Chapter 94—Exalts God’s Law
Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in
thine heart.
Job 22:22
.
Everything in nature, from the mote in the sunbeam to the worlds on
high, is under law. And upon obedience to these laws the order and harmony
of the natural world depend. So there are great principles of righteousness
to control the life of all intelligent beings, and upon conformity to these
principles the well-being of the universe depends. Before this earth was
called into being, God’s law existed. Angels are governed by its principles,
and in order for earth to be in harmony with heaven, man also must obey the
divine statutes. To man in Eden Christ made known the precepts of the law
“when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for
joy” (
Job 38:7
). The mission of Christ on earth was not to destroy the law,
but by His grace to bring man back to obedience to its precepts....
His mission was to “magnify the law, and make it honourable” (
Isaiah
42:21
). He was to show the spiritual nature of the law, to present its far-
reaching principles, and to make plain its eternal obligation.
The divine beauty of the character of Christ, of whom the noblest
and most gentle among men are but a faint reflection; ... Jesus, the
express image of the Father’s person, the effulgence of His glory; the self-
denying Redeemer, throughout His pilgrimage of love on earth was a living
representative of the character of the law of God. In His life it is made
manifest that heaven-born love, Christlike principles, underlie the laws of
eternal rectitude.
The Bible is God’s will expressed to man. It is the only perfect standard
of character, and marks out the duty of man in every circumstance of life.
We must so conduct our life work that we can go to God in confidence
and open our hearts before Him, telling Him our necessities and believing
that He hears and will give us grace and strength to carry out the principles
of the Word of God.
[103]
149