The work of the Holy Spirit - pagina 559

THE MANIFESTATION OF HOLY LOVE handled, declare

we unto you"; and

that

519

was always the glory

of

the eternal Love which had captivated and pervaded their whole soul.

Until now men had walked in Love's shadow, but in Immanuel Love itself appeared in the flesh and after the manner of men. It was not merely a radiation of Love, its reflection, an increated feature, sense, or inclination, but the fresh, irresistible waves of Love's own constraining power issuing from the depths of His divine heart. It was this Love which, in the heart of Immanuel, brought heaven down to earth, and which by His ascension to heaven uplifted our world to the halls of eternal light. Even tho Europe had felt nothing of it, and America had never thought of a Savior, tho Africa had not heard the tidings, and it was but a small spot in Asia where His feet pressed the ground, yet it was the heart of Immanuel that bound every continent and the world yea, the very

—

universe around

it,

to the divine Mercy.

That Love shone forth as a love for an enemy. Man had become enemy of God: " There is none that doeth good, no not one." The creature hated God. The enmity was absolute and terrible. There was nothing in man to attract God; rather everything to repel Him, And when all was enmity and repulsion, then the Love of God was made manifest in that Christ died for us when we were the

enemies.

Love among men and animals rests upon mutual attraction, sympathy, and inclination; even the love that relieves the suflEerer feels the power of it. But here is .a love that finds no attraction anywhere, but repulsion everywhere. And in this fact sparkles the sovereign liberty of divine Love

it loves because it will love, and by loving saves the object of its love. Since this Love attained its severest tension on Calvary, its symbol is and ever shall be the Cross, For the Cross is the most fearful manifestation of man's enmity; and by the very contrast the beauty and adorableness of divine Love shine most gloriously: Love that suffers and bears everything. Love that can die voluntarily, and in that death heralds the dawn of a still more glorious :

future.

But even the work of the Son does not

finish the work of putLove upon the human heart. Wherefore, followed by the Incarnation, so does Pentecost

ting the impress of God's as the Creation

is

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