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The Soul Re-Created in the Image of God, February 11
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
John 6:63
.
The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other in the whole
book clusters, is the redemption plan, the restoration in the human soul of the image
of God. From the first intimation of hope in the sentence pronounced in Eden to
that last glorious promise of the Revelation, “They shall see his face; and his name
shall be in their foreheads” (
Revelation 22:4
), the burden of every book and every
passage of the Bible is the unfolding of this wondrous theme—man’s uplifting—the
power of God, “which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
He who grasps this thought has before him an infinite field for study. He has the
key that will unlock to him the whole treasure house of God’s Word....
The creative energy that called the worlds into existence is in the Word of God.
This word imparts power; it begets life. Every command is a promise; accepted
by the will, received into the soul, it brings with it the life of the Infinite One. It
transforms the nature, and re-creates the soul in the image of God.
The life thus imparted is in like manner sustained. “By every word that pro-
ceedeth out of the mouth of God” shall man live.
The mind, the soul, is built up by that upon which it feeds; and it rests with us to
determine upon what it shall be fed. It is within the power of everyone to choose
the topics that shall occupy the thoughts and shape the character....
With the Word of God in his hands, every human being, wherever his lot in life
may be cast, may have such companionship as he shall choose. In its pages he may
hold converse with the noblest and best of the human race, and may listen to the
voice of the Eternal as He speaks with men. As he studies and meditates upon the
themes into which “the angels desire to look,” he may have their companionship.
He may follow the steps of the heavenly Teacher, and listen to His words as when
He taught on mountain and plain and sea.
He may dwell in this world in the atmosphere of heaven, imparting to earth’s
sorrowing and tempted ones thoughts of hope and longings for holiness; himself
coming closer and still closer into fellowship with the Unseen; like him of old who
walked with God, drawing nearer and nearer the threshold of the eternal world, until
the portals shall open, and he shall enter there. He will find himself no stranger.
The voices that will greet him are the voices of the holy ones, who, unseen, were on
earth his companions—voices that here he learned to distinguish and to love. He
who through the Word of God has lived in fellowship with heaven will find himself
at home in heaven’s companionship (
Education, 125-127
).
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