God’s Best
Gift
Dedicated to
The Boys and
Girls of Today—The Men and Women of Tomorrow
——-
A Splendid
Book, Especially for Children, Based Upon "The Divine Plan of the
Ages"
Published by
SACRED LYCEUM
Publishers and
Distributors of "GLAD TIDINGS FOR "LL"
62 East Lake
Street
CHICAGO, ILL.
Price, 25c Per
Copy
Copyright by
SACRED LYCEUM
1927
GOD’s BEST
GIFT TO ALL
JOH 3:16
1CO 3:11
AC 4:12
1TI 2:4
RO 10:17
P R E F A C
E
——-
Are the
Children Safe?
——-
THE BOYS AND
GIRLS OF TODAY
YOUR BOYS AND
GIRLS WILL BE THE MEN AND WOMEN OF TOMORROW
Reports from
the Courts, and from Social Workers, coupled with personal experience amongst
Christian people—whose own children know so very little "Bout the Bible,
and "Bout God and "Bout Jesus, His Son, whom He sent to redeem lost
mankind— the children as well as the rest, have been reasons for publishing the
series of
ILLUSTRATED
JUNIOR BIBLE STORIES FOR THE CHILDREN OF ALL GRADES
This is the
general title to A Series of Bible Stories, covering various parts of the
Bible, told by a consecrated Parent, and told in such an interesting and simple
way that the children will quickly grasp the thoughts, and ask to hear the
stories over and over.
The following
poem well illustrates the matter:
THE MAN TO
BE
By EDGAR A.
GUEST
Some day the
world will need a man of courage in a time of doubt,
And somewhere,
as a little boy, that future hero plays about.
Within some
humble home, no doubt, that instrument of greater things
Now climbs upon
his father’s knee or to his mother’s garments clings.
And when shall
come that call for him to render service that is fine,
He that shall
do God’s mission here may be your little boy or mine.
Long years of
preparation mark the pathway for the splendid souls,
And generations
live and die and seem no nearer to their goals,
And yet the
purpose of it all, the fleeting pleasure and the woe,
The laughter
and the grief of life that all who come to earth must know
May be to pave
the way for one—one man to serve the Will Divine
And it is
possible that he may be your little boy or mine.
Some day the
world will need a man! I stand beside
his cot at night
And wonder if
I"m teaching him, as best I can, to know the right.
I am the father
of a boy—his life is mine to make or mar—
And he no
better can become than what my daily teachings are;
There will be
need for someone great—I dare not falter from the line—
The man that is
to serve the world may be that little boy of mine.
Perhaps your
boy and mine may not ascend the lofty heights of fame;
The orders for
their births are hid. We know not why
to earth they came.
Yet in some
little bed tonight the great man of tomorrow sleeps
And only He who
sent him here, the secret of his purpose keeps,
As fathers then
our care is this—to keep in mind the Great Design,
The man the
world will need some day may be your little boy or mine.
Many a parent
now regrets the fact that when their children were developing and their minds
were in a receptive condition, they did not have more training in sacred
matters. And who knows to what extent
this Scripture applies to those parents:
"He that provideth
not for his own (in spiritual matters, as well as in temporal things) is worse
than an infidel and has denied the faith."
While we cannot
undo the past WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE?
The answer is that we can help to make the future men and women by molding
and shaping the boys and girls of today, not only our own children, but assist
other parents throughout the world to teach their children the Truth as
contained in God’s Great Plan, so clearly set forth in the Bible, and which is
told in such a simple and appealing manner for children in these
ILLUSTR"TED JUNIOR BIBLE STORIES.
100% Efficient
The good work
goes on. Are you doing your share in
this great work?
"Inasmuch
as ye did it unto one of the least of these, ye did it unto Me."
All Christians,
ESPECIALLY IF PARENTS, would do well if they saw to it that not only their
children are given a copy of this interesting book, but should also be glad to
DISTRIBUTE COPIES FAR AND WIDE AMONGST OTHER PEOPLE—hence the exceedingly low
price.
No other book
contains the real Truth, told in such simple language as does this book. And, while other parents, to whom you may
give copies of the book, may read it to their children, who can tell how much
they themselves will unconsciously drink in the Truth, and some of them will be
sure to be awakened to inquire for still further Truth reading matter—and thus
you will be doing a double work—helping both children and adults.
Therefore, in
addition to helping your own children, "LL are cordially invited to co-operate
in sending these blessings to others.
"GOD’s
BEST GIFT"
IN THREE PARTS
THE BABY
JESUS—THE BOY JESUS—THE MAN JESUS
——-
INTRODUCTION
For a long long
time, we have heard and read about Christmas and a little baby Jesus, who
Page 4
was born on
that day, and now we are going to tell you something of what is really meant by
Christmas, and why we are so happy on that day.
At Sunday
School we often see children get up on the platform and tell about a little
baby born in a manger in the little town of Bethlehem, and "Bout the
angels singing to some shepherds who were watching their flocks by night.
Then other
little children get up and tell "Bout Three Wise Men who came from the
East and were guided by a very bright Star, which moved across the sky until it
was over the place where the little baby lay.
THE BABY
JESUS
Why is it, do
you suppose, that this little baby has been made so much of, and talked and
sung and read about? Many, many other
little babies have come into the world, but I do not believe that any little
baby was ever talked about as much as the little baby Jesus. I suppose if you and I had seen him, he
would have looked just like other little babies we have seen; and, no doubt,
the Three Wise Men who were guided by that bright star on that First Christmas
Night, also thought he looked just like other babies they had seen.
WHERE JESUS
WAS BORN
As they looked
upon that little, wee form of flesh and blood, cuddled in his mother’s arms,
they doubtless wondered just a little "Bout the strange and wonderful
thing that happened on
that First
Christmas Night. And just think, dear
children, that little baby, "Bout whom so much has been said and done
throughout the whole world, was not lying in a nice clean bed, like you have,
in a pretty room, with white lace curtains at the windows; neither was his
little cradle painted white, with pretty pink covers, etc., like many children
have today. For you know when anyone is
expecting a little baby to come to their home, the nicest little things are
prepared for it—a pretty little soft pillow, white sheets, downy covers, and
everything just as nice and dainty as can be—but this little baby Jesus had
nothing like that, because he was born in a stable or barn. We do not know whether or not there were any
cows and donkeys and sheep in that barn, but we do know that stables and barns
are for such animals, and it was in just such a place that this dear little
baby was born. Perhaps you remember
that beautiful little song so many children have sung:
Away in a
manger, no crib for his bed,
The little Lord
Jesus lay down his wee head.
The stars in
the bright sky looked down where he lay,
The little Lord
Jesus, asleep on the hay.
He must
indeed have been a wonderful baby, because so many people write and sing
"Bout him—don’t you think so?
WHEN GOD WAS
ALONE
Page 5
Now we are
going to take you way back, oh so many thousands of years, before Jesus every
came down to this earth and was born as a humble little baby in a manger. You have all heard "Bout God, and that
His home is in Heaven, but did you ever stop to think that at one time, God was
all alone? Well, He was. We cannot tell from where God came, but the
Bible tells us that God had always lived.
He is such a wonderful being, and so very wise, that we can never hope
to be as wise as He, but we know that any person who could make such wonderful
things as heaven and this world, and all the wonderful things that are in them,
must be very wise indeed. But even
though he was so wise, He must have been quite lonesome and longed to have
someone with whom He might talk. If you
had a lovely home with a beautiful yard, beautiful flowers and trees in which
the little birds would sit and sing, you would not love it half so much, if you
were all alone with nobody to talk to, would you?
GOD ALONE
UNTIL JESUS
I suppose God
must have thought the same thing, so He created Jesus, that is, He made him,
but God did not create him like a little baby at that time, but as a spirit
being like Himself, and because God created or made Jesus, God was his Father.
Re 3:14; 1Pe 1:3; Joh 20:17.
Now God is not
a human being like our fathers and mothers, but He is a spirit being. None of us know just what spirit beings are
like, because our human eyes cannot see them, but the Bible tells us that they
are very wise and powerful. So God made
Jesus a spirit being.
How lovely it
must have been then for God to have some one to talk to! How He must have loved His only Son, and how
Jesus must have loved his Father! Then,
instead of there being only ONE being in Heaven, there were TWO beings, God the
FATHER, and His only begotten SON, Jesus.
GOD’s HELPER
Now that God
had someone with whom He could talk, He began to tell Jesus "Bout His
plans, what He intended to do, etc., and they became partners—God and Jesus;
and, from that time everything that was made, was made by them; that is, they
did everything together. A"LL
things are OF God but BY Jesus."
1Co 8:6; Joh 1:3; Col 1:16, 17.
They made
Cherubims, Seraphims, Angels, the sun, moon and all the stars—everything. And so, by and by, they had a whole host of
heavenly or spirit beings who could work and sing and praise God. What a nice family God then had around Him;
they were those who loved, worshiped, obeyed and worked for Him. What good times they must have had working
and singing beautiful songs as they were busy helping God and Jesus make the
sun and moon and stars and then get this earth ready for man to live on!
We know they
must have known how to sing, because on that First Christmas Night, when Jesus
was born on earth as a little baby, the angels sang:
"Glory to
God in the highest,
And on earth peace,
Goodwill
toward men."
Page 6
GOD LIKES
MANY KINDS OF THINGS
But, although
God and Jesus had made all of those wonderful spirit beings, God always loved
Jesus best, and God placed him in charge over all the other beings in
Heaven. We do know that one day God
thought and planned to make some other things besides spirit beings, because
God seems to like a variety; that is, He does not want everything just
alike. If He did we would not have a
great variety, such as lilies, roses, pansies and other flowers, but all our
flowers would be lilies or some other flower.
And so it would be with animals, birds, trees, stones, jewels, etc. We would not want just one kind of animal,
or just one kind of bird, or one kind of tree, etc. Just so, God did not want all the beings to be spirit beings, so
He decided to make some human beings that could live on this earth.
You see, we did
not always have this beautiful earth, so in order to have a home for the human
beings God intended to create, He caused this earth to come into
existence. When He first made it, the
earth was like a large hot ball or globe, and it took many years for it to cool
off, and during that time it is said of it that "the earth was
VOID." By that we mean that there
was nothing on it, no trees, nor flowers; no birds, no animals and no people;
neither were there any mountains and valleys—just empty and void like a big
ball of dirt.
THE GARDEN
OF EDEN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE
Now you can see
what a wonderful God we have. He
decided to take this great ball of dirt and make it into a beautiful home for
the human beings He intended to create or make. So, on this great ball of dirt, called Earth, He made a beautiful
park, which God called "The Garden of Eden," full of flowers, green
grass, trees and beautiful bushes; with different kinds of animals running
"Bout, and birds to fly in the air from tree to tree, singing their sweet
songs. He also made lakes and rivers
and filled them with many different kinds of fishes. But God had no one on earth to take care of this beautiful Garden,
which He called "Eden," and all the animals in it. So He said to Jesus, who was the one who
always obeyed and helped Him:
"Let us
make man in our own image, after our likeness." (Ge 1:26.)
By that He
meant, someone who was like them in many ways, although not a spirit being, for
the being He was now going to make would be "of the earth,
earthy." You see God had a large
family of spirit beings, of whom I told you, but He also wanted a family of
human beings who would love and obey Him and live on this earth instead of in
heaven. So we read in the Bible that,
"God
formed man out of the dust of the ground." (Ge 2:7.)
HOW GOD MADE
MAN
You all know
how boys and girls make images or forms of dolls and animals out of clay, etc.,
but they cannot see or talk or move, can they?
Well this form that God made out of the dust of the earth had eyes and
could not see, ears that could not hear, a nose that could not smell, and a
mouth that could not speak. This form
was shaped like a man, but had no life in it, and could not move its legs and
arms nor wink an eyelid, nor think. It
might make you think of an
Page 7
automobile that
men make, with all the machinery in it, but it will not move, unless gasoline
is put into it. That is just how God
did; He put all the necessary parts or human machinery into the form which is
called man; and when He had everything ready, He caused that form to have life
and begin to move. How did He do it,
you ask? Well the Bible tells us that,
"God blew
into his nostrils the breath of lives, (margin) and he BECAME a living
soul." (Ge 2:7.)
Many people
THINK or imagine they read in the Bible that God blew a soul into the nostrils
of this man; but that is not what the Bible says. It says that He blew into his nostrils "THE BREATH OF
LIVES," just like men put gasoline into an automobile to make it go, and
that then this man or form made out of the dust of the ground, and which could
not move, "BECAME a LIVING SOUL"; that is, he began to move, just
like the automobile can move after the gasoline is put into it. This man began to move because he could
breathe. Then he began to see and hear
and talk and taste and smell—he had become "a living soul" or being,
a human being, because he was made out of the earth and could live on this
beautiful earth in the Garden of Eden, which God had prepared for him—he had
become a living human soul. It always
requires a form and the breath of life to make any kind of a soul, whether it
is a spirit soul, an animal soul, or a human soul.
Then God caused
him to walk "Bout in the beautiful Garden and see all the lovely things
that He had prepared for him, and God told him that he was to take care of the
Garden and keep it trimmed and looking real nice and clean.
GOD WARNS
ADAM
There were many
kinds of fruit-bearing trees in the Garden; but God told Adam, for that was the
name God gave to this first man, that he could eat of the fruit of all the
trees, except one of them; and if he did eat of the fruit of that tree he would
be disobeying, and God told Adam just what the punishment would be—that he
would let him die (Ge 2:17; Eze 18:4, 20).
This means that he could not live any longer in the beautiful Garden,
but that the breath of life which God had blown into Adam and which caused Adam
to live and move "Bout, would be taken away from him; and that then his
body which God had made out of the dust of the ground would go back into dust
again: and then of course there would not be any Adam, for he could not think
and he would become just as though he had not been created. (Psa 146:4; Ge
3:19.)
Now children,
would you not think that would be a dreadful punishment and that Adam would
think a long, long while before he would disobey such a kind, loving God who
made him and all the other things in the world? There was plenty in the garden for Adam to eat, and we would not
suppose that Adam would think of touching the fruit that God had told him not
to eat of. Even if it had been the best
fruit in the Garden, we would think Adam would have wanted to obey his loving
heavenly Father. But we will soon see
how much Adam did really love God, and whether Adam was thankful for all that
God had done for him.
Although Adam
had many things to do in the Garden, and many things to look at, the birds, the
flowers, the trees, the animals, the lakes and rivers and hills, yet he often
got lonesome for some other human being with whom he could talk and exchange
thoughts. Of course, he could talk to
the monkeys and other animals and to the birds, but they could not talk and
reason
Page 8
with him, and
so he was lonesome, just as God must have been lonesome in heaven before he
created or made Jesus. Therefore, God,
who loves to see His people happy, said to Jesus:
"It
is not good for man to be alone, I will make an helpmate for him." (Ge
2:18.)
GOD MAKES A
WIFE FOR ADAM
So, one day,
God caused Adam to take a long, long nap, and while Adam was sleeping soundly,
God took one of Adam’s ribs, and from that rib He made a woman, or wife for
Adam, to be his helpmate.
What a surprise
was in store for Adam when he awakened!
Do you not think he was a very happy man to see some other living human
being besides himself? I surely think
he was. God called their name Adam,
like we would say, Mr. and Mrs. Adam, and He told them to be fruitful and fill
the whole earth with other men and women like themselves.
"And
Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all
living." (Ge 3:20.)
ADAM’s
FATHER WAS NOT A MONKEY
And now I want
to tell you something very funny; and that is this: Many people, grown-up
people too, instead of believing what I just told you what the Bible says how
God made man and woman, they try to believe that somehow or other Adam’s father
was a monkey. Just think of that! You have all seen monkeys, haven’t you? You remember what cute, funny animals they
are; they have long tails and also have hands on their feet, so that they can
jump from one limb of a tree to another, or hang to a limb of a tree by curling
their tail around the limb, and then swing back and forth. But you have never heard them talk, have
you? Of course not, because they are
not men, they are just monkeys. But the
people who say Adam’s father was a monkey, say that in some way the monkey that
was Adam’s father, lost his tail, and the fingers on his feet turned into toes,
and most of the hair came off his body, and that he began to talk. Now, isn’t that silly? How plain the Bible is when we read there
that GOD MADE BOTH ADAM AND EVE, and then, of course, God was their
father. Would you rather have God for
your heavenly Father, or have a monkey for your father? I would much rather believe the Bible, and
know that God is my Father! Wouldn’t you?
LUCIFER A
BEAUTIFUL ANGEL
Adam and Eve
must have been very happy in their new home, for they had so many things to be
thankful for. But I am now going to
tell you of another being who did not want to see Adam and Eve happy—he was a
very beautiful angel, one of the spirit beings whom God had made, long, long
before Adam was created. God had placed
him as a "covering cherub" in the Garden of Eden, that is one to
watch over and take care of that first pair of human beings. But although he was a very beautiful angel,
he let bad thoughts come into his mind, and when he saw how happy this first
human pair was, and heard God tell Adam that he was to have the rule over
Page 9
all the things
on the earth if he would be good and obey, it caused envy and jealousy to
spring up in the heart of this angel; and he coveted this power and happiness
which God had given to Adam and Eve, and he said in his heart:
"I will be
like the Most High." (Isa14:14.)
Just think, he
was jealous of God! That was very, very
wrong for this angel, whose name was Lucifer; because he was very beautiful,
and he should have been happy and contented to remain where God had placed him
and do the things that God gave him to do.
SATAN TELLS
A FALSEHOOD
But no! One day when Mother Eve was alone in the
Garden of Eden, this Lucifer made himself look like a serpent or snake, came
into the Garden, and in some way talked to Eve and asked her if God had said
she and Adam could not eat the fruit from all the trees; and she told him that
they could eat the fruit from all the trees, except one, and that God had said
that if they did eat of it THEY WOULD DIE.
And what do you think this Lucifer, who had become a bad angel,
said? He said something that was not
true—a terrible falsehood—for he said,
"Thou
SHALT NOT surely die." (Ge 3:4.)
Was not that
wicked of him? It was just the same as
telling Eve that God had not told the truth.
What would you have said to that old serpent? Would you not have told him to go away, that you were going to
believe what God said and obey him? Yes, that is what Eve should have done, but
she did not. She disobeyed God and ate
the "forbidden fruit," and she did not stop there, but when Adam came
back to her, she tempted him, and "He did eat." Adam was the head or man of that family, and
God blamed him for what was done; and when he disobeyed, he did a very wicked
thing, because that sin of Adam fell upon all of the children that Adam and Eve
had later—the whole human family.
ADAM AND EVE
DRIVEN FROM HOME
Then they were,
oh, so afraid, and tried to hide themselves from God when they heard his voice
in the Garden. But God who knows
everything, found them, and when they had confessed to Him that they had
disobeyed by eating of the "forbidden fruit," He made them go out of
that nice Garden, which had been their happy home, and placed angels with
flaming swords at the gate, so that they could not go back into the Garden, Ge
3:24; because in the Garden was another kind of tree, the eating of which would
cause them to live; and since they had disobeyed God, He could not let them go back and live, because He had told
them that if they ate of the "forbidden" fruit they would DIE, and so
die they must, and not only themselves, but all of Adam’s children and grandchildren—all
the world of mankind must die because of what Adam did. Ge 3:19; 1Co 15:21, 22; Ro 6:23; Ro 5:12; Ro
5:19; Re 12:9.
Because
Lucifer caused that first human pair to sin, God changed his name to Satan,
which means adversary.
A SAD FAMILY
Page 10
What a sad
family that was! Never before had
anyone died, and now, instead of a happy human family living on earth in a
beautiful Garden which God had made especially for them, and in which they
could have lived forever if they had obeyed God, we find that they lost that
beautiful Garden and were driven out into the unprepared earth, and they became
a dying family; for, since that day, everyone who has come into the world has
lived a little while and then died. And
that is the reason that we hear today of people dying—little babies, little
boys and girls, old men and women—all because Adam disobeyed God. Even though
some lived 600 or 900 years, like Noah and Methuselah, yet they died. None can keep themselves alive and live
forever, as was told Adam that he could if he would obey God. Today, if we hear of anyone living to be
even one hundred years old, it is considered very wonderful, and that fact is
published in the newspaper. Thus you
see, dear children, what can come from just one disobedient act. What a sad thing it has been, not only for
Adam and Eve, but for all the human family who are their children.
SADNESS
TURNED TO JOY
As we think
‘bout this it makes a very sad and dark picture, like a dark cloud; but I think
you have all heard the saying that,
"Every
cloud has its silver lining."
Therefore, we
are not going to leave this story looking like a black cloud, but we will turn
it inside out and see its silver lining.
I am now coming
to the beginning of my story about the First Christmas, and why we hear so much
about this baby boy Jesus who was born at Christmas time. I wish all the boys and girls in all the
whole world to know why we love God and Jesus so much, because it will make
them happy too. You see, when Jesus
lived in heaven with God, long, long before Adam and Eve were created, he just
loved to obey and please his heavenly Father; and so when Adam disobeyed by
eating of the "forbidden" fruit, it made God very sad. I suppose God and Jesus talked ‘bout it a
good deal because they loved Adam and Eve, even though Adam and Eve had sinned,
and even though they had caused death to come into the world, so that ever
since both they and their children have been dying. It was all Adam’s fault, for Adam and Even could have kept from
disobeying if they had wanted to. But, what do you think! God is so good He thought of a way whereby
He could show His great love to Adam and Eve and their children, and at the
same time keep His word when He said they would die if they disobeyed Him. Only a God who knows everything, like our
God, could do a thing like that, and he also knew he had power to carry out
such a plan. What do you think that
plan was? It was a plan to bring back
"LL the human family from the
grave—death. My, what a wonderful plan
that is! I guess Adam did not really
know how many people would be made sad on account of his disobedience, but all
of us who have lived on earth know all "Bout it. We do not like to see father, mother, brother or sister die, do
we? It is so lonesome without them, and
we miss their voices and happy smiling faces, and so we just wish we could all
live on and on forever on this beautiful earth, and never die, don’t we? Well, dear children, that is just what our
dear, loving heavenly Father is going to have done some day;
He will
turn sadness into joy by bringing them all out of death, and that is the plan
"Bout which God and Jesus talked.
Page 11
GOOD NEWS
You see, God
had told Adam that if he disobeyed by eating the Aforbidden" fruit that he
would die, and so He was obliged to punish Adam when he did sin. But God told Jesus that if he could find
someone without sin, who would die for Adam and his children, God would take
away the death penalty from the human family; that is, people would not get
sick any more and die, but could live on and on and be happy forever. You see, Adam disobeyed God and thus sinned,
and that was what made all of Adam’s children sin, because Adam was their
father and sin was in him after he disobeyed—none of Adam’s children, that is
the human family, are perfect, because of this sin which came from Adam. It is just like a fountain from which flows
water. If some dirt or poison gets into that fountain, then all the water which
comes from it is dirty or poisoned. So
you see that this is the reason why no man on earth could die for Adam, because
all the people on earth are Adam’s children and his sin, like so much poison,
has been passed on from Adam to his children, and that is why the Bible tells
us that all are sinners, that "There is none righteous, no not one, for
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Ro 3:10, 23.)
HOW MUCH
JESUS LOVES US
Jesus was not a
child of Adam, but was a perfect spirit being living with God in heaven, and so
when God told Jesus that it would be necessary for a perfect man to die for
Adam, Jesus told God that he would be glad to do God’s will and be changed from
a spirit being to a human being to be just like Adam was when he was perfect
before he sinned, and then take Adam’s place in death, so that Adam and all the
children whom Adam had brought into the world might come up out of death. Do you not think Jesus loved us all a great
deal to leave his heavenly Father and his beautiful home in heaven so that he
could, by dying for the world of mankind, bring them up out of death and stop
all the pain and sickness and crying and dying. (He 10:7; 12:2).)
HOW MUCH GOD
LOVES US
Then, too, think
how much God loved us to send His only Son down here to die for the world. I guess all boys and girls know that
wonderful verse, Joh 3:16, which means so much that some people call it, the
Little Bible. Everyone should learn to
repeat that verse, it says:
"For God
so loved the world that HE gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life." (Joh 3:16.)
That means life
forever and forever, and not for just a few years like people live now.
Now, if Jesus
had remained a little baby, he could not have died for Adam, because Adam was a
man when he sinned, and it had to be a man just like Adam to die for Adam. You know, children, that when boys now grow
to be twenty-one years of age, they are said to have become men, but in the
days of Jesus it was different, their law required that they must grow to be
thirty years of age before their law called them men.
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THE BOY
JESUS
WHEN JESUS
WAS A BOY
SO, instead of
Jesus remaining a little baby boy, he grew older and bigger every day, just
like any boy. The Bible does not tell
us much "Bout Jesus when he was a little boy or when he was a young man,
except when he was "Bout twelve years he was taken by Joseph and Mary, his
mother, up to Jerusalem. In those days
people did not travel like we do now on trains and in automobiles and airships,
but they either walked on foot or rode on little donkeys. At the time Jesus was taken up to Jerusalem
a large crowd of people went also, and they called such a crowd, a
caravan. Besides donkeys they also had
some camels. Well, when they got to
Jerusalem there were so many people there that Jesus became separated from
Joseph and Mary, and when it came time for the people to return home, Joseph
and Mary thought Jesus was somewhere in the caravan with other people, but
after they had traveled homeward for quite a distance, they could not find
Jesus. So they became quite alarmed
"Bout him and went back to Jerusalem to see if they could find him. Well, they did find him, but where do you
suppose they found him? They said they
had looked everywhere for him, and finally they came to the beautiful Temple,
and there he was talking with the priests, and asking them all kinds of
questions "Bout the Bible. He was
more interested in the Bible than in anything else in Jerusalem, because it
told him all about God. So, when Joseph
and Mary told him they had looked everywhere for him he said, "Wist ye not
that I would be in my Father’s house?"
The more we
learn "Bout God, the more we ought to have to study and ask questions
"Bout the Bible just as Jesus did.
Jesus then went
home with Joseph and Mary and the Bible tells us that he was always obedient to
them, and lived with them until he had grown to be thirty years of age. Then he was ready to do the work that God
had for him to do, which was to die for Adam and all Adam’s children, by taking
Adam’s place in death. That is the
reason that some day Adam and all people will come out of death, not only the
men and women and boys and girls and little babies who have died in the United
States, but all the people who have died all over the world-those in Europe,
India, China, Japan, South America, Australia, all the Islands in the sea, and
everywhere, because they are all Adam’s children. My, won’t Adam be surprised when he comes back from death and
sees all his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all the people
who have lived on the earth!
THE MAN
JESUS
JESUS
BAPTIZED IN JORDAN
Jesus did not
die as soon as he was thirty years of age, but at that time he gave himself to
God and told God that he would be glad to do everything God wanted him to do,
and that he was ready to die whenever God wanted him to. To prove that he was willing to do just what
God wanted, Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. John let Jesus down into the water, so that
the water covered him all over, just like the dirt covers people over when they
are
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buried in the
ground. That was a picture of Jesus
showing by his actions that he was willing that God should let him down into
the real death for Adam.
THE GREAT
PHYSICIAN
After he was
baptized Jesus still lived on earth a few years, and he was always going
"Bout helping people that were sick to get well and preaching "Bout
the good time God was preparing for all the people. He opened the blind eyes, made lame men to walk, and was just
lovely to everybody. And, he got all
his help from God, his heavenly Father.
That is why he could do such wonderful things, and when he saw people
crying and feeling badly, he felt very sorry for them. But even though Jesus was good and helped so
many people, some of them did not like him, and they killed him by nailing him
to a cross. It also looked as though
God had forgotten him, because God let those wicked people kill him, but God
had not forgotten him. You see, God
knew that when Jesus came into the world that he would have to die to carry out
God’s great plan to save all the rest of the world whom Adam had gotten into
death. God had so much power He could
have made the people leave Jesus alone and not kill him, but if God had stopped
them, and if Jesus had never died, then there would not have been anyone to
take Adam’s place in death, and so you and I and all the people who have ever
lived anywhere on this earth, would have had to remain dead forever.
GOD MADE
JESUS LIVE AGAIN
Jesus was
obedient and faithful to God, even though it meant that he had to die such a
hard death on the cross, but as a reward for his faithfulness, God made Jesus
alive again, not this time as a human being, but much greater than a human
being, and even greater than Jesus was when he had been in heaven with God
before he came to earth on that First Christmas. Thus we see that by serving and obeying God, Jesus not only
pleased God very much, but God gave him a better life than he had before, and
so it is with all of us—the more we study the Bible and learn to obey and
please God, the more He likes it and God will surely give all such a great
blessing some time, even if we do not get everything we want now. For you know, Jesus did not have everything
nice when he was on earth, but now he is happy and is a most wonderful
being. And, so it will be with all of
us, if we love God and obey Him in the things we read in His book, the Bible, we
will some day be very, very happy, and can live forever and ever in the
sunshine of God’s love, enjoying everything that He will then have ready for
the whole world of mankind to enjoy.
Won’t that be grand?
WHAT
CHRISTMAS MEANS
Because Jesus
died and God raised him up out of death is the reason you and I and all the
boys and girls and grown-up people too, will be awakened from death and raised
up, all of Adam’s children, the whole human family who have died since Adam and
Eve sinned and were driven out of the Garden of Eden. Some of these people died long, long before Jesus came to earth
as a little B"be on that First Christmas Night. And, until he died and rose from the dead no
Page 14
one else could
live, because God said that if Adam ever lived again, someone would have to die
for him. And so Christmas means that
Jesus came on that day so that all people can live again. Don’t you think we have a wonderful God to
make such a Plan, and won’t we be happy when everybody wakes up and comes out
of their graves?
A GREAT
SECRET
Well, you may
wonder why it is that all people who had died did not come out of their graves
and begin to live again, as soon as Jesus died for them. That is a great secret, and is one of the
most interesting stories you ever heard.
I suppose you have all had secrets which other boys and girls could not
find out until you told them what the secrets were—they were kept guessing all
the time what the secrets were until you told them. Well, God had a secret which He kept hid for a long, long time,
and the Bible tells us that many people looked and looked and tried in every
way to find out what God’s secret was (1Pe 1:11, 12), but they could not until
after Jesus died and then God told the Apostle Paul what it was, so that he
could write some letters to all the people who love Jesus and tell them; and
now, I am going to tell you too what that secret is that God kept hidden so
long.
You will
remember I told you in the first part of this story that Adam was alone for
some time in the Garden with no one but the monkeys and other animals and birds
to talk to, and he was very lonesome.
You will remember that Adam was so lonesome that God said it was not
good for Adam to live alone, and so he made a beautiful woman to be Adam’s
wife. Now God loved Jesus just as much
as he did Adam, and when God raised Jesus from death and made him a very
wonderful spirit being, ready for the great work of waking up all the other
dead people, so as to make them happy, God saw that it would not be good for
Jesus to be alone, as that kind of a spirit being, and do so much work, so God
decided to make a wife for Jesus. That
is the great secret. But this wife for
Jesus would be different from the wife God gave to Adam, she would not be a
human wife to live on earth, because Jesus is now a wonderful spirit being,
living in heaven; and so Jesus’ wife must be just like him, spiritual too.
JESUS’ BRIDE
As Jesus is a
much more wonderful being than was Adam, so Jesus’ wife will be much more
wonderful and grand than was Adam’s wife, and instead of one being for a wife,
Jesus’ wife will be made up of a number of beings, and all those beings
together will be called, ‘Jesus’ bride or wife," and will all be called by
Jesus’ name. I will explain how a
number of people can be called by one name: Most all of you boys and girls go
to school, don’t you? Well, let us
imagine we are visiting a school, and as we come to one room, we ask, Who are
all those children? What does our guide
tell us? Does he say, Those are Mary,
and John, and Bessie, and Henry and William and Gladys, and give the separate
name for each boy and girl in the room?
No, our guide will say, Those children in that room are the Third
Grade. So you see, that while all the
children in that room have their own names, yet all together they are called by
one name, the Third Grade. Well, that
is just the way it will be with Jesus’ wife.
While all the people who will make up Jesus’ wife will each have their
own names, and maybe their names too will be, Mary, and John, and
Page 15
Bessie, and
Henry, and William and Gladys, just like those children in the Third Grade, but
altogether, their name will be called, Jesus’ Bride or Wife.
FINDING
JESUS’ BRIDE
In order that
Jesus might have a wife, all these people must be found (Joh 1:11, 12; Ac
15:14; Ga 3:27, 28), and then they must be made ready so that they can live
with Jesus, and this has taken a long time.
You know that now when men get married they take a long time looking
around to find the right person, because they do not marry everybody they see.
A man wants the nicest lady he can find for his bride—nice looking, nice
acting, loving and kind. Just so with
the Bride of Jesus, everybody will not be his Bride, only those who are
thankful for what Jesus has done for them, and who are trying to be loving and
kind just like Jesus was. Would you
like to be a part of the Bride of Jesus, and see him as he is now, and be with
him, and be just like him? (Joh
3:2.) Well, the best time to begin to
get ready to be a part of his Bride is while you are children and grow more and
more like Jesus each day. God knew that
some people would like to be Jesus’ Bride, but they did not know how, so God
had a big letter or book written, which we call the Bible, and it tells us just
what we ought to do and how we should live if we would ever be a part of His
Son’s Bride. That is why we have Sunday
Schools and study the Bible. It is the
most wonderful book in the whole world, and the more we study it the more we
become like Jesus. Do you think God will be "Ble to find enough people who
love God and Jesus now, so that God can make them the way He wants them to live
with Jesus? Yes, we know God will find
them, because the Bible, which is such a wonderful book, sometimes tells us
what is going to happen many, many years before it happens, and in the Bible,
we read that, "The Bride hath made herself ready." What will she be ready for? The Bible says she will be ready to be
married to Jesus. My, won’t that be a
wonderful wedding! And would you not
like to be at that wedding? And, better
still, would you not like to be of that Bride Class, so that you could live
with Jesus and help him bless all the boys and girls and grown-ups too when
they are awakened from death. Well, if you will do just what God says in the
Bible, perhaps you can be at that wedding and be a part of Jesus’ Bride.
Wouldn’t you
think everybody would like to be a part of Jesus’ Bride? I would think so, but they do not, and
because they do not, that is the reason it has taken so many years since Jesus
died for God to find enough people who will try to please Him and be obedient
like Jesus was obedient. People are
told "Bout this wonderful secret which God kept hidden so many years, but
they do not believe it. They think they
would like to have what they call, "fun" now, rather than try to go
"Bout like Jesus did, doing good and telling other people ‘bout God.
ALL PEOPLE
HAPPY
Well, some day
God will have enough of such people who love Him and who have tried to do as
Jesus did, and then that most wonderful wedding will take place "Before
the Great White Throne." And then,
what will happen? Well, then, all those
people who make up this Bride of Jesus will be set to work by Jesus to wake up
all the dead people (Joh 5:28), and tell them that Jesus died for them, and
that if they will believe what Jesus then tells them, that they will never die
Page 16
again. How glad all of Jesus’ Bride will be to do
that work, because their work will be to not only wake them up from death, but their
work will also be to open the blind eyes, unstop the deaf ears, make the lame
people walk and jump (the 35th chapter of Isaiah [Isa 35])—there will be no
more little boys and girls, or anyone else then that will have to walk on
crutches, but they will be able to leap and run and jump better than any boys
and girls ever did before. Other work
that this Bride will have to do will be to make people talk and sing who could
not talk and sing, and oh, what songs they will sing "Bout God and
Jesus—they will just be happy all the day long, and every day they will grow to
love God and Jesus and his Bride more and more. Other kinds of work for the Bride of Jesus will be to make all
the rest of the people well, no matter what kind of sickness they had when they
died, and so, when their work is finished, the Bible tells us that there will
never be any more pain, or sickness, or sighing, or crying, or dying (Re
21:4). Adam and Eve will be among all
those people who will have been made well, and they will be told that these
people are their children, that because they disobeyed God and sinned that they
all had to suffer and die, but that God so loved them all that He sent Jesus
down from heaven to die for them, and because Jesus did that, all the people
Adam sees were made well.
What do you
suppose Adam will think when he sees all of these people and is told that they
are his children? Well, he will be very
much surprised to find that he has such a large family, but I think he will
feel sorry because he sinned and made them suffer so much, but then he will be
glad and happy that God and Jesus loved not only Adam and Eve, but all of those
people so much that they made such a wonderful Plan and that now all these
people are happy and can live forever and enjoy the things that God has for
them. That will surely be a happy time,
and that happy time is what the Bible calls "The Jubilee"—everybody
happy.
CHRISTMAS
BEGAN THE HAPPY TIME
Well, that is
just the reason that people who know ‘bout God’s great secret are so happy at
Christmas time, and they know that all the blessings and good times coming to
the people is because of the "Best Gift" which God gave to the
world. God gave Jesus to come down to
earth and die for all so that all could live again. And God sent "His Best Gift" as the little baby Jesus
on that First Christmas Night, when the Angels sang, "Glory to God in the
Highest."
OUR CHANCE
TO MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY
So, dear children, every year people who know "bout this Best Gift from God, like to give other people nice things, and so mamma and papa and brothers and sisters and friends give nice things to each other, and send pretty picture cards with the words, "Merry Christmas" on them, and in the Sunday S