p. 3 | The Lost Dominion by Ellen G. White

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · May 23, 1911

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 20.

The Lost Dominion

By Ellen G. White

Plan of Salvation—No. 2

By Mrs. E. G. White

WHEN the plan of salvation was revealed to the angels, joy, inexpressible joy, filled heaven. The glory and the blessedness of a world redeemed outmeasured even the anguish of the Prince of Life. Through the celestial courts echoed the first strain of that song that angels sang above the hills of Bethlehem,—"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men." And the lost pair in the Garden of Eden, standing as criminals before the righteous Judge, waiting the sentence their transgression merited, heard the first notes of the divine promise. Before the life of toil and sorrow which sin had brought upon them was depicted before them, before the decree that the wages of sin is death was pronounced, they heard the promise of redemption. Tho they must suffer from the power of their mighty foe, still through the merits of Christ they could look forward to victory. The mystery of the Gospel was spoken in Eden, when God said to the serpent, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." If Satan could have touched the head with his specious temptations, the human family would have been lost; but the Lord had made known the purpose and plan of the mystery of grace, declaring that Christ had bruised the serpent under His feet.

The Lost Dominion

But not only had man come under the power of the deceiver, but the earth itself, the dominion of man, was usurped by the enemy. Through the plan of salvation, the sacrifice of Christ, not only was man but his dominion to be redeemed.

“That song that angels sang above the hills of Bethlehem,—‘Glory to God in the highest’”

Through the merits of Christ all that man lost through sin was to be restored. The time would come when there would be no more curse, but the throne of God should be in it, and His servants should serve Him. The promise would be fulfilled, "The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever."

Through the plan of salvation a larger purpose is to be wrought out even than the salvation of man and the redemption of the earth. Through the revelation of the character of God in Christ, the beneficence of the divine government would be manifested before the universe, the charge of Satan refuted, the nature and result of sin made plain, and the perpetuity of the law fully demonstrated. Satan had declared that the law of God was faulty, and that the good of the universe demanded a change in its requirement. In attacking the law, he thought to overthrow the authority of its Author, and gain for himself the supreme allegiance. But through the plan of salvation the precepts of the law were to be proved perfect and immutable, that at last one song of love might rise to God throughout the universe, ascribing glory and honor and praise to Him that sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.

What It Cost

To fallen man was revealed the plan of infinite sacrifice through which salvation was to be provided. Nothing but the death of God's dear Son could expiate man's sin, and Adam marveled at the goodness of God in providing such a ransom for the sinner. Through the love of God, a star of hope illumined the terrible future that spreads before the transgressor. Through the institution of the typical system of sacrifice and offering, the death of Christ was ever to be kept before guilty man, that he might better comprehend the nature of sin, the results of transgression, and the merit of the divine offering. Had there been no sin, man would never have known death. But in the innocent offering slain by his own hand, he beheld the fruits of sin—the death of the Son of God in his behalf. He sees the immutable character of the law he has transgressed, and confesses his sin; he relies upon the merits of the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world.

Ever the Same

The plan of saving sinners through Christ alone was the same in the days of Adam, Noah, Abraham, and in every successive generation that lived before the advent of Christ, as it is in our day. The patriarchs, the prophets, the martyrs from righteous Abel, looked forward to a coming Saviour, and they showed their faith in Him by sacrifices and offerings. The sacrifice of beasts shadowed forth the sinless offering of God's dear Son, and pointed forward to His death upon the cross. But at the crucifixion type met antitype, and the typical system there ceased.

The Son of God is the center of the great plan of redemption which covers all dispensations. He is the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." He is the Redeemer of the fallen sons and daughters of Adam in all ages of human probation. "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Christ is the substance or body which casts its shadow back into former dispensations. When Christ died, the shadow

ceased. At the death of Christ the typical system was done away, but the law of God, whose violation had made the plan of salvation necessary, was magnified and made honorable. The Gospel was good tidings of great joy to Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses; for it presented to them a coming Saviour. A more clear and glorious light now shines upon the Christian. Those who lived before the coming of Christ looked forward by faith to His coming; but what had to be grasped by faith by them is assurance to us, for we know that Christ has come, as foretold by the prophets. It is just as essential for us to have faith in our Redeemer, who came to earth and died our sacrifice, as it was for the ancients to believe in a Redeemer to come, represented by their offerings and sacrifices.

God's Law Exalted

In becoming man's substitute, in bearing the curse which should fall upon man, Christ has pledged Himself in behalf of the race to maintain the sacred and exalted honor of His Father's law. He came to convince men of sin, which is the transgression of the law, and through divine mediation bring them back to obedience to God's commandments. God has given the world into the hands of Christ, that He may completely vindicate the binding claims of the law, and make manifest the holiness of every principle. Jesus exchanged a throne of light and glory which He had with His Father, counting it not a thing to be desired to be equal with God, while man was lost in sin and misery. He came from heaven to earth, clothed His divinity with humanity, and bore the curse as surety for the fallen race. He was not compelled to do this; but He chose to bear the results of man's transgression, that man might escape eternal death.

(To be continued)