To be near unto God - pagina 69

professional colleague, a peer in society, one whose lot and experience in life are similar with ours comes nearer to us than he whose settings of life are in every way different from our own. Like alone understands like. The Divine saying, "Let us make man after our image and likeness," implied of itself therefore the Divine intention of creating beings who would be capable of Divine fellowship and who would be susceptible to this glorious communion. If, then, all true religion consists of this mutual fellowship, it follows that when God created a being after his likeness He thereby simultaneously created religion.

God magnified his omnipotence in the works of nature, and the more fully its early chaotic estates refined and unfolded themselves, until the murmur of waters bore fruition in the note of the nightingale, the more majestic became the revelation of the splendor of Divine Almightiness. The whole earth is full of God's glory. But there is no self-conscious and responsive fellowship between all this and God. God stands above nature. Nature is subject to His majesty, but it has no knowledge or understanding of God and therefore no single note of thanksgiving, worship or communion goes forth from Nature to God. There is power in it everywhere, but there is no fellowship of love in it. And this is the Divine desire. God must needs address his creation and obtain a response from it in return. He must needs establish close,

personal fellowship and mutual com-

munion with

his creation. The eternal, knowing, loving, seeking Father desires to be known, 61

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