Bible Readings for the Home Circle Part 14

19. How enduring is G.o.d's love for us?

"The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, _I have loved thee with an everlasting love_: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." Jer. 31:3.

20. Can anything separate the true child of G.o.d from the love of G.o.d?

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor princ.i.p.alities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of G.o.d, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom. 8:38, 39.

21. Unto whom will the saints forever ascribe praise?

"_Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins_ in His own blood, ... to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever." Rev. 1:5, 6.

There's a wideness in G.o.d's mercy, Like the wideness of the sea; There's a kindness in His justice, Which is more than liberty.

There is welcome for the sinner, And more graces for the good; There is mercy with the Saviour; There is healing in His blood.

For the love of G.o.d is broader Than the measure of man's mind, And the heart of the Eternal Is most wonderfully kind.

If our love were but more simple, We should take Him at His word; And our lives would be all suns.h.i.+ne In the sweetness of our Lord.

FREDERICK W. FABER.

The Deity Of Christ

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

Raising The Widow's Son. "In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the G.o.dhead bodily." Col. 2:9.

1. How has the Father shown that His Son is one person of the G.o.dhead?

"But _unto the Son He saith_, Thy throne, _O G.o.d_, is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom." Heb. 1:8.

2. In what other scripture is the same truth taught?

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with G.o.d, and _the Word was G.o.d_." John 1:1.

3. In what way did Christ refer to the eternity of His being?

"And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee _before the world was_." John 17:5. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been of old, _from everlasting_." Micah 5:2. See margin; and Matt. 2:6; John 8:58; Ex. 3:13, 14.

4. How was Christ begotten in the flesh?

"And the angel answered and said unto her, _The Holy Ghost_ shall come upon thee, and _the power of the Highest_ shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of G.o.d." Luke 1:35.

5. What scripture states that the Son of G.o.d was G.o.d manifested in the flesh?

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with G.o.d, and _the Word was G.o.d_." "And _the Word was made flesh_, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:1, 14.

6. What does Christ say is His relation to the Father?

"I and My Father are _one_." John 10:30.

7. How was He manifested on earth as a Saviour?

"For unto you is _born_ this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11.

8. Why was it necessary that He should be born thus, and partake of human nature?

"Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, _that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to G.o.d_, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people."

Heb. 2:17.

9. How was He recognized by the Father while on earth?

"And lo a voice from heaven, saying, _This is My beloved Son_, in whom I am well pleased." Matt. 3:17.

10. What shows that Christ sustains the same relation to the angels as does the Father?

"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father _with His angels_; and then He shall reward every man according to his works." Matt.

16:27. See Matt. 24:31.

11. How did Christ a.s.sert an equal proprietors.h.i.+p with His Father in the kingdom?

"The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of _His kingdom_ all things that offend, and them which do iniquity." Matt.

13:41.

12. To whom do the elect equally belong?

"And shall not G.o.d avenge _His own elect_, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them?" Luke 18:7. "And He [the Son of man]

shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together _His elect_ from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matt. 24:31.

13. Who are equally joined in bestowing the final rewards?

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him [G.o.d, the Father]: for he that cometh to G.o.d must believe that He is, and that _He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him_." Heb. 11:6. "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and _then He shall reward every man according to his works_." Matt. 16:27.

NOTE.-In the texts (Matt. 16:27; 13:41; 24:31) in which Christ refers to the angels as "His angels" and to the kingdom as "His kingdom" and to the elect as "His elect," He refers to Himself as "the Son of man." It thus appears that while He was on earth as a man, He recognized His essential deity and His equality with His Father in heaven.

14. What fulness dwells in Christ?

"For in Him dwelleth _all the fulness of the G.o.dhead bodily_." Col. 2:9.