In His Image

by William Jennings Bryan

Paul, the great Apostle, tells us that Christ came to "bring life and immortality to light"—not immortality alone, but life also, and the word Life comes before the word Immortality.

But we have higher authority even than Paul. Christ, in explaining His mission, said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." It is to the more abundant life that Christ calls us. He was the master of mathematics, yet He used only addition and multiplication; subtraction has no place in His philosophy.

Let me illustrate, as I see it, the gift that Christ brings to man. Let us suppose that the people living in an agricultural section had, by intelligent cultivation, brought from the soil all that it could yield in material wealth. If a stranger came into the community and announced that the people, by sinking a shaft one hundred feet deep, could find a vein of coal, they would, if they believed the statement true, immediately sink a shaft; and, if they found the coal, they would add it to the wealth that they derived from the surface of the ground. They would be grateful to the person who told them of the additional riches which they possessed but of which they were not aware. They might not think to thank him immediately—they might be too busy acquiring money to express their gratitude. But after the man was dead, if not before, they would pause long enough to erect a monument to testify to their appreciation of the service he had rendered.

And, to complete the illustration, suppose after the people had adjusted themselves to the added income, another stranger appeared and assured them that, if they would sink the shaft one hundred feet deeper, they would find a vein of precious metals from which to draw money enough to purchase everything everywhere that the heart could wish. They would, if they gave credit to his statement, dig down and find gold and silver and, with still greater joy, add this new possession to those that they already had. Again they would be grateful. They might not express themselves during the benefactor's life, but after a while visitors to the community would see two monuments reared by grateful hands to those who had brought blessings to the neighbourhood.

This illustration presents the idea that I would impress upon you, namely, that Christ came to add to all the good things man possessed without requiring the surrender of any good thing in exchange. Long before the coming of Christ man had taken possession of the body and had gathered from it all the joys that the flesh can yield. Man had also explored the farther reaches of the mind and possessed himself of the delights of the intellect. Christ not only brought redemption but opened to man the vision of a spiritual world and showed him what infinite greatness the Father has placed within the reach of one made in His image, if he will only use the powers that he has—powers unknown to him until revealed by the Spirit.

Every human being is travelling every day in one direction or the other—either upward toward the highest plane that man can reach, or downward toward the lowest level to which man can fall; Christ gives us a vision of our possibilities and the strength to realize them.

If Christ had demanded something in return for the great gifts that He came to bestow man might be justified in asking for time for investigation. He would want to weigh the value of that which is offered against the value of that which must be given up. To do this intelligently would require a long period of training and ample time for comparison. The difficulty is even greater, for it would be impossible for one to weigh or calculate in advance the value of those things which are spiritually discerned. He could see the body; he could comprehend the mind; but he could not know the inestimable value of the things that Christ offers. But how can he hesitate when Christ demands not one single sacrifice, but gives, as the spring gives, desiring nothing in return except appreciation which it is pleasant to manifest?

The Saviour not only gives without reducing the other enjoyments, but His gift increases the value of that which we have. The body without control will exhaust itself—actually wear itself out in the very riot of pleasure. It is only when the body is the servant of a spiritual master that it can develop its greatest strength and prolong its vigour.

Two illustrations suggest themselves. The use of intoxicants has wrought disaster since man came upon the earth. Drink is not only ruinous when used continuously and in large quantities, but it is injurious even when used moderately. The life insurance tables show that a young man who, at the age of twenty-one, begins the regular use of intoxicating liquors, reduces his expectancy by more than ten per cent., or more than four years in forty. That is the average. In proportion as the body is left to its own control the appetite becomes destructive of the body itself as well as of the body's value to others. Just in proportion as the body is under spiritual control is it in position to enjoy itself and to extend the period of enjoyment.

Reference need hardly be made to the diseases that follow in the wake of immorality. The wages of sin is death—death to the body, death to the mind and death to the soul. Races have rotted and passed into oblivion because the body was put in command of the life. Both drunkenness and unchastity curse the generations that follow as well as the generations that are guilty—the sins of the fathers and mothers being visited upon the children and children's children.