The Christ of the Ages by E. Hilliard

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 15, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 15.

The Christ of the Ages.

By E. Hilliard

(Concluded.)

The Unchangeable Law.

THE changes that were made in these religious rites at the cross, in no way make void the Ten Commandments. Let us see what a fatal mistake Christ would have made had he abolished any of these. The violation of these great moral principles, enjoined by the Decalogue, is what necessitated the laying of the plan of salvation, and led to the institution of the ceremonies in both dispensations. To do away the Ten Commandments would be to sweep away at one blow the plan of redemption. Had Christ abrogated the law by divine enactment, he would have sanctioned sin, and made null his own blood. Let us see, the Scriptures say that “sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. Now if the law should be abolished, there would be no sin (Rom. 4:15), and where no sin exists, the atoning blood of Christ is not needed.

When a government declares that a law which has prohibited certain acts is no longer in force, every subject of that government is at liberty to do those acts, and the government has given its sanction to the performance of such deeds, by the very act of repealing the law that prohibited them. If it was sinful to have other gods in the Mosaic dispensation, to make graven images, take the name of God in vain, violate the Sabbath, dishonor parents, kill, commit adultery, lie, steal, and covet, then it is just as sinful now.

Christ, who through each succeeding generation has been so anxious to bring sinners to repentance and make them righteous through his precious blood, never taught for a moment anything that was derogatory to the Ten Commandments, but, on the contrary, supported in his sinless life, and taught most emphatically by precept, the sacredness and the perpetuity of the Decalogue. For Christ to have abolished a single prohibition of the moral law would have been sin, and would have defeated entirely his mission on earth. It was his ardent love for perishing souls that led him to expand the principles embodied in the law. He considered them of such vital importance that he taught in as strong terms as could be employed the endless obligation of that sacred instrument. Hear the words of his Sermon on the Mount: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matt. 5:17, 18. The remainder of the chapter makes plain the obligations we are under, not only to love those we admire, and who treat us kindly, but to love those who hate and despise us. The meek and lowly Jesus has taught us not to resist evil. He said, “Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” He asks the pertinent question, “If ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?” The exercise of this Christ-like love toward each other is the fulfilling of the law of God. This love for our enemies is heaven-born, and comes from Christ, the great Superintendent of the plan of salvation. It enables us to fulfil the commands enjoined by heaven. It makes us at peace with God, our neighbors, and self. Saith the Scriptures, “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” Rom. 13:8, 10. He who regards the law of God as a yoke of bondage is devoid of the love that enables one to love their enemies, and being without this, he can not meet its requirements; therefore he finds it more satisfactory to his carnal nature to abolish it. His mind is at enmity against God; it is not subject to his law, neither indeed can be, until he is converted. Rom. 8:7. When he is thoroughly transformed in character, he will love and obey every divine precept of the moral law.

Love for Sinners.

The capability of loving and redeeming a race who had rebelled against the government of Heaven, by violating its eternal law, existed only in the mind of the Godhead. None but the Father and Son knew the deep, untold suffering that was to be experienced by Christ, in order to reach to the lowest depths of sin. The Saviour knew full well that his pathway led through the fields of persecution, personal hatred, and religious bigotry. The midnight shades of bloody Gethsemane, and the agony of Calvary’s cross, were before him; yet he shrank not from the pathway in a single instance. If the law which man had transgressed could have been done away, his sufferings might have been avoided. That sacred, immutable instrument had been broken, and to bring man into harmony with the Law giver, divine blood must be shed. It is the “Thou shalt’s” and the “Thou shalt nots,” sent home to the sinful heart by the Spirit of God, that lead the trembling sinner to Calvary, where he beholds the love and intense suffering of the sin-pardoning Redeemer. He bows in tears at the feet of the suffering Victim, receives forgiveness, arises, and goes in peace. His faith grasps the risen, pleading Saviour, and he receives power to obey the mandates of Heaven.

To bring to repentance and then pardon has been the work of Christ in all ages. It is almost finished. It is no time now to remove the law that convicts of sin, but it is high time to yield to its reproofs. Let us follow our Saviour through the unpopular pathway of self-denial, faithfully endure the trials that come upon us, and at last sit down with him on his throne in the realms of glory. Listen to the privilege he offers, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Rev. 3:21. It is nothing less than the boundless love of our blessed Saviour that causes him to share his throne with those who have been in rebellion against him. It is his sufferings, his crucifixion, and his wonderful offerings of eternal rewards, that reveals his benevolent character to us. He has always been the same, and always will be; for he is the Christ of the ages to come as well as the ages of the past.

Reader, let us love and obey him, even if, like him, we are despised by the world and worldly relatives; then it will be ours at last to share with him in his glory.

E. HILLIARD.

Tonga, South Pacific Ocean