By Henry Halley
The Old Testament is an account of a Nation.
The New Testament is an account of a MAN.
The Nation was founded and nurtured of God to bring the Man into the
world.
God Himself became a Man, to give mankind a concrete,
definite, tangible idea of what kind of Person to think of when we think
of God. God is like Jesus. Jesus was God incarnate in human form.
His appearance on the earth is the Central Event of all
history. The Old Testament sets the stage for it. The New Testament
describes it.
As a Man, He lived the most strangely Beautiful Life
ever known. He was the Kindest, Tenderest, Gentlest, most Patient, most
Sympathetic man that ever lived. He Loved people. He hated to see people
in trouble. He loved to Forgive. He loved to Help. He wrought marvelous
miracles to feed hungry people. For relieving the suffering He forgot to
take food for himself. Multitudes, weary, painridden, and heart-sick, came
to Him, and found healing and relief. It is said of Him, and of no other,
that if all the deeds of Kindness that He did were written, the world
would not contain the books. That is the kind of man Jesus was. That is
the kind of Person God is.
Then: He Died, on the Cross, to take away the Sin of
the world, to become the Redeemer and Saviour of men.
Then: He Rose from the Dead: is Alive Now: not merely
an historical character, but a Living Person: the Most Important Fact of
History, and Most Vital Force in the world today.
The whole Bible is builded around this Beautiful Story
of Christ, and His promise of Life Eternal to those who Accept Him. The
Bible was written only that men might Believe, and Understand, and Know,
and Love, and Follow CHRIST.
Christ, the Center and Heart of the Bible, the Center
and Heart of History, is the Center and Heart of Our Lives. Our Eternal
Destiny is in His hand. Our Acceptance, or Rejection, of Him, determines,
for each of us, Eternal Glory, or Eternal Ruin; Heaven, or Hell: one, or
the other.
The Most Important Decision any one is ever called on
to make is to Settle, in his heart, once for all, the matter of his
Attitude toward Christ. On that depends Everything.
It is a Glorious thing to be a Christian, the Most
Exalted privilege of mankind. To accept Christ as Saviour, Lord, and
Master, and to strive Sincerely and Devotedly to Follow in the Way of Life
which He taught, is, certainly, and by far, the most reasonable, and most
satisfactory way to live. It means Peace, Peace of Mind, Contentment of
Heart, Forgiveness, Happiness, Hope, Life, Life Here and Now, Life
Abundant, LIFE THAT SHALL NEVER END.
How can anyone be so blind, or so dumb, as to go
through life, and Face Death, without the Christian Hope? Apart from
Christ, what is there, what can there be, either for This world, or the
Next, to make life worthwhile? We All have to Die. Why try to laugh it
off? It seems like Every Human Being would Welcome Christ with Open Arms,
and consider it the Proudest Privilege of his life to wear the Christian
Name.
In the last analysis, the dearest, sweetest thing in
life is the consciousness, in the inner depths of our motives, that we
live for Christ; and, though our efforts be ever so feeble, we toil at our
daily tasks, in hope of, in the final roundup, having done something to
lay, in humble gratitude and adoration, as an offering at His feet.
