November 2

"Christ the power of God."—1 Cor. 1. 21.

REDEMPTION through Christ was the great design formed in the counsels of peace from eternity, early intimated in the first promise, gradually unfolded from age to age, and completely revealed in the fulness of time when God was manifest in the flesh. Christ crucified is the subject of the numerous promises, the hope of the ancient patriarchs, the signification of the Old Testament types and ceremonies, and the substance of the New Testament Scriptures: verses 22—24. Believers behold the power of God wonderfully displayed in Christ. It is seen

IN THE UNION BETWEEN HIS DIVINE AND HUMAN NATURES. Here is the exceeding greatness of God's power. That two natures, in themselves infinitely distant and distinct, should meet by personal union, is a mystery far beyond the grasp of our finite minds. Here time and eternity, weakness and omnipotence, meanness and majesty, the creature and the Creator, unite. Here the everlasting Father becomes a little child, and David's Lord is David's Son.

IN THE MIRACLES HE PERFORMED. At his command the water was turned into wine, the wind and the sea obeyed him, and the tempest was hushed into a calm. What but the power of a God could have given sight to the blind, and raised the dead?

IN THE SUFFERINGS HE ENDURED. None but a God of infinite power could have inflicted them, none but a God of infinite power could bear them. We refer principally to the sufferings of his soul. When his enemies mocked and cruelly treated him, he said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." But when the cup of divine wrath was presented to him, he became exceedingly sorrowful even unto death, and cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

IN HIS GLORIOUS RESURRECTION. By it he was "declared to be the Son of God with power." It was according to the working of his mighty power, Ephesians 1:19, 20. The resurrection of Christ is one of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. He burst the bars of death, and rose triumphant from the tomb.

IN THE WORK OF DIVINE GRACE. The power of God is manifested with regard to the conversion of every sinner, in the enlightening of the mind, the spiritualizing of the affections, the subjugation of the will, and the renewal of the heart; and it is manifested in the believer's growth in grace. This power must be displayed in us, either in our eternal happiness, or in our everlasting condemnation.