62 



EEY. JOHN URQUHART^ ON 



past and after times. It began the one and only revolution in 

 the world's history that has been for God and for the better and 

 nobler life of man. There has been no other movement to set 

 by the side of it — I believe that few will name or think of 

 Mohammedanism as comparable with Christianity. If they did, 

 Mohammedanism is excluded from the comparison by its Koran, 

 its methods, and its results. The personality of the Lord Jesus 

 Christ is absolutely unique. He is utterly above and apart 

 from all besides of this earth's best and greatest. His character 

 and abiding influence make, on the face of them, a startling 

 answer to the Scripture announcement of the coming of 

 the Messiah. He was to be a Jew and He was to bless Jew 

 and Gentile. The man of Nazareth fulfils undeniably and 

 broadly that strange but confident prediction. Is that a 

 chance ? Or does it show that prediction is a fact ? 



The following points are worthy of close consideration : — 



1. The earliest announcement of his future appearing is very 

 striking (Genesis, iii, 15 : " And I will put enmity between thee 

 and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It (or 

 He) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel 

 Plainly it is One from among the woman's offspring, who is 

 specially described as her seed, who is thus to deal directly with 

 the Deceiver who by his wiles has driven man from the 

 presence of God. He will crush the Deceiver's power : " He 

 shall bruise thy head." But the Deliverer of humanity will 

 not escape unscathed : " Thou shalt bruise his heel." I suppose 

 this means that the progress of the Deliverer's work would be 

 suspended or delayed for a time — an astonishing commentary 

 upon the nearly nineteen centuries of delay since Christ's uncom- 

 pleted work began. Thus three things should be noted here : — 



(1) Tlie wide scope of the predicted Redeemer's work — He 

 comes for man. 



(2) The Redeemer 8 objective — to slay the Deceiver. 



(3) The retardation of the Redeemers work. 



2. The Redeemer was to he an Israelite (Genesis xxii, 18 : 

 " And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed "). 

 The words were spoken to Abraham. It adds to their signifi- 

 cance that they were spoken at the altar upon which Isaac had 

 been laid in sacrifice. It is a striking fact that here again — in 

 a Jewish book — the Eedeemer promised is to be for "all 

 nations." It is surely more than a marvellous coincidence that, 

 in a Eedeemer sprung from Israel, men of every nationality 

 have already found blessing. 



