:16. "I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things." John 8:28. In his teachings, his works, his character, Christ showed forth the Father, and he showed forth the Father only because he had emptied himself and the Father filled him. In fact, Christ was the only one who could reveal God; for "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." Matt. 11:27. All the blessed fruits of Christ's teachings spring from the unselfishness which was in him. But in the case of Lucifer what a different picture is presented. However, a consideration of this we must defer till next week.