p. 5 | REDEMPTION by George Ide Butler

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Mar 21, 1906

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 32, No. 12.

REDEMPTION.

By George Ide Butler

MEN do not see it; the great mass of professed Christians do not see it; nevertheless the greatest, and therefore the most important, enterprise in all the earth is Redemption. So important is it that the Supreme Ruler of the universe gave His only-begotten Son that redemption might be accomplished. And in this precious gift there is included all things; to give Him was to give all. “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things.”

Through sin, disobedience of God’s law, moral corruption and physical death were entailed upon the earth. It is but a speck in God’s great universe, but its corruption is a blot that mars the whole work. The condition of sin is a condition of rebellion against the government of God; it is a reproach to His dominion. For His own name’s sake this rebellion must be put down. Sin is infectious; if the adversary who instilled rebellion into the minds of the inhabitants of this planet be able to maintain his ground permanently, he will also be able to carry his work to other parts of the universe. So the great contest is on for the banishment of sin, and the redemption of the earth—its restoration to a condition of perfect harmony with the government of the universe.

God, whose every motive is actuated by love, could have cut off the rebellion in an instant, by blotting the rebels and the contaminated earth out of existence. But that would not be redemption. He desires to save and not to destroy. He “is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” So He makes the great sacrifice of His Son, and the Son willingly and lovingly gives Himself, to carry out this benevolent plan. The covenant of sacrifice is made in heaven, and presented for the voluntary acceptance of those in rebellion.

Probation has a twofold purpose: First, to give sinners opportunity to hear the Gospel and make their choice between death and redemption. They are plainly told that “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Secondly, by a season of probation, all the universe outside of the sin-cursed earth have opportunity to witness the practical workings of a system of rebellion against God. They will have opportunity to see the utter failure of government under the auspices and inspiration of the adversary who instigated sin. When the “mystery of iniquity” shall have been fully worked out, it will have been demonstrated that “sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death,” and that the “mystery of godliness,” the great scheme of redemption, is an everlasting success.

So great is this work of redemption that all the heavenly host are engaged in it. Of the angels of God, it is written, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” And those who have faith to accept the terms of salvation, and enlist in the great enterprise of redemption, have the assurance that “they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” It may seem that God is a long time working out His great campaign, but it should be remembered that it is an eternal purpose that is being accomplished; an everlasting kingdom is being established, to be governed by eternal principles through the administration of Him who is “from everlasting to everlasting.” A few thousand years of time is short in the mind of Him to whom “a thousand years is as one day.”

The result of the great work of redemption will be a clean universe. This was shown to the prophet of God in vision, of which he gives this testimony: “Every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”

This object-lesson of human probation on earth, and Satan’s brief rule over wicked, rebellious, incorrigible sinners, will forever settle the problems of sin and righteousness—of rebellion against, or allegiance to, the perfect law of God. It will be indelibly written in the hearts of all who survive the terrible ordeal of the great judgment day. All heaven, all who will have witnessed and experienced the working out of God’s loving purpose, will say, “Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God, for true and righteous are His judgments.”

“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.”