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Nature in the Light of Calvary, August 29
Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this.
Matthew 13:27, 28
.
So far as possible, let the child from his earliest years be placed where this
wonderful lesson-book [of nature] shall be open before him. Let him behold the
glorious scenes painted by the great Master Artist upon the shifting canvas of the
heavens, let him become acquainted with the wonders of earth and sea, let him
watch the unfolding mysteries of the changing seasons, and, in all His works, learn
of the Creator.
In no other way can the foundation of a true education be so firmly and surely
laid. Yet even the child, as he comes in contact with nature, will see cause for
perplexity. He can not but recognize the working of antagonistic forces. It is here
that nature needs an interpreter. Looking upon the evil manifest even in the natural
world, all have the same sorrowful lesson to learn—“an enemy hath done this.”
Only in the light that shines from Calvary can nature’s teachings be read aright.
Through the story of Bethlehem and the cross let it be shown how good is to conquer
evil, and how every blessing that comes to us is a gift of redemption.
In brier and thorn, in thistle and tare, is represented the evil that blights and
mars. In singing bird and opening blossom, in rain and sunshine, in summer breeze
and gentle dew, in ten thousand objects in nature, from the oak of the forest to the
violet that blossoms at its root, is seen the love that restores. And nature still speaks
to us of God’s goodness.
“I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace,
and not of evil.” This the message that, in the light from the cross, may be read upon
all the face of nature. The heavens declare His glory, and the earth is full of His
riches (
Education, 100, 101
).
When Adam and Eve in Eden lost the garments of holiness, they lost the light
that had illuminated nature. No longer could they read it aright. But for those who
receive the light of the life of Christ, nature is again illuminated. In the light shining
from the cross, we can rightly interpret nature’s teaching.
He who has a knowledge of God and His Word has a settled faith in the divinity
of the Holy Scriptures. He does not test the Bible by man’s ideas of science. He
brings these ideas to the test of the unerring standard. He knows that God’s Word
is truth, and truth can never contradict itself.... The ways of God as revealed in the
natural world and in His dealings with man constitute a treasury from which every
student in the school of Christ may draw (
Testimonies for the Church 8:324, 325
).
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