'Thus the
future work of redemption has two great objects to accomplish. And, as before
said, they who say the work of redemption is finished; who deny the great work
yet to be accomplished, rob the Redeemer of the glory of his work. It remains
for us to examine that work in respect to both these objects. And,
1. THE
REDEMPTION OF MAN
Man was made of the dust of the ground, and
placed on probation for endless life. He was told that if he disobeyed his
Creator he should die. Of course if he obeyed he would live—live forever. But
he disobeyed; he took the fearful risk, and did that which his Creator told
him, in the most explicit terms, he should not do. In this transaction man
subjected himself to two great losses: 1. He lost his innocence, which was
essential to his happiness; 2. He lost his life—his very being. The plan of
salvation and redemption embraced a work of recovery or restoration. Not,
however, merely to bring man back to the position which he occupied when he was
created and placed in the garden of Eden; but, to place him where God
originally designed that he should stand when he had passed his probationary
state. In probation he was
subject to temptation; free to fall. In his final state he will be placed
beyond the reach of temptation, fixed in his integrity, no longer in danger of
falling; no more exposed to the liability to die. We cannot imagine that
the gospel of Christ will do less for man than was embraced in the original
purpose of his Maker. The method of restoring man to a state of innocence and
of complete happiness we have fully considered in
remarks on
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H. Waggoner
Justification,
and on the Atonement itself. This embraces the forgiveness of sin, and the
renewal of his moral nature; a transformation of his will and affections. This
is a recovery from the first of the losses which he sustained in his departure
from the path of right. The second loss was entirely different in its nature.
It took hold on man’s physical being, and reduced him to his original elements;
it returned him to the dust of the ground. By this we would not be understood
as saying that either man’s moral or physical nature can be seriously affected
without affecting the other. When man perverts his moral powers he degrades his
physical system, and subjects it to untold evils. All the suffering that exists
and that ever has existed in the world, had its spring in that source. And,
when man abuses his physical system he weakens his moral powers. These
propositions will not be denied. But it is equally undeniable that that which
directly affects one may only indirectly affect the other. A man may pervert
his ways, and despise his Maker, and sear his conscience, and yet live many
years; though the end of these things is death. And justification from sin may
be received, with a purified conscience and a renewed heart, while yet the
physical system is subject to decay and death; though continuance in that
justified state—perseverance in the right—certainly leads to eternal life. It
is true that the first step toward recovering man from the consequences of the
fall, looks forward to the complete recovery in all things; but there are
progressive steps in the work; one is taken before another. For reasons purely
theoretical, many in this age deny that death—the death of the physical man—is
the result of sin. They say that the man which was made of the dust of the
earth would have died if he had never sinned; that, being made of perishable
material, he must have perished, from the very nature of his being. But this
statement is defective and erroneous. (1) The material universe, the earth, is
not necessarily perishable. It may undergo great changes, but we cannot believe
it was ever made in vain, or to go out of existence. When it was created it was
pronounced very good, and over it “the morning stars sang together, and all the
sons of God shouted for joy.” Nor is there any evidence that man, who is
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“fearfully
and wonderfully made,” would have perished if he had not sinned. At the best it
is only a bare assumption, and not sustained by reason. But,(2) It is directly
contrary to the word of Jehovah himself, who said, as a sentence upon the sin
of man, because he had partaken of the tree of which he was forbidden to eat,
the earth from which he was taken, over which he was given the dominion, should
be cursed, and he should return unto it. And, to carry out this sentence, man
was shut out from the tree of life, lest he put forth his hand and take and eat
(a purely physical act), and live forever. If we regard the word of the Lord we
must admit that death, the death of the whole man, was the result of his
disobedience. And no other death but a literal or physical death was threatened
or could be inflicted. For, as we have already considered, spiritual death is
not an infliction, but a crime; it is not a penalty, but it incurs a penalty.
See page 67. This is an important point, for the breadth of the work of
redemption is involved in it. The
redemption must be as extensive as the loss; otherwise it would not be complete.
If the loss involved the death of the physical nature of man, then redemption
must take hold of his physical nature. And this we shall see that it does.
We
consider then, 1. Christ, our substitutionary sacrifice, died a physical death.
This is certainly a good reason for believing that the gospel takes hold of
physical relations. We cannot see how otherwise the method or nature of the
sacrifice can be accounted for. 2. After death and burial, and remaining in the
grave the time allotted by prophecy, he had a physical resurrection. Some have
even gone so far as to deny this. Concerning the resurrection the following
words are copied from a sermon preached in an orthodox church:— “The
resurrection is typical of the life of the soul; the figure of a spiritual body
teaches, not the resurrection of the material body, but the immortality of the
soul.” This is the view held by many teachers who are considered orthodox. In
harmony with this, a writer, who was a Spiritualist, and professed to be a
believer of the Bible, expressed his faith as follows:—
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H. Waggoner
“At death
the real man, that is to say his soul and spirit, rise from or out of his dead
body; that in the New Testament this is denominated anastasis, or the
resurrection.” These quotations are made that the reader may see the necessity
of the argument we frame on the literal or physical resurrection of Christ. All
who hold to such views place the “resurrection” or rising of the immortal
spirit at the time of the death of the body. But the resurrection of Christ did not at all correspond to such a
view. a. The resurrection of Christ was not the rising of his spirit out of his
body; for he did not rise until the third day after his death. And they will
hardly contend that his spirit did not leave his body until he had been dead
three days! yet they must to be consistent with that theory. b. That which
arose was placed under the guardianship of Roman soldiers. But no one can
believe that after Jesus had been some hours dead, the soldiers were put on
guard to prevent the escape of his spirit, and thence the report of his
resurrection. c. His enemies denied his resurrection, and reported that his
disciples had stolen him. Did they mean to deny that his spirit left his body,
and to affirm that his disciples came and stole away his spirit while they
slept? d. The angel said to those who came to the sepulcher: “He is not here;
for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Matt.
28:6. e. When his followers went to the sepulcher, after his resurrection, they
“found not the body of the Lord Jesus.” Luke 24:3. f. When he met with his
disciples after his resurrection, he told them to handle him, to examine the
wounds in his hands, and feet, and side, and see that it was he himself; and he
took food and did eat before them. Luke 24:36-43. g. In his sermon on the day
of Pentecost, Peter proved the resurrection of Christ by the promise of God to
David, that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh, he would raise up
Christ to sit on his throne.” Acts 2:30, 31. This is positive proof of a bodily
resurrection.
We might
go farther and prove by the Scriptures that neither believers nor unbelievers,
Jews nor Greeks, had any idea of such a mythical resurrection as is now taught
by men of various faiths in these days. But it is not at all necessary, for if
a bodily or physical resurrection is not proved by the points here noticed,
then language cannot be framed to teach it. We now notice, 3. That Jesus, in
his resurrection, was “the first-fruits of them that slept.” 1 Cor. 15:20. This
language is significant of kind as well as of order.
We have
seen that, in the New Testament, in the case of the Saviour, his resurrection
was of a material body. It is also said that the bodies of many saints left the
graves at the time of his resurrection. And this is an assurance that the
resurrection of all the saints will be that of the body also. We say the
first-fruits indicates kind as well as order. The first-fruits of any product
was paid from that product, and not from something else. A sheaf of barley
would not be the first-fruits of a field of wheat. A measure of wheat would not
be the first-fruits of an olive orchard. Such a reckoning or rendering of
first-fruits would be considered only absurd. But that would be no more absurd
than to make the resurrection of Jesus from a physical death and a burial in
the grave, the first-fruits of immortal souls, which never died and could not
die! No greater incongruity could be presented. Surely, they who teach such
fanciful theories cannot have well considered the result of their action. “They
know not what they do.” Nothing but the literal resurrection of physical or
material bodies will answer to the first-fruits presented in the resurrection
of our Saviour. 4. We will briefly present some direct proofs of the
resurrection; we shall select such as have a bearing on its nature. (1) “Thou
wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see
corruption.” Ps. 16:10. This is one of the last texts which would be selected
by those who spiritualize the Scriptures, to prove the resurrection of the
body; but to that it refers, for inspiration says it is a prophecy of the
resurrection of Christ “according to the flesh.” Acts 2:30, 31.
Act
2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an
oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would
raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
Act
2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his
soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
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H. Waggoner
(2) “Thy
dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and
sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth
shall cast out the dead.” Isa. 26:19. (3) “Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy
voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded,
saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.” Jer.
31:16. We learn from Matt. 2:16-18 that this language was spoken to those
mothers whose little children were slain by Herod. Death is the enemy (1 Cor.
15:26) from whose land they will be brought.
Mat
2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was
exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in
Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under,
according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.
Mat
2:17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet,
saying
Mat
2:18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great
mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because
they are not.
(4) “Thus
saith the Lord God: Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you
to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.” Eze.
37:12. The vision of the valley of dry bones is often spoken of as a prophecy
of a spiritual reviving. But the words quoted above are from the Lord’s
explanation of the vision; and no one should presume to explain the Lord’s
explanation. It is plain, and in harmony with the other scriptures. (5) “And
many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Dan. 12:2. (6)“I
will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death; O
death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.” Hos. 13:14.
(7) “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you,
he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by
his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Rom. 8:11. (8) “For we know that the whole
creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they,
but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the
redemption of our body.” Rom. 8:22, 23. (9) “We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall
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be
changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must
put on immortality.” 1 Cor. 15:51-53. If every word shall be established in the
mouth of two or three witnesses, there is no need that this line of proof
should be carried any farther. Not one of these declarations can fail, for “the
Scriptures cannot be broken.” And we rejoice in the assurance. We do indeed
“groan within ourselves;” our sicknesses and pains are evidences of our
mortality. We long for the day when this mortal shall put on immortality; when
death shall be swallowed up in victory; when redemption’s work for the
suffering saints shall be complete. On the nature of the resurrection we are
willing to submit the foregoing to every candid, reverent reader of the pages
of divine inspiration. On the importance of the resurrection we must give a few
testimonies.
(To be
continued)
(Excerpt
from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:
THE
ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE
(1884)
BY ELDER J. H. WAGGONER
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