| Highlights of Dawn | March 1967 |
Assurance for All Men
MARVELOUS things are taking place throughout the earth today, and also dreadful things. Unfortunately the various news media seem to feature the dreadful events more than they do the happy and beneficial ones. On the good side we have news items revealing the continued growth of science and invention. For example, medical science today is accomplishing almost unbelievable feats in the treatment and cure of human ailments, and thus prolonging human life.
In the face of the threat of a population explosion and the need for ever-increasing quantities of food, science is finding ways of increasing the food supply. In this connection we are assured that in the future it will be possible to derive untold quantities of food from the sea, while improved methods of farming are procuring increasing quantities of food from the earth. If the ancients could behold what is happening throughout the earth today they would surely say that they were viewing a world of magic.
And all of this is taking place against a somber background of war, riots, increasing crime, increasing fraud in business and in government, and a breaking down of the moral standards of the people. It is not a pretty picture; and despite the technological gains being made by science in every field, the outlook for the establishment of a good world in which to live is a dim one.
In vain do we look for some sign in the events occurring around us to indicate that one day there will be a change, that the human race will awaken to its present calamitous course in time to save what is called civilization from a complete collapse. We must look elsewhere to receive this assurance. We must look to a source of information which reveals the relationship of the past to the present and, as a beacon light, points the way through the darkness to a new day of promise—a new clay promised, that is, by the great Creator of the universe.
Sin and Death
Today, the only source of real hope is the Bible; but if this great Book is to mean to us what it should, we must accept it for what it claims to be, which is the Word of God. This Word of God informs us that our first parents were created in the image of God. This means that they were perfect and endowed with the divine qualities of love, sympathy, and understanding. If the earth were filled with such people there would be no war, no crime, no oppression—none of the ugly evils which afflict mankind today.—Gen. 1:27,28
These perfect specimens of humanity were asked to obey divine law and were informed that disobedience would lead to death. (Gen. 2:17) They disobeyed, and the death sentence fell upon them. Soon trouble began. Cain murdered his brother Abel, and murder still continues. The downward course of the human race has been constant. The record reveals that less than two thousand years after the fall of man “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”—Gen. 6:5
The Flood destroyed that evil social order, but shortly afterward sin and selfishness again began to increase, and essentially every generation has experienced its terrible results. There have been wars and other distressing manifestations of the fact that the human race is indeed fallen and incapable of rescuing itself from the downward drag of sin. The Bible attests to this, as do the pages of secular history.
Relief Promised
However, in every generation there were a few who endeavored to maintain their belief in God, and who tried to stem the tide of human selfishness. Abraham was one of these, and God counted him as a friend. God made a wonderful promise to Abraham, assuring him that through his “seed,” or progeny, all the families of the earth would be blessed. When Abraham demonstrated his complete faith in God by his willingness to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering, God confirmed this promise by his oath.—Gen. 22:15-18
This promise was passed on to Isaac and later to Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. When Jacob died, it became the heritage of the nation of Israel as a whole. To the devout of Israel this promise to Abraham was the basis of their hope in a coming Messiah. As they understood it, the Messiah would establish a powerful government in Israel—a government which would reach out and bless all the families, or nations, of the earth.
The greatest event ever to take place in the earth up to that time was the birth of Jesus, who had been sent into the world to fulfill the messianic promises.
But, like many of the good things which occur in the world today, the birth of Jesus received little publicity at the time. No doubt the shepherds to whom the announcement of Jesus’ birth was made by the angels, did what they could to spread the news, but this was meager publication of an event so important to mankind. The wise men who came later were greatly impressed, and they probably spread the news to some extent. Perhaps the greatest notice the birth of Jesus received was in connection with Herod’s attempt to destroy the child by the slaughter of all the Hebrew children in that area. Thus, as today, the good was temporarily overshadowed by the evil.
However, regardless of the amount of attention given to the birth of Jesus at the time, one of the greatest events in history had occurred. It was a highlight of dawn in the nighttime of human experience, for the One whom the Creator had promised to be the Deliverer of mankind from the thralldom of sin and death was born. To be sure, he was born in a manger, but his birth was announced by the holy angels. He was born to be a Wonderful Counselor, a Mighty God, an Everlasting Father, and The Prince of Peace.—Isa. 9:6,7
Messiah and King
Jesus was also born to be the great Messiah and King of promise. His disciples believed that he was the man of destiny, and he was. They expected him to set up his kingdom immediately and, through the authority of that kingdom, to deliver Israel from the Roman yoke of bondage, and then to take over the rulership of the world. However, while Jesus demonstrated by his miracles that he was capable of accomplishing the divine will, the disciples saw little or no evidence of a new government being formed under his leadership.
What they did see was increasing opposition to Jesus by the religious rulers. This opposition reached a climax as a result of his awakening Lazarus from the sleep of death. The disciples did not understand Jesus’ attitude in the face of the rising tide of hostility. He told them he intended to go to Jerusalem and expected to be arrested and put to death. They could not harmonize this with their expectations concerning their Master. Peter advised Jesus not to go to Jerusalem, and later he tried to prevent his arrest by the use of the sword.
But this was all in vain. Jesus was determined to give himself up to his enemies, although he could have asked his Heavenly Father for the help of the holy angels had he believed it to be the divine will for him. Though their hearts were anguished, the disciples could do nothing to turn aside the march of events. Their Messiah, their King, was arrested, hailed before priests and rulers to be tried, spat upon, beaten, to have a crown of thorns placed upon his brow, and to be nailed to a cross, where he was allowed to die. His death was accompanied by a great earthquake, and the veil of the temple was rent. (Matt. 27:51) There also came a darkness over the land—a symbol of the darkness of sin and death which this One who had been sent of Jehovah had come to earth to dispel.—Luke 23:44,45
The Redeemer
It was by the sacrifice of his life that Jesus provided redemption from sin and death for all mankind. In addition to being the future King of the world, he was now the Redeemer of the human race. But at that time the disciples did not understand this, and they were bewildered by the fact that their Master had allowed his enemies to put him to death. Their great joy over his birth and miraculous ministry had been eclipsed by a frustration and sadness occasioned by his death.
The faith of the disciples was so firmly established in the fact of his messiahship that they paid little attention to certain of his statements indicating that he expected to die at the hands of his enemies. How could this happen to their Messiah? But when he was crucified they recalled vaguely his promise that he would be raised from death on “the third day,” and they clung to this as their last hope.
Early in the morning of that third day certain women went to the tomb to complete the embalming of Jesus’ body, and they found the tomb empty. An angel explained that their Master was not there, that he had risen. Later, Jesus appeared to Mary and instructed her to go and tell his disciples that he was no longer dead. Jesus appeared as a stranger to two of his disciples on the way to Emmaus, and upon his asking them the cause of their sadness they explained what had happened and added, “We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed [delivered] Israel: and besides all this, today is the third day since these things were done.”—Luke 24:13-32
From the prophecies of the Old Testament, Jesus pointed out to these two disciples that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and die, and that the promises of his glory as Messiah and King would be fulfilled later. After Jesus disappeared from their sight these disciples said to each other, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
Doubtless the hearts of all the disciples burned within them when they became convinced that their Master had been raised from the dead. However, few aside from Jesus’ own dedicated followers believed that this great miracle had occurred. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was the most remarkable and wonderful event in world history, yet little attention was given to it; and the good news concerning it as proclaimed by his faithful followers fell upon deaf ears.
Its Commemoration Now
On the last Sunday in March the resurrection of Jesus will be commemorated by hundreds of millions. There will be much rejoicing, expressed by inspirational music and colorful parades. The churches will have their largest attendance of the year, and eloquent sermons will be preached. Yet the real meaning of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is still unknown by the majority of people. Indeed, many who preach on that day will themselves be nonbelievers in the resurrection of Jesus, as will many in the congregations.
There were three great events associated with the first advent of Jesus into the world, and all of them were highlights of dawn. The first, of course, was his birth; the second was his death; and the third was his resurrection. Without the death of Jesus, mankind would continue to remain under condemnation to death, and therefore there could be no dawning of a new morning of joy for the human race. But because Jesus did give his life a ransom for all and thus made provision for the setting aside of the death sentence, that heart-warming promise of Psalm 30:5 will yet come true: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” The great fact of Jesus’ death as man’s Redeemer will yet be made known to all mankind.—I Tim. 2:3-6
Assurance Through His Resurrection
A dead Redeemer could not deliver mankind from death; neither could a dead King rule over and bless all the families of the earth, as God had promised Abraham. (Gen. 12:3) So the next great step in the outworking of the divine plan for human salvation was the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The Creator, the Heavenly Father, demonstrated his power to fulfill his promises by raising Jesus from the dead. This shows that nothing can successfully interfere with the accomplishment of his loving design for the uplift of the human race from the degradation caused by disobedience to his law.
Truly, then, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was a highlight of the dawn of a new day, a foregleam of hope for a distraught and dying world of mankind. In the present dark world of chaos and suffering the people in general are without a true knowledge of God. God knows this, and the Apostle Paul explains that he has “winked” at this ignorance. But when the “judgments [of the Lord] are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isa. 26:9) That day of judgment is future. Concerning it, the Apostle Paul explains that God has “appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”—Acts 17:30-32
There is no assurance of peace and security to be found anywhere in the world today. Certainly the hydrogen bomb gives us no hope. Medical science is accomplishing great things, but human wisdom will never be able to destroy death. Education is becoming more general throughout the world, but little is being taught concerning the true God and his plan.
But when we look to the divine plan as represented to us in God’s Word, we have hope. In that plan Jesus is the Prince of Peace, the future Judge of the people, the One who will yet lighten every man who comes into the world. In him we see the new and righteous King of earth and the great Messiah of promise. And we have the assurance that the whole plan of the Creator, centered in Jesus, will become a glorious triumph in the earth because the Father raised him from the dead!
Because Jesus was raised from the dead, his faithful people, who will reign with him in his kingdom, are assured of a part in the first resurrection. (Rev. 20:6) And we are assured also that because he was raised from the dead there is certain to be a resurrection of “the just and unjust.” (Acts 24:15) May the commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus inspire us all with a greater desire than ever before to tell the whole world the blessed tidings of the kingdom centered in him!