'The revelation of the mind of God in respect
to man and to his inheritance is clearly made, and we therefore proceed to
examine the Scriptures in regard to
2. THE
REDEMPTION OF THE EARTH
It was
remarked that the redemption of man did not contemplate merely a restoration to
that state which he occupied when he was created; as he was then placed upon
probation for life. But they who are redeemed from sin and death have passed
through probation; they have secured eternal life; they are brought into that
condition which God purposed that man should occupy when he had faithfully
fulfilled his period of trial and received the boon of immortality. In like
manner, the earth will be more than restored to its primitive condition.
When man
was created his dominion was not in the condition for which it was designed. He
was told to “multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.” The Lord
“planted a garden eastward in Eden,” and man was appointed “to dress it and to
keep it.” Had he remained innocent, and retained his position in the garden, as
his descendants multiplied they would have extended the garden in the process
of subduing the earth, until its surface had become one vast garden—a scene of
surpassing loveliness. But sin at once arrested the work. The ground was
cursed; the garden was removed; the tree of life was taken away; and in its
stead thorns and thistles sprung up to increase man’s cares and labors. The
curse upon
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the earth,
the growth of thorns and thistles, the absence of the tree of life, were no
more a part of God’s original purpose concerning the earth, than sin and misery
were in his original purpose concerning man. And, of course, the full
accomplishment of his original purpose will bring the whole earth to a state of
beauty; when the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose, and the
wilderness be like Eden, even as the garden of the Lord. Isa. 35:1; 51:3.
Isa
35:1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and
the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
Isa
51:3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste
places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the
garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and
the voice of melody.
Both man and his dominion must and will be
placed beyond the reach of the curse; beyond the power and the danger of moral
and physical evil. The wondrous mercy and love of God in providing a way of
salvation at such an immense sacrifice as the gift of his own dear Son, was not
appreciated by the fallen race. As men multiplied upon the earth they corrupted
their way before God, and the land was filled with violence and iniquity. When
they had gone astray almost without exception, the Lord determined to check
this career of crime, and destroy the wicked generation. Noah alone, of all the
millions living, had maintained his integrity. The purpose of mercy to the race
was carried out in him. After the flood, as the inhabitants of the earth again
increased, instead of humbling themselves before the Most High, who had so
wondrously made known his justice and his power, they made the flood an excuse
to justify their insane ambition, and they set themselves to build a tower by
means of which they might defy the power of the Almighty! In this they showed
as little regard for his authority and might, as they had faith in his promise
of which the bow in the cloud was a token. But the Lord is not straitened in
resources to frustrate the purposes of the rebellious. He confounded their
language so that they could no longer plan and labor in concert, and they, of
necessity, “left off to build it.” As the people on the earth were now divided
into nations, and all going astray from the Lord, it became necessary to
separate one family, one people, to preserve the knowledge of God, and by whom
to develop the plan of salvation and to identify the promised seed of the woman
who was to bruise the head of the serpent. In the midst of all this
perverseness, Abraham stood alone, a man of singular integrity and
steadfastness in the right, in so much that he was favored
- 203 - J.
H. Waggoner
with the
remarkable title of “the friend of God.” He was constituted the father of all
the faithful who should live upon the earth, even to the end of time; and to
the promise made to him we are directed to look for our hope. See Heb. 6:11-20.
Heb
6:11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to
the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Heb
6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and
patience inherit the promises.
Heb
6:13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no
greater, he sware by himself,
Heb
6:14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will
multiply thee.
Heb
6:15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the
promise.
Heb
6:16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is
to them an end of all strife.
Heb
6:17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of
promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
Heb
6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to
lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold
upon the hope set before us:
Heb
6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast,
and which entereth into that within the veil;
Heb
6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high
priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Also it is said, “And if ye be Christ’s then
are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. 3:29. Our
heirship is, therefore, directly related to the promise made to Abraham. What
is the promise? Of what are we heirs? It has been said by some that the only
promise given to Abraham in which we have any interest is that of “the seed,”
or of Christ. But that cannot be so, for the apostle in this same chapter, Gal.
3:16, says that the promises were made to Abraham and to Christ; not of Christ.
If we are Christ’s we are heirs of the same promises. This is further proved in
Rom.8:17, where it is said that if we are the children of God we are “heirs of
God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” Thus it appears that certain promises were
made to Abraham and to his seed; that the seed is, primarily, Christ, and
secondarily, they that are Christ’s; heirs with him of the promises. According
to the Scriptures it is an important consideration for us to be acknowledged as
the seed or heirs of Abraham. Now it cannot be an important matter to be proved
an heir of him who has nothing to bestow. What, then, was the promise, what the
inheritance, which we may expect to receive from Abraham, our father?
That the
promise was of an inheritance, of a possession, or, so to speak, of a
homestead, is abundantly proved in both Testaments. Thus Paul said of Abraham:
“By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling
in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.” Heb.
11:9. And further in verse 13: “These all died in faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and
embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth.” As strangers and pilgrims they dwelt in the land of promise; although
it was to be their inheritance, they dwelt in it as in a strange country, and
died in faith of the promise yet to be fulfilled. This language is unmistakable
in its import. In its obvious import it is fully sustained by the words of
Stephen. The Lord said unto
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Abraham:
“Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land
which I shall show thee....And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so
much as to set his foot on yet he
promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after
him, when as yet he had no child.” Acts 7:3-5. And we learn by Heb. 11 that he
died without receiving it; therefore the promise remains to be fulfilled; and
if to be fulfilled to him, of course “to his seed,”—all that are Christ’s.
(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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