Through Christ to God

[Thompson, Darryl]

Through Christ to God 

     God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of
reconciliation. 2 Cor. 5:19.  

     All through the pages of sacred history, where the dealings of God
with His chosen people are recorded, there are burning traces of the
great I AM. . . . In all these revelations of the divine presence, the
glory of God was manifested through Christ. Not alone at the Saviour's
advent, but through all the ages after the fall and the promise of
redemption, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself."
Christ was the foundation and center of the sacrificial system in both
the patriarchal and the Jewish age. Since the sin of our first parents,
there has been no direct communication between God and man. The Father
has given the world into the hands of Christ, that through His
mediatorial work He may redeem man, and vindicate the authority and
holiness of the law of God. All the communion between heaven and the
fallen race has been through Christ. It was the Son of God that gave to
our first parents the promise of redemption. It was He who revealed
Himself to the patriarchs. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses
understood the gospel. They looked for salvation through man's
Substitute and Surety. . . .  

     The solemn service of the sanctuary typified the grand truths that
were to be revealed through successive generations. The cloud of incense
ascending with the prayers of Israel represents His righteousness that
alone can make the sinner's prayer acceptable to God; the bleeding
victim on the altar of sacrifice testified of a Redeemer to come; and
from the holy of holies the visible token of the divine presence shone
forth. Thus through age after age of darkness and apostasy, faith was
kept alive in the hearts of men until the time came for the advent of
the promised Messiah. Jesus was the light of His people,--the light of
the world,--before He came to earth in the form of humanity. . . . From
Him has come every ray of heaven's brightness that has fallen upon the
inhabitants of the earth. In the plan of redemption, Christ is the Alpha
and the Omega,--the First and the Last.  

>From That I May Know Him - Page 102