SCRIPTURE
STUDIES
VOLUME FIVE - THE
ATONEMENT BETWEEN GOD AND MAN
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 Atone- ment 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
man-kind. 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 [Page 406] 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,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 [Page 407] 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
[Page 408] 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 [Page 409] 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 super-induced 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 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
[Page 410] 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, 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 [Page 411] 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 [Page 412] 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 [Page 413]
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, 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 [Page 414] 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,
[Page 415] 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 [Page 416] 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.
[Page 417]
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
[Page 418] 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 forseen 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—[Page 419]
(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 [Page 420]
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
