Chapter 4
The Plan of
Redemption
THE
fall of man filled all heaven with sorrow. The world that God had made was
blighted with the curse of sin and inhabited by beings doomed to misery
and death. There appeared no escape for those who had transgressed the
law. Angels ceased their songs of praise. Throughout the heavenly courts
there was mourning for the ruin that sin had wrought.
The Son of
God, heaven's glorious Commander, was touched with pity for the fallen
race. His heart was moved with infinite compassion as the woes of the lost
world rose up before Him. But divine love had conceived a plan whereby man
might be redeemed. The broken law of God demanded the life of the sinner.
In all the universe there was but one who could, in behalf of man, satisfy
its claims. Since the divine law is as sacred as God Himself, only one
equal with God could make atonement for its transgression. None but Christ
could redeem fallen man from the curse of the law and bring him again into
harmony with Heaven. Christ would take upon Himself the guilt and shame of
sin--sin so offensive to a holy God that it must separate the Father and
His Son. Christ would reach to the depths of misery to rescue the ruined
race.
Before the
Father He pleaded in the sinner's behalf, while the host of heaven awaited
the result with an intensity of interest that words cannot express. Long
continued was that mysterious communing--"the counsel of peace"
(Zechariah 6:13) for the fallen sons of men. The plan of salvation had
been laid before the creation of the earth; for Christ is "the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8); yet it was
a struggle, even with the King of the universe, to yield up His Son to die
for the guilty race. But "God so loved the world, that He gave His
only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life." John 3:16. Oh, the mystery of redemption! the
love of God for a world that did not love Him! Who can know the depths of
that love which "passeth knowledge"? Through endless ages
immortal minds, seeking to comprehend the mystery of that incomprehensible
love, will wonder and adore.
God was to be
manifest in Christ, "reconciling the world unto Himself." 2
Corinthians 5:19. Man had become so degraded by sin that it was impossible
for him, in himself, to come into harmony with Him whose nature is purity
and goodness. But Christ, after having redeemed man from the condemnation
of the law, could impart divine power to unite with human effort. Thus by
repentance toward God and faith in Christ the fallen children of Adam
might once more become "sons of God." 1 John 3:2.
The plan by
which alone man's salvation could be secured, involved all heaven in its
infinite sacrifice. The angels could not rejoice as Christ opened before
them the plan of redemption, for they saw that man's salvation must cost
their loved Commander unutterable woe. In grief and wonder they listened
to His words as He told them how He must descend from heaven's purity and
peace, its joy and glory and immortal life, and come in contact with the
degradation of earth, to endure its sorrow, shame, and death. He was to
stand between the sinner and the penalty of sin; yet few would receive Him
as the Son of God. He would leave His high position as the Majesty of
heaven, appear upon earth and humble Himself as a man, and by His own
experience become acquainted with the sorrows and temptations which man
would have to endure. All this would be necessary in order that He might
be able to succor them that should be tempted. Hebrews 2:18. When His
mission as a teacher should be ended, He must be delivered into the hands
of wicked men and be subjected to every insult and torture that Satan
could inspire them to inflict. He must die the cruelest of deaths, lifted
up between the heavens and the earth as a guilty sinner. He must pass long
hours of agony so terrible that angels could not look upon it, but would
veil their faces from the sight. He must endure anguish of soul, the
hiding of His Father's face, while the guilt of transgression --the weight
of the sins of the whole world--should be upon Him.
The angels
prostrated themselves at the feet of their Commander and offered to become
a sacrifice for man. But an angel's life could not pay the debt; only He
who created man had power to redeem him. Yet the angels were to have a
part to act in the plan of redemption. Christ was to be made "a
little lower than the angels for the suffering of death." Hebrews
2:9. As He should take human nature upon Him, His strength would not be
equal to theirs, and they were to minister to Him, to strengthen and
soothe Him under His sufferings. They were also to be ministering spirits,
sent forth to minister for them who should be heirs of salvation. Hebrews
1:14. They would guard the subjects of grace from the power of evil angels
and from the darkness constantly thrown around them by Satan.
When the
angels should witness the agony and humiliation of their Lord, they would
be filled with grief and indignation and would wish to deliver Him from
His murderers; but they were not to interpose in order to prevent anything
which they should behold. It was a part of the plan of redemption that
Christ should suffer the scorn and abuse of wicked men, and He consented
to all this when He became the Redeemer of man.
Christ
assured the angels that by His death He would ransom many, and would
destroy him who had the power of death. He would recover the kingdom which
man had lost by transgression, and the redeemed were to inherit it with
Him, and dwell therein forever. Sin and sinners would be blotted out,
nevermore to disturb the peace of heaven or earth. He bade the angelic
host to be in accord with the plan that His Father had accepted, and
rejoice that, through His death, fallen man could be reconciled to God.
Then joy,
inexpressible joy, filled heaven. The glory and blessedness of a world
redeemed, outmeasured even the anguish and sacrifice of the Prince of
life. Through the celestial courts echoed the first strains of that song
which was to ring out above the hills of Bethlehem--"Glory to God in
the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:14.
With a deeper gladness now than in the rapture of the new creation,
"the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for
joy." Job 38:7.
To man the
first intimation of redemption was communicated in the sentence pronounced
upon Satan in the garden. The Lord declared, "I will put enmity
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15. This
sentence, uttered in the hearing of our first parents, was to them a
promise. While it foretold war between man and Satan, it declared that the
power of the great adversary would finally be broken. Adam and Eve stood
as criminals before the righteous Judge, awaiting the sentence which
transgression had incurred; but before they heard of the life of toil and
sorrow which must be their portion, or of the decree that they must return
to dust, they listened to words that could not fail to give them hope.
Though they must suffer from the power of their mighty foe, they could
look forward to final victory.
When Satan
heard that enmity should exist between himself and the woman, and between
his seed and her seed, he knew that his work of depraving human nature
would be interrupted; that by some means man would be enabled to resist
his power. Yet as the plan of salvation was more fully unfolded, Satan
rejoiced with his angels that, having caused man's fall, he could bring
down the Son of God from His exalted position. He declared that his plans
had thus far been successful upon the earth, and that when Christ should
take upon Himself human nature, He also might be overcome, and thus the
redemption of the fallen race might be prevented.
Heavenly
angels more fully opened to our first parents the plan that had been
devised for their salvation. Adam and his companion were assured that
notwithstanding their great sin, they were not to be abandoned to the
control of Satan. The Son of God had offered to atone, with His own life,
for their transgression. A period of probation would be granted them, and
through repentance and faith in Christ they might again become the
children of God.
The sacrifice
demanded by their transgression revealed to Adam and Eve the sacred
character of the law of God; and they saw, as they had never seen before,
the guilt of sin and its dire results. In their remorse and anguish they
pleaded that the penalty might not fall upon Him whose love had been the
source of all their joy; rather let it descend upon them and their
prosperity.
They were
told that since the law of Jehovah is the foundation of His government in
heaven as well as upon the earth, even the life of an angel could not be
accepted as a sacrifice for its transgression. Not one of its precepts
could be abrogated or changed to meet man in his fallen condition; but the
Son of God, who had created man, could make an atonement for him. As
Adam's transgression had brought wretchedness and death, so the sacrifice
of Christ would bring life and immortality.
Not only man
but the earth had by sin come under the power of the wicked one, and was
to be restored by the plan of redemption. At his creation Adam was placed
in dominion over the earth. But by yielding to temptation, he was brought
under the power of Satan. "Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is
he brought in bondage." 2 Peter 2:19. When man became Satan's
captive, the dominion which he held, passed to his conqueror. Thus Satan
became "the god of this world." 2 Corinthians 4:4. He had
usurped that dominion over the earth which had been originally given to
Adam. But Christ, by His sacrifice paying the penalty of sin, would not
only redeem man, but recover the dominion which he had forfeited. All that
was lost by the first Adam will be restored by the second. Says the
prophet, "O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of
Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion." Micah 4:8.
And the apostle Paul points forward to the "redemption of the
purchased possession." Ephesians 1:14. God created the earth to be
the abode of holy, happy beings. The Lord "formed the earth and made
it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be
inhabited." Isaiah 45:18. That purpose will be fulfilled, when,
renewed by the power of God, and freed from sin and sorrow, it shall
become the eternal abode of the redeemed. "The righteous shall
inherit the land, and dwell therein forever." "And there shall
be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it;
and His servants shall serve Him." Psalm 37:29; Revelation 22:3.
Adam, in his
innocence, had enjoyed open communion with his Maker; but sin brought
separation between God and man, and the atonement of Christ alone could
span the abyss and make possible the communication of blessing or
salvation from heaven to earth. Man was still cut off from direct approach
to his Creator, but God would communicate with him through Christ and
angels.
Thus were
revealed to Adam important events in the history of mankind, from the time
when the divine sentence was pronounced in Eden, to the Flood, and onward
to the first advent of the Son of God. He was shown that while the
sacrifice of Christ would be of sufficient value to save the whole world,
many would choose a life of sin rather than of repentance and obedience.
Crime would increase through successive generations, and the curse of sin
would rest more and more heavily upon the human race, upon the beasts, and
upon the earth. The days of man would be shortened by his own course of
sin; he would deteriorate in physical stature and endurance and in moral
and intellectual power, until the world would be filled with misery of
every type. Through the indulgence of appetite and passion men would
become incapable of appreciating the great truths of the plan of
redemption. Yet Christ, true to the purpose for which He left heaven,
would continue His interest in men, and still invite them to hide their
weakness and deficiencies in Him. He would supply the needs of all who
would come unto Him in faith. And there would ever be a few who would
preserve the knowledge of God and would remain unsullied amid the
prevailing iniquity.
The
sacrificial offerings were ordained by God to be to man a perpetual
reminder and a penitential acknowledgment of his sin and a confession of
his faith in the promised Redeemer. They were intended to impress upon the
fallen race the solemn truth that it was sin that caused death. To Adam,
the offering of the first sacrifice was a most painful ceremony. His hand
must be raised to take life, which only God could give. It was the first
time he had ever witnessed death, and he knew that had he been obedient to
God, there would have been no death of man or beast. As he slew the
innocent victim, he trembled at the thought that his sin must shed the
blood of the spotless Lamb of God. This scene gave him a deeper and more
vivid sense of the greatness of his transgression, which nothing but the
death of God's dear Son could expiate. And he marveled at the infinite
goodness that would give such a ransom to save the guilty. A star of hope
illumined the dark and terrible future and relieved it of its utter
desolation.
But the plan
of redemption had a yet broader and deeper purpose than the salvation of
man. It was not for this alone that Christ came to the earth; it was not
merely that the inhabitants of this little world might regard the law of
God as it should be regarded; but it was to vindicate the character of God
before the universe. To this result of His great sacrifice--its influence
upon the intelligences of other worlds, as well as upon man--the Saviour
looked forward when just before His crucifixion He said: "Now is the
judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto Me." John
12:31, 32. The act of Christ in dying for the salvation of man would not
only make heaven accessible to men, but before all the universe it would
justify God and His Son in their dealing with the rebellion of Satan. It
would establish the perpetuity of the law of God and would reveal the
nature and the results of sin.
From the
first the great controversy had been upon the law of God. Satan had sought
to prove that God was unjust, that His law was faulty, and that the good
of the universe required it to be changed. In attacking the law he aimed
to overthrow the authority of its Author. In the controversy it was to be
shown whether the divine statutes were defective and subject to change, or
perfect and immutable.
When Satan
was thrust out of heaven, he determined to make the earth his kingdom.
When he tempted and overcame Adam and Eve, he thought that he had gained
possession of this world; "because," said he, "they have
chosen me as their ruler." He claimed that it was impossible that
forgiveness should be granted to the sinner, and therefore the fallen race
were his rightful subjects, and the world was his. But God gave His own
dear Son-- one equal with Himself--to bear the penalty of transgression,
and thus He provided a way by which they might be restored to His favor,
and brought back to their Eden home. Christ undertook to redeem man and to
rescue the world from the grasp of Satan. The great controversy begun in
heaven was to be decided in the very world, on the very same field, that
Satan claimed as his.
It was the
marvel of all the universe that Christ should humble Himself to save
fallen man. That He who had passed from star to star, from world to world,
superintending all, by His providence supplying the needs of every order
of being in His vast creation--that He should consent to leave His glory
and take upon Himself human nature, was a mystery which the sinless
intelligences of other worlds desired to understand. When Christ came to
our world in the form of humanity, all were intensely interested in
following Him as He traversed, step by step, the bloodstained path from
the manger to Calvary. Heaven marked the insult and mockery that He
received, and knew that it was at Satan's instigation. They marked the
work of counteragencies going forward; Satan constantly pressing darkness,
sorrow, and suffering upon the race, and Christ counteracting it. They
watched the battle between light and darkness as it waxed stronger. And as
Christ in His expiring agony upon the cross cried out, "It is
finished" (John 19:30), a shout of triumph rang through every world
and through heaven itself. The great contest that had been so long in
progress in this world was now decided, and Christ was conqueror. His
death had answered the question whether the Father and the Son had
sufficient love for man to exercise self-denial and a spirit of sacrifice.
Satan had revealed his true character as a liar and a murderer. It was
seen that the very same spirit with which he had ruled the children of men
who were under his power, he would have manifested if permitted to control
the intelligences of heaven. With one voice the loyal universe united in
extolling the divine administration.
If the law
could be changed, man might have been saved without the sacrifice of
Christ; but the fact that it was necessary for Christ to give His life for
the fallen race, proves that the law of God will not release the sinner
from its claims upon him. It is demonstrated that the wages of sin is
death. When Christ died, the destruction of Satan was made certain. But if
the law was abolished at the cross, as many claim, then the agony and
death of God's dear Son were endured only to give to Satan just what he
asked; then the prince of evil triumphed, his charges against the divine
government were sustained. The very fact that Christ bore the penalty of
man's transgression is a mighty argument to all created intelligences that
the law is changeless; that God is righteous, merciful, and self-denying;
and that infinite justice and mercy unite in the administration of His
government.
Previous