GOD'S PROMISE ASSURED by Ellet Joseph Waggoner

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Dec 13, 1905

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 50.

GOD'S PROMISE ASSURED.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

GOD promised Eve that her Seed should bruise the serpent's head; that implies that the promised Seed would destroy the serpent, or the power that actuated the serpent, making it his medium. The "serpent" to be destroyed is the devil, or Satan. Rev. 12:7-9.

The purpose of Christ in taking on human nature was to destroy the devil. Heb. 2:14. But Satan, through his rebellion against God, had set in motion principles which had filled the earth with his works. So Christ's manifestation was also for the purpose of destroying these works. 1 John 3:8. In verse 5 this is called taking away sin.

To this end Christ preached righteousness (Ps. 40:9, 10) in connection with His proclamation of deliverance of the captives (Isa. 61:1).

He was righteous Himself, and an essential feature of His deliverance of Satan's captives, His destruction of the works of Satan, is that these captives become righteous. But they have no righteousness of their own, for they have all sinned. So Christ promises that if they will believe in Him, He will wipe out all that past record, and count them righteous on the strength of His righteousness. Rom. 4:3-9; 5:1, 2.

And the whole life of the Christian is a life of faith; for after being justified by faith, we are told that "the just shall live by faith." Rom. 1:16-18. The same power of faith that will secure the forgiveness of sin is sufficient to prevent its recurrence.

The righteousness of Christ kept Him from sin, and as He was tempted in all points like as we are (Heb. 4:15), the same righteousness ought to keep us from sin. "For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted." Heb. 2:18.

We see then that Christ, as a man, began His work of destroying the works of the devil by overcoming Satan's attempts to implant them in Him. Matt. 3:16, 17 to 4:11. Then He set about preaching, as well as practising, His righteousness before men in order that the works of Satan might be overcome in their persons.

As a further "assurance" of Christ's superiority over the works of the devil, we have the fact of his being raised from the dead. Acts 17:31. After humbling Himself as a man, and being implicitly obedient, altho it cost His life—suffering death on the cross because of His obedience—God raised Him from the dead. Phil. 2:5-11; Eph. 1:15-21.

When Christ came forth from the tomb He brought up trophies of His victory in the persons of His saints, showing His ability to destroy the result of sin as shown even in the death of its victims. Matt. 27:51-53. This is an earnest of the general resurrection. John 5:25-29. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Cor. 15:21-23.

These practical demonstrations of God's ability to fulfil His promises, together with His willingness to do so, as manifested in His great sacrifice to that end, ought to be sufficient assurance that He will do all that He has promised. "The Word of the Lord endureth forever." G.