Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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disclosed God's character to the world. Examining the
life of Jesus, and remembering that he lived in total
submission to God, discloses God's "utter goodness."1'5
2. Jesus revealed who man could be. Jesus set the
example for all to follow. He not only taught the ideal,
but, by living it, demonstrated the fact that man could
achieve his potential.
Such is the secret of Christian preaching. We
win men to Christianity, not primarily by
presenting the involved ideas, but by
presenting their incarnation in life. Christ
is our greatest asset. He actually lived the
life for which we p1ead.16.
(As Jesus' life revealed God's goodness and a human
incarnation of that character, his sacrificial death
uncovered the divine being in even greater light.
According to Fosdick, vicarious sacrifice was not new.
It had from the beginning been built into the structure
of the universe. But Jesus "has given us so perfect and
convincing an illustration of the power of a boundless
love expressing itself through utter sacrifice that he
has become the unique representative on earth of that
universal principle and law."17)
3. Jesus demonstrated how the rest of humanity can
live as he lived. The God who enabled Jesus'
awe—inspiring, model life can do the same for us. "It
was God in him who created his quality, and if the same
God is seeking entrance to our lives, trying to live out
in us, according to our degree and capacity, the same
spirit, then we may hope." le This further statement