All that was lost by the first Adam will be restored by the Second ! Says the prophet, “O Tower of the flock, the Stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto Thee shall it come, even the first dominion.” Micah 4:8.
“Giving thanks unto The Father, which hath made us meet (worthy) to be partakers of the Inheritance of the saints in Light . . . Who hath also delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us
into the Kingdom of His dear Son. In Whom we have Redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins !”
Colossians 1:12-14
Redemption (G629) – ransom in full, deliverance, Salvation, taking away, reversal, loosen, Atonement
Forgiveness (to forgive) – to give in exchange for !
“The fall of man filled all heaven with sorrow. The world that God had made was blighted with the curse of sin and inhabited by beings doomed to misery and death. There appeared no escape for those who had transgressed the law. Angels ceased their songs of praise. Throughout the heavenly courts there was mourning
for the ruin that sin had wrought.
The Son of God, heaven’s glorious Commander, was touched with pity for the fallen race. His heart was moved with infinite compassion as the woes of the lost world rose up before Him. But Divine love had conceived a plan whereby man might be redeemed. The broken law of God demanded the life of the sinner. In all the universe there was but One Who could, in behalf of man, satisfy its claims. Since the divine law is as sacred as God Himself (it is His character), only One equal with God could make atonement for its transgression. None but Christ could redeem fallen man from the curse of the law and bring him again into harmony with Heaven. Christ would take upon Himself the guilt and shame of sin–sin so offensive to a Holy God that it must separate the Father and His Son. Christ would reach to the depths of misery to rescue the ruined race.
Before the Father He pleaded in the sinner’s behalf, while the host of heaven awaited the result with an intensity of interest that words cannot express. Long continued was that mysterious communing–“the counsel of peace” (Zechariah 6:13) for the fallen sons of men. The plan of Salvation had been laid before the creation of the earth; for Christ is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8); yet it was a struggle, even with the King of the universe, to yield up His Son to die for the guilty race. But “God so loved the world, that He gave up His Only-Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth (trusteth) in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
Oh, the mystery of Redemption ! the love of God for a world that did not love Him! Who can know the depths of that love which “passeth knowledge”? Through endless ages immortal minds, seeking to comprehend the mystery of that incomprehensible love, will wonder and adore. God was to be manifest in Christ, “reconciling the world unto Himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19. Man had become so degraded by sin that it was impossible for him, in himself, to come into harmony with Him Whose nature is purity and goodness.
But Christ, after having redeemed man from the condemnation of the law, could impart Divine power
to unite with human effort. Thus by repentance toward God and faith in Christ the fallen children of Adam might once more become “sons of God.” 1 John 3:2.
“To whom GOD would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery . . . which is Christ in you the hope of Glory !” Colossians 1:27
The plan by which alone man’s Salvation (deliverance, rescue, freedom, healing, restoration) could be succored, involved all heaven in its infinite sacrifice. The angels could not rejoice as Christ opened before them the plan of redemption, for they saw that man’s salvation must cost their loved Commander unutterable woe. In grief and wonder they listened to His Words as He told them how He must descend from heaven’s purity and peace, its joy and glory and immortal life, and come in contact with the degradation of earth, to endure its sorrow, shame, and death. He was to stand between the sinner and the penalty of sin; yet few would receive Him as the Son of God.
He would leave His high position as the Majesty of heaven, appear upon earth and humble Himself as a man, and by His own experience become acquainted with the sorrows and temptations which man would have to endure. All this would be necessary in order that He might be able to succor them that should be tempted. Hebrews 2:18. When His mission as a Teacher should be ended, He must be delivered into the hands of wicked men and be subjected to every insult and torture that Satan could inspire them to inflict. He must die the cruelest of deaths, lifted up between the heavens and the earth as a guilty sinner. He must pass long hours of agony so terrible that angels could not look upon it, but would veil their faces from the sight. He must endure anguish of soul, the hiding of His Father’s face, while the guilt of transgression–the weight of the sins of the whole world–should be upon Him.
The angels prostrated themselves at the feet of their Commander and offered to become a sacrifice for man. But an angel’s life could not pay the debt; only He Who created man had power to Redeem him. Yet the angels were to have a part to act in the plan of redemption. Christ was to be made “a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.” Hebrews 2:9. As He should take human nature upon Him, His strength would not be equal to theirs, and they were to minister to Him, to strengthen and soothe Him under His sufferings. They were also to be ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who should be heirs of Salvation. Hebrews 1:14. They would guard the subjects of grace from the power of evil angels and from the darkness constantly thrown around them by Satan.
When the angels should witness the agony and humiliation of their Lord, they would be filled with grief and indignation and would wish to deliver Him from His murderers; but they were not to interpose in order to prevent anything which they should behold. It was a part of the plan of Redemption that Christ should suffer the scorn and abuse of wicked men, and He consented to all this when He became the Redeemer of man.
Christ assured the angels that by His death He would ransom many, and would destroy him who had the power (authority as our prosecutor) of death. He would recover the kingdom which man had lost by transgression, and the redeemed were to inherit it with Him, and dwell therein forever. Sin and sinners would be blotted out, nevermore to disturb the peace of heaven or earth. He bade the angelic host to be in accord with the plan that His Father had accepted, and rejoice that, through His death, fallen man could be reconciled to God.
Then joy, inexpressible joy, filled heaven. The glory and blessedness of a world redeemed, outmeasured even the anguish and sacrifice of the Prince of life. Through the celestial courts echoed the first strains of that song which was to ring out above the hills of Bethlehem–“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14. With a deeper gladness now than in the rapture of the new creation, “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Job 38:7.
To man the first intimation of Redemption was communicated in the sentence pronounced upon Satan in the garden. The Lord declared, “I will put enmity (hatred, disdain) between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15.
“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy:
and nothing shall by any means hurt you !” Luke 10:17-19
This sentence, uttered in the hearing of our first parents, was to them a Promise. While it foretold war between man and Satan, it declared that the power of the great adversary would finally be broken. Adam and Eve stood as criminals before the righteous Judge, awaiting the sentence which transgression had incurred; but before they heard of the life of toil and sorrow which must be their portion, or of the decree that they must return to dust, they listened to Words that could not fail to give them hope. Though they must suffer from the power of their mighty foe, they could look forward to final victory.
When Satan heard that enmity should exist between himself and the woman, and between his seed and her Seed, he knew that his work of depraving human nature would be interrupted; that by some means man would be enabled to resist his power. Yet as the plan of Salvation was more fully unfolded, Satan rejoiced with his angels that, having caused man’s fall, he could bring down the Son of God from His exalted position. He declared that his plans had thus far been successful upon the earth, and that when Christ should take upon Himself human nature, He also might be overcome, and thus the Redemption of the fallen race might be prevented.
Heavenly angels more fully opened to our first parents the plan that had been devised for their Salvation. Adam and his companion were assured that notwithstanding their great sin, they were not to be abandoned to the control of Satan. The Son of God had offered to atone, with His own Life, for their transgression. A period of probation would be granted them, and through repentance and faith in Christ they might again become the children of God.
“Being born (begotten) again, not of corruptible seed, but of Incorruptible, by the Word of GOD,
which liveth and abideth forever !” I Peter 1:23 “Wherefore He is able also to save (deliver, set free, heal and make whole again) them to the uttermost (the final end) them that come unto GOD by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession (His Life and righteousness in exchange for ours) for them !” Hebrews 7:25
The sacrifice demanded by their transgression revealed to Adam and Eve the sacred character of the law of God; and they saw, as they had never seen before, the guilt of sin and its dire results. In their remorse and anguish they pleaded that the penalty might not fall upon Him Whose love had been the source of all their joy;
rather let it descend upon them and their posterity.
They were told that since the law of Jehovah is the foundation of His government in heaven as well as upon the earth, even the life of an angel could not be accepted as a sacrifice for its transgression. Not one of its precepts could be abrogated or changed to meet man in his fallen condition; but the Son of God, Who had created man, could make an atonement for him. As Adam’s transgression had brought wretchedness and death, so the sacrifice of Christ would bring Life and immortality.
Not only man but the earth had by sin come under the power of the wicked one, and was to be restored by the plan of Redemption. At his creation Adam was placed in dominion over the earth. But by yielding to temptation, he was brought under the power of Satan. “Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” 2 Peter 2:19. When man became Satan’s captive, the dominion which he held, passed to his conqueror. Thus Satan became “the god of this world.” 2 Corinthians 4:4. He had usurped that dominion over the earth which had been originally given to Adam. But Christ, by His sacrifice paying the penalty of sin, would not only redeem man, but recover the dominion which he had forfeited.
All that was lost by the first Adam will be restored by the Second. Says the prophet, “O Tower of the flock, the Stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto Thee shall it come, even the first dominion.” Micah 4:8. And the apostle Paul points forward to the “redemption of the purchased possession.” Ephesians 1:14. God created the earth to be the abode of holy, happy beings. The LORD “formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited.” Isaiah 45:18.
That purpose will be fulfilled, when, renewed by the power of God, and freed from sin and sorrow, it shall become the eternal abode of the redeemed. “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.” “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him.” Psalm 37:29; Revelation 22:3. – Patriarchs and Prophets p.63-67
“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up,
and lift up your heads; for your Redemption draweth nigh !” Luke 21:28 & I Corinthians 1:30
May the LORD (Jehovah, Yehuwah) bless you and your families on this coming Sabbath,
and may you each enter by faith into that promised Rest with Christ !
your brother and sister,
Eric & Sarah Wilson – Isaiah Ministries