Preferred Slavery to Liberty
By George F. Enoch
"Bewildered and deceived, he moved on toward eternal ruin—toward death that should know no waking, toward night that should see no morning."
MAN, by his sin, placed a great gulf between himself and God—a gulf so deep and broad that he, by his own efforts, could never hope to cross. He turned his back on the light of heaven, and his face toward the darkness of eternal night. Helpless and hopeless, his lot beggared description. He chose the prince of darkness to be his ruler; but instead of liberty, he found a slavery whose bondage knew no hope. Bewildered and deceived, he moved on toward eternal ruin—toward death that should know no waking, toward night that should see no morning. Down through the ages, generation after generation marched steadily onward into the relentless jaws of the tomb, whose portals never outward swing to permit the entrance of a single ray of hope. After four millenniums of such gloomy procession, lightened only by the faith of those who grasped the promise of a Saviour to come, a voice was heard proclaiming, "Lo, I come." This voice penetrated the gloom, and hope began to vibrate the hearts of men. God so loves the world, that He sends His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish. Now the fullness of the time has come. As foretold by the inspired prophet, an angel visits the virgin of Nazareth, and announces that through her the divine Son of God is to tabernacle among men. He will thus become Immanuel—God with us. At the same time, devout men and women began to understand. One, speaking of the significance of this event, says, "Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the Dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Thus the Son of God was born the Babe of Bethlehem. He now becomes a partaker of our flesh and blood, "that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Completely Bridges the Gulf
HE is therefore Immanuel—God with us. Now the gulf is bridged, and the way provided by which we can cross to God and immortality. Had God the Son remained in heaven, the ladder would have reached far out from God's side, but could not have bridged the gulf. Were Jesus of Nazareth but a man among men, the ladder would have rested securely on man's side of the gulf, and stretched far out over the chasm, but it would not have compassed it, and would have left us still to perish. But, thank God, He was God, and He became one of us by His birth in Bethlehem. We cannot explain how it was, any more than we can explain the mystery of our own birth, but we know it is a blessed fact. The gulf is bridged. One end of the ladder rests on the shores of eternity, securely anchored in the nature of God; the other, stretching quite across the gulf, grasps human nature, once more connecting man with God, providing the channel by which the grace of God can reach the sinful human heart and restore in it the image of God. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." Such keep their face turned persistently toward eternal night, and will perish as utterly as though the Babe of Bethlehem had never been born. "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." To such the night of death will, at the first resurrection, merge into the blessed morn of immortality and life—a life that measures with the life of God. Have you received Him yet? If not, delay no longer, for the day of salvation is soon to end forever.