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When consideration is given to man’s
~opportunities for research; how brief his
life; how limited his sphere of action;
how restricted his vision; how frequent
and how great the errors in his conclu-
sions, especially as concerns the events
thought to antedate Bible history; how
often the supposed deductions of science
are revised or cast aside ; with what read-
iness the assumed period of the earth’s
development is from time to time in-
creased or diminished by millions of
years; and how the theories advanced by
different scientists conflict with one an-
other,— considering all this, shall we,
for the privilege of tracing our descent
from germs and mollusks and apes, con-
sent to cast away that statement of Holy
Writ, so grand in its simplicity, “ God
created man in his own image, in the
image of God created he him”? Shall
we reject that genealogical record, —
prouder than any treasured -in the courts
of - kings,— “ which was the son of
Adam, which was the son of God ”’?
Rightly understood, both the revela-
tions of science and the experiences of
life are in harmony with the testimony
of Scripture to the constant working of
God in nature. :
In the hymn recorded by Nehemiah,
the Levites sung, “ Thou, even thou, art
Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the
heaven of heavens, with all their host, the
earth, and all things that are therein, the
seas, and all that is therein, and thou pre-
servest them all.”
As regards this earth, Scripture de-
clares the work of creation to have been
completed. “The works were finished
from the foundation of the world.” But
the power of God. is still exercised in up-
holding the objects of his creation. It
is not because the mechanism once set
in motion continues to act by its own in-
herent energy that the pulse beats, and
breath follows breath. Every breath,
every pulsation of the heart, is an evi-
dence of the care of Him in whom we
live and move and have our being.
From the smallest insect to man, every
living creature is daily dependent upon
his providence.
“These wait all upon thee. . . .
That thou givest them they gather;
Thou openest thine hand, they are filled with
good.
Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled;
Thou takest away their breath, they die,
And return to their dust.
THE WATCHMAN
Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are cre-
ated :
And thou renewest the face of the earth.”
“He stretcheth out the north over the empty
place,
And’ hangeth the earth upon nothing.
He bindeth up the waters in his thick
clouds; .
And the cloud is not rent under them. .
He hath compassed the waters with bounds,
Until the day. and night come to an end.”
“The pillars of heaven tremble
And are astonished at his rebuke.
He stilleth the sea with his power. . . .
By his Spirit the heavens are beauty,
His hand hath pierced the gliding serpent.
Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways;
And how small a whisper do we hear of
him!
But the thunder of his power who can un-
“derstand?”
“The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind
and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of his feet.”
The mighty power that works through
all nature and sustains all things is not,
as some men of science claim, merely an
all-pervading principle, an actuating en-
ergy. God is a spirit; yet he is a per-
sonal being, for man was made in his
image. As a personal being, God has re-
vealed himself in his Son. Jesus, the
outshining of the Father's glory, “and
the express image of his person,” was on
earth found in fashion as a man. As a
personal Saviour, he came to the world.
As a personal Saviour, he ascended on
high. As a personal Saviour, he inter-
cedes in the heavenly courts. Defore
the throne of God in our behalf ministers
“One like the Son of man.”
The apostle Paul, writing by the Holy
Spirit, declares of Christ that “ all things
have been created through him, and unto
him; and he is before all things, and in
him all things hold together.” Col. 1:
16, 17, R. V., margin. The hand that
sustains the worlds in space, the hand
that holds in their orderly arrangement
and tireless activity all things through-
out the universe of God, is the hand that
was nailed to the cross for us.
The greatness of God is to us incom-
prehensible. “The Lord’s throne is in
heaven;” yet by his Spirit he is every-
where present. He has an intimate
knowledge of, and a personal interest in,
all the works of his hand.
“Who is like unto the Lord our God, who
dwelleth on high,
Who humbleth himself to behold the things
that are in heaven, and in the earth!”
“ Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there;
If I make my bed in the grave, behold, thou
art there,
“If 1 take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the
sea;
Even there shall thy hand lead me,
And thy right hand shall hold me.”
“Thou knowest my downsitting and mine up-
rising,
Thou understandest my thoughts afar off.
Thou searchest out my path and my lying
down,
And art "acquainted with all my ways. . ..
Thou hast beset me behind and before,
And laid thine hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderfyl for me;
It is high, T cannot attain unto it.”
It was the Maker of all things who or-
dained the wonderful adaptation of
means to end, of supply to need. It was
he who in the material world provided
that every desire implanted should be
met. It was he who created the human
soul, with its capacity for knowing and
for loving. And he is not in himself
such as to leave the demands of the soul
unsatisfied. No intangible principle, no
impersonal essence or mere abstraction,
can satisfy the needs and longings of
human beings in this life of struggle
with sin and sorrow and pain. It is
not enough to believe in law and force,
in things that have no pity, and never
hear the cry for help. We need to know
of an almighty arm that will hold us up,
of an infinite Friend that pities us. We
need to clasp a hand that is warm, to
trust in a heart full of tenderness. And
even so God has in his word revealed
himself,
He who studies most deeply into the
mysteriés of nature will realize most
fully his own ignorance and weakness.
He will realize that there are depths and
heights which he cannot reach, secrets
which he cannot penetrate, vast fields of
truth lying before him unentered. Ie
will be ready to say, with Newton, “I
seem to myself to have been like a child
on the seashore finding pebbles and
shells, while the great ocean of truth
lay undiscovered before me.”
. The deepest students of science are
constrained to recognize in nature the
working of infinite power. But to man’s
unaided reason, nature’s teaching cannot
but be contradictory and disappointing.
Only in the light of revelation can it be
A AANA A ae
DE CT I er TL