FEW HAVE NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE

The means for the blessing we see provided in Christ and His bride, the elect church of the Gospel age, but the guarantee of the whole is fixed beyond peradventure in the fact that “Jesus Christ by the grace of God tasted death FOR EVERY MAN,” or, as our text declares, became the Mediator between God and man by giving Himself A RANSOM FOR ALL. A point I desire to emphasize here is that the giving of this ransom price and the acceptance of it by justice imply divine intention for the blessing of all mankind, in full accord with the various testimonies of the entire Scriptures.

Why should “A RANSOM FOR ALL” be given if it were not intended of God THAT ALL SHOULD BENEFIT BY IT, or, at least, have an opportunity of benefiting by it, which would virtually be the same thing?

We hold that it is beyond dispute that the giving of the ransom for all and the divine acceptance of it, in harmony with the divine promise, are the sure guarantee that ultimately a blessing must come to every member of Adam’s race as a result.

The fact that this knowledge has not yet reached all mankind in the past, and is not reaching all mankind today, but, on the contrary, a small minority, and the fact that knowledge of God’s favor and an intelligent acceptance of it on faith and a reasonable obedience in harmony with that faith are the demands of the divine word, require no proof. Proof could be given on almost every page of the Scriptures that faith, and endeavor to obedience in harmony with that faith, are necessary to salvation, but we will content ourselves by referring to a few citations.

The Apostle Paul says:

“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” “How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” (Rom. 10:14,17.)

“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Heb. 11:6).

“All that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God,” and “the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth as the waters cover the great deep.” (John 5:28; Isa. 11:9).

“All the blind eyes shall be opened and the deaf ears shall be unstopped.” (Isa. 35:5).

“No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they ALL shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jer. 31:34).

Our text is in full accord with all these statements of the necessity for knowledge, declaring that the fact that our Lord Jesus gave himself a ransom for all is to be testified “in due time.” The present time then is the due time for the church, the household of faith, to hear the voice of the Son of God, and they who now hear, pass from death unto life to newness of life, to begetal to newness of nature. By and by, when the present class of called “elect” ones shall have been glorified with their Lord, all the remainder of mankind shall hear, “All that are in their graves shall hear His voice and come forth” for this very purpose that they may hear, may understand, may appreciate and may be assisted to obey the voice of Him that speaks from heaven, the great ransomer, who in that day will be king over all the earth and will bind Satan and will put down every opposing influence, to the intent that all may be judged worthy or unworthy of everlasting life, by their appreciation of God and His righteous laws and their full obedience thereto.

This is the apostle Peter’s declaration in Acts 3:22-23; he points us to the fact that Moses was a type of Christ Jesus the head and the church His body and that this anti-typical priest God is raising up from among His brethren raising Him up to the glory, honor and immortality of the divine nature and to the power and authority of the kingdom, to the intent that as the seed of Abraham this great Messiah shall bless all the families of the earth with knowledge and every opportunity for return to all that was lost in Eden of divine favor and blessing.

And what of those who will refuse to hear that great prophet, priest and king during the millennial age what of them?

The apostle answers, “It shall come to pass that the soul that will not hear (obey) that prophet, shall be cut off from among His people” cut off in the second death, from which there will be no hope of recovery, no resurrection.

“TIMES OF RESTITUTION”

In full accord with all this is the apostle’s statement respecting the blessings that are to come to mankind during the millennial age, following our Lord’s second advent and the glorification of His church to joint heirship with Himself. He calls that period “times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, when He shall send Jesus Christ” at His second advent. He declares that in the meantime the heavens must receive Him, must retain Him, until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began. In other words, He assures us that these restitution times will follow as a result of our Lord’s second coming and the establishment of His kingdom in glory and power.

That the times of restitution signify years of restitution, I need not state, nor need I point out to this audience that here the thousand years of Christ’s reign is referred to. The word restitution is or ought to be familiar to everybody. It signifies to put back or bring back something to an original or primary condition. The apostle is speaking of humanity, and hence the suggestion is that the work of Christ and His church in glory during the millennium will be to restore mankind to the condition and privileges and blessings and favors enjoyed before sin entered the world before the “curse” passed upon all by one man’s disobedience. Rom. 5:12.

Evolutionists would have little sympathy with the apostle’s statement here, for, according to their erroneous theory, restitution to the original condition would be the last thing for humanity to desire or hope for or for God to promise as a blessing. But we are not consulting evolutionists in this matter we are taking the word of God, which lives and abides forever. In harmony with this promise we anticipate, therefore, that as the world of mankind has been in a fallen and falling condition with ups and downs, especially downs, for six thousand years, and that when the Lord’s time shall come and times of restitution shall begin the present downward or fallen conditions will give place to upward conditions, to restitution times, for the general uplifting of all mankind.

We have just seen that the great ransom sacrifice finished at Calvary is the basis upon which God can be just and yet be the justifier of those who believe in Jesus, and release them from the sentence of endless death which was justly upon them as the imperfect posterity of the fallen Adam, unworthy of life eternal under divine conditions. The more we look into this matter the more logical, reasonable and satisfactory we see the divine plan to be.

The first man perfect, the image of God, sinned with deliberation, and received as a penalty a death sentence. After waiting more than 4,000 years God sent a redeemer in the person of His Son. Since man was not a spirit being but a human being, therefore the apostle declares that Christ took not hold upon the stature of angels, but humbled Himself and came to the still lower plane of humanity and became the man Christ Jesus holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. Then as the man Christ Jesus He gave Himself a ransom for all, as our text declares, “to be testified in due time.” The testimony has already been in the world for over 19 centuries, and it has selected the very class which God foreknew and foretold a little flock of footstep followers who are to be joint heirs with their redeemer and Lord. Next in order will come the testimony to the remainder of mankind first those who have not yet gone into the tomb and secondly to those who have already gone there, and who will be awakened for the very purpose of receiving this testimony and of being tested by it.

Continued with next post.