It is transgression of God’s law—the law of love—that has brought woe and death, (SC 9).
“The law of God is as sacred as God Himself. It is a revelation of His will, a transcript of His character, the expression of divine love and wisdom,” (Patriarch’s and Prophets 52). As God Himself is love, and the law of God is a transcript of His character, so His law is love and the only acceptable obedience to His law is love itself. Love is foreign to us, it is “of God,” (1 John 4:7). It is a gift, a fruit, a manifestation of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, “but the fruit of the Spirit is love,” (Galatians 5:22). Herein lies humanities problem after the Fall. Our nature changed. We could no longer render obedience to God’s law of love, His will of beneficence. We lost the image of God in our innermost being. We are no longer “subject to the law,” (Romans 8:7). Love, the divine constraint and spring of every action, was lost, and “selfishness took the place of love,” (SC 17). The whole Plan of Redemption, in simplicity, is the restoration of love in the heart of man that once again he may be in perfect accord with heaven and its spirit and render obedience to God’s law of love. In the Bible this vital, life-transforming transaction is spoken of as a “new heart.” “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh,” (Ezekiel 36:26). But His word doesn’t stop there. The following text brings to light the essence, the fundamentals of Christianity—And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them, (v. 27)—God’s will of love and man’s recognition of it and his total heart surrender to it that the Father may accomplish in Him the necessary change. Restoration, Reconciliation, and eternal Reunion compose the glorious purpose and wonder of the gospel. As God condescended to dirty His hands in the formation of man from the dust of the earth so He, Emmanuel, “God with us,” (Matthew 1:23), condescended and “made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,” (Philippians 2:6, 7). But the wonder of the gospel is that not only is pardon freely proffered through the sacrifice of Christ but power is extended to every believer. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth,”(Romans 1 :16). This power is Christ Himself—Love. It is freely given and when eagerly received effects the desperately needed transformation in the heart of man. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even unto them that believe on His name,” (John 1:12). He will not rest until we are a “chip of the old block.” The gradual and ever-increasing reception of the love of God, of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, is sanctification itself. The great antagonist of love is selfishness and pride which man is all too familiar with. “Pride feels no need, and so it closes the heart against Christ and the infinite blessings He came to give,” (SC 30). “To all, there is but one answer, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” (John 1:29),” (SC 19). Christ alone can accomplish the change in us whereby we are to be brought back into harmony with the Father. “Without Me,” He said, “ye can do nothing,” (John 15:5).
My song is love unknown, My Savior’s love to me, Love to the loveless shown, That they might lovely be. O who am I that for my sake My Lord should take frail flesh and die? (Samuel Crossman, Hymn 188—My Song is Love Unknown)
Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heaven, to earth come down; Fix in us Thy humble dwelling, All Thy faithful mercies crown! Jesus, Thou art all compassion, Pure unbounded love Thou art; Visit us with Thy salvation, Enter every trembling heart. (Charles Wesley, Hymn 191—Love Divine)
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The Purpose of the Plan of Redemption
“God made man perfectly holy and happy; and the fair earth, as it came from the Creator’s hand, bore no blight of decay or shadow of the curse,” (SC 9).
Adam, “the son of God,” (Luke 3:38), created “in the image of God,” (Gen. 1:27) bore perfectly the likeness (character—glory) of His Father. There are three paramount references in Scripture for the character of God. These are Exodus 34:6, 7; 1 Corinthians 13; and Galatians 5:22, 23. (In all—side thought—God is not described but rather He defines these qualities Himself. The purest definition for love (“greater love”—John 15:13) was not only expressed by Jesus but exemplified perfectly in His life and “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” (John 15:13). He Himself defines love). Though man was originally created in the image of God after the Fall He no longer represented the likeness—character (image) of God. These few short words, “Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth,” (Gen. 5:3) record the most devastating loss of humanity and disappointment of the Father after the Fall.
Notice that holiness is linked with happiness. The two are inseparable. And how could it be otherwise? “Holiness is wholeness for God; it is the entire surrender of the heart and life to the indwelling of the principles of heaven,” (DA 556). “But the fruit of the (Holy) Spirit is… joy!” (Gal. 5:22—emphases mine!). The purpose of the plan of redemption is to restore man to his original state that he may fulfill his original purpose—to reveal the image and likeness of the Father even as Jesus is “the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person,” (Hebrews 1:3)—that we, as Jesus, may say, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father,” (John 14:9).
Notice that nothing comes from the Father’s hand marred, imperfect, or defunct but, holy, happy, and fair. Our Father, “the perfection of beauty,” (Ps. 50:2), is a “lover of the beautiful, and above all that is outwardly attractive He loves beauty of character,” (SC 85). Jesus “was perfect as a workman, as He was perfect in character,” (DA 72) and “is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him,” (Hebrews 7:25). This saving to the uttermost refers to the sanctification experience we may have day by day moment by moment—by the surrender of ourselves to His hand that He may restore in us His image, accomplish in us His purpose, and reveal in us His likeness). Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee, (SS 4:7). He who is “altogether lovely,” (SS 5:16) will make us “all fair.” “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25-27). Christ is the husband of the Church, His faithful people, and longs to receive His bride as His own. “Thou hast ravished Mine heart, My sister, My spouse… How fair is thy love, My sister, My spouse! (Song of Solomon 4:9, 10). “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints, (Revelation 19:7, 8). This fine linen representing the righeousness of Christ is not merely an outward adorning but a miraculous transformation of the heart by His grace—the restoration of the beautiful character of God in man. “The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold,” (Psalm 45:13).
Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own,” (Christ’s Object Lessons 69).
But now, O LORD, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand,” (Isaiah 64:8).
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after Thy will, While I am waiting, yielded and still. (Adelaide A. Pollard, Hymn 567)
Adam, “the son of God,” (Luke 3:38), created “in the image of God,” (Gen. 1:27) bore perfectly the likeness (character—glory) of His Father. There are three paramount references in Scripture for the character of God. These are Exodus 34:6, 7; 1 Corinthians 13; and Galatians 5:22, 23. (In all—side thought—God is not described but rather He defines these qualities Himself. The purest definition for love (“greater love”—John 15:13) was not only expressed by Jesus but exemplified perfectly in His life and “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” (John 15:13). He Himself defines love). Though man was originally created in the image of God after the Fall He no longer represented the likeness—character (image) of God. These few short words, “Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth,” (Gen. 5:3) record the most devastating loss of humanity and disappointment of the Father after the Fall.
Notice that holiness is linked with happiness. The two are inseparable. And how could it be otherwise? “Holiness is wholeness for God; it is the entire surrender of the heart and life to the indwelling of the principles of heaven,” (DA 556). “But the fruit of the (Holy) Spirit is… joy!” (Gal. 5:22—emphases mine!). The purpose of the plan of redemption is to restore man to his original state that he may fulfill his original purpose—to reveal the image and likeness of the Father even as Jesus is “the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person,” (Hebrews 1:3)—that we, as Jesus, may say, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father,” (John 14:9).
Notice that nothing comes from the Father’s hand marred, imperfect, or defunct but, holy, happy, and fair. Our Father, “the perfection of beauty,” (Ps. 50:2), is a “lover of the beautiful, and above all that is outwardly attractive He loves beauty of character,” (SC 85). Jesus “was perfect as a workman, as He was perfect in character,” (DA 72) and “is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him,” (Hebrews 7:25). This saving to the uttermost refers to the sanctification experience we may have day by day moment by moment—by the surrender of ourselves to His hand that He may restore in us His image, accomplish in us His purpose, and reveal in us His likeness). Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee, (SS 4:7). He who is “altogether lovely,” (SS 5:16) will make us “all fair.” “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25-27). Christ is the husband of the Church, His faithful people, and longs to receive His bride as His own. “Thou hast ravished Mine heart, My sister, My spouse… How fair is thy love, My sister, My spouse! (Song of Solomon 4:9, 10). “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints, (Revelation 19:7, 8). This fine linen representing the righeousness of Christ is not merely an outward adorning but a miraculous transformation of the heart by His grace—the restoration of the beautiful character of God in man. “The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold,” (Psalm 45:13).
Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own,” (Christ’s Object Lessons 69).
But now, O LORD, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand,” (Isaiah 64:8).
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after Thy will, While I am waiting, yielded and still. (Adelaide A. Pollard, Hymn 567)
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