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The Great Object of Life, June 9
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:14
.
When Adam came from the Creator’s hand, he bore, in his physical,
mental, and spiritual nature, a likeness to his Maker. “God created
man in his own image” (
Genesis 1:27
), and it was His purpose that the
longer man lived the more fully he should reveal this image—the more
fully reflect the glory of the Creator. All his faculties were capable of
development; their capacity and vigor were continually to increase. Vast
was the scope offered for their exercise, glorious the field opened to their
research. The mysteries of the visible universe—the “wondrous works
of him which is perfect in knowledge” (
Job 37:16
)—invited man’s study.
Face-to-face, heart-to-heart communion with his Maker was his high
privilege. Had he remained loyal to God, all this would have been his
forever. Throughout eternal ages he would have continued to gain new
treasures of knowledge, to discover fresh springs of happiness, and to
obtain clearer and yet clearer conceptions of the wisdom, the power,
and the love of God. More and more fully would he have ... reflected
the Creator’s glory.
But by disobedience this was forfeited. Through sin the divine
likeness was marred, and well-nigh obliterated. Man’s physical powers
were weakened, his mental capacity was lessened, his spiritual vision
dimmed. He had become subject to death. Yet the race was not left
without hope. By infinite love and mercy the plan of salvation had been
devised, and a life of probation was granted. To restore in man the
image of his Maker, to bring him back to the perfection in which he
was created, to promote the development of body, mind, and soul, that
the divine purpose in his creation might be realized—this was to be the
work of redemption. This is the object of education, the great object of
life.
To honor Christ, to become like Him, to work for Him, is ... life’s
highest ambition and its greatest joy.
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