Christ Before The Cross

Christ Before The Cross CHRIST BEFORE THE CROSS
By JOHN T. HINDS A famous bridge builder, Ralph Mojeski, said- ‘‘There is in every problem what may be called a cen­tral them or principle. Unless this theme or principle is grasped clearly at the start, every subsequent attempt to solve the details of the problem is undertaken blindly. You may indeed happen to stumble on the solution. But a man works to a purpose only when he thoroughly un­derstands what his job is all about, and why he is do­ing it at all.”

There is not only a central theme or principle but a central character. Beyond question, if we accept God as the Father of us all, Christ is the great central char­acter of all true religion. One evidence of his great­ness and superiority is that like his illustrious proto­type, Melchizedek, he stands alone with no predecessor or successor in his work or position. Of the levitical priests it is said that by reason of death they were hin­dered from continuing, but of Christ it is said, “because he abideth forever, hath his priesthood unchangeable,” and that “he ever liveth to make intercession” for us. The vital nature of Christ’s work is plainly set forth in such statements as these: “For except ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” (John 8:24). “I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from mb ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5). “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.” (John 15:10). No further evidence is necessary to prove that all men must honor Christ by obeying him if they have any promise of salvation. In further explanation of the universal nature of Christ’s work we have this from Paul: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yea and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8). Christ has not always been in the same form, neither have divine covenants been the same, but he has always been the same in his oneness with the Father and the basic principles of his work have been the same. There has never been any way to serve God and be saved except to believe and obey his word. In whatever way Christ was related to any divine covenant to that extent we obey or disobey him by accepting or reject­ing that covenant. In some way, even if inexplicable to us, Christ was in the development of God’s plan for the salvation of the world. This will appear as vre pro­ceed. It is his work preceding his death upon the cross that you are now asked to consider. Logically it falls under three general heads.

Christ with the Father.
Just how the only begotten Son of God could be with the Father before he was made flesh and dwelt among men is, of course, beyond human wisdom to explain; but that does not render the fact less true. If man could solve all the secrets of divinity, he would become God himself. Moses declared that “The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but things that are revealed belong to us and unto our children forever.” (Deuteronomy 29:29). The question of Christ with the Father in the begin­ning is a matter plainly asserted by the divine record John, in the opening of his gospel, says: “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. ’ ’ In the first verses of his first letter the same apostle says of the word of life, which was from the be­ginning, which was with the Father, it was manifested unto us. The connection leaves no room to doubt that he means the same Word referred to in his gospel. That he means Christ is also beyond question.

John not only states the fact that Christ was with the Father in the beginning, but also of his part in the creation itself. He says: “ All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made.” Paul agrees with John when he refers to 'Christ and says, “for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or prin­cipalities or powers all things have been created through him, and unto him.” (Colossians 1:16). In Hebrews 1:2 Paul, speaking of Christ, says, “through whom he made the worlds.” In verse 10 it is said of him, “Thou Lord, in the beginning, didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands.” As Christ was in God in some sense in the creation, the first sin was not only against God but against Christ as well. Every sin since has in the same manner been against Christ. But if Christ was in the creation, we are forced to accept the Mosaic account of it. Jesus himself said: “For if ye believed Moses, ye would be­lieve me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” (John 5:46-47). No clearer endorsement could be given the writ­ings of Moses. If the Mosaic account of creation were not true, it is unaccountable that Jesus did not expose his mistake regarding the origin of man. If Jesus en­dorsed his writings and did not know his record was a mistake, then the divinity of Jesus was of no value, which is just as fatal to the divine origin of the Bible as it is to the Sonship of Jesus. Any way you view it, there is no middle ground. It is either believe what the Bible says about the origin of man or be an Atheist. Evolution is out of the question. In fact, an evolution­ist must reject the Bible account, and therefore must be an iniidel. When one sees the engine with power enough to pull hundreds of tons of weight and move at the rate of fifty miles an hour promptly respond to the engineer’s touch as he applies the power, he knows that piece of machin­ery did not make itself. One who would so reason would be considered a simpleton. That this world or universe of worlds is a gigantic system working with mathemat­ical accuracy is too patent to be denied. The seasons, the tides, the daily revolution of the earth and its yearly circle are simple evidences of system that are clear to all. No scientific knowledge is necessary to appreciate these proofs. The occasional appearance of an eclipse, though at first thought an irregularity, furnishes no mean evidence of a world system. The total eclipse occurring in this country, January 24 . 1925, is a striking example. Ac­cording to reports, the darkness arrived at various points only three to five seconds behind the schedule fixed by astronomers. We are amazed at the scientific skill that can so accurately forecast such phenomenal events. They must have some reliable data or it could not be done. If there were ,not a world system, their forecasts would be the wildest kind of guesses. As wonderful as this scientific knowledge seems, it is less wonderful than the system of worlds that really does these phenomenal things. Are such wonders just a “happen so?” If there were no data upon which these marvels could he forecasted, then we might conclude that they are only “happen so’s,” maybe just a broken cog in the wheels of the universe. But such accuracy in figuring it all out in advance proves that the planets in their movements, like well-timed wheels in a machine, fit and mesh with mathematical precision. Evidently such systems do not make themselves. Evolution does not and cannot give a satisfactory solution to these prob­lems. As each perfectly working system implies a sys­tematize^ the Bible story of creation alone gives the solution.

Christ in the Types of the Old World
That the Jewish covenant contained many things of a typical nature is attested by plain statements in Cod’s word. Paul says that the law had a “shadow of the good things to come.” After describing the Jewish tab­ernacle he declared it to be “a figure for the time pres­ent.” In the same connection he teaches that it was a figure while the first tabernacle was standing, that is, while the old tabernacle service was in force as the way to worship God. But the types began earlier than that. When the Is­raelites killed and ate the passover lamb on the night they left Egypt, they saw in it no more than God’s way to save their first born children. It was a solemn night and one the Jew has never forgotten, but he was only think­ing of saving his family and escaping from a cruel bond­age. As the centuries passed his children no doubt listened to the relating of the story with the same interest, but saw in it no more than their ancestors who were present when the strange event occurred. But when Paul centuries later said, “For our passover also hath been sacrificed, even Jesus,” we see in the passover lamb, what the Jew, as a Jew, never saw. We see and know that the lamb represented in type our Lord. The Jew was therefore in that service honoring Christ, though he never understood it.

Before they reached Mount Sinai, the manna began to fall. They were amazed, I am sure, at this strange provision for their temporal needs, but probably saw nothing more in it than a divine protection from phys­ical death from starvation. But when Jesus said he would give the true bread from heaven that would lead to eternal life, contrasting himself, as the bread of life, with the manna that fell in the wilderness, we know that manna meant more than those who saw it fall understood. In coming directly from heaven without man's power it becomes one of the most beautiful types of Christ. The Jew did not see it, but he was eating in anticipation of the Christ to come.

Just before reaching the mount the people began to murmur for water. The Lord instructed Moses to smite a rock and supply water for the needs of the people. This was done and the murmuring multitudes were sat­isfied because their immediate temporal need was met. But this was all they were able to see at the time. But Paul again gives us the light when he says they “did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ.” How beautiful and significent the incident— to us since we know its typical meaning! As already stated, the tabernacle was, in its furniture, and service, typical of the plan of salvation through Christ. Plainly we are told that the death of Christ was “for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant. ” (Hebrews 9:15). The Jews then in type were serving Christ, and their ultimate salvation depends upon him, though they only saw the shadow. We have the substance, the reality.

Paul describes the journey from Egypt to Canaan and the loss of the disobedient. He says these things were written for our admonition. Since Christ was in the old covenant through its types, those who disobeyed were disobedient to Christ. Those who perverted the taber­nacle service, as did Nadab and Abihu, were likewise dis­obedient to Christ; for he was in the types. They mixed with idolaters—a plain violation of God’s command— which sin was described by God’s prophets as spiritual harlotry. For this and other sins their kingdom was divided, ten of the tribes lost their identity and the king­dom of Judah was punished with seventy years of cap­tivity. The lesson I wish us to get is this: If God severely punished his people who sinned in the age when they had only the types of Christ, what will he do for us who disobey Christ after he has been manifested in the flesh? If Nadab and Abihu, with only a typical service to render, were struck dead for perverting the worship of God which had been revealed, what may we expect if we tamper with the worship of the church? If to dishonor Christ in types was so serious, it cannot be less so in the realities of the worship which he has pre­scribed for his church. Introducing instrumental music in the worship, and human societies in the work of the church, is apparently a far greater perversion of worship than getting fire to burn incense from a different place than the altar. Those who disobeyed Moses’ law died without mercy, we are told by Paul. The examples are in the Old Testament record. May we learn from them neither to reject Christ nor pervert his worship!

Christ in the Flesh.
In order that Christ might be manifested to mankind he had to appear in human form. The blood of bulls and goats could not take away sins. Christ must be­come the sacrifice that would be effective; hence, it was necessary that he have a body. For this reason we are told that he took the: form of man; that he was born of woman. But we are told that he was “the effulgence of his [God’s] glory, and the very image of his substance.” "We may never know while in the flesh what this means, but it shows that while Jesus dwelt in this world he was also divine—not just a man. As man was made a “little lower than the angels” and Christ took the form of man, he was also, by virtue of his human body, a little lower than the angels; but by reason of being the image of God he became “so much better than the an­gels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they.” A human body so that he might die for man­kind ; the divine image so that he might save the world.

During the period of his public ministry he went about blessing suffering humanity, giving the most un­mistakable evidences of his divinity. In his parables and wonderful discourses he gave the world some of its most simple and profound truths, laying down the great fundamental principle of his kingdom that was soon to be set up.

"While Jesus came to establish a new covenant, which in the language of the prophet Jeremiah was- not to be like the old, yet he scrupulously obeyed the requirements of the old till his death. lie said of the law, “I came not to destroy, but to fulfill.” But Paul in referring to the law said that Christ took it out of the way, “nailing it to his cross. ” • Up to the time of his death he strictly observed the law’s commands. When he cured a man of his leprosy he gave this command: “Go show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing the tilings which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.” (Mark 1:44). He taught thus: “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe.” (Matthew 23:2-3). On the night of his betrayal and arrest he had just kept the sacred Jewish passover supper with his disciples. The law was then in force and he honored it. In fact he had said in the sermon on the mount, “Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all bo accomplished.” He also said that those who broke the least of his com­mandments or taught others to do so, should be called least in the kingdom of heaven. If it were so sinful to break the Mosaic law when in force, it cannot be less to break the law of Christ now in force. If the Savior must obey the law then, we must obey the gospel now. The last words of our Lord on the cross were, “It is finished.” As Jesus expired the sun went down on the Jewish world—the last Lamb had bled with God’s ap­proval. The divine purpose lay hidden in Joseph’s new tomb till the third morning when through the resurrec­tion we find the full meaning of the prophet’s words: “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” May God’s blessings rest upon us as his approval rested upon the Lord!