The Saints' Inheritance.
By J. N. Loughborough
THE PURCHASED POSSESSION.
"Ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession."* In the text here quoted there is a possession spoken of which has been purchased, and is also to be redeemed. What is the possession that is to be redeemed? Heaven, says one. If it is Heaven, then Heaven has passed from the hands of the original possessor, or else it could not be redeemed. To take this view would also oblige us to claim that Heaven had been purchased; for it is the purchased possession that is to be redeemed. What possession has passed out of the hands of its original possessor? I answer, The earth. "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; but the earth hath he given to the children of men." The earth was given to man, but he has lost the dominion God gave him. Where is it? We shall claim that when he was tempted and overcome by the devil, he was brought in bondage to him. "Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage." Satan, of course, claims the property of man, until his lease runs out. Therefore the devil is represented in the New-Testament Scriptures as the god of this world. Not that he is the rightful possessor of the earth, but by intrigue the devil has usurped the dominion which was given to man. With this view of the subject, we may understand the testimony of Luke 4. The devil said to Christ, when he "showed him all the kingdoms of the world," "That is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give it." But, say you, this is only the testimony of the devil. Although it is his testimony, it may for all that be truth, and it furnishes a solution to Luke 4, which otherwise remains without an explanation. It is stated that the devil tempted Christ. It surely would be no temptation for him to offer to Christ that which was already Christ's, or to offer that on which he had no claims. But, admitting that the devil had usurped man's dominion, and that he held, as he claimed, "the kingdoms of this world and the glory of them," and then the presentation of them by him to Christ can be looked upon as a temptation. This dominion which Satan had usurped was promised to Christ. "Thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion."† The first dominion was dominion over the earth, which man lost when he yielded to the devil. This dominion was to come to Christ. But the manner in which he was to obtain it was to spill his blood, and by the suffering of death obtain power to dethrone the usurper. The devil offered him one of the very objects which was to be obtained by his death, and it was a temptation. By an ignominious death upon the cross, Christ was to obtain the first dominion. But, said the devil, "Fall down and worship me, and I will give it you." That was a temptation. Paul's testimony in Heb. 2 seems to be in harmony with the idea above advanced. "For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak." We shall see, by looking at chap. 1:10–12, that he means by the world to come, a renewed state of this earth. "And, thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands; they shall perish, but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail". Paul says this "world to come," or "changed" state of the earth, is "not put in subjection to angels." He now gives his proof: "But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands." The "certain place" where this is testified is Ps. 8:6–8, where David says in answer to the question, "What is man?" "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet. All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea." By comparing the above testimonies with Gen. 1:26, we see this has reference to man, and especially to Adam. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Verse 28. "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, . . . Have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." But we will return to the testimony in Hebrews. Verse 8: "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. For now we see not yet all things put under him." God put all things under man's dominion, but we do not see them there now, because by intrigue of the devil he has lost his dominion, and so Satan is now called the "god of this world," "the ruler of the world," &c., because the "kingdoms of the world and the glory of them" (as he said to Christ) have "been delivered" to him. Paul still continues, "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."‡ Here we see Christ is interposed as a help to bring man out of the difficulty into which he has fallen. In order to do this, it was necessary that he should suffer death. Thereby he obtained power to destroy Satan and his works, and redeem man. But the death of Christ will also bring back, or purchase, the possession which man lost, which was the earth. And Micah's testimony of Christ will truly be verified, "Unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion. The kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem."§ The world to come, of which Paul speaks, must be a possession of this earth in another state of it; or there would be no sort of propriety in the language he uses. If the world to come is some abode "beyond the bounds of time and space," what would the Lord's giving the earth to Adam have to do with it? I trust it is plain to the reader that the purchased possession which is to be redeemed, is this earth which is to be brought to a condition more glorious than its Eden state. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
(Continued.)