John 8:12-59

12-29 Nothing would so swiftly and surely prove the undoing of an impostor as the claim that he always pleases God. Of all living, only One has been able to stand such a severe test. In the mouth of anyone else the claim to perfect obedience would sound preposterous. The very assumption itself would be displeasing to God and derided by men. It would be a proof of spiritual pride. But in His mouth it was perfectly natural. Instead of taking exception to it they seemed struck by the fact and what it involved, and, as a result, believed on Him. This is one of the glories of Christ which makes Him a solitary figure in the annals of mankind. There have been philosophers and good men, but the best have not been flawless. Indeed, they do not dare to claim absolute perfection. Yet we see this apparently humble peasant of Palestine challenging a hostile world to discover in His acts a single word or work which does not glorify God and benefit man. Whoever should dare to criticize Him condemns himself.

44 All sin, in the Scriptures, seems to be traced back to the Adversary or Satan. Adam sinned at his suggestion. He is the father of all that is false. Being a creature of God, it has been a perplexing problem to account for him without incriminating God Himself. It is usual to insist that he was created perfect and, at a later stage, fell into sin. But this is no real relief. The impulse to sin, in that case, came from without instead of within, and it, in turn, demands an explanation. The Adversary sinned from the beginning. He was a murderer from the beginning. The Scriptures plainly teach that he was created an Adversary and a Satan. The solution of the ultimate source of sin lies in its nature. Sin is essentially a mistake. It means to miss the mark, to fall short of a given standard. With this definition in mind, it is easy to see how God could create a creature to sin, if that were necessary to the fulfillment of His purpose. He would not be making any mistake in doing this. He would not sin. On the contrary, if He created Satan perfect, and had no intention or desire that he should sin, then God did make a mistake. The sinfulness of Satan is the strongest evidence of the sinlessness of God. The essence of God is love. It demands exercise. God must be made known. He will be a Saviour; His purpose demands the presence of sin. He makes a medium-the Adversary-to inject the virus into creation. He rescues His creatures and gains their affection. He banishes sin. Sin is His servant. He will justify all sin when He has made it a means of bringing His creatures into heart intimacy with Himself.

46 What a challenge to the self-righteous Jews! They claimed a sinless God for a father, yet hated His sinless Son. Without any pretentious effort whatever, He calmly went His way without making a single misstep!

57 The Jews seemed to be utterly unconscious of the great spiritual truths connected with Abraham's family. They claimed physical descent from him, without realizing that Ishmael had the same right. He was the son of Abram's flesh-and unbelief. They were Ishmaelites,

slaves of sin in spite of their noble father. They knew nothing of the faith of Abraham which produced Isaac, after the flesh was as good as dead. They failed to see the significance of Abraham's harsh measures with Ishmael. Were he to visit them he would cast them out, just as he had the slave girl Hagar and her son.

58 The Word was in the beginning with God, long before Abraham was born. All came into being through it, and apart from it not even one thing came into being, including Abraham himself. Such was His glory before He became flesh. Then no human could see Him and live

(Exo_33:20). It was not until "the last of these days" that God spoke in His Son (Hebrews 12), that is, after He had emptied Himself to be in the likeness of humanity (Php_2:7). In those days He used messengers of inferior rank in communicating with mankind. Two of these visited Abraham just before Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. The Jews could not understand how One so glorious could condescend to take human form.