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STUDY XIV
THE NECESSITY FOR THE ATONEMENT--
THE CURSE
The "Curse" a Present and Not a Future Evil--Where and Why the
Blight Came Upon All--When this "Wrath" of God Against Sin
Will Cease--"Escape" Now and in the Future--Atonement Necessary,
Because of the Plan Adopted by God--Man an Example for
Angels and for Future Creations.
"And there shall be no more curse." Rev. 22:3
OUR text is in full accord with the general tenor of the
Scriptures, that the time is coming when the work of Atonement
shall be fully accomplished, and when, as a result, the
curse will be completely lifted from man, and from the
earth, his dominion. But this implies that the curse is not
yet lifted, that it still rests upon the earth and upon mankind.
Moreover, it implies that there was a certain time
when this curse came upon all, when it was first inflicted
upon mankind and the earth. Whoever will take the
trouble to investigate the matter will find so wonderful a
harmony in the Scriptures upon these three points as will
probably astound him, and convince him that the Scriptures
are not of human origination, but that although written
by various persons, and at various periods, during two
thousand years, they are a unit in their testimony; and
upon no subject is their testimony more positive, consistent
and conclusive than on this subject of the curse, its effects
upon man, the redemption from it, and its ultimate
removal.
The curse upon mankind, as it is generally understood
and preached, is a future curse of eternal torment--not a
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present curse. But according to the Scriptures it is a present
curse, viz., death, which will be lifted in the future. Nor are
we to think of this death-curse in the usual limited manner--
as affecting a dying moment or a few dying hours, or
days, or a few moments, at the time we expire or breathe
out or lose the breath of life. On the contrary, to realize
what this death-curse is, we would require to have before
the mind's eye the first perfect man, with all his powers of
mind and body--the image of his Creator in his mental
qualities, and physically, as well as mentally and morally,
"very good"; so pronounced by the very highest authority
on the subject. Gen. 1:31
The very brief scrap of history furnished us in Genesis,
together with the fact that the flood completely obliterated
all evidence of the genius and handiwork of the father of
our race, and his earliest progeny, give us no basis of calculations
respecting his mental and physical abilities. For information
we are thrown upon the fact that all God's work
is "perfect," his own declaration (Deut. 32:4); and his
further
declaration that man "sought out many inventions,"
and defiled himself (Eccl. 7:29); and the fact that even under
the curse, and under the unfavorable conditions in
which man lived after being thrust out of the Garden of
Eden--despite all these unfavorable conditions, so grandly
perfect was this human organism that the father of humanity
was sustained for the long period of nine hundred and
thirty years. Gen. 5:5
It is when we compare this physical vitality, unaided by
large experience in the development of medicines and sanitary
arrangements, with present conditions, and discern
that with all of our advancement in science, under the light
and experience of centuries, nevertheless today one-half the
population die under ten years, and as a whole the average
of life is about thirty-three years, that we may judge how
much physical vitality we have lost since the fall--how
much the "curse" has affected us physically. And since we
know that mental and physical powers are largely co-ordinated
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in man, so that the sounder the physical organism, all
things being equal, the stronger and the truer should be the
mental power and faculties, we may from this gain quite a
respectful view of the mental caliber of father Adam, whom
the great Creator pronounced very good, and considered
worthy to recognize as his son, his mental and moral likeness.
Luke 3:38
And mental and physical perfection, under the conditions
presented in the divine account of the creation, clearly
and positively imply moral perfection; for we are to remember
that, according to the Scriptures, moral obliquity and
consequent degradation had not set in. Nor is it supposable
that man, without moral elements to his mental development,
would be described in the Scriptures as a "very
good" man, or as an image of his Creator. To have created
Adam perfect physically and perfect mentally, except in
moral qualities, would have been to make him a very bad
man, on the principle that the greater the abilities the
greater the villain, unless the abilities be under moral
control.
The death sentence, or "curse," pronounced against
Adam, viz., "Dying thou shalt die" (Gen. 2:17, margin),
was not merely against his muscles and physical frame--it
included the entire man, the mental as well as the physical;
and this also included the moral qualities, because they are
a part of the mental. It is in full confirmation of this that we
see today that man is a fallen being in every sense of the
word; physically he is degenerated, and his average of life
has fallen, under most favorable conditions, to thirty-three
years; mentally and morally we also see that he is very
deficient, yet possessing organs capable of much higher development
than his short life will permit. Speaking of man's
moral abilities the Apostle declares, "There is none righteous,
no, not one;...all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God"; all are sharers of the original sin and its consequences.
Rom. 3:10,23
Further, the Apostle points out that father Adam, when
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tried at the bar of God, was a wilful transgressor, and not a
deceived one. (1 Tim. 2:14) He thus shows us that in moral
quality he was capable of obedience to the divine requirements,
for it would have been unjust on God's part to have
tried and to have condemned for failure a being who,
through defective creation, was incapable of standing the
trial successfully, rendering obedience to his commands.
The fact that Adam had a trial in which the issues were life
and death everlasting, and the fact that his failure under
that trial was wilful, and justly drew upon him the sentence
of the great Judge to the full penalty of the law, must
prove to every unbiased, logical mind that Adam was in
every sense of the word perfect, and properly susceptible
of trial.
And the fact that God, even after the ransom price has
been paid, refuses to try mankind again before the same supreme
and unimpeachable Court, and declares the reason
to be that in a fallen condition we are incapable of a trial at
his bar of absolute justice, and that by our best deeds none
could be justified before him--all this proves conclusively,
not only that the race has grievously fallen, but also proves
that God would not have tried Adam at all had he not been
much better than we are, and thoroughly fit for trial--a perfect
man. It is in full accord with this thought that God proposes
the judgment of the Church during this Gospel age,
for the prize of eternal spirit being; and the judgment of
the world during the Millennial age, for the prize of everlasting
human perfection. "For the Father judgeth no
man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son."
John 5:22
Viewing man as a whole (mentally, morally and physically
one) as the Scriptures do, we can see that the curse, the
sentence of death, is in operation against every part and element
of his being; and looking about us throughout the
world, we find corroboration of this on every hand. As, in
the decay of physical powers, the weakest point with some is
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the stomach, with others the muscles, with others the bones,
so in viewing man as a whole, we find that in some the
greatest loss, decay, depravity, has been mental, with others
moral, with others physical, yet all are blemished in all respects;
all were hopelessly "lost" under this curse. There can
be no hope to any that he ever could recover himself out of
these bonds of corruption in which we are born, as it is written,
"I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother
conceive me." (Psa. 51:5) This death-curse rests upon us
from the moment of birth, and hence demonstrates the fact
that it is not the result of our individual sins, but of inherited
sins--a curse or blight which has reached us from father
Adam by heredity.
It has been said that we are "born dying"; and how true
this is all can testify; dis-ease, decay, aches and pains, weakness
and sickness, are but the elementary processes of death
working in us. Thus, if it were not for the blindness superinduced
by Satan's deceptive misrepresentations of the divine
plan, men would on every hand readily see clear
manifestations of the fact of the curse, and the Apostle declares,
"The wrath of God is revealed against all unrighteousness,"
for the least unrighteousness is sin. (Rom. 1:18) The
Apostle does not say that in a future life and in flames of
torment the wrath of God will be revealed, but he correctly
states it as of the present life and of the present time, and to
be seen by all whose eyes are open to see the true facts of the
case. The wrath of God is revealed by every physician's
sign, which indicates disease and death working in the race.
The wrath of God is revealed by every undertaker's sign,
which calls our attention to the fact that mankind is dying,
that the wrath, the curse of God, is resting upon the race.
The wrath of God is revealed by every funeral procession,
every hearse, every graveyard, every tombstone, and by every
piece of crape and every badge of mourning. The wrath
of God is not only revealed against the grossest of sinners,
but against all unrighteousness, even the slightest. Hence
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there is no escape, for there is none righteous, no, not one;
and hence the infants as well as the gray-haired are subject
to this "wrath," this "curse."
The Prophet Job, in his distress under the curse, the
wrath, cried out, "O that thou wouldest hide me in sheol
[oblivion] until thy wrath be past [over; then] thou shalt call
and I will answer thee, for thou wilt have respect unto the
works of thy hands." (Job 14:13,15) This time of wrath
which has now lasted for six thousand years is to be brought
to a close by the great Day of Vengeance, in which Justice
prescribes that there shall be additional trouble upon mankind,
because of the rejection of greater opportunities and
privileges, and a failure to obey the laws of righteousness, to
the extent that these laws have been discerned by Christendom.
Hence this Day of Vengeance and of special wrath,
additional to that which has prevailed previously, it is declared,
will be "A time of trouble such as was not since there
was a nation." The saints of God are assured that they shall
be accounted worthy to escape all those things coming
upon the world, and to stand before the Son of Man. They
shall escape this special wrath, but they do not escape the
general wrath which is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness.
They share this with the world, in many respects,
and yet there is this finely drawn distinction, which
the Scriptures clearly point out, viz.:
Those who accept Christ during this Gospel age, and
who make full consecration of themselves to him, are reckoned
as having passed from death unto life; as having escaped
the wrath, the curse, "escaped the corruption that is
in the world." (2 Pet. 1:4; 2:18,20) True, they are still in
the
world, still subject to death, and may still share with the
world the sickness, pain, sorrow and trouble incidental to
the curse, and from the worldly standpoint there is no
difference; but from the divine standpoint, which is to be
the believer's standpoint, there is a wide difference. Such
are not reckoned any longer as dying because of divine
"curse" or "wrath," but in view of their justification and
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subsequent presentation as living sacrifices their death is
reckoned as a part of Christ's sacrifice. As the Apostle expresses
it, such are reckoned in death as dead with Christ,
sharers in his sacrifice, and not as dying with Adam, like the
remainder of the race. "If we be dead with Christ we believe
that we shall also live with him." Rom. 6:8
Likewise, our share in physical troubles and pains is the
result of physical weaknesses, heredity, etc. The Lord assures
us that whatever of this kind shall be permitted in the
case of such, should not be regarded as manifestations of his
wrath; but that all evils permitted to come against these
shall by divine wisdom and love and power be overruled for
their good, as disciplines to develop in them more abundantly
his Spirit, and thus ultimately, as his children, to fit
and prepare them for glory, honor and immortality--by
working out in them the peaceable fruits of righteousness,
and thus preparing them for a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory. (Phil. 2:13; Rom. 2:7; Heb. 12:11; 2 Cor. 4:17;
2 Pet. 1:4-11) Nevertheless, in all these respects
these walk by faith, not by sight. So far as outward sight is
concerned, they have nothing more than the world; indeed,
God's people may sometimes appear to have more difficulties,
more trials, more troubles, more pains, than the natural
man, with whom God is not yet dealing, because not
yet brought into a condition of reconciliation and at-one-ment
with him. Even this increased requirement of faith is
of itself a blessing, a discipline, a development of character,
a good fruit of the Spirit.
But we are viewing our subject--the necessity for atonement--
from the standpoint of the world in general, all
mankind. The curse, sentence, or verdict of the divine law
against all imperfection is destruction. God created all
things very good, and that is the only condition in which
anything will ever be wholly satisfactory to him. The fact
that for the time being he permits imperfect things--imperfect
beings, and imperfect conditions--is no proof of a
change of plan on the divine part: this period of imperfection
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is permitted, because divine wisdom has foreseen the
possibility of a glorious outcome, and to this end God is
"working all things after the counsel of his own will." (Eph. 1:11)
He could, for instance, have destroyed Satan, the moment
he became a transgressor--likewise the angels that
fell, and man; and thus the generation of an imperfect race
would have been avoided. But the divine plan, on the contrary,
has been to permit the imperfect and sinful for a time
to take their own course in matters which shall not interfere
with the grand outcome of the divine arrangement, that
thus an illustration might be presented of the downward,
degrading tendencies of sin, in Satan, the fallen angels and
in mankind.
The fall of mankind under the just penalty of death, destruction,
was indirectly the result of Eve's lack of knowledge
and her consequent deception, and involves, through
heredity, many who have not wilfully and intelligently violated
the divine law. This fact left the opportunity open for
the exercise of divine love and clemency, and incidentally
gave an illustration of the operation and co-ordination of
the divine attributes, which could not have been so thoroughly
manifested and exemplified in any other manner of
which we can conceive. It was, therefore, a part of the original
design of the Creator to reveal himself, the attributes of
his character, to his creatures--not only to mankind, but
also to the angelic hosts. Unquestionably, when the great
plan of salvation shall be fully consummated, the heavenly
angels as well as the reconciled of the world shall know of
the divine character--wisdom, justice, love and power--in a
much larger degree than was ever before appreciated, or
than could have been appreciated, without the great lessons
now being taught through the permission of sin, and
the redemption promised under the divine plan, through
Christ. This is intimated by the Apostle Peter, who assures
us that "the angels desired to look into" these things--are
deeply interested in them. 1 Pet. 1:12
As we have seen, the sentence upon mankind is an absolutely
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just one, and there would have been no room whatever
for appeal from that sentence on the score of justice (it
being admitted that Adam had a sufficiency of knowledge
of his Creator to command his implicit obedience, and it
being admitted also that it was but a just arrangement on
God's part, that the life which would not be used in harmony
with his righteous and benevolent arrangements
should be forfeited, taken away). Nevertheless, we can readily
see that God could have devised a different penalty in
man's case, and that too without the violation of any principle
of justice. We have proof of this in his dealing with the
fallen angels. They were not put under a sentence of death;
the penalty imposed upon them, on the contrary, was that
they were restrained, and are still restrained, waiting for a final
trial. Jude 6
Similarly, God could have permitted man to live out
these six thousand years, since his sin in Eden, without the
impairment of his physical system, without putting him
under sentence and power of death. Thus man, as well as
the angels which kept not their first estate, might have been
reserved alive unto the judgment of the great day, to have
their cases finally disposed of. But God is not limited in his
operations, and the same variety which we observe in nature,
in that one flower differs from another flower in glory
and beauty, and one creature differs from another creature,
so, under what the Apostle designates "the much diversified
wisdom of God" (Eph. 3:10, Diaglott), God chooses one
method of dealing with the angels who sinned, and another
method of dealing with men who had become sinners. Divine
wrath is manifested against both: a wrath of love and
justice, which hates all sin, all evil, and will destroy it; but
which will do all that can be done for such of the evildoers
as become loyal servants of righteousness, after having a
large experience with sin and with righteousness, and their
respective results.
In dealing with man God chose to exemplify the ultimate
end of sin and sinners--destruction. This is testified in the
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various statements made to man, "The soul that sinneth it
shall die"; "The wages of sin is death." That is to say, in
these declarations made to man God is merely stating a
general law, which ere long will be the absolute rule of all
his dominion--all creation, viz., that whatever is not perfect
shall be destroyed, and that only which is perfect, absolutely
perfect, absolutely in harmony with the divine will
and purpose, shall continue to exist forever, a blessing to itself,
an honor to the Creator, and a benefit to all his
creatures.
But while man has been the illustration of the operation
of this principle, so that every member of the human family
has been cut off in death--"Death passed upon all"--nevertheless,
it is not the divine purpose in thus making use of
mankind as an illustration of the severity of divine justice,
in the extirpation of evil, to permit humanity to suffer on
account of being thus used as an illustration. On the contrary,
it is the divine arrangement that mankind shall experience
no less of divine mercy and favor and love than any
other of God's creatures. Hence it is that in due time God
provided redemption for all, fully adequate to the necessities
of the case, that as by one man's (Adam's) disobedience
the many became sinners, so by the obedience of one (Jesus)
the many might become righteous. Rom. 5:19
This does not say, nor does it mean, that the many must
become righteous during this Gospel age or not at all: on
the contrary, the Scriptural declaration is that it will be but
a "little flock" that will become righteous during the present
evil time--those only who are specially drawn of the Father
and called to the high calling of joint-heirship with his
Son. The residue of mankind will not even be called or
drawn, until the Christ (head and body) has been lifted up
both in sufferings and in glory, according to our Lord's own
statement, "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all unto me." (John 6:44; 12:32)
This universal drawing belongs to the coming
Millennial age, not to the present nor to the past ages. It
will not be the drawing of a few nor of a class, nor of a nation,
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as in the past, but the drawing of all mankind, redeemed
with the precious blood.
Nevertheless, this drawing will not mean compulsion;
for just as it is possible for the Father's drawing to be resisted
in the present age, so that many are called but few
will be chosen, so also it will be possible for the drawing
of Christ to be resisted by the world of mankind in the next
age. However, the Scriptures assure us that the way will be
made so plain, and the conditions so reasonable, that only
those who love sin, and deliberately choose it, after they
have come to a knowledge of righteousness and of truth,
will be amongst the resisters of that great Prophet, and be
destroyed by him in the Second Death. Acts 3:23
Viewing the divine dealings with mankind from the
standpoint of the close of the Millennial age, we see that so
far from the divine course working any unkindness toward
mankind, the execution of the extreme penalty of the divine
law against us, accompanied as it has been with the
operation of divine mercy, through Christ, in ransom and
restitution, has really been a great blessing. But this cannot
be seen except from the one standpoint. From this standpoint
we see not only the sorrow and trouble and pain, the
dying and the crying of the present time, the just penalty of
transgression, its natural result, indeed, but we see also the
redemption of man from sin and its curse, purchased by the
Redeemer at Calvary, and to be accomplished by the same
Redeemer subsequently--the Church being selected during
this Gospel age, according to the divine program, to be his
Bride and joint-heir in the Kingdom.
Severe as death, the penalty for Adam's sin, has been (including
all the pain and sorrow and trouble of this dying
state for the past six thousand years), we believe that man's
portion has been more favorable than that of the angels
who kept not their first estate, and who were not sentenced
to death, and who, therefore, did not lose their vital
energies in death, nor experience sickness or pain, but who
have merely been restrained of their liberties, and of the fellowship
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of the holy. Had man been treated similarly to
these fallen angels, and left in possession of his liberties in
respect to the earth, etc., we can imagine what a terrible
condition of things would have prevailed by the present
time--how evil would have multiplied itself without restraints,
how keenness and cunning in wrongdoing would
have increased the sorrows of earth. Even as it is, we can see
that even the short lives of men suffice to develop a wonderful
genius for selfishness, a wonderful wisdom for self-aggrandizement,
and the oppression of fellow-creatures.
When we consider that many of the millionaires of our day
were poor boys, and that their accumulations of a hundred
or two hundred millions of dollars were made in less than
fifty years, what could we expect of such genius, if it had
centuries for the scope of its operation? Carried to its legitimate
result, it undoubtedly would have resulted in the enslavement
and utter degradation, to bestiality, of a large
proportion of the human family in the interest of the few
masterminds in cunning and avarice.
Viewing the matter from this standpoint, our hearts uplift
in thankfulness to God that the form of the "curse" or
sentence that came upon us was that which the Lord has
permitted--dying thou shalt die. And if, in the meantime,
our experiences, as a race, have been an object lesson, not
only to ourselves, but to the holy angels and to the fallen
angels, we may rejoice the more: and for aught we know it
may be God's intention to use this one great lesson of the
exceeding sinfulness of sin, and its unavoidable results, in
other worlds of sentient beings not yet created. And who
knows but that in the far distant future, instructors in righteousness
for as yet uncreated billions will be drawn from
among the worthy of earth's redeemed and restored race,
who have had an actual experience with sin and who will
be able to speak from experience, in guarding others
against the least deflection from absolute obedience to the
divine will.
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An illustration of this principle, of overruling a disadvantage
into a blessing to those who are used as an illustration,
we see in Israel. As a nation, Israel was called out
from the other nations, and used as a typical people. Their
Law Covenant, while apparently an advantage, strictly
speaking constituted for them a second trial, failure in
which brought them under a second condemnation--apparently
leaving them, as a people, more thoroughly condemned
than the remainder of the world, whom God had
already proposed (in his covenant with Abraham), should
be justified by faith since none could be justified by works of
Law. Israel's Covenant called for perfect works, and being
unable through inherited weakness of the flesh to render
perfect works, Israel fell under the "curse" or death-sentence
of their own Covenant. Thus that Covenant which
was ordained to life (which purported to give life everlasting)
was found to be unto death. (Rom. 7:9-14) But although
God thus used Israel as a typical people and as an
illustration of the fact that no imperfect man can keep the
perfect law of God, he did not permit this use of them, which
involved their condemnation, to work their everlasting
ruin; and consequently, when redeeming the remainder of
mankind, his plan was so arranged that the same sacrifice
by which all the race of Adam was redeemed by Christ, affected
also the one specially favored nation, which under
the Law Covenant was also the one specially condemned
nation. (Rom. 2:11-13; 3:19-23) It was to this end that our
Lord was born under the Law Covenant, in order that he
might redeem those who were condemned under that law,
with the same sacrifice by which he redeemed all the world
of mankind, condemned originally in Adam. Gal. 4:4,5
We see then that the necessity for reconciliation between
God and man, the necessity for their at-one-ment, lies in the
fact that God himself is the source of life, and that if everlasting
life be enjoyed by any of his creatures, it must be as
his gift. "The gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ
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our Lord." (Rom. 6:23) According to the principles of the
divine government and law, God cannot look upon sin with
any degree of allowance (Hab. 1:13); he cannot condone
sin, nor admit its necessity in any degree. Perfect himself,
his decree is that none imperfect shall be recognized as his
sons, for whom everlasting existence is provided. And
hence, since man, through the fall, had not only come under
a sentence of death, but additionally, had defiled, degraded,
depraved himself, and largely obliterated the divine
likeness from his mind and conscience, therefore the
only hope for everlasting life lies in some power or way or
agency through which two things can be accomplished:
(1) The release of mankind from the death sentence inflicted
by Justice; (2) the lifting up of mankind out of the degradation
of sin and depravity to the conditions of absolute holiness
and perfection from which he fell. If these two things
can be effected, then there is hope. If they cannot both be effected,
man has not the slightest hope of everlasting life. In
vain do we look for help in the fallen human family, for although
some are less fallen than others, less depraved, all
have sinned, all have come short of the glory of God. If
there were one righteous one, he might, indeed, give a ransom
for his brother (for Adam and all condemned in
Adam's transgression), and thus, under divine arrangement,
become the savior (deliverer) of his race from the sentence;
but none such could be found. "There is none
righteous; no, not one." Psa. 49:7; Rom. 3:10,23
God, in his wisdom, had foreseen all this, and had provided
for it all, before he began the creation of mankind,
and in due time he manifested his plan for man's recovery
from his blight of condemnation and depravity. When
there was no eye to pity, and no arm to save, then God's
arm brought salvation. The arm (power) of the Lord revealed,
stretched down from heaven for man's help out of
the horrible pit of death, and out of the miry clay of sin and
depravity, was our Lord Jesus. (Psa. 40:2; Isa. 53:1)
Through him God's declared purpose is--
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(1) The ransom of mankind from the power of the grave,
from the sentence of death, from the "curse," from the
"wrath" that now rests upon the world. This ransom has
been accomplished in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Divine Justice is fully met, and the whole world of mankind
is reckonedly transferred to the Lord Jesus Christ, as his
purchase, bought with the precious blood.
(2) He is now choosing out from the redeemed race the
"little flock" of joint-heirs, who because of self-sacrificing
devotion to him shall be reckoned as sharers in his sufferings
and sacrifice, and be granted a share also in his heavenly
glories and future work of blessing the world--the fruit of
his sacrifice.
(3) The work of restitution is to be accomplished by this
great Redeemer and his joint-heir, his Bride, the Church,
during "the times of restitution of all things which God
hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since
the world began." (Acts 3:19-21) And when the wilfully
wicked, rejectors of the divine grace and mercy, under the
terms of the New Covenant, shall have been destroyed by
this great Mediator, Christ, and the remainder of the redeemed
race shall be turned over to the Heavenly Father,
perfect and complete, fully restored to his own likeness, and
with increased knowledge of him and of righteousness and
of sin--gained through the experiences of the present reign
of sin, as well as under the reign of righteousness during the
times of restitution--then the great work of Atonement will
be complete. All who see this matter clearly can readily discern
the necessity for the Atonement: that there can be no
blessing of mankind except by bringing them into absolute
harmony with their Creator; and that such a reconciliation
necessitates first of all a redemption of the sinner--a payment
of his penalty. For God must be just in justifying the
sinners, else he never will justify them. Rom. 3:26
In view of the foregoing we see clearly that the number
atoned for by our Lord's sacrifice for sins--the general lifting
of the "curse" legally--gives no criterion by which we
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may judge the number who will by obedience of faith get
actually free from sin and its curse and return to at-one-ment
with the Father, by availing themselves of the opportunities
opened to all by our dear Redeemer. There is no
proposition on God's part, nor any reasonable ground for
supposition on man's part that divine favor and life everlasting
through Christ will ever be attained by any except
those who shall come into the fullest heart-harmony with
God, and with all his laws of righteousness. We rejoice,
however, that the knowledge of God's grace and other opportunities
far better than are now enjoyed by the world
shall in God's "due time" be extended to every creature.
1 Tim. 2:6
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