Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 71, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 December 1912 — JESUS IS GOD’S GIFT TO ALL HUMANITY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

JESUS IS GOD’S GIFT TO ALL HUMANITY

Salvation Is of God’s Lore, Not of Justice or Necessity. Misunderstanding of What Constitutes the Divine Penalty For Sin Has Misled Us In Respect to Every Feature of God’s Program For Our Recovery From the Penalty.

Rochester, N. Y., Nov. 24. Pastor Russell of Brooklyn is here. We report one of his addresses from the text “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift.” —II Coriiithians ix, 15. The Pastor said that in order to appreciate the Scriptures on all

subjects, we must handle the Word of God honestly. We must recognize that our Lord Jesus is one person aud the Father another person. The oneness between the Father and the Son is that declared by our Master Himself, saying that He and the Father are one in the same sense that He desires all of His disciples to be one—in mind, in purpose, in will, in effort (John xvii, 21, 23.) Our Lord Jesus is God’s unspeakable Gift. The Scriptures declare that the Redeemer took the nature of men lu order to redeem sinners; but that in Him there was no sin. Only a sinless one could give to God a Ransom for Adam, and thus redeem from destruction, not only Adam, but all his posterity, involved in sin and death through him. The speaker then showed that Gbd set before our Lord a great joy, the influence of which led Jesus to endure cheerfully the bitter experiences of His earthly life. This joy is intimated to have been: (1) His pleasure in doing the Father’s will; (2) His privilege of “bringing many sons to glory”—the Church; (3) His pleasure and joy in being by and by the world’s Restorer, delivering them from the power of Satan, sin and death. “Wherefore,” St Paul says, “God hath highly exalted Him,” far above “angels, principalities and powers, and every name that is named?’ An Opposite Course From Satan's.

Pastor Russell then contrasted the course pursued by Sa>!hi with that followed by our Loper Meditating ambitious designs, Satan found an opportunity in Eden. He beheld in our first parents a new order of beings, designed to bring into existence a race that would fill the earth. Satan essayed to be ruler or prince over this human ere ation; and by so doing, he not only became a rebel against God, but brought sin and death into the world. Our Lori! Jesus pursued an opposite course, and demonstrated His loyalty and obedience. St Paul intimates that although the Logos was much higher than was Lucifer, yet He was humble, and “meditated not a usurpation,” as the Greek text declares. (Phil. ii. 6.) He thought not by robbery to be equal with God. On the contrary, our Lord willingly accepted the Divine proposal that He should be bumbled to the human plane for a time, in order to carry out the Father’s Plan. To the Church, Jesus is God’s unspeakable Gift He is indeed a Gift to the whole world, unspeakable in value, but He is more to the Church than to the -.world. To His footstep followers. He is the “Captain of their Salvation,” their Bridegroom, their “Elder Brother,” their great High Priest Through Him they are privileged to be the Royal Priesthood. Through the merit of the sacrifice of Christ, they are privileged to “present their bodies living sacrifices, holy, acceptable unto God.” The Pastor then said that Justice is the foundation of God’s Throne. In the past, endeavors to harmonize Justice with our great Creator’s dealings with humanity have involved us in difficulty. We were assured by the prominent creeds that God had knowingly brought mankind into existence under such conditions that the great majority would spend eternity in torture. We perceived no Justice in any such arrangement. But while desisting from criticising the Creator, we could not indorse such a course, nor see it to be in harmony with the Divine regulations governing ourselves. If we are to love our enemies, should more be expected of fallen hurfian beings than of our perfect Creator? The Scriptures declare only the con secrated Church see the “lengths, breadths, heights and depths of the Love of God,” which passeth understanding. This class* alone is in any sense prepared to give thanks to God now for His unspeakable Gift Their thanks go up, not only in words, but also in actions, which ‘.‘speak louder than words.” These thanks ascend as Bweet incense to God.

By and by, “All the blind eyes will be opened and all the deaf ears will be unstopped.” Then the whole world of mankind, including those awakened from the sleep of death during Messiah’s reign, will be in condition to recognize God's unspeakable Gift and render thanks. When wilful evil doers shall have been destroyed, then every creature In, Heaven, on earth and in the sea shall l>e heard saying, "Praise, glory, honor, dominion and might be unto Him that sitteth on the Throne, and to the luimb. forever,” through the unspeakable Gift.

PASTOR RUSSELL