Only Righteous Characters in the Plan—All Have the Power of Choice—God’s Purpose to Succeed
By GEORGE W. REASER
This is the first of several articles by Elder Reaser on the eternal purpose of God as revealed in the Scriptures. Each article will present points that may readily be understood and agreed apart from any of the others, but our readers who follow all of them will enjoy the greater spiritual feast. EDITOR.
There is one theme above all others, which, when fully analyzed, most clearly explains Jehovah’s attitude toward the righteous and the unrighteous; brings the mind to a full justification of the Creator in all His ways; leaves no room for doubt as to “His eternal power and Godhead”; compels reverent recognition of His sovereignty in the universe; reveals the overruling of His omnipotent hand in human history and in shaping the destiny of the earth and of its “elect” inhabitants to a wise, definite, and blissful end; shows the dire necessity for the inauguration of that plan of salvation which called for the gift of the Son of God to our human family; and wholly justifies the divine decision that sin shall perish in “the lake of fire.” This theme is denominated by inspiration “the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Eph. 3: 11.
He who has a clear, firm mental grasp of this subject, has an anchor to hold him fast to the solid rock of eternal principles of truth and righteousness, amidst the whirlpools and quicksands of error, doubt, and unbelief encountered in life’s voyage.
THE ONE TRUE BASIS FOR BIBLE STUDY
It must be manifest to every reasoning mind that if God has an eternal purpose for our world, and in the development of that purpose the eternal destiny of every son and daughter of Adam’s race is involved, then a comprehension of that purpose must form the only true basis for Bible study, and in fact the only true avenue of approach to the investigation of all branches of science, that we may understand how to relate ourselves to Jehovah’s design and to the facts of our own existence. For all truth and all true science must find their center and circumference within the scope of God’s eternal purpose.
THE PURPOSE DEFINED
If we were to select a single text for an inspired definition of this eternal purpose, perhaps we could not make better choice than these words: “Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He [God] might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in the heavens, and which are on earth; even in Him.” Eph. 1: 9, 10, margin.
To frame a definition of Jehovah’s eternal purpose, in our own language, we might clothe our thought thus: Jehovah, the Creator, the King of the universe, does nothing in vain. Isa. 45: 17, 18. In the creation of our world, He had a definite, a perfect design.
A part of that design was that the earth should “be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2: 14); and that the people who inhabit the land forever would be all righteous, reflecting the image of God in character; and that this development in righteousness, accomplished by the revelation of the character and of the saving power of God in Jesus Christ, will finally result in the glorification of Jehovah in the mind of every intelligent creature in the universe (Isa. 60: 21; Rev. 5: 13), when sin and death shall be no more, and “the kingdoms of this world will have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11: 15).
Palace at Mussoorie, in the Himalaya Mountains, of the Spanish wife of the maharaja of Kapurthala. One of our sanitariums is located at Mussoorie, and the maharaja’s family patronize it.
FORECAST OF THE THEME
Godlike character is paramount to everything else in the universe. God’s eternal purpose contemplates the development of such character in every morally responsible creature who, exercising the right of choice, chooses righteousness and consequent life everlasting. All who, accepting God’s plan, His way, through grace develop perfection of character, will finally enjoy immortality. In fact the bestowal of this priceless gift is contingent upon the development of Godlike character. Those who will not avail themselves of the provisions of the plan of salvation to attain to this character development, can have no place in the eternal purpose when it is finally completed.
The perfect design, the eternal purpose, contemplated filling the earth with individuals possessing every beauty and grace of character; and if the reader and the writer meet the design, it will finally appear that we were chosen “in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” Eph. 1: 4. On the basis of our submission to this character development, we were predestinated to “the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself.” Verse 5. The registry of the names of those who by conversion and regeneration meet God’s design in character development, is made, down through the ages, in “the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13: 8.
ALL HAVE THE POWER OF CHOICE
Neither angels nor mankind were created upon a plane from which they could not fall. Jude 6; Gen. 1: 27, with Rom. 5: 12. They must therefore develop characters fixed in righteousness before they can fit into a perfect, an eternal design. This character development must be by experience, study, comparison, meditation, self-control; by the exercise of choice in following leadership; by unwavering faith and willing obedience; and by beholding absolute perfection of character in the divine Pattern.
Transgression, and thereby hideousness of character, without the provision of a Saviour, and without repentance accompanied by ardent desire to live in righteousness, places one outside the sphere of God’s eternal purpose, and necessarily consigns him to eternal oblivion.
OPPOSITION TO THE PURPOSE
The development of unrighteous character in an angel who was perfect in his ways in the day he was created (Eze. 28: 11–17), made of him the great adversary of God, and caused him to oppose the filling of the universe with beings of Godlike character. But “in the dispensation of the fullness of times,” God will gather together in one harmonious, ever blessed family, all things in the heavens and in earth; and this gathering together of individuals possessing characters wholly righteous, and the purging of the universe from every stain that sin has made, will constitute the accomplishment of His eternal purpose, the realization of the mystery of His will which He has purposed in Himself.
In our present study, we must confine ourselves to only a sip at this fountain of light and knowledge. May this taste beget in our hearts a burning desire for such development of character that we may survive the overthrow of sin, and fit into Jehovah’s completed purpose. Such desire is not illegitimate nor presumptuous; for the Saviour says, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.” Matt. 5: 6.
