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His Crowning Work, August 6
The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.
Exodus 34:6,
7
.
Those who receive Christ by faith will be looked upon by Heaven as precious
pearls for which the merchant man has paid an infinite price, and the human agents
who find Christ will realize that they have found a heavenly treasure. They will
be anxious to sell all that they have in order to buy the field which contains this
treasure. As they contemplate the love of God, as the plan of salvation opens to
their view, as the mystery of Christ’s condescension becomes plainer to them, as
they see the sacrifice that He made for them, they count nothing too dear to give up
for His sake....
The Lord God of heaven collected all the riches of the universe, and laid them
down in order to purchase the pearl of lost humanity. The Father gave all His divine
resources into the hands of Christ in order that the richest blessings of heaven might
be poured out upon a fallen race. God could not express greater love than He has
expressed in giving the Son of His bosom to this world. This gift was given to man
to convince him that God had left nothing undone that He could do, that there is
nothing held in reserve, but that all heaven has been poured out in one vast gift.
The present and eternal happiness of man consists in receiving God’s love, and
in keeping God’s commandments. Christ is our Redeemer. He is the Word that
became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the fountain in which we may be washed
and cleansed from all impurity. He is the costly sacrifice that has been given for the
reconciliation of man. The universe of heaven, the worlds unfallen, the fallen world,
and the confederacy of evil cannot say that God could do more for the salvation
of man than He has done. Never can His gift be surpassed, never can He display
a richer depth of love. Calvary represents His crowning work. It is man’s part to
respond to His great love, by appropriating the great salvation the blessing of the
Lord has made it possible for man to obtain. We are to show our appreciation of the
wonderful gift of God by becoming partakers of the divine nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust. We are to show our gratitude to
God by becoming a coworker with Jesus Christ, by representing His character to
the world.... The Lord looks upon souls as precious pearls....
As they lift Christ up, their eyes are anointed so that they can distinguish the
relationship of Christ to the human family. They become wise, and in meekness and
lowliness, as opportunity opens, they present to tried and tempted souls the sublime
reality of the saving grace of God (
Youth’s Instructor, October 17, 1895
).
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