HE IS LIVING
William Mealand

HOW PRECIOUS must this knowledge have been to Mary Magdalene, from whom Christ had cast out seven demons! Yet, as she reports to others who are mourning and lamenting, we read that "they, hearing that He is living, and was gazed upon by her, disbelieve" (Mark 16:9-11).

It is of interest to note in John's account, the four-fold mention of "the other disciple of whom Jesus was fond." Peter then, and the other disciple, came to the tomb, and the two raced alike. But, the other disciple runs more swiftly before Peter, and came first to the tomb. Yet, he did not enter. The impulsive Peter, however, did. We then read, "the other disciple also, who came first to the tomb, then entered, and he perceived and believes, for not as yet were they aware of the Scripture that He must rise from among the dead" (John 20:2-10).

He is living! An exultant thought. Heartening and energizing to all God's believing people. It means so much! Even to Job, so long ago, it was the very essence of his faith. "I know that my Redeemer lives...Whom I shall perceive for myself, and my eyes shall see!" (Job 19:25,27).

How much more in our day should the accomplished fact be to us an abiding thought! The Lord Christ is Himself our Expectation, the coming, returning One, Fulfiller of God's august purpose of infinite grace. And in God's great vision, the day is near. That He rose from among the dead, and ascended to God, should be the inspiring urge to our life Godward down here.

As we enter into the great thought that now our life is in Him, the risen and living One, there comes to our hearts a wondrous enlargement of outlook. We recognize in a very real way that our citizenship is above, where Christ is. "For our realm is inherent in the heavens, out of which we are awaiting a Saviour also, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who will transfigure the body of our humiliation, to conform it to the body of His glory, in accord with the operation which enables Him even to subject all to Himself" (Phil.3:20,21).

So great a prospect can even now transform our lives. It can impart strength and consolation in whatever may come to us of trial and sorrow. And in all circumstances it is a wondrous standby. But what of the event itself? This is beyond all theory and philosophy. It is a God-wrought marvel. For, "we all shall change, in an instant, in the twinkle of an eye, at the last trump." And we shall see Him, all glorious, meet Him in the air. "And thus shall we always be together with the Lord" (1 Thess.4:18).

What a change that will be! And how much it will mean! This body of ours, so often humiliated by thought and deed, this frame of flesh, so affected by things of time and sense. Never completely and at all times in true control. But then 'twill be transfigured and wonderfully conformed to the body of His glory. A change in very truth! No longer a missing of the mark, a coming short of His glory Who created us for sublime uses. For then will there be the full stature of Christ, below which down here, we so often come.

Think, too, of the power so transcendently shown. And Christ is the power of God. This is but the beginning of such power. There is more to follow. For we read that it is "in accord with the operation which enables Him even to subject all to Himself."

He is living! Therefore, "as in Adam, all are dying....in Christ, shall all be vivified." And in a life commensurate with the power and wisdom of God. In perfect accord with His purpose of the eons. And this life, though maybe after travail in spirit, will indeed be an exultant one of true homage to the Lord of the universe. As the poet well expresses it:

"Is the pathetic minor but for earth,
And will the heavens resound with joy alone,
Tho' sadness often wakes a deeper tone?
Must all of life fall off that cannot show
Some fruit that did to full perfection grow?
The tottering steps, the pause, the fall,
Will not God's rare design have room for all?
And in the circle of infinity
Must not all moods of life unfolded be,
But all complete--the weak within the strong,
And the one verse become a perfect song;
The bud, the blossom, the fruit-laden bough,
Seen by the light of the eternal now?
May not all discords to one concord lead--
Whose every missing note would leave a need
Vast, unimagined as a world untrod--
An infinite harmony whose name is God?

To all these questionings may we not say, He is living! He is "the Resurrection and the Life." And what meaning there lies in such expressions! For not alone are these words relative to those "who are Christ's in His presence." What of the vast number who yet shall be subject to Him in full acquiescent life? Will not these, too, realize the ecstasy attendant upon sight of His grace and glory?

"In Christ shall all be vivified. Yet each in his own class." Here, surely, we have defined that great assemblage who in this life were not drawn to the Christ of God. But the noble Paul holds out, even for them, a prospect which gives completeness to God's purpose.

From time to time we see this distinguishing quality in Paul's writings. For, though always intent on the instruction
and upbuilding of God's people, he gives us rare glimpses of God's ultimate goal--the salvation of all. Thus, although he stresses God's choice and calling of the few, yet he shows clearly that even their high destiny is but a part of God's purpose for the whole creation.

Christ died for all, and is living for all, that they may be, in God's time and way, drawn to Himself. Such a mind picture of God's ultimate is the true background, and an illuminating horizon, as it were, to every enunciation of God's evangel of grace. Since God is the Saviour of all mankind, it follows that human beings not drawn to Christ during their earthly lifetime, will, nevertheless, be brought to a saving knowledge of Him as the illustrious Mediator of God and mankind.

Indeed, at sight of Him in His kingly glory, they will, we fain believe, be humbled and reverently subdued, will see convincingly that He is, truly and marvelously, the Lord of life and glory. It is good, then, to remember that the great change which awaits the faithful in Christ Jesus is "in accord with the operation which enables Him even to subject all to Himself."

Therefore, in a rare way, we "who are Christ's in His presence" lead, as a glorious vanguard, a mighty following who acknowledge and acclaim Him as Lord of the universe. Let us think then, what high conceptions should be ours of the Christ of God, Whom to know is life indeed. It has been said that "what we never know we do not miss." This, however, is beside the truth. For, how great is actually the loss to those who in a long earthly life, live day by day unknowing, blind, and unconsoled, as to the knowledge of the living Christ, in all the majesty of His illustrious being. Loss, tragic loss!

How few there are, too, who think of Him as now living, living in divine expectancy of God's great hour, when He will move to carry through to a sublime ultimate the Father's purpose of grace. In view of this, however worthy our attachments, whether domestic, social, or national, they should not become exclusive, engrossing, or clannish, as to shut out God's goal for the human race.

And this goal is that all, at long last, may find God to be Everything to everyone. Living then, in the foretaste of such a goal, will illuminate our lives, causing us to be carriers of blessing to many. An evangel lacking this ideal, will always fall short of the fullness it should display.

Christ is living, not alone for the members of His body, rare truth as that is, but for the entire universe, since He is "Head over all, to the ecclesia which is His body, the complement by which all in all is being completed." Here, we have a true illustration of the greater, including the less, or as it is sometimes expressed, from the general we move to the particular. But how many dwell so much on the particular, as to overlook the importance of the general! The smaller circle occupies their thought and activity to the exclusion of the larger.

Christ is living for the utmost and greatest good--the drawing to Himself of all! So then, we count no one as ultimately lost. He ransomed all. And on the highway of God's grace there shall ensue a vast and complete expression of all that is meant by the momentous word, salvation. Who shall frustrate, when God wills? Who defeat so supreme a purpose when the Son Himself gloriously rules to effect such purpose?

He is living! Living that all may have life, and live exultant in joy and peace. Can we not then leave the grand meaning of it to Him Who has so designed and counseled? And blessedly, in wise and happy abandonment, live in the grandeur of the Word of His grace.