p. 887 | THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST; WHAT IS IN IT?

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 3, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 56.

THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST; WHAT IS IN IT?

By G. D. Ballou

BY ELDER G. D. BALLOU.

1. CHRIST as the Son of God, Creator of all things "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." Col. 1:13-16.

2. Christ as the Upholder of all things in nature, for "he is before all things, and by him all things consist," hold together, and are upheld by the word of his power. Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3.

3. Christ the Agent in redemption, carrying on the work of recreation in the hearts of men in the old dispensation (Ps. 51:10; Eze. 36:26, 27), furnishing the bread and water of life to Israel in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:3, 4), giving the word of the Old Testament by his Spirit, as the Lord God of the holy prophets (1 Peter 1:10-12 and Rev. 22:6 in connection with 22:16).

4. Christ as the Son of Man, Babe of Bethlehem, Carpenter of Nazareth, Prophet of Galilee, working miracles, by divine creative power, on the bodies of men (Luke 5:12-14; John 11), by the same word of his power which spake the world into existence, and upholds all things (Ps. 33:6-9; Matt. 28:18), placing a living example of God's requirements before the degenerate men of the new dispensation (John 15:10), and speaking new life into sin-sick souls by assuring them of forgiveness (Luke 7:47, 48).

5. Christ as the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world, the Sacrifice for all human guilt (Heb. 2:9), dying, as the last sinner will finally die, in the agony of despair, meeting the full claims of the divine law upon the sinner (Mark 15:34), passing through death in order that he might unlock the prison house of Satan (Rev. 1:18), destroy him that had the power of death, and "deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb. 2:14).

6. Christ as the triumphant Conqueror, risen from death, that we may be created new creatures in him (2 Cor. 5:17), and rise triumphant with him to obtain the life everlasting, with eternal glory in his kingdom (John 14:19; 2 Tim. 2:10).

7. Christ as the glorified One, returned to the heavenly mansions to minister as a priest of the sanctuary, which the Lord pitched and not man (Heb. 8:1, 2), where he ever liveth to intercede for us (Heb. 7:25), so that we may come boldly to a throne of grace and obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:15, 16).

8. Christ as the coming King, coming to reward his saints and punish the wicked (Rev. 22:12), cleanse the earth of the defilement of sin, and prepare it for the abode of his people (2 Peter 3; Revelation 21, 22; see especially chapter 21:5, 24), coming in power and great glory (Luke 21:27), not as the Man of Nazareth, but as King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16), to reign eternally (Luke 1:33), over the purchase of his blood, the saved ones of Adam's lost race, in the earth made new, redeemed for them from the usurpation of Satan.

Thus briefly do we catch a partial glimpse of what is in the gospel of Christ. And, dear fellow-laborer in the ministry, do not think when you have dwelt, even with eloquence and originality, on Jesus as the Prophet of Nazareth and Galilee, and his death of shame, and even his resurrection, that you have preached a whole gospel. The world has listened for years to dull platitudes and commonplace preaching on the sacrifice of Christ, until they are weary with the repetitions. Give them the rest of the gospel. It will cost you prayerful study, but it will rouse your hearers to a new growth in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Do it and find a blessing for your own soul.