THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL AND THE UNCHANGEABLE SABBATH.
By W. W. Prescott
THE purpose of creation is to reveal the glory of God. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork." Ps. 19:1. But he who is "the God of glory" is also "the righteous God," to whom "righteousness belongeth," and therefore "the heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory." Ps. 97:6. Day by day, as he continued his creative work, "God saw that it was good," and when all was completed, "God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." So when "the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them," there was a perfect revelation in material forms of the glory, the righteousness, the goodness of God, and everything announced what has since been stated in words, "God is love." Of man the Lord has said, "I have created him for my glory." "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." Heb. 2:7. But man failed to hold the position of glory and honor for which he had been created. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:23. The sin of man brought the curse upon the earth. "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee." Gen. 3:17, 18. Thus the work of God was marred by sin, and the whole creation involved in a ruin from which it has not yet been extricated. "For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." Rom. 8:18-22, R. V. God's Power in His Gospel.
But the original purpose of the Lord in the work of creation, while for a time apparently turned aside, will yet be fully realized, for he has said, "As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord;" and we may know that this will be so, for "the counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations." Num. 14:21; Ps. 33:11. And so the redemption of the earth and man from the effects of sin is simply carrying out the original creative purpose, the finishing of God's perfect work. The plan of salvation was not an afterthought, rendered necessary by a calamity which was not provided for in the original counsel of God. "Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall7stand, and I will do all my pleasure." Isa. 46:9, 10. And so he who "hath made the earth by his power" and who "upholdeth all things by the word of his power," revealed that same creative power in the Gospel which "is the power of God unto salvation. . . . For therein is the righteousness of God revealed." Rom. 1:16, 17. And this Gospel is also "the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God" (1 Tim. 1:11, R. V.); and thus the same righteousness and the same glory which are revealed in the heavens by the working of God's creative power, are revealed in the Gospel, which is the application of that same power in the salvation of man from sin. This is made still more clear from the fact that the Scripture rests God's ability to redeem upon the basis that he is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, refers to redemption as a creative work, and shows that creation and redemption are both accomplished through the same agent, Jesus Christ. And so we read:— "But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not; for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine." "Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: . . . I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King." "Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant; I have formed thee; thou art my servant; O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins; return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it; shout, ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein; for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself." "Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation; ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it; he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited; I am the Lord, and there is none else." "I, even I, am he that comforteth you; who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth." Isa. 43:1, 14, 15; 44:21-24; 45:17, 18; 51:12, 13. In harmony with this idea David prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Ps. 51:10. In the same way we are told that "we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works." Eph. 2:10. "Wherefore if any man is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new." 2 Cor. 5:17, R. V., margin. "For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation." Gal. 6:15, R. V., margin. That Jesus Christ was the agent in the creative work is plainly stated in the following scriptures: "All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made." "He was in the world, and the world was made by him." John 1:3, 10. "Yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him." 1 Cor. 8:6, R. V. And he it is "by whom also he made the worlds." Heb. 1:2. This relation of the Son to the creative work is appealed to as a ground of confidence in the redemption which we have through him:— "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son; in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins; . . . for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by (R. V., "through") him, and for him; and he is before all things, and by him all things consist." Col. 1:12-17. It is thus clear that creation and redemption are not simply in close relation, but that they are one and the same thing. The power is the same, the agent through whom the power is revealed is the same, and the power is revealed for the same purpose—to make manifest the glory of God. Thus the things which are made are constantly preaching the Gospel of redemption, which "is the power of God unto salvation," "for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse." Rom. 1:20. That the Gospel is thus preached by the things which are made is further evident in the following passage: "But they have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." Rom. 10:16-18. But the conclusion here drawn rests upon a sentence from the nineteenth psalm. The complete statement is as follows: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." Verses 1-4. And so it is true that the works of God, in revealing the creative power of God, are preaching the Gospel, and are preaching it so plainly that men are held responsible for the use which they make of the light thus given to them. These considerations show us how fully the Gospel is preached in the first chapter of Genesis, and that the first statement in the Bible, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," contains the very essence of the Gospel. The Gospel and the Sabbath.
We are now prepared to understand better the place of the Sabbath in the Gospel. After the power of the Gospel was fully revealed in the creative work, God "rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." Gen. 2:2, 3. Thus the Sabbath was instituted before sin entered into the world, and was based upon the eternal fact of creation. It thus became the sign of creative power, the sign of "the true God," "the living God," who "made the earth by his power," and "established the world by his wisdom," and "stretched out the heavens by his discretion." Jer. 10:10-12. But we must remember that creation is really a birth; for "the mountains were brought forth" (born), and all created things were and are just as dependent upon God for his upholding power as a child is dependent upon its mother, and they can never be independent of him who "upholdeth all things by the word of his power." Thus the Sabbath was from the first the sign of God's power to create (bear), and to uphold (sustain); and so when man lost his union with God, who only could uphold him, "being alienated from the life of God," and "must be born again" in order to regain life, the Sabbath, the seventh day, with the blessing of God's presence upon it, was the sign and the pledge of God's power to accomplish this for man. Thus did the Sabbath preach the Gospel of the new birth or creation, and say: "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength." Isa. 40:28, 29. But since God, the Source of all things, is the same, "For I am the Lord, I change not;" and since the agent in creation is the same, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever," and he is the only way of salvation, "For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved;" and since there is only one Gospel, for "tho we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed," it follows that there can be only one sign of the power to save, emanating from that one God, embodied in his only Son, Jesus Christ, and revealed in the one Gospel. Thus the everlasting Gospel and the seventh-day Sabbath were united "when the morning-stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." W. W. PRESCOTT.
London, England.