Some Essentials of Religion

by Unknown

FUNDAMENTAL THOUGHTS ABOUT CHRIST

By The Rt. Rev. E. J. Bidwell, D.D., D.C.L., Bishop of Ontario.

TWELVE FUNDAMENTAL THOUGHTS ABOUT CHRIST BRIEFLY SUMMARIZED.

(I) Christ's Religion is a "Revealed" Religion.

(II) Jesus Christ the Son of God eternally existing in the Godhead became Man for our salvation. This is called the Incarnation.

(III) He was born of a Virgin.

(IV) The Gospels ascribe to Christ not Divinity only, but Deity.

(V) He is also true Man, and Sinless.

(VI) When He spoke God spoke.

(VII) He is the Saviour of the world.

VIII) He rose from the dead.

(IX) He founded a Church.

(X) He is the Mediator between man and God.

(XI) He is with His Church and her members to the end of the world.

(XII) He is the Light of the world and the Lord of Life.

CHRISTIANITY A REVEALED RELIGION

Christianity, of which Jesus Christ is the Founder and Divine Head, is essentially a "revealed" religion. It is not, that is to say, the result and culmination of the progress of evolution in man's beliefs about God. Nor was it the outcome of an impact made upon Judaism by Hellenistic thought. It is, and has always from the first claimed to be, a direct revelation by God of Himself to man through Jesus Christ.

To say this does not mean however that the world was not in any way prepared for the coming of Christ. On the contrary, the traces of that preparation are clear throughout the Old Testament, from beginning to end. If the Old Testament is read in the light of a progressive revelation of God's Nature and Being, and His relations with mankind, its difficulties disappear, and it is seen to point clearly to the full revelation of God in Jesus Christ. But the method is that of God pointing out the way to man, not of man's discovery of it for himself. When almost the whole of the then known world had been brought under the sway of the great Roman Empire, the time was ripe for a World Religion. So "when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son" to bring the message of salvation to the whole of mankind.

THE PRE-EXISTENCE AND INCARNATION OF CHRIST.

The Christian Creeds make it clear that the coming of Christ was the fulfilment of God's plan when they state, as does the Nicene Creed, that our belief is in "One Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, Begotten of His Father before all worlds, ... Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, And was made man". The Church plainly teaches the belief in the pre-existence of the divine person from the beginning, as alone meeting all the facts, and has steadily rejected every other belief, in spite of all difficulties. That Jesus was man was perfectly clear: His Godhead was much more open to attack. So the belief that in Jesus Christ God became man is put in the very forefront of our confession of faith.

THE VIRGIN BIRTH.

The belief that Jesus Christ was born of a pure Virgin is entirely in keeping with the belief in His pre-existence as God. There is no space to set forth here the weighty reasons for the importance of this belief. It is sufficient to say that it is inseparably interwoven with the whole Christian conception of His Incarnation, namely, that in Jesus Christ we have perfect God and perfect Man. The Virgin-Birth keeps the balance even between His Deity and His humanity. This article of the Creed, which is based on the direct statement of two of the four Gospels, is therefore most helpful in enabling us to understand that in Jesus Christ we behold Divine and human nature joined in perfect unison, He being "God of the substance (essential nature) of the Father, begotten before the worlds, and Man of the substance (essential nature) of His Mother, born in the world".

GOSPEL PROOFS OF THE GODHEAD OF CHRIST.

The Credal statement that "Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is both God and Man; yet He is not two but One Christ" is not an arbitrary dogma, but is based upon the facts as set forth in the Gospels. There are our Lord's own direct statements as reported in St. John's Gospel; ("I and My Father are One". St John X. 30. "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father" St. John XIV. 9.) There is also His reply to the question of the High Priest at His trial, reported by St. Matthew (XXVI. 63, 64.), St. Mark (XIV. 61, 62.), St. Luke (XXII. 70.), in which our Lord distinctly claimed Divine Sonship, and that in the sense stated in the Creeds, as is shown by the fact that He was at once adjudged to be guilty of death for blasphemy, which would not have been the case had not His claim amounted in the mind of His judges to that of equality with God. Passing for the moment Peter's confession of faith at Caesarea Philippi (St. Matt. XVI. 16) there are certain inevitable inferences establishing the belief that in Christ God became Man which are drawn from His life and teaching while on earth. Some of the most salient of these are;—

1. He invariably speaks to men about God not as one whose thoughts are the outcome of even the deepest and most perfect spiritual insight a man could possess, but as one who had absolute knowledge. We feel instinctively that it is God who is speaking to us about God.

2. Next, he makes a claim upon men that no man, however perfect, ought to, or would dare, to make; a claim which men would strongly resent another man making on them. For He claims men body, soul, and spirit, and not only for time, but for eternity, and tells them that the acceptance or rejection of that claim will make all the difference to their eternal destiny (e.g. St. Matt. X. 32). And He could only make this claim as One who speaks as God.

3. His teaching is delivered with an absolute authority that no man could possibly arrogate to himself. What he says is final; "I say unto you". Nor does he offer salvation through acceptance of a system or philosophy of life, but through Himself; "Come unto me"; "Follow me"; "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me"; and many similar statements abundantly illustrate this fact.

CHRIST'S MANHOOD. HIS SINLESSNESS.

We need no proof of the Manhood of Christ, as we can read about it for ourselves in the Gospels. We can see from the records therein contained that Christ was man like as we are. But there was one most important difference between us and Him. He is the only man who was ever free from the taint of sin. He alone could fearlessly ask the question:—"Which of you convicteth me of sin"?

But the fact that He was sinless does not imply that He was never tempted. Had He been entirely free from temptation, His manhood would have been so utterly different from ours that it would mean little or nothing to us. But He was not so free. This we have on His own authority, as the account of His temptation in the wilderness can only have come from Himself. And there can be no doubt that He was tempted not only on that occasion but constantly throughout His earthly life. As the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews says, "He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."

But the sinlessness of Christ does not if rightly understood repel us, or prove any barrier between us and Him. It is not an abstract belief about Him, but is exhibited in His life as a man, thereby showing of what manhood is capable if the human will be brought into perfect harmony with the divine will. We know ourselves that the closer we bring our will into agreement with the Divine will, the less liable we are to fall before temptation, and we also know that the nearer we draw to Christ, the easier it becomes to will for ourselves what God wills for us. The sinlessness of the Son, Whose will was always in perfect agreement with that of His Father, has always been the inspiration of the saint, and at the same time the great attraction of His personality to the sinner.

THE MISSION AND THE TEACHING OF CHRIST.

Jesus did not begin His public Mission till He was about thirty years of age. It opened with His baptism by John the Baptist, when by the descent of the Spirit of God upon Him and the voice from heaven He was marked out as the "Beloved Son", or as the Fourth Gospel represents John the Baptist saying, "The Son of God". Then followed a retirement of forty days into the wilderness, at the close of which He faced and overcame the severe temptations, which were all intended to debase and destroy the ideal embodied in His Mission as the Saviour not of His nation only but of the whole world, and the Founder of a spiritual Kingdom in the hearts of men. He soon gathered together disciples, of whom He selected twelve, whom He named Apostles, to be His constant and intimate companions. They did not fully realise either the mystery of His Person, or the object of His Mission, till after He rose from the dead. The conviction that a flash of spiritual insight brought to Peter at Caesarea Philippi (St. Matt. XVI. 16) was not sufficiently strong to prevent Him from publicly denying His Master at His trial.

It is difficult to summarise our Lord's teaching, for it cannot be reduced to any system. His Ministry was one of Reconciliation of man to God. As He said, He came to "seek and to save that which was lost". His Gospel is the "Gospel of the Kingdom of God", or "The Kingdom of heaven". This Kingdom was not relegated to the dim and distant future but was to be inaugurated here and now. In all those who should become members, a change of heart, a turning towards God instead of away from Him, and a complete readjustment of values were required.[[1]] He was Himself as it were the Door to this Kingdom, which could only be entered through Him. He asked men to make Him the centre of Life, instead of self. 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself.'

It should always be remembered, in studying the teaching of Christ, that it is based upon the fact that men have a spiritual as well as an intellectual and physical life; in other words, that they have a soul as well as a mind and body, and of these the life of the soul is the most important. He does not set forth an elaborate system of conduct, but rather enunciates certain great general principles on which the Christian life is to be based. These principles are to be applied to every human relationship. The teaching of Christ does not deal with particular circumstances, which vary from age to age, and differ in different countries in different races of men, but with human nature which is the same everywhere in its fundamental characteristics. Consequently His teaching is never out of date, but each generation can obtain the light it needs therefrom. It is not any flaw in the teaching of Christ, but the very imperfect application of it by men to the circumstances of life, which has from time to time caused the charge of failure to be brought against Christianity.

CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR—THE ATONEMENT.

The purpose of the Incarnation was not only to reveal to men through the Person and teaching of Jesus Christ the true Nature and Being of God. It was also to effect the reconciliation of men to God. To accomplish this purpose the great obstructing barrier of sin had to be broken down. The means chosen, in the infinite wisdom of God, was the Death of Jesus Christ upon the Cross. By this supreme act of self-sacrifice He opened to men the way of reconciliation to God, and became their Saviour from the dreadful power of sin, which by themselves they could not and cannot overcome. It should also be remembered that in speaking of this sublime subject we are dealing with a mystery, which it is beyond human power fully to explain, and that for that reason no really adequate theory of the Atonement can be set forth. But of the fact there is no doubt. The experience of countless men and women has proven conclusively the saving power of the Cross. When they have accepted that sacrifice made for the sins of men, and have taken Christ into their lives, the predominant feeling is that their sins have been forgiven. And the fact that it is through Christ's sacrifice, and not by anything they themselves have done or could do, that they have won pardon, so far from lowering their moral sense as might be expected, in that they are simply benefiting by the action of another, invariably on the contrary makes a profound impression on both life and character, enabling them through the resulting loyalty and devotion to Christ to reach a standard of life and conduct much beyond that which had previously satisfied them.

THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

That Christ rose from the dead on the third day has been from the very beginning the unquestioned belief of the Christian Church. It is the main theme of the first Christian sermon ever produced, that by Peter on the day of Pentecost. The Gospel records are perfectly plain as to the nature of Christ's Resurrection. He rose from the grave in His complete Personality, spiritual and bodily, though His risen body was free from certain limitations of pre-resurrection life. It was the same body as His disciples had known before His death. Of this He bade them assure themselves by actual contact. That He rose from the dead in His human as well as in His divine nature is the guarantee that we men can share in His resurrection. "Even so in Christ shall all be made alive".

As to the exact nature of our own Resurrection body, naturally it is not possible to speak with exact certainty. Yet it is certain that the Christian doctrine of the Resurrection of the dead means much more than the survival of the spirit. It teaches plainly and clearly a bodily resurrection. In the inspired statement of St. Paul, found in the familiar Lesson of our Burial Service, (1 Cor. xv. 20-end), we have four great facts set forth regarding the body which is laid in the grave, and what it will become at the Resurrection:

First: It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.

Secondly: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory.

Thirdly: It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

Fourthly: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

From this it is clear that our resurrection body will be such, as under the different conditions prevailing in the future life, will have every element of personality which we possess now, but in a glorified and spiritual form. "I" shall be "I" in the resurrection body, and recognisable as such to those who know and love me now. Beyond this we need not go. For it is God Who will raise us from the dead, and to Him nothing is impossible.

CHRIST AND His CHURCH.

Though the actual word "Church" is only found twice in the Gospels, on both occasions in St. Matthew (XVI. 18 and XVIII. 17)—that Christ meant His followers to form a visible Body with proper equipment for the task of evangelising the world after He had left it in the flesh is shown clearly by the following facts. In the first place He selected twelve men, whom He kept together, trained together by close and constant association with Himself, and to whom He gave the distinct commission not merely to preach the Gospel but to admit men into the fellowship by the Sacrament of Baptism. He also instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Communion which, though it had other purposes, was certainly intended to be, and was in fact, from the first, a bond of visible corporate union of all Christians. Also the early records of Christianity, as found in the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles, point conclusively to the conviction that in the foundation of the "Churches" in different places, and in the beginnings of very definite organization that are there seen, general instructions given by our Lord were being followed by the Apostles. It has been argued that, as the first Christians were convinced that our Lord's return would be quite soon, they would not have concerned themselves with the foundation of a Society intended to last for an indefinite future. It is quite true that they did believe that the second Advent of Christ would not be long deferred. This belief arose partly from a mistaken interpretation of certain sayings of our Lord, in which they confused His prediction of the fall of Jerusalem with the end of the present age, and partly from a very natural idea that His manifestation in Glory could not be separated by any length of time from His Resurrection and Ascension into heaven. The fact remains, however, that the foundations of the Christian Church were planned with the care and forethought that an age-long existence called for, with the result that, when the expectation of an almost immediate return was seen to be unfounded, the disappointment did not in the slightest degree weaken the faith or check the growth of the Church. The certainty that Christ would return remained, as it still remains, one of the component parts of the Christian's belief about Christ. When the time comes, He will most certainly return "to be our Judge", but as He Himself said "Of that day and hour knoweth no one ... neither the Son, but the Father only". It is not for us to speculate therefore about the exact date of Christ's return, but to endeavour to live in such a state of preparation that we should be ready to meet Him at whatever time His second Advent may occur. "Blessed are those servants whom their Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching."

Christ is the Head of His Church, which is therefore a Divine Institution, though it works in the world by human instruments. Into this Body we are admitted at Baptism, and by virtue of Christ's Headship become by our admission "Members of Christ, Children of God, and Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven".

CHRIST AS MEDIATOR

As Christ is God and also shares our humanity, and in virtue of His great Act of Reconciliation shown on the Cross, we rightly approach God the Father through Him. That is why we end our prayers with the words—"through Jesus Christ our Lord", and plead the Sacrifice of the Cross before the throne of God in the Blessed Sacrament. St. Paul (Romans VIII. 34.) speaks of Christ as making intercession for us at the right hand of God.

HIS CHURCH AND HER MEMBERS

Christ told His disciples that He would be with them always, even to the end of the Age. This promise He, as Head of His Church, fulfills, both to that Body at large, and to the individual members thereof by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit through which He works both in the heart of the individual and in the whole Body, to which He has given the charge of the Means of Grace. We also rightly believe that He is specially present in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, which He Himself instituted and ordained for His followers.

CHRIST THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD AND THE LORD OF LIFE

In closing this brief and therefore necessarily very imperfect summary of a vast subject, our final thought may well be that in union with Christ lies our supreme hope both in this world and in the world to come. For He is the "True Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world"; the only Guide Who will never lead us astray. And the closer we draw to Him in prayer and sacrament, worship and service, the more abundantly shall we recognize the truth of His own inspiring word; "He that believeth on the Son hath ever-lasting Life", for Christ is the Lord of all life, now and for ever.

[[1]] Note.—In Infant Baptism this requisition is made of the Sureties, or God-Parents; "which promise, they (i.e. the Infants) when they come to age themselves are bound to perform." (Catechism).

III.