Studies in the Life of the Christian | Page 9

it possible for him to come into communication with God and to occupy his unique place in the universe. Only a person can understand a person.
"Man is dear to God because he is like Him. Vast and glorious as it is, the sun cannot think God's thoughts; can fulfill but cannot intelligently sympathize with God's purposes. Man, alone among God's works, can enter into and approve of God's purpose in the world and can intelligently fulfill it. Without man the whole material universe would have been dark and unintelligible, mechanical and apparently without any sufficient purpose. Matter, however fearfully and wonderfully wrought, is but the platform and material in which spirit, intelligence and will, may fulfill themselves and find development."
The Bible seeks to show men in how many ways they resemble God and to urge them to be worthy of their likeness to God. There is a certain philosophy on the other hand, sometimes called "the dirt philosophy," which seeks to show men in how many ways they resemble the brute and to urge them to live the life of the brute.
But a great practical question which demands an answer of us--as we look out upon the world of men taking them as they are--is, Did God make the evil man "in His likeness" as well as the good man?
The Good Man.--The best things bear the stamp of their maker. If a good judge of pictures is taken into some famous art gallery it is not necessary to point out to him the excellencies of the paintings, they tell their own story. There are men in the Bible who manifestly bear the image of God; Abraham, Isaac, Enoch, Moses, David, John, Paul and others. There have been many men in ancient and modern times who, when some great crisis has come in the state or church, have conducted themselves as men born in the image of God; men who have sacrificed their own interests to be loyal to the truth. We all recognize such men as God-born.
The Evil Man.--The difficulty is however to recognize any image of God in a certain class of evil men who have low instincts and desires; men who lie, cheat, steal and break every commandment of God and man.
Did God make the worst and the lowest of men? If we are to consider fairly the question of the making of man in the image of God we must not shun this problem, which the vilest of men and the most degraded savage presents. What can be seen in these men that reminds us of "the likeness of God"? We are to judge men, however, by what they are capable of and are, at their best, rather than at their worst. The art world regards Michael Angelo's statue of Moses as one of the greatest creations of the sculptor's genius. Suppose, however, some one should maliciously deluge this masterpiece with ink, smash it into fragments with a huge hammer, and then ask as he looked upon the marred and blackened bits of marble, "Is that a masterpiece of Michael Angelo's genius?" So we look upon a man who has been marred and broken by sin and ask the question, "Was that man created in the image of God? Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." Trace back the cause of the degradation of the individual or society or state and we always find the root to be in some transgression of a righteous law of God.
The Bible uniformly asserts that God is not the author of sin or man's fall into evil ways, but that he has sufficient light to follow right ways, if he will. But that an evil man has this marvelous heritage of being God-born is shown by the fact that even when he has marred "the likeness of God" in him, by sin, beyond human recognition there is still a possibility of its being restored. Jesus Christ said, "For the Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10; Matthew 15:24; Luke 15:4); the most evil men came to Him and, confessing their sins, were brought back into sonship with God. The incentive to Christian work, in the slums of the cities, amongst the most degraded savages and everywhere, is the finding of men broken and marred by sin and the possibility of bringing them back to God.
God disapproves the sin but loves the sinner. "God commended His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8-11).
THE CHIEF END OF MAN
The Bible declares the divine origin and the divine destiny of man, and that he was made in the image of God and for His glory.
A Threefold