In His Image | Page 9

from connection with the
Heavenly Father. Just as the water from a hose, because it comes from
a reservoir above, will cleanse a muddy pool without danger of a single
drop of pollution entering the hose, so the Christian can go into
infected areas and among those diseased by sin without fear of
contamination so long as he is prompted by a sincere desire to serve
and is filled with a heaven-born longing for souls.
Joseph gives us a splendid illustration of strength inspired by faith.
Reason fails when one is punished for righteousness' sake; only a belief
in God can sustain one in such an hour of trial and make him enter a
dungeon rather than surrender his integrity.
We need this belief in God in our dealings with nations as well as in the
control of our own conduct; it is necessary to the establishment of
justice. Without that belief one cannot understand how sin brings its
own punishment. Among the beasts strength is accompanied by no
sense of responsibility; only man understands--and then only when he
believes in God--that he must restrain his power and respect the rights
of others. Only man understands--and then only when he believes in
God--that the laws of the Almighty protect the innocent by bringing
upon the sinner the effects of his own sin. No nation, however great,
and no group of nations, however strong, can do wrong with impunity.
The very doing of wrong works the ruin of those who are guilty, no
matter how powerless their victims may be to protect or avenge
themselves.
Most of the crimes committed by nations are due to an attempt on the
part of those in authority to establish for nations a system of morals
totally different from that which is binding upon the individual.
Nothing but a real belief in God and confidence in the immutability of
His decrees can stay the arm of strength in individual or nation.
Belief in God is the basis of brotherhood; we are brothers because we

are children of one God. We trace through the common parent of all the
tie that unites the offspring in one great family. The spirit of
brotherhood is impossible without faith in God, the Father, and peace,
at home and abroad, is impossible without the spirit of brotherhood.
One must believe in God in order to be interested in the carrying out of
the Creator's plans. In the prayer which Christ suggested as a form for
His followers, interest in the coming of God's kingdom stands first. The
petition begins with adoration of the Supreme Being and in the next
sentence the heart pours out its desire in an appeal for the coming of
that day when the will of God shall be done in earth as it is done in
heaven. It is proof of the supreme importance of this attitude that this
petition comes before the request for daily bread; it comes even before
the appeal for forgiveness. How quickly the prayer would be answered
if all who utter it would rise from their knees and make the hastening of
God's kingdom the uppermost thought in their minds throughout the
day!
Finally, belief in God is necessary to belief in immortality. If there is
no God there is no hereafter. When, therefore, one drives God out of
the universe he closes the door of hope upon himself.
A belief in immortality not only consoles the individual, but it exerts a
powerful influence in promoting justice between individuals. If one
actually thinks that man dies as the brute dies, he will yield more easily
to the temptation to do injustice to his neighbour when the
circumstances are such as to promise security from detection. But if
one really expects to meet again, and live eternally with those whom he
knows to-day, he is restrained from evil deeds by the fear of endless
remorse even when not actuated by higher motives. We do not know
what rewards are in store for us or what punishments may be reserved,
but if there were no other it would be no light punishment for one who
deliberately wrongs another to have to live forever in the company of
the person wronged and have his littleness and selfishness laid bare.
The Creator has not left us in doubt on the subject of immortality. He
has given to every created thing a tongue that proclaims a life beyond
the grave.
If the Father deigns to touch with divine power the cold and pulseless
heart of the buried acorn and to make it burst forth from its prison walls,
will He leave neglected in the earth the soul of man, made in the image

of his Creator? If He stoops to give to the rose-bush, whose withered
blossoms float