1 Introductory

JESUS OF NAZARETH made it abundantly clear during His earthly ministry that He regarded those few years of life in Palestine as a mere interlude in His real life. He knew whence He came and whither He was going, and it is impossible to regard His earthly life as a self-contained whole, having its own meaning. It is only when it is considered as a small—though vitally important—part of a larger plan that its true significance is seen. It was but a small specimen, open to human eyes, of a life of obedience to His Father which had been and was to be eternal, and it is only as a part of a larger whole that its importance can be understood. Only in the Ages of Ages that are yet to come will the real effects of those few years be made manifest. Viewed as an earthly life, it may seem to be most disappointing; as He said Himself, He had spent His strength for nought and in vain. The very nation He had come to save did but plunge more deeply into sin, and was soon to experience its most fearful and prolonged disaster. The Gentiles to whom the Good News was sent have done little better with it, and are soon to plunge into a darkness of sin and destruction past remedy.

If, however, we lift our eyes and look backwards to that holy conversation before 'Time' was, when He laid down His life upon the altar of God's justice, and then look forward