Christ. He lived and died to glorify God in our salvation; He lives now, that in Him and the Church the Father may be glorified.
Even before the full light was manifested in the incarnation of the Son of God, the world-wide character of the affections of the saints was a necessary consequence of their living unto the glory of God. The glory of God is the central idea of Scripture, as well as the culminating point of all revelation; and hence we see the saints men of lofty, fervent, and comprehensive intercession. You remember the intercession of Abraham, in this also the father and pattern of the faithful, when he entreated the Lord so earnestly and boldly on behalf of Sodom. You remember the pleading of self-sacrificing love with which Moses supplicated for his rebellious people. You remember the prayers of Jeremiah and Daniel, and the fervent petitions of David and the prophets, for the manifestation of God's salvation and glory to the ends of the earth. How deep were the longings of these men for the coming of God's kingdom! How absorbed were they in the honour of God's name! When Eli heard that the ark was taken, then he fell to the ground and died; when the children of Israel were by Babel's streams, they mourned in constant remembrance of Jerusalem. And how unfeignedly sincere and jubilant is their joy, anticipating in faith the time when the Lord shall reign upon earth, and when all nations shall serve Him and worship Him in light.
