A NEW YEAR message God sends now to all:
"I LOVE YOU" is His word to bond or free.
Could He send better word, for great or small?
There is no better for eternity.
This satisfies each soul who will believe,
And comforts all who heed, whate'er their lot.
This word is joy for all who will receive.
It bids the fearful, trembling ones, "Fear not."
The weak who heed this word will then be strong,
The troubled ones who heed it, will have rest.
The soul so tried, will sing a happy song,
The stony heart will soften, and be blessed.
God loves mankind, and knows their crying needs,
And longs that all believe His love so true.
Long years God bears with men, and anxious pleads
That all will taste His wondrous love. Will you?
Will you believe just now God's love for you—
His new year message sent again to cheer?
And will you give the praise and glory due
For His great love, and serve Him this new year?
At the Wrong End of the Telescope
By George McCready Price
Deposits of Animal Bones All Over the World—Do They Signify Successive Geological Ages, or Was There a Universal Flood?
By GEORGE McCREADY PRICE
DID you ever take up a telescope and look at the fellow alongside of you with the big end of the telescope next to your eye? How very small he looked, and how far away! It seemed, perhaps, that you might have to walk long distances to get where your companion appeared to be, when in reality you could reach out and take him by the hand without a single step.
What was it that caused this strange optical illusion?—Just a good instrument used in a wrong way.
MISUSING NATURE'S FACTS
But about the same thing happens in a mental fashion when scientists use the facts of nature in a wrong way, or reason incorrectly regarding the facts they have discovered. By a pseudo-scientific method, they get the inductive glass turned wrong end first, and in this way the past of our poor old world stretches away in almost endless vistas, till, in dealing with the early history of our earth, it seems that we are looking back far into the recesses of eternity. Under the illusive spell of this false view which they have conjured up by careless methods of analysis and inaccurate handling of facts, these scientists eloquently describe the successive ages they behold, and the wonderful successive changes that have taken place in the earth's past, when in reality these successive ages are of their own manufacture, and due entirely to their false methods of looking at the facts of the rocks. These false methods have thrown the world before the Flood into an artificial perspective, as we might do with a telescope; and in this way they have shown us a long series of successive millions of years that have absolutely no existence except in the mind's eye—a sort of scientific mirage that has been called up by false conclusions from very much misunderstood facts.
AT THE WRONG END OF THE TELESCOPE
Of course, it is a fact that the fossils found buried in the rocks are the real remains of animals and plants that used to live on the earth. And it is also true that a careful and correct method of studying these specimens, their condition, surroundings, etc., ought to give us a correct notion of the circumstances under which they lived and the way in which they died and were buried. But most of these fossils show such telltale marks of a violent death and burial by an abnormal action of moving water, that we naturally think of what the Bible calls “the Flood”; and for centuries this was the universal explanation given by all who found seashells on the mountain tops, or forests and herds of animals buried in the ground. But of late years scientists have invented the present popular method of arranging these deposits in an artificial series of successive ages, a sort of historical perspective analogous to the results obtainable by reversing the telescope; and this is what is now taught as science to the little children in the public schools throughout the civilized world.
PREHISTORIC ANIMALS IN TAR PITS
Not long ago the writer was taken by a scientific friend, Professor —, of the Los Angeles city schools, to visit the famous La Brea tar pits to the northwest of the city, where so many skeletons of prehistoric animals have been dug up. These tar pits are not far from a large group of oil-wells; and the tar deposits have been formed by the crude oil or petroleum coming to the surface through cracks in the ground and becoming thick and tar-like by evaporation, much like asphalt. And it has been found that the earth around each of these tar deposits is literally packed full with bones of mastodons, gigantic sloths, camels, saber-tooth tigers, etc., the oil and tar having acted as a wonderful preservative, many of the bones being as fresh in appearance as if they had been buried only a few months.
As we stood there on the bank of one of the pits which had been excavated by the University of California, and out of which they had taken several car-loads of bones, my geological friend grew eloquent in describing how in the long ago these various animals had come to this spot, one after another, and, getting mired in the soft, oily mass, had been buried in the black depths without any means of getting out. And of course the mental picture he gave—implied, if not formally expressed—was that the oil and the tar had been here for long ages first, and that the entombment of the animals was a much later event, and a gradual process, long drawn out, by commonplace causes, one at a time, just as a gopher, a rabbit, or a bird might now be stuck in the tar and suffocated.
THE TELLTALE LIMY SOIL
A few rods to one side was another digging, where little or no tar appeared in the ground; and I pointed out to my friend the calcareous (limy) appearance of the whole mass of the soil thus exposed. I asked him if it were not possible or probable that all the ground for acres around us might once have been just as much of a bone-yard as the particular spots where the oil had preserved them in such a wonderful manner, but by having nothing to preserve them, these bones had since completely decayed, leaving only the limy deposits in the soil to show where they had once been.
I also reminded him of the fact that almost all authorities acknowledge that some oils and very soft coals have undoubtedly been produced in part at least by animal matter, instead of by plants; and that thus it would be the animals which were the source of the oil and tar, and not the oil and tar which were the cause of the death of the animals. And of course this would involve the idea that these animals were not buried singly, or one at a time, but that an enormous mass of them had been buried here together by some awful catastrophe, and that the oil had since been formed from their remains.
SIMILAR DEPOSITS THE WORLD OVER
But when we remember that quite similar telltale deposits are found in almost every country on earth, we naturally begin to think of the great event spoken of in the Bible as “the Flood.” In some ages, like the time of the later Stuarts or that of the French Revolution, it was sufficient to condemn any scientific or historical theory if it was found to be in harmony with the Christian religion and the Bible. But surely for us in this enlightened age, it ought on the contrary to be a strong recommendation to any scientific theory, that it harmonizes most wonderfully with the Biblical record. Surely it ought to be a great source of courage for us to find that so many facts from the great book of nature are now confirming the record that the Creator has handed down to us in His written word.
Thus by putting the geological telescope to our eye in the proper manner, the long ages of the common text-books disappear, and the things of nature are seen to be wonderfully in harmony with the early history of our world as given in the Bible.
GEORGE McCREADY PRICE is professor of geology in the College of Medical Evangelists at Loma Linda, California. He is also the author of several books, such as “Outlines of Modern Science and Modern Christianity,” “God's Two Books,” and his latest work, “The Fundamentals of Geology.” His writings have attracted the attention of leading teachers and geological students in various parts of the world. His article herewith presented is not the effervescence of an amateur. EDITOR.
Give Quickly While You Can
By Jeremy Taylor
GIVE quickly when the power is in thy hand, and the need is in thy neighbor, and thy neighbor at thy door. He gives twice that relieves speedily.—Jeremy Taylor.
Immortality and Its Source
By J. H. Parsons
It is a very remarkable fact that though God told Adam that if he disobeyed His commandment, he should surely die (Gen. 2:17), and man lost eternal life by believing the devil, who said, "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4), yet with this plain record before us, it seems to be an almost universal belief that man has a soul that can not die. And what is still more remarkable, the spiritual shepherds of this generation have allowed "higher criticism" to destroy a belief in the plain statements of the word of God, which alone can reestablish eternal life in man.
Jesus bade His disciples, "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life." John 5:39. "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." John 17:3. "And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments." 1 John 2:3.
Immortality on Condition
It follows as a matter of logic, that no man has eternal life unless he knows God; and if he knows God, he will be found keeping His commandments, which will finally give him a right to the tree of life. Rev. 22:14.
Before he can keep the commandments, he must be born again, born of water and the Spirit. John 3:5. He must be washed in the water of the Word (Eph. 5:26), and drink at the fountain of life (John 4:14). (Higher critics "have forsaken . . . the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." Jer. 2:13.) He must eat the bread of life, which is the word of God (John 6:48-63), because Jesus was the Word made flesh (John 1:14). "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5:11, 12.
The New Birth and Eternal Life
If he allows the word of God to enter into his heart, he will be "born of the Spirit." "Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come [present tense] in the [man's] flesh is of God." 1 John 4:2. "And we know that the Son of God is come [in our flesh], and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." 1 John 5:20.
Before man fell, he was in constant communion with God, and had access to the tree of life, and it was God's intention to people the earth with sinless beings. Gen. 1:28. As nothing can permanently alter the plan of God, the earth will yet be inhabited by a redeemed and sinless people (Isa. 66:22), having the same characters — no doubt more highly developed through tribulation — every one separate and individual (Rev. 2:17), yet a complete family, as was intended by God in the beginning, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4-11).
Every man born into this world has a spiritual birthright, foreordained and predestined, to one of these characters (1 Tim. 2:4), through "being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." 1 Peter 1:23. Therefore it is essential for a man to believe in the word of God, and allow God to write His word in his heart (Heb. 8:10), or he will lose the chance of obtaining eternal life, "and his remembrance shall perish from the earth" (Job 18:17), and he shall be as though he had not been (Obadiah 16); "for the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:23.
J. H. Parsons.
Antinomian Proclivities
By Christian Standard and Home Journal
WE are not a little concerned, when in our experience meetings we hear persons saying: "If I wish to know I am saved, I do not pay any attention to what or how I feel. My salvation is not in me, but it is in Christ." In a very qualified sense, the expression may, perhaps, be correct. But as generally used, we deem it a most pernicious error, and without warrant from Scripture or experience. The word of God abounds in suggestions upon this point, which must be entirely overlooked by those who adopt the sentiment quoted above. Frequently in the writings of St. Paul, such expressions as "Christ in you, the hope of glory," and "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus," will be found, indicating the glorious fact that salvation is a work wrought in us, as well as for us. Love, peace, joy, long-suffering, gentleness, and other fruits of the Spirit, are found in the hearts of those who are the true disciples of our Lord. Salvation is a great and glorious fact, or a state of mind which appeals to human consciousness, and is a delightful experience, as well as a merciful and wondrous provision. Christ being imparted to us, received by us, and dwelling in us, is made unto us "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption."
Many of the hymns sung are well calculated to foster this heresy. Take, for instance, the utterance:
"Nothing either great or small
Remains for me to do,"
etc., etc. This idea is supported neither by Scripture nor by experience. It still remains for men to repent and believe the gospel, if they would be saved. Holy Writ abounds in commands and promises, which indicate, on the part of those who are saved, the greatest possible activity. The true believer is as one laboring for his meat, and is instructed to "work while the day lasts." Then again he is compared to a soldier, and is admonished to "war a good warfare," and to "fight the good fight of faith." Elsewhere he is spoken of as on a journey, and walking in the King's highway, and is commanded to be "faithful unto death" in order to "win a crown of life." Surely, then, there remains much for us to do, if we would avail ourselves of the merciful provisions of grace. It is therefore right that what our hands find to do shall be done "with our might."
IN the treasure room of one of the old German states there is a silver egg, once given as a present to the former queen of England. When a spring is touched, the silver egg opens, and discloses a golden yolk. Within this again is a chicken, whose wing being pressed, also flies open, showing a splendid gold crown, studded with jewels. Yet another spring will bring to view a magnificent diamond ring hidden in the center — a forceful illustration of the hidden treasures in the Word. The treasures of the kingdom are to be "sought out," and are often found quite unexpectedly, treasure within treasure, by those who "have pleasure therein." God has great surprises for those who "search diligently" through its pages, and He will disclose wonderful things to all who sit at His feet to learn, as did Mary of old.
ERNEST LLOYD.
The Golden Rule
By William Covert
It is not in the purpose of the infinite Ruler that there should be friction anywhere in the measure of His wide domain; for friction would work injury, and finally result in death. Therefore, in providing a rule by which all reasoning creatures might govern their conduct toward each other, He gave out word that every one was to treat the other as if he were acting toward himself.
In giving formal expression to this rule for the guidance of men, He said, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Matt. 7:12.
If this rule were perfectly obeyed by all the people in all the world, there could be no friction in society, nor any trouble among the nations. It would annul all selfishness, and make every man an honest helper of his neighbor.
The wording of this rule implies that each individual should regard himself only as a part of the human sum, and that any other member of the human family should be treated with all the consideration he asks for himself. This is the rule of equity that doubtless prevails in every place where the will of God is wrought, and it is the summary of God's law that must apply wherever God reigns.
It was proclaimed by the Redeemer of men, and will be obeyed forever by redeemed men. And who among men can have any proper right to complain of God's law, since, according to the declaration of Christ, it is but the Golden Rule unfolded, drawn out and enlarged for the better understanding of finite men?
And as the rule contains the prophets, or prophecies, too, it must also be a compendium of the gospel as well as a summary of the law. And this is all good logic, and therefore reasonable; for Christianity is simply good law, kindly and meekly drawn out in living characters. And these characters are to be so many as eventually to fill the whole world.
William Covert.
What Makes Us Learned and Useful
By Henry Ward Beecher
It is not what we read, but what we remember, that makes us learned. It is not what we intend, but what we do, that makes us useful. It is not a few faint wishes, but a lifelong struggle, that makes us valiant. —Henry Ward Beecher.
THE CREATION OF THIS WORLD—HOW WAS IT ACCOMPLISHED?
By R. C. P.
The Agency That Did the Work—The Sublime Source of Creative Power—The Creative Act of Resting
IT is difficult for the human mind to conceive that the creative power, which is not vested in man, is an attribute of the Deity. The secret of ancient Israel's failure lay in their tendency to make God altogether like themselves. In doing so, they limited the Holy One of Israel, and through unbelief, disconnected themselves from His power. This age is confronted with a like danger. Finite minds can never comprehend the unfathomable wisdom and power of God.
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isa. 55: 8, 9.
The wisest sage must recognize the infinite superiority of God's wisdom, or fail in his research into the origin of the material universe.
David, after reviewing the wonderful structure of the human frame, expressed his view of the origin of man in the sublime declaration: "I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." Ps. 139: 14. David declares that creation is God's act. He did not reach this conclusion by human philosophy alone. He admits that it is beyond the power of human reasoning to fathom the attributes of God. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I can not attain unto it." Ps. 139: 6.
WISDOM TAPPED AT ITS SOURCE
Nevertheless, by divine revelation he tapped the fountain of infinite wisdom at its source, and learned there the secret of creation. He does not philosophize upon it, or draw conclusions from assumed premises. He proclaims it as revealed. His announcement is simple, plain, and positive:
"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. . . . He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." Ps. 33: 6, 9.
This is God's own revelation of how He performed the work of creation, for David says, "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue." 2 Sam. 23: 2. Hence David's utterance is the voice of authority from the very throne of God. The act of creation is therefore a God-breathed or God-spoken word. When He spoke, that which before was not, was. By that word, worlds and suns and myriads of solar systems have sprung into being, and taken their places in regular order in God's great universe, to proclaim His wisdom and power. Into what insignificance all other theories of origin sink in comparison with the divinely revealed fact that God created by His word!
THE LEARNED APOSTLE AFFIRMS IT
Paul was the most learned of the apostles. At his words of wisdom, Felix trembled, and was almost persuaded to be a Christian. Festus, overcome by his masterful reasoning, said, "Much learning doth make thee mad"; to which Paul courteously replied, "I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness." Acts 26: 24, 25.
With the same candor, he informed his Hebrew brethren that faith is the key that unlocks all the revealed mysteries of creation. It bids the investigator, whose reason staggers on the threshold of the unfathomable depths of divine wisdom displayed in creation, to know creation's God through His word and be at rest.
"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." Heb. 11: 3. Here again it is revealed that creation is by God's word.
How God could create a vast universe without material from which to build, is a difficult problem with many to-day. Human reasoning can not solve this mystery. Unbelief reasons, speculates, assumes, doubts, and fails. Faith reads God's record of creation, believes, and understands.
CHRIST THE CREATOR OF EVERYTHING
Creation is Christ's act. There are three persons in the Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God the Father chose to perform the work of creation through His Son. "For by Him [Christ] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him." Col. 1: 16.
Christ is here declared to be the Creator of everything in the universe, God being His counselor (Gen. 1: 26), and the Holy Spirit the agency (Gen. 1: 2) by whose power it was accomplished. Christ is also called God, as we see from Heb. 1: 8, 10: "Unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. . . . And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands."
It is here stated that Christ, who is called God the Son, and who bears the scepter of the kingdom as His badge of authority and power, in the beginning founded the earth and created the heavens.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life." John 1: 1-4. Christ, the living Word, was therefore the Creator by whose word all things were made.
The reason it seems impossible that worlds are created by God's word, is that we undertake to measure God's wisdom by our ignorance, His infinity by our finite limitations, His almighty power by our human weakness. It should be remembered that the supernatural is God's sphere of action.
THE BIRTHDAY OF THE WORLD
One needs but to read the first chapter of Genesis to confirm the statement of the psalmist and the apostles that the creative act was performed by the word of God.
When God the Son entered upon His creative work, there was no earth. "I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was." Prov. 8: 23. Christ spoke, and the earth was. When it issued forth as from the womb, thick darkness was its swaddling-band. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." We marvel at the power of that creative word. This chapter is practically summed up in six wonderful words: "God said . . . and it was so." But this is what we should expect from a Creator who has informed us that in creating, "He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast."
LIGHT WITHOUT THE SUN
No part of the study of the first chapter of Genesis has exercised the mind of students of the Word more than the production of light without the sun. But it should be remembered that the sun itself became the light-bearer by appointment. The astronomer Dimbleby observes that "there is nothing in nature, and still less in science, to show us that the light of the sun is self-derived9by that body. It is altogether phenomenal, unique, and supernatural. Sir Isaac Newton confessed that he was at a loss to explain why the central orb of the solar system should be the light-bearer to all others, beyond the fact that, as the stationary and central body, it is best fitted for the exceptional character of distributing light and heat to the surrounding planets."
THE ATMOSPHERIC HEAVENS
At the beginning of the second day, there was no distribution of water through the vast expanse of the heavens. "And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. . . . And the evening and the morning were the second day." Gen. 1: 6, 8.
Upon this text Dimbleby says: "Our first idea on reading of the formation of the firmament, or expanse, is the introduction of a buoyant atmosphere, the composition of which was adapted to sustain vegetable and animal life, and act as the medium for the transmission of sound. . . . When our 'Handbooks of Science' are further amended, they will come up to the higher platform of the pages of revelation."
THE WATERS GATHERED INTO SEAS
When the earth was created, there were no seas and no fountains of water. The land and the water were intermingled. "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so." Verse 9. No wonder that when Christ was here on earth, in the midst of a great tempest He could by a word still the raging of the waves on the stormy sea! At that time, men marveled, saying, "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!" Matt. 8: 27. Had they been conversant with His mighty creative act, that by a word He separated the water into seas, and caused the drenched land to stand forth dry, the mystery would have been solved.
NAMES WERE GIVEN
We here learn of the origin of naming things. God named light and darkness. He named day and night, beginning the day with the dark period, called evening, and closing it with the period of light which He called morning. "And God called the dry land earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He seas: and God saw that it was good." Verse 10. But the third day was not yet complete. The earth had as yet no vegetation, and there were no herbs nor seeds with which to start. "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so." Verse 11.
We stand awestruck in the presence of a majestic Creator at whose word grass, flowers, and trees spring into life. With that same word, He sweeps into oblivion hundreds of volumes, written by the wisest philosophers, on the origin of life. And He emphasizes the record by saying, "And God saw that it was good."
The order in every blade and leaf and flower and tree, the wonderful correspondence of side to side, the mathematical precision of ratio in their order, the nice balancing of the shadings of color, the regularity of the seasons of budding, fruiting, and seeding, all witness to the wisdom and power of their Creator.
THE GREAT LIGHT-BEARERS ARE MADE
Here we reach the period of a great change in the order of distributing light and heat. During the first three days, light was disseminated by direct order from the Creator; but in the regular order of His creative work, sun, moon, and stars are commissioned to perform this glorious work. Science produces no evidence that the sun, moon, and stars developed into light-bearers by a power in themselves. For information upon this subject, we must return to the Creator's word.
"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so." Verses 14, 15.
All speculative theories of fire-balls coursing through space, an unknown period in process of development into suns and systems, are shattered and fall before the revelations of God's word. "And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day."
THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA AND AIR
The mighty sea, shut in as by doors by a perpetual decree, now gracefully recedes when her proud waves have lashed her shores; but in her mighty bosom no fish or whale appeared, adapted to a home in the watery deep, to give her life. The new-born earth, robed in heaven-sent garments of faultless verdure, had as yet no flying fowl to carol the praise of its Creator, or to flit among the branches of the majestic trees, or, thrilled with boundless joy, to soar heavenward through the open firmament on high.
"And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." And by that word, "God created great whales, and every living creature that moveeth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day." Verses 20-23. Wonderful day's work! Flying fowl and singing birds on feathery wing, fish and whale, are here, after the lapse of six thousand years, as witnesses of the power of that creative word.
LOWING HERBS AND THE MONARCH MAN
But still no lowing herbs or beasts were seen. And man had not yet appeared to claim the dominion of the earth.
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so." Verse 24.
"And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Years of scientific research have clustered around this wonderful problem of the creation of man. Musty volumes from the archives of ancient philosophers have been unearthed, and hieroglyphics of ancient tombs have been deciphered in a vain search after information as to man's origin.
THE WISE MEN TURNED BACKWARD, AND THE DIVINERS MAD
One word from the archives of the Creator "frustrateeth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; . . . turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish." Isa. 44: 25. That word, like its Author, is majestic in its simplicity. It says: "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." And man is here in the image of God. And male and female, as God made them, they witness to His word.
The record provides for no primal sea-mud germ, no wriggling snail, no sea-pen, and no ape, as progenitors of man. God the Son spoke the creative word; and man, "the son of God" (Luke 3: 38), stood forth full grown, named all living things, took to him a wife before the sixth-day sun went down; and God's creative work was done. Gen. 2: 18-23; 1: 31.
Man had given to him even the bill of fare best suited to his health and needs. God left nothing incomplete. "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Gen. 1: 29. Man's bill of fare was adapted to the needs of his entire being; and those who will test it, will find in that God-given menu still the best diet earth produces for mankind.
GOD'S CREATIVE REST BEGINS
It should be noted that God's creative day was composed of day and night, the same as ours, the evening, or dark part, coming first. Gen. 1: 5. With the going down of the sun on the sixth creative day, the darkness of the evening of the seventh day began to steal over the earth. God's creative work was ended, and His creative rest began. God's rest created the Sabbath day for man. Gen. 2: 1-3. By this act of rest, the Sabbath and the week were born. It was not Adam's rest, but God's, that made the Sabbath day. And the Creator who worked and rested in the creative act was God the Son.
With what feelings of reverence and devotion one reviews the mighty work of God, accomplished during that short creative week! Poor finite man might combine all theories known to the wisest masters of this enlightened age, and he could not in a million years reproduce a single creative act of that first eventful week. Beholding the majesty, wisdom, power, and love of God as displayed in creation, who does not feel inclined to draw nigh and join the band of angelic worshipers who prostrate themselves with deepest10reverence before their Creator's throne, and cry, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory"!
"I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day.
The moon shines full at His command, and all the stars obey.
"I sing the goodness of the Lord, that filled the earth with food.
He formed the creatures with His word, and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed where'er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky!
"There's not a plant or flower below but makes Thy glories known;
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne.
Creatures that borrow life from Thee are subject to Thy care;
There's not a place where we can flee but God is present there."
R. C. P.
A WORD TO OUR READERS
By Editor
We send no papers from this office to individuals without pay in advance. When persons receive copies without ordering them, they are sent by other parties, and we can give no information in regard to them. Persons thus receiving copies of the SIGNS are not indebted to the office, and will not be called upon to pay for them. Please read the papers you may receive, and hand them to your friends to read.
DATE OF EXPIRATION
By Editor
The SIGNS wrapper bears date of last issue due on your subscription. Unless renewed in advance, paper stops with expiration date.
If herewith is an order-blank, you will know you have overlooked sending renewal. You will not wish to miss a single issue. Back numbers often can not be furnished.
SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS
Our authority for the doctrines we teach is the Bible. Quotations are usually from the King James Version or the American Standard Revised.
