His face in the riddle of the universe - Chambers, Oswald
April 2, 1917, Zeitoun , Communion Service
But we see Jesus, . . . Crowned with glory and honour. Hebrews 2:9
Supposing there was a certain region of earth about which you knew nothing and you received a communication from someone who said i have never been to the country but this map is a sure guide; and you also received a communication from someone who sent you no map but who said, i have been to this country myself and if you will trust yourself to me i will guide you straight there; how absurd it would be to trust to the information which was not firsthand and not go with the one who had been there and knew the way. In all the problems of life there are any number of maps, all more or less guesswork, but Jesus says, i am the way. There are people who tell us they have maps of what is beyond this seclusion of earth, but Jesus Christ is the only one who has not only been on this earth, but beyond it, consequently he alone is our guide. Have we confidence in Jesus, or have we only a map? The maps lead astray, Jesus Christ is the only one who knows; any number of things may confuse us, but nothing confuses him.
1. Unmade or made by the grave seclusion (2 Corinthians 5:14)
We are shut up to this physical world; other planets may be inhabited, we are shut up to this one shut up to our five senses and to this earth. Some minds are un-made when they realise this seclusion, other minds are made because they see gods purpose in it. We that are in this bodily frame [rv mg] do groan, says Paul, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. . . . I would rather be away from this body, he says, but yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake, so i remain with joy because it is gods will. When people get fanatical it is the barriers they go against, the barriers placed by birth and death, the barriers of sex. If we try to get out of the body by spiritualistic means or by suicide we shall have no guide; but if we get out of it in the providence of god and by faith in Jesus, there is no darkness or desperation o death, where is thy sting? Death is swallowed up in victory. When people are puzzled by the grave seclusion they are in and try to push away the barriers, they get out into the
Open before they are ready and are likely to become unhinged in mind; but if we see Jesus, there is no perplexity. Regarding the hereafter, he has said, let not your heart be troubled. . . . I go to prepare a place for you. Can we see Jesus in everything concerning ourselves, or are we trying to defy the barriers, wasting our time wishing we were somewhere else? The only way not to evade the problems of our grave seclusion in the body is by seeing Jesus and being devoted to him.
The way we see the world outside us depends entirely upon our nervous system, and the marvel of gods construction of us is that we see things out- side us as we do. For instance, the existence to us of beauty and colour and sound is due entirely to our nervous system: there is no colour to me when my eyes are shut, no sound when i am deaf, no sensation when i am asleep. If you want to know the most marvellous thing in the whole of creation, it is not the heavens, the moon and the stars, but what is man that thou art mindful of him? . . . Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. The whole of creation was designed for man, and god intended man to be master of the life upon the earth, in the air and in the sea; the reason he is not mas- ter is because of sin, but he will yet be (see romans 8:1922). Paul indicates that the problems of the grave seclusion we are in are accounted for by sin, yet it remains true that our nervous system is not a dis- ease, but is designed by god to be the temple of the holy ghost. The greatest proof of this is that jesus christ became the inhabiter of a nervous system like our own; he took upon him the likeness of man and dwelt upon the earth. If any man is in christ, he is a new creature (rv); that is, he has a totally new way of looking at things because he has a new disposition and begins to see things differently. Take two men in the desert, in the same regimentone is in love, the other has committed sin; to the one the desert blossoms as the rose, to the other there is no beauty in anything. The difference is not in external setting, but in the ruling disposition. One day we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and the things which we see by means of our nervous system will suddenly take on another guise.
2. Un-daunted or daunted by the great scheme (2 peter 3:813)
The great scheme is the scheme of civilised life upon this earth. The apostle says, seeing that these things are all to be dissolved . . . (rv ); he does not say destroyed, but dissolved. What men have built upon the earth without any regard for god will be destroyed. The great scheme is that the physical uni- verse which we see will be transfigured, i. E. , become translucent with light. When our lord was trans- figured we read that his garments became glistering, transfigured by indwelling light, and peter indicates that the earth will go through its transfiguration and only what is holy will be able to live upon it. Now, we are limited to our body; then, we shall be transfigured in it. The way jesus manifested himself after the res- urrection is an indication of what we will be like when everything is related to god, we shall do things which seem miracles to us now. Jesus Christ was master of the elements because of his relation to god as man, and in him we see gods original design for man. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. ! The apostles were not daunted by the great scheme of things because they were looking for something else, the coming of the day of god. If you think of the great scheme apart from seeing Jesus, you will be daunted by it. When civilised life goes into the crucible, as it is doing just now, men lose their wits, Jesus said they would; but to his disciples he said, and ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled. The revolution is proving that the revelation given by Jesus christ is true. Men are finding the maps which they have taken as their guide are useless, they do not touch the basis of things, and as long as men refuse to take the direction of Jesus Christ wars and upheavals cannot be prevented; if they will take him as their guide they will find that things are slowly and definitely working toward the great scheme of new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Never look at actual things as if they were all; look at actual things in the light of the real, i. E. , in the light of Jesus christ.
3. Un-demented or demented by the grand society (revelation 3:20; john 14:23)
The way we get demented, off our balance, is by dreaming of what is yet to be the utopian vision of the grand state of society when all men are going to be brothers. It is not the vision that is wrong, it is right, what is wrong is the way men are trying to bring it about, and if they don’t look to Jesus Christ they easily get unbalanced. Think what the bible says is going to be! Death shall be no more, neither shall there be any mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more (rv ); no more anything accursed; but god himself shall be with them, . . . And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes (rv). Meantime there are tears, and sorrow and sighing, but though we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, . . . Crowned with glory and honour. Tears are not going to be wiped away by our receiving pettings from god; the revelation is that through the marvel of the redemption god is going to make it impossible for there to be any more crying or sorrow, all will be as satisfactory as god himself.
The writers of the new testament look forward to the grand society, but they do not become unbalanced because they are based on the redemption. The aim of the grand society is not to be good, but to become the associates of god we will come unto him, and make our abode with him; and the crown is they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. We are to see gods face and confer with him: and his servants shall do him service; and they shall see his face.