THE CHARACTER OF GOD REVEALED IN JESUS CHRIST.
ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES. |
I. Humility. | Note 1, and the Scripture references within the note. Note 2 and the Scriptures quoted. Note 3, and citations in the note. Notes 4 and 5. Note 6, and citations of Scriptures in the notes. Note 7. Note 8, and Lectures on Faith, Doc. & Cov., Lecture III. |
II. Obedience. | |
III. Compassion and Impartiality of God: 1. Ministration to Rich and Poor Alike; 2. His Treatment of Sinners; 3. His Mercy and Toleration. | |
IV. His Love Manifested in the Atonement. | |
V. The Justice and Severity of God. | |
VI. The Revelation of God Complete in Jesus Christ. |
SPECIAL TEXT: "God was manifested on the flesh (margin), justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." I Tim. ii:16.
NOTES.
The notes of this Lesson are taken from two discourses by the author: one the "Mormon Doctrine of Deity"; the other "Jesus Christ, the Revelation of God," hence the personal character and direct address style that appears in the notes.
1. The Humility of God Manifested Through Jesus Christ: First of all, I call your attention to the deep, the profound humility of God; His great condescension in living among men, as He did, for their instruction; and from that circumstance would draw to your attention the lesson of humility His life teaches. The heights of glory to which Jesus had attained, the power and dignity of His position in the heavenly kingdom, of course, cannot be comprehended by us in our present finite condition, and with our limited knowledge of things. Great and exalted as we might think Him to be, you may depend upon it He was exalted infinitely higher than that. Then when you think of one living and moving in the courts of heaven and mingling in the councils of the Gods, consenting to come down to this earth and pass through the conditions that Jesus passed through, do you not marvel at His humility? To be born under such circumstances as would enable wicked man to cast reflection upon His very birth! (St. John viii:41.) To be born, too, in a stable, and to be cradled in a manger! To grow up a peasant, with a peasant's labor to perform, and a peasant's fare to subsist upon from childhood to manhood—do you not marvel at this great humility, at this great condescension of God? And by His humility, are not men taught humility, as they are taught it by no other circumstance whatsoever?
2. The Obedience of God Manifested Through Jesus Christ: Of His youth, we know but little; but the little we know reveals a shining quality, either for God or man to possess. You must remember, in all our consideration of the life of Messiah, one great truth, which comes to us from the scriptures in an incidental way, viz., that "In His humiliation His judgment was taken from Him." (Acts viii:33.) As the veil is drawn over our minds when our pre-existent spirits come into this world and we forget the Father and mother of the spirit world, and the positions we occupied there, so, too, with Jesus; in His humiliation His judgment was taken from Him; He knew not at first whence He came, nor the dignity of His station in heaven. It was only by degrees that He felt the Spirit working within Him and gradually unfolding the sublime idea that He was peculiarly and pre-eminently the Son of God in very deed. When at Jerusalem, about twelve years of age, He began to be conscious of the suggestions of the Spirit within Him, that he had a work to do in the world for His Father, and hence allowed the caravan with which He had come from distant Galilee to Judea to start upon the return journey without Him, much to the perplexity and sorrow of His supposed father, Joseph, and His mother, Mary. They missing Him, returned and found Him in the temple disputing with the doctors and lawyers. They reprimanded Him, as they would reprimand any boy guilty of similar conduct; but when they reproved Him, He answered, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business." He began to understand His mission. The spirit promptings were at work in His soul. And while ultimately the spirit was given without measure unto Him (John iii:24), it was not so at first, for "He received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace." (Doc. and Cov., Sec. 93: 12, 13.) The child Jesus "grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. * * * And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." (Luke ii; 40, 52.) But notwithstanding, Jesus, at twelve years of age, and earlier, began to experience the operations of the Spirit calling His soul to His mission, still we are told that He returned with His parents to Galilee, "and was subject unto them," He who had given the law, "Honor thy father and thy mother," in this act exemplified the honor that He entertained for that law, in His practice of it.
We next see Him coming to the banks of Jordan, where a prophet of God is baptizing—one of those strange, eccentric men, who lived for the most part in the wilderness, whose food was locusts and wild honey, and whose clothing was the skins of wild animals; and yet through all this eccentricity, through all this oddness of character, shone the divine powers of God in this messenger, and multitudes of people were gathered by his preaching to the Jordan, where he baptized them for the remission of their sins. By and by, Jesus comes and demands baptism at this man's hands; and as he enters the water, the prophet stays Him, and says, "I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?" Already, doubtless, shining through this "expression of God,"—this Jesus of Nazareth,—the servant of the Lord, in attune, through the spirit of inspiration, with the very God who was approaching Him, felt the divinity of His presence, and would fain acknowledge His own inferiority. What was the reply? "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." He Who had said that men must be baptized for the remission of sins, though Himself sinless, would honor that law by obedience unto it. Thus we learn that God not only gives law, but He obeys law.
3. The Compassion and Impartiality of God: Jesus was possessed of infinite compassion. The incidents that I shall relate to you, in support of this statement, are in quotations that are free, and yet, I think, justified by the spirit of the several occasions. After all, it is the spirit that giveth life; the letter killeth; so let us look at these things in the spirit of them. You see Him one day with some of His disciples approaching the little village of Nain, "His raiment dusty and His sandals worn." As they draw near, the gate is opened and a funeral procession marches out. The mother of the young man whose body is being borne by his neighbors to the final resting place, walks feebly and weeping beside the bier, desolate in her loneliness. As Jesus saw that poor woman in the midst of her sorrow, His heart—I pray you think of it, for we are speaking of God when we speak of Jesus Christ, the Creator of heaven and earth—the heart of God is moved with compassion towards this woman. He stops the bier, takes the dead by the hand, and says, "Young man, I say unto you, Arise." And he arose. Jesus Christ gave this woman back her son. It was an act of beautiful compassion, one of many, which illustrates how tender and sympathetic is the heart of our God!
Nor was His ministry confined exclusively to the poor, to the widows, to the lonely. He despised not rulers, nor the rich, because they were rich; but was willing, if only they could put themselves in a position to receive the manifestations of His compassion—He was willing to minister unto them. This is proved in the case of Jairus, one of the rulers of the Jews, and a man of great wealth. You will remember that he came running to the Master with his sorrow—his daughter was lying dangerously ill at home; and such was his faith that if the Master would but speak the word, she would be healed. While yet he spake, one of his servants came running, saying, "Thy daughter is dead: trouble not the Master." But Jesus heeded not the word of the servant. He had heard Jairus' cry of faith, and responsive to that faith-cry, he made His way to the home of the ruler, put out those who were unbelieving, and taking the maid by the hand, gave her back to the gladness of life, into the arms of the joyous father. The faith of that rich man was as great as the faith of any we meet with in all the ministry of the Lord. So, wealth is not necessarily a hindrance to faith. God is as close to the faithful rich as to the faithful poor, and as ready to grant them his mercy, according to their faith. I sometimes think we make a mistake when we would flout those who are rich and put them outside the pale of God's mercy and compassion because of what may be nothing but a prejudice—which in reality may be envy—of the rich.