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he
carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he
fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it
after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain
in the house. (Isaiah
44:13)
The
above verse from Isaiah makes reference to man’s making of an idol. He prepares
a beautiful form of a man that is suitable to be displayed “in the house.”
Of course, it can do nothing else of its own power. Idols are as powerless as a
stone on the creek bed. If they move at all, it must be done by an outside
force. But this verse bears a fine contrast of the workmanship of man as
compared to that of God. Man constructs and idol to look like a man being the
express image of God. But man is NOT God, and neither is the idol a god in any
sense. Even a breathing, living man is not even close to being God – he remains
a mere image of the Deity. But how would we compare the idol made by man, and
designed to look like a man, compare with the Son of God who was indeed God and
Man at once?
We
often consider the manliness of our Lord Jesus Christ as illustrated in His
early apprenticeship as a Carpenter under Joseph, the one presumed to be His
father – though He had only One Father, and that is God. 54 And when he was come into his
own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were
astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty
works? 55 IS
THIS NOT THE CARPENTER’S SON? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James,
and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? 56 And
his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all
these things? (Matt 13:54-56)
Herein lies a stumbling block to the Papal Romanizers – Jesus had brothers and
sisters. This undermines the heresy of the Immaculate Conception.
Jesus
had a father-figure in Joseph who was a carpenter. Jesus, too, became a
Carpenter in the years prior to His ministry; but our Lord also had a Heavenly
Father who was a Master Carpenter in building all that is in Creation. As a
matter of fact, the Triune Godhead were all in the BUILDING trade. The Great
Architect of the Universe (no intentional reference to Freemasonry) was God the
Father. The Executive Agent who built all according to those natural and
supernatural laws (plans) laid down by the Father was the Lord Jesus Christ. In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning
with God. 3 All
things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3) And the Moving Force at Creation, and down to this
day, is the Holy Ghost: 1 In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without
form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Gen 1:1-2)
God
has designed the Universe to comply with the natural laws of perfect order.
Every heavenly body of permanent station adheres to His foreordained orbit.
Only the meteors showering from deep space have no directed path. They are not
influenced greatly by the gravitational fields that would determine a steadfast
orbit. So these end up by being burned up in the atmospheres of other heavenly
bodies and are permanently darkened. Those who have no anchor of faith in God
are just like these meteors – or wandering stars. 12 These are spots in your feasts of charity,
when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without
water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit,
twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own
shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
(Jude 1:12-13) (ie, falling stars)
Jesus
is also the Master Carpenter. His role is Creation is singular in Heaven; but
His role in designing, planning, and building the Temple of God is absolutely
without precedent in Heaven or Earth. 18 Then answered the Jews and said unto
him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Jesus answered
and said unto them, Destroy this temple,
and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and
six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake
of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples
remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture,
and the word which Jesus had said. (John 2:18-22)
Our
Lord and Savior did rebuild the Temple of His Body in THREE DAYS. And though it
was perfect and complete of itself, the Lord is still renovating that Temple by
every soul added to the Body of Christ day by day. Each soul, large, small, or
medium, is precisely the size stone needed to fill a foreordained void
someplace in the Temple. He knew the stone He needed to fill that void long
before the stone existed. The Holy Spirit sought out the stone (soul) and drew
it as with a ‘hook in the jaw’ to the place of building. While the stone had
yet no consciousness of its calling, it was drawn forth.
Our
Lord never ceased to be a carpenter – He just expanded His trade during the
years of His ministry.
Please read the words of a great
President of the United States in expressing the amazing proof of Christ:
Meaning
no disrespect to the religious convictions of others, I still can't help
wondering how we can explain away what to me is the greatest miracle of all and
which is recorded in history. No one denies there was such a man, that he lived
and that he was put to death by crucifixion. Where...is the miracle I spoke of?
Well consider this and let your imagination translate the story into our own
time -- possibly to your own home town. A young man whose father is a carpenter
grows up working in his father's shop. One day he puts down his tools and walks
out of his father's shop. He starts preaching on street corners and in the
nearby countryside, walking from place to place, preaching all the while, even
though he is not an ordained minister. He does this for three years. Then he is
arrested, tried and convicted. There is no court of appeal, so he is executed at
age 33 along with two common thieves. Those in charge of his execution roll
dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has. His family
cannot afford a burial place for him so he is interred in a borrowed tomb. End
of story? No, this uneducated, propertyless young man who...left no written
word has, for 2000 years, had a greater effect on the world than all the
rulers, kings, emperors; all the conquerors, generals and admirals, all the
scholars, scientists and philosophers who have ever lived -- all of them put
together. How do we explain that?...unless he really was who he said he was.
President Ronald Reagan
An anonymous author made this
striking comparison: "Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50,
Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only 3. Yet the influence of Christ's 3-year
ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of
teaching from these men who were among the greatest philosophers of all
antiquity. Jesus painted no pictures; yet some of the finest paintings of
Raphael, Michalengelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration from
Him.
“Jesus wrote no poetry; but Dante, Milton, and
scores of the world's greatest poets were inspired by Him. Jesus composed
no music; still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach, and Mendelssohn reached their
highest perfection of melody in the hymns, symphonies, and oratorios they
composed in His praise. Every sphere of human greatness has been enriched by
this humble Carpenter of Nazareth.”
The Constant
Christ
“’The legs of the lame are
not equal.” There is a way that seems right to a man but the legs of his
thinking are unequal and in the circling eddy of his life he is swept to
delusion and on death. In refreshing contrast it is written of the Christ.
“‘His legs are as pillars of marble set upon
sockets of fine gold.’ He stands in the perfect balance of grace and truth;
erect in all the fairness of unsullied manhood; rooted in all the essential
nature of His deity. As man in all His walk, He pointed heavenward, pillared in
light, marbled in beauty, adorning all doctrine of the Father. His flawless
righteousness upheld entire superstructure of God's purpose of grace.
“With Him there was no
variableness or shadow caused by turning. His heart was large with the
largeness of God, running in the way of His commandments.... He is the constant
Christ.”
Geoffrey
T.Bull
God
Holds The Key
Hodder and Stoughton Limited London 1959
