The Face Of Christ Series

Dr. Rosenow, a man who devoted his life to medical

research, was asked, what led him to this as his life's task,

and he told this story. He grew up on an isolated farm in

Northern Wisconsin, and as a boy he had an unforgettable

experience when his brother became dangerously ill. The

nearest doctor was sent for, and when he came to the house,

Dr. Rosenow, then only a boy, followed the doctor into his

brothers room, and hid behind a sofa to observe. What he

saw determined his career. The doctor poured out medicine

to give to the patient, and then he turned and said to his

parents, "Have no fear, he is going to get well." The light

that came into his parents faces was wonderful to behold,

and so deeply impressed him that then and there the boy

behind the sofa determined that he would do something that

would cause light to appear in people's faces.

We cannot begin to measure the powerful influence of

shining faces in history. Longfellow said of one-

The light upon her face

Shines from the windows of another world.

Saints only have such faces.

When Adoniram Judson, the great missionary, was home on

furlough, he passed through Stonington, Conn. Where a

young boy saw his face glowing with the love of Christ. He

was so deeply impressed that one of the chapters of the book

he wrote when he became a pastor was entitled, "What A

Boy Saw In The Face Of Adoniram Judson." This boy

became Dr. Henry Clay Trumbull, a great soul winner. Now

you may not know Dr. Trumbull or Dr. Rosenow, or the

million others whose lives have been changed by beholding

faces, but all of you know the man in this third illustration of

the powerful influence of a shining face.

He was not a boy as the other two, but was a grown man

who had already determined his profession. He was engaged

in duties that would make his face bitter and fearful. By his

own confession he says, he was in an angry rage when

suddenly at midday he saw a light from heaven, brighter

than the sun, and with that vision his whole character and

career was changed. Paul had seen the light, not just a light,

but the light, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in

the face of Jesus Christ. In spite of the fact that he was

persecuting Christ, the face he saw was not a face of anger

like his own, but a face of mercy and forgiveness, and from

that time one Paul followed only the light that came from his

Savior's face.

To behold the face of Christ, and to reflect the light of His

face was the constant goal of the Apostle Paul. He was not a

man of a thousand faces, but the man of one face-the face of

Christ. He renounced all underhanded and cunning

methods, and walked in the open light of the face of Christ.

Paul could have written the words of the poet,

For this I strive, for this I pray,

For this all else resign:

Be like my Master everyday,

Set forth on earth the Christian way,

Reflect His face in mine.

Author unknown

In Margaret Deland's story, The Awakening Of Helina

Ritchie, a small boy looking at a picture of the baptism of

Jesus in which the artist had a face looking out of the clouds

asked, "Is that a good photograph of God?" Dr. Lavendar,

the pastor said, "If it looks like a kind father, I think it is a

good photograph of God." The Apostle Paul would say,

however, that the real authentic photograph of God is the

Son of God, who is the express image of God. Jesus said,

"He who has seen me has seen the Father." Paul says to the

Corinthians here in verse 6, that the source of our knowledge

of God, in all His glory and beauty, is in the face of Jesus

Christ. Back in 318 He lays it down as a spiritual principle,

that only as we with open face gaze upon the glory of the

Lord Jesus, can we be changed by degrees, and become like

Him. Looking at the face of Jesus is not just poetry, it is an

essential and practical aspect of the Christian life, for those

who desire to be Christlike in all their living.

This means, of course, that the face of Christ is not His

literal face, but is the whole character and conduct of Jesus

as it is recorded in the Gospels. The face, however, is the

part of the body the most expressive of one's life and

emotions. If you wish to know if a man is happy and glad, or