LAWTON CHURCH OF GOD, LAWTON,
OKLAHOMA
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65
JESUS CHRIST—THE GOD-MAN TEXT:
What think ye of Christ? Whose son is He? If
we do not think right toward him we will not know how to act right toward Him.
As some one has said, “Sow a thought, and reap a desire; sow desire and reap
an act; sow an act and reap a habit; sow a habit and reap a character; sow a
character and reap destiny.” Thought was the foundation of character and
destiny. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Conduct
is but the fruit of your thoughts. It is evident that no man thinks right of
Christ who does not receive Him as a personal Savior and gladly obey Him. It may
help us to right thinking and right conclusions to know what they thought of Him
who had personally known Him. So we will ask both His friends and his enemies to
bear witness to Him. I.
HIS ENEMIES Pilate:
He heard the charges against Him and himself examined Him, and then said: “I
find no fault in this man.” Pilate’s
wife: She sent a message to her husband, while Christ was on trial, saying:
“Have thou nothing to do with that just man.” Judas
Iscariot: After having associated with Jesus three years he betrayed Him for
“thirty pieces of silver.” But hear his testimony: “I have sinned in that
I have betrayed the innocent blood.” The
Centurion: He had charge of the Roman soldiers who executed Him, hear him:
“Truly this was the Son of God.” Devils:
They recognized Him and bore testimony to His divinity, saying: “Jesus, thou
Son of God; art thou come hither to torment us before the time.” II.
HIS FRIENDS John
the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the
world.” Peter:
“Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God.” Thomas:
“My Lord and my God.” Angels:
“Unto you is born this day in the city of God
the Father: “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son in
whom I am well pleased.”
Surely
we have heard enough witnesses whose testimony cannot be impeached to arrive at
some conclusion. “Great is the mystery . . . God was manifest in the flesh,”
and to this both His friends and His foes bore witness. Among a certain class we
hear it said: “Christ was a good man, but not divine.” This is an absurdity
and a contradiction of terms. If Christ was not divine, then He was a deceiver
and impostor representing Himself to be what He was not. Surely such a one could
not be termed a good man. But He was the Son of God. The
evidence of His divinity was manifest in His sinless life and spotless
character. He could challenge even foes to convince Him of sin. Among all the
infidels in these eighteen hundred years, not one has ever found a flaw in His
character. His miracles—stilling the tempest, raising the dead, curing the
incurables, etc., all bear testimony to His divinity. His love and death for His
enemies. His victory over death, and the grave are all in evidence of His
divinity. He was God; He was if He was not human, then He can not be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. But He was the God-man. The evidences of
His humanity are seen in that He was born as any other child; was partaker of
flesh and blood; subject to His parents; became weary.
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