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Fundamentals of Christian Education
He promised; “seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened
unto you.” “If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it. If ye love
Me, keep My commandments.” “He that hath My commandments, and
keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: ... and I will love him, and will
manifest Myself to him.” “As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved
you: continue ye in My love. If ye keep My commandments, ye shall
abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father’s commandments,
and abide in His love.”
These lessons Christ gave in His teaching, showing that the ritual
service was passing away, and possessed no virtue. “The hour cometh,”
He said, “and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father
in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God
is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and
in truth.” True circumcision is the worship of Christ in spirit and truth,
not in forms and ceremonies, with hypocritical pretense.
The deep necessity of man for a divine teacher was known in
heaven. The pity and sympathy of God were exercised in behalf of
man, fallen and bound to Satan’s chariot-car; and when the fullness
of time was come, He sent forth His Son. The One appointed in the
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counsels of heaven came to the earth as an instructor. He was no
less a being than the Creator of the world, the Son of the Infinite
God. The rich benevolence of God gave Him to our world; and to
meet the necessities of humanity, He took on Him human nature. To
the astonishment of the heavenly host, He walked this earth as the
Eternal Word. Fully prepared, He left the royal courts to come to a
world marred and polluted with sin. Mysteriously He allied Himself
to human nature. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”
God’s excess of goodness, benevolence, and love was a surprise to the
world, of grace which could be realized, but not told.
That Christ, during His childhood, should grow in wisdom, and
in favor with God and man, was not a matter of astonishment; for it
was according to the laws of His divine appointment that His talents
should develop, and His faculties strengthen by exercise. He sought
neither the schools of the prophets nor the learning received from
the rabbinical teachers; He needed not the education gained in these
schools; for God was His instructor. When in the presence of the
teachers and rulers, His questions were instructive lessons, and He
astonished the great men with His wisdom and deep penetration. His