"Abundant in Goodness and Truth"

The goodness of Yahweh is mentioned in connection with His glory—in the proclaiming of His name to Moses on the mount. And His goodness is revealed, as underlying all the glory of His name, when manifested through Christ Jesus, our Lord. “God is love,”—so Christ is love also. The goodness and love of the Father and the Son, are revealed to us through the “Glad tidings” which Jesus preached. It is brought near to us by the “Word of truth,”—“the Word of his Grace.”

At the foundation of the Gospel (or glad tidings) are placed two grand covenants:—Jehovah’s covenant with Abraham, and his covenant with David. In other words,—“The promises made of God unto the Fathers.” From these, a number of precious promises branch out:—like the putting forth of branches from the main body of a tree. Concerning these the apostle Peter saith:—“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter i. 4).

When Jehovah made His covenant with David, the latter in gratitude of heart said:—“O Lord, thou art that God, and thy words be true,—and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant” (2 Sam. vii. 28). At the birth of Jesus, this promised goodness, loomed up in the then distant future, to those who could discern it with the eye of faith. The goodness and mercy, promised to Abraham and to David, animated the theme of certain faithful ones, who were expectantly awaiting the consolation of Israel. This goodness and mercy they recognized, could only be dispensed to them and to the world, through one who should be “the Seed” promised to Abraham and to David. According to the testimony of the apostle Paul, as he saith, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ” (Gal. iii. 16). “‘The Fathers,’ though holy men approved of God, still rested their hopes of entering the promised inheritance in the Son that should be born—the child that should be given.” Concerning whom the prophet Isaiah spoke, revealing certain attributes of His name, as he saith:—“Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mightyAil, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah ix.). “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jer. xxiii. 6).

David, though “a man after God’s own heart,” could not retain his kingdom forever. Everlasting possession of the kingdom of God was to be vested in the One, who should “bring in everlasting righteousness” and Eternal Life. The righteousness and the life, could only be brought in through him who should be the manifestation of the name of “Yahweh-Elohim.” According to the word of Yahweh, through the prophet, saying:—“Is there an Eloah without me?—saith the Spirit: yea, there is no Rock—I know none” (Isaiah xliv. 8. Eur., Vol. I., p. 101). “I, I, Yahweh, and there is no Saviour beside me” (Isaiah xliii. 11; Vol. I., p. 113).

The mission of Christ as a prophet was revealed to Moses in the following testimony: Jehovah said,—“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth: and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him” (Deut. xviii.). The testimony of Christ, in reference to Himself, said,—“A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country and in his own house” (Matt. xiii. 57). The disciples of Jesus understood Him to be that prophet: “when two of them were conversing together concerning him, after his resurrection, they spake of him as Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people” (Luke xxiv.). The apostle Peter testified in harmony with these, when he spake of Christ to the Jews, and said:—“Moses truly said unto the Fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, of your brethren, like unto me: him shall ye hear in all things, whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul which will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people” (Acts iii.).

In fulfilling His mission as that Prophet, Christ prophesied of the “things concerning the kingdom of God.” His prophetic discourse is sometimes delivered in the form of plain testimony,—sometimes in parables, and sometimes in living pictorial representation. A few testimonies will illustrate this. “The prophecy of Mount Olivet”—recorded in Matt. xxiv. and Luke xxi.—foretold the dissolution of the Jewish Commonwealth and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple: also, the second appearing of our Lord in glory. How plain and literal are the words,—“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. xvi.). “Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Matt. xxvi. 64). Jesus gave to His apostles an especial promise in these words: “Ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life” (Matt. xix.). The latter promise, conveys enlightening comfort to all the true followers of the Lord Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile. Many of the Parables represent events pertaining to that coming day,—when rewards and punishments are to be meted out. The parable of the “nobleman who went into the far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return,”—concludes with the inspection and recompensing of his servants. The parables concerning the “ten virgins,” “the Talents,” “the net cast into the sea,” all bear the same prophetic character: in which are portrayed scenes pertaining to the day of judgment. The parable of the “rich man and Lazarus” depicts the relative position of two classes, the just and the unjust, after judgment has been passed upon them. The scene of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem riding upon the colt, is typically representative of His second triumphal entrance into the same city, when her people shall say,—“Blessed be he that cometh in the name of Yahweh.”

The feeding of multitudes with bread, and the healing of their diseases, seemed to present typical scenes of blessedness, to be fulfilled in the future Age,—when all people shall be blessed in Abraham and in his seed. Healing will then be dispensed through the leaves of “the Tree of Life.” And bountiful supplies of the “staff of Life” be given,—in fulfilment of the word of the Lord concerning Zion, when He saith:—“I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread” (Psalm cxxxii. 15). The miraculous feeding of four thousand at one time, and five thousand at another, with a few loaves and a few fishes, seemed also emblemactic of that goodness contained in the word that Christ had given unto them. Conveying an illustration also to those who had faith, of the word that He had spoken concerning Himself, saying:—“I am the living bread that came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John vi.).

When the word saith, “the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world,” instruction is given to the effect, that a vital, life-giving principle, is contained in the doctrine concerning the sacrificial offering of the body of Christ. Still more fully expressed in the words of our Lord: “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you” (v. 53). “It is an intellectual eating and drinking of the Spirit and life words, or teaching that came down from heaven, concerning the Christ and him crucified” (Phanerosis p. 43). This eating of the Spirit and life word, in feeding upon the truth in the present life, is an essential preparation for the receiving of that life-manna, which is now concealed. Which is being kept laid up within the glorious Ark of the testimony, and which the Lord has promised to give to them that overcome. The overcoming will be fully manifested at the judgment-seat of the Anointed. Then, the eating of the “hidden manna” comes to signify incorruptibility of body. “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear”—He will “fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory” (Phil. iii. 21). The Body of the Anointed,—the “Ecclesia,”—then will be revealed as the antitypical “Bread of the first-fruits,”—prefigured in the two wave-loaves offered at Pentecost under the typical order of things.

Wonderful, appeared the goodness of Christ in the ministration of His healing power, among the people. When they brought unto Him those that were sick or possessed with unclean Spirits: “He cast out the Spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick”: “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying: Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Matt. viii. 17). “Surely, he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted” (Isa. liii.). Was there any son or daughter of Abraham weighed down with infirmities, who came to Jesus in faith, that did not receive His compassionate regard, and partake of His healing power? Even to the Syrophenician woman who craved a favor—was granted her request, on account of her great faith: though having no claim upon Him at that time, because she was a Gentile. The Centurion also, being testified of, that he was “worthy,” and that he was a lover of Israel, received the favor which he asked. The weeping widow, whose only son had been taken from her by the ruthless hand of death, received him again: being raised up by the divine power and goodness of Christ. The blind received their sight, being delivered from a life of darkness, by the power and goodness of Christ.

When certain desired assuring evidence that He was the Christ, John the Baptist sent messengers to inquire of Him. “Jesus answered and said unto them: Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk,—the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear: the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them” (Matt. xi.).

In view of the abundance of goodness and truth revealed through the ministry of Christ, the Psalmist saith: “Thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor” (Psalm lxviii. 10). And “Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men” (Psalm cvii.). The goodness manifested in the past, and that which is to be revealed in the future, is the theme of the Psalmist, as he saith: “Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee, before the sons of men” (Psalm xxxi. 19). Jehovah’s goodness will afford abundant material for thought and conversation in the Age to come, according to the word of the Spirit, as he saith: “They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness” (Psalm cxlv. 7).