B.--I begin to see a harmony and beauty connected with the introduction of evil which I had not suspected. May we not reasonably say that God could not have displayed those qualities of his nature so attractive to us--mercy and pity--nor could his great love have been made so apparent had not the occasion for their exercise been presented by man's necessities?
A.--I am glad that you have suggested this thought. It is true, that though "the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy," yet neither of these would have been seen had there not been a sinner requiring them; and while "God is love," and always has been the same, yet it is true that "in this was manifested the love of God, and hereby perceive we the love of God, because he (Christ) laid down his life for us."
And do you not see that in the arrangement of the whole plan the wisdom of God is beautifully shown? Let me say further, that as we proceed, we shall find God's justice made to shine because of the introduction of evil. God might have told his creatures of these attributes, but never could have exhibited them had not sin furnished an occasion for their exhibition.
B.--I am becoming anxious to see the outcome. You have suggested that Christ is the remedy for man's recovery from the effects of the fall, and that it was so arranged and purposed by God before creating the race, but you have not shown how the recovery is affected.
A.--I am glad that you have not lost sight of the real object of our conversation. The answer to this question will involve the consideration of two points:--First, What was the penalty pronounced and inflicted? And, Second, What was the remedy, and how applied?
May I ask you to state in Scripture language what penalty God pronounced on Adam's sin?
B.--I believe it reads, "In the day thou eats thereof, thou shalt surely die." But he did not die for nine hundred and thirty years.
A.--You quote correctly. The marginal reading will help you over the difficulty of his living nine hundred and thirty years. It is a more literal rendering of the Hebrew text: "In the day thou eats thereof, dying thou shalt die,"--i.e., from the moment he should disobey God, death would have dominion over him-- would have a claim and right to him, and would begin its work. It was only a question of time how soon it should lay him low. Elements of disease infested all nature with which he came in contact, since separated from Eden and its trees of life. We all are in a dying condition, partially dead; mentally, morally, and physically. From the moment of birth, and before it, we have been in the clutches of death, and he never lets go until he has conquered.
Man, by means of medical aid, attempts resistance; but, at best, it is but a very brief struggle. Adam, because physically perfect, could offer great resistance. Death did not completely conquer him for nine hundred and thirty years, while the race at the present time, through the accumulated ills handed down through generations past, yields to his power on average in less than a hundred years.
C.--We are, then, so to speak, overshadowed by death from the cradle to the tomb, the shade increasing each moment until it is blackness complete.
A.--Yes; you get the thought, even as David expresses it in the twenty-third Psalm: "I walk through the valley of the shadow of death." The further we go down into this valley the darker it becomes, until the last spark of life expires.
B.--I understand you to believe that diseases of the various kinds are but the mouths of death by which we are devoured, since we were placed within his reach by Adam's sin?
A.--Yes; every pain and ache we feel is evidence NOT that death will get hold of us, but that he has us in his grasp EVEN NOW. Adam and his entire race have been in death ever since he disobeyed.
C.--We frequently speak of death as the "Angel God has sent," "the gate to endless joy," etc., and yet I confess I could never regard it except as an enemy, and such it would really seem to be.
A.--Nowhere in Scripture is it represented as our friend, but always as an enemy of man, and consequently the enemy of God, who loves man; and we are told that "for this purpose Christ was manifest, that he might destroy death and him that hath the power of death,--that is, the devil."
Continued with next post.
A.--I am glad that you have suggested this thought. It is true, that though "the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy," yet neither of these would have been seen had there not been a sinner requiring them; and while "God is love," and always has been the same, yet it is true that "in this was manifested the love of God, and hereby perceive we the love of God, because he (Christ) laid down his life for us."
And do you not see that in the arrangement of the whole plan the wisdom of God is beautifully shown? Let me say further, that as we proceed, we shall find God's justice made to shine because of the introduction of evil. God might have told his creatures of these attributes, but never could have exhibited them had not sin furnished an occasion for their exhibition.
B.--I am becoming anxious to see the outcome. You have suggested that Christ is the remedy for man's recovery from the effects of the fall, and that it was so arranged and purposed by God before creating the race, but you have not shown how the recovery is affected.
A.--I am glad that you have not lost sight of the real object of our conversation. The answer to this question will involve the consideration of two points:--First, What was the penalty pronounced and inflicted? And, Second, What was the remedy, and how applied?
May I ask you to state in Scripture language what penalty God pronounced on Adam's sin?
B.--I believe it reads, "In the day thou eats thereof, thou shalt surely die." But he did not die for nine hundred and thirty years.
A.--You quote correctly. The marginal reading will help you over the difficulty of his living nine hundred and thirty years. It is a more literal rendering of the Hebrew text: "In the day thou eats thereof, dying thou shalt die,"--i.e., from the moment he should disobey God, death would have dominion over him-- would have a claim and right to him, and would begin its work. It was only a question of time how soon it should lay him low. Elements of disease infested all nature with which he came in contact, since separated from Eden and its trees of life. We all are in a dying condition, partially dead; mentally, morally, and physically. From the moment of birth, and before it, we have been in the clutches of death, and he never lets go until he has conquered.
Man, by means of medical aid, attempts resistance; but, at best, it is but a very brief struggle. Adam, because physically perfect, could offer great resistance. Death did not completely conquer him for nine hundred and thirty years, while the race at the present time, through the accumulated ills handed down through generations past, yields to his power on average in less than a hundred years.
C.--We are, then, so to speak, overshadowed by death from the cradle to the tomb, the shade increasing each moment until it is blackness complete.
A.--Yes; you get the thought, even as David expresses it in the twenty-third Psalm: "I walk through the valley of the shadow of death." The further we go down into this valley the darker it becomes, until the last spark of life expires.
B.--I understand you to believe that diseases of the various kinds are but the mouths of death by which we are devoured, since we were placed within his reach by Adam's sin?
A.--Yes; every pain and ache we feel is evidence NOT that death will get hold of us, but that he has us in his grasp EVEN NOW. Adam and his entire race have been in death ever since he disobeyed.
C.--We frequently speak of death as the "Angel God has sent," "the gate to endless joy," etc., and yet I confess I could never regard it except as an enemy, and such it would really seem to be.
A.--Nowhere in Scripture is it represented as our friend, but always as an enemy of man, and consequently the enemy of God, who loves man; and we are told that "for this purpose Christ was manifest, that he might destroy death and him that hath the power of death,--that is, the devil."
Continued with next post.
