6. Chapter V
The Eternal Purpose (1906)
Download: PDF — The Eternal Purpose (1906)
Chapter V
The Divine Law
The Divine Law - Material and Spiritual. - Its Central Idea. - Its Purpose. - Its Philosophical
Complexity. - The Perfect Law of Liberty. - Its Rewards and Penalties.
"Law is benevolence acting by rule." So it has been defined by that great political economist,
Edmund Burke, who caught, and has thus stated, the central idea of the divine law, for no other system of law fully answers to this ideal. In other words, the divine law, both in its spiritual aspects, is God's provision for the establishment and maintenance of the order of his creation, both material and intelligent, in the interest of the eternal perpetuity, peace, prosperity and happiness of all of his obedient creatures.
The necessity for law lies in the possibilities, nay, the certainties of disorder, disruption, disintegration, and ultimate ruin, save under its control. In view of its vast importance and weighty responsibility, the only rightful law-making authority manifestly inheres in the highest wisdom, beneficence and power, which originates and proceeds from the divine Author of all things.
The divine material law is that which rules and achieves in the universal realm of matter. The divine spiritual law is that ordained to rule in the universal realm of the intelligent creation in heaven and in earth.
The investigation of material law is the special province of the scientist - the astronomer, the geologist, the chemist et. al. To its study men must bring the clearest heads, the keenest intellects, the most patient and persistent thought and research: and then, in a lifetime, they cannot sound the depths, but can only skim a little of the surface of that divine wisdom. Yet with only the slight knowledge of material law which the masses of men gain by contact with it much is revealed of its great Author. Its manifest perfection and power, its breadth and scope, its unchangeable steadfastness, and its sure rewards and penalties, all proclaim its divine authorship.
Mark the power of the law of gravity, which so mightily rules in the universal realm of matter; the mathematical precision of time and of motion which bring our changes of seasons and our alterations of day and night with an established certainty and regularity that laughs doubt to ridicule. God has made his laws to abide forever - as unchangeable as himself. The heavenly bodies always retain their relative positions; always, and with the same rates of time and courses of motion, pursue their appointed orbits without variation from age to age. Astronomers tell us that it is on evidence that our day has not varied the hundredth part of a second for two thousand years - not the slightest change within the long sweep of history and tradition. The chemical compounds of earth, air and water never fluctuate. And so it is throughout the realm of material law.
The consequence of this established material law is universal material order, harmony, co-operation, beauty, peace and blessing. So also the penalties of violated material law are sure: Fire always burns; violated laws of life bring disease and death. So the more we can learn of God's established physical laws in any and 91
every department of material things, the better we are prepared to live and to enjoy our God-given heritage, and the more we develop those faculties of our being which constitute the human likeness of God, and rise to that dignity which God has accorded to the sons of men.
Now carry these same considerations over to the realm of spiritual law (Rom 7:14) which is ordained of God for the moral government and consequent perpetuity, peace and happiness of the living creation, just as physical law is ordained to the perpetuity and well-being of the physical creation; although, as Paul shows, it proves to be unto death in man's case, because man is out of harmony with it, and therefore subject to its penalty - death - instead of its reward - life - until redeemed and restored through Christ Jesus.
If the study of the physical sciences - God's material laws - engages the life-time of the brightest human intellects, and that usually along but a single line, as astronomy, geology, etc., resulting with no conviction more firmly fixed in mind than that they have only begun to learn a very little of the vast treasure before them, no more can we hope to sound the depths of infinite wisdom revealed in the divine law of life. Nor can we reasonably hope to come to a clear comprehension of it by mere spasmodic or superficial effort, or without that energy of mind and simplicity of heart which its study requires. There are depths of wisdom in the whole realm of law emanating from the divine Legislator which will be the delightful themes of study research and contemplation of all intelligent beings throughout eternity.
Therefore to do justice here to so great a theme is not possible. Here are presented only a few outlines and considerations which may serve merely as a helpful index to some of the contents of the great volume of the divine law of life. In the further pursuit of the study, even the clearest heads and the keenest intellects will prove their inability to comprehend all of its profound logic, except as conducted thereto by the Holy Spirit of promise which alone can lead into all truth as God is pleased to reveal it.
As the divine material law rules and achieves in the universal realm of matter, so the divine spiritual law rules and achieves in the universal realm of the intelligent creation made in the image of God. It is this divine spiritual law, the law of life, to which attention is now directed. Its perfection and power, its breadth and scope, its unchangeable steadfastness from age to age, and its sure rewards and penalties, all proclaim its divine authorship just as surely as do these features of physical law which controls and guides the whole universe of matter.
And yet, this great law, with all its breadth and scope and depth and power, is briefly comprehended in one word - Love. "Love is the fulfilling of the law." Rom. 13:9, 10. "God is love." 1 John 4:8. This law then is the law of God's own being, the law to which all of his own thoughts and plans and doings are subject. God's requirement of the creature to keep this law, is therefore that the creature shall fashion his character after the divine model. As the Creator is love, so must the creature be love. This love in the Creator is original, and proceeds toward all of his creatures, while love in the creature is reciprocal: it is called into being by the love of the Creator. "We love him because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19. And not only so, but if we truly love him we naturally love all that are his. 1 John 4:20, 21; 5:1, 2.
The love thus awakened toward fellow-creatures is entirely independent of intrinsic loveliness in the creature, though it may thereby be greatly increased. We love him because he is a brother, a child beloved of our Father, even though he may have fallen far beneath his true dignity as such. Thus both filial and fraternal love are awakened in the creature in response to the paternal love of God. And thus the great divine law of love is seen to be the mighty power which, emanating from God, gathers and binds the whole intelligent creation as one great family around our heavenly Father's throne, just as the law of gravity gathers and binds the vast material creation in one grand universe - system revolving around the central sun of the universe - the throne of God. See Psa. 103:19; 19:4-6; 84:11. It is the bond that fraternally binds the family of God - the whole intelligent creation - together, and that filially anchors it to the eternal Rock of Ages, in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17.
If it were possible for any of the heavenly bodies to disobey the material law of gravity and leave their appointed orbits to pursue a course contrary to the law of God, the result of such disobedience could only be disaster; and could the rebellion spread abroad, universal wreck and appalling ruin alone could follow. In obedience to this divine physical law, is the only safety of the heavenly bodies, the only security of the beautiful order, harmony and peace of the material creation. No such contingency as disobedience is possible among the masses of unintelligent matter which can have no will of their own. But God has constituted his intelligent creation in his own image, every one of its myriad hosts with free-will, and they may for a time, pursue a contrary course, which if not speedily arrested and readjusted in harmony with the great universal spiritual law of love, must as inevitably end in wreck and ruin as would contrary orbs in the heavens were they to disobey the divine material law of gravity.
While in the material creation there can be no deviation from the ruling principle of material law which binds and guides all in perfect harmony, God's course with his intelligent creation differs for a time from this rule out of respect for that intelligent free-agency with which he has endowed them, and in view of their individual responsibility for its use. To these God presents his spiritual law, the law of love, and with it the implied possibility of its violation; the reward of obedience - life - being promised; and the penalty of violation - death - being stated; the voluntary choice of the creature involving the formation of character, in the one case worthy of eternal life, in the other of death.
If the creature in the exercise of his free will chooses a course contrary to the divine law of love, it will be seen that, in so doing he severs the bond that anchors his soul to the Rock of Ages, and that also links him with the brotherhood of all the sons of God. Such a course is therefore the forfeiture of his inheritance of life; and, to use the language of the symbol of Jude 13, he becomes a "wandering star to whom [unless reclaimed through Christ] is reserved the blackness of darkness forever."
Thus probation is seen to be a necessity to all free-will beings - to all beings created in the image of God - in order to the development and proof of character. And probation involves the permission of evil so long as probation lasts, that the intelligent free will may form and manifest character in its choice of good or evil. This probation must of necessity be of limited duration, since it issues in a final judgment, and its ultimate rewards and penalties await that culmination. It must be long enough to permit the whole intelligent creation to share it, and to be judged thereby. But it will be no longer; for the honor of God's throne, with all of its pledges to the righteous is at stake. A righteous God can permit it only long enough to make manifest the worthy sons and heirs of his eternal bounty, and also the "vessels of wrath fitted to destruction." And when this end shall be accomplished, as it will be in the end of Christ's millennial reign, there will be a final end of transgression, and everlasting righteousness will be established. 1 Cor. 15:24, 25.
It will be seen therefore that the all-important business of every intelligent creature during the probation period is the formation of righteous character - first his own, and then works to this end for others - bearing in mind however that no righteous character can be formed or maintained apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit of God and in the case of fallen man, apart from the redemption through Christ Jesus. And any thing that diverts one from this, the great purpose of life, is a delusion and a snare however harmless it may appear in itself.
To forget this in the mad rush for the wealth of this world, in the intoxications of its pleasures, or in its corroding cares, is a mistake which the light of eternity will reveal as very great folly; while to be mindful of it insures abundant reward. "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." "For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Or what profit is it to go on weighted with corroding care, seeing that "it is not in man that walketh to direct his [own] steps"? when God hath said, "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass"? Dan. 12:3; Matt 16:26; Jer.10:23; Psa. 37:5.
This law of love which thus in a single word expresses the divine character, is not a mere effervescent sentimentality overflowing alike toward all creation without respect to character. It has its heights and depths, its metes and bounds, as well as its positive and negative sides. It has its foundation in the enduring principles of justice, and of judgment according to justice: "Justice and judgment are the establishment [the base, the foundation] of thy throne." Psa. 89:14, margin. That is, the divine law of love, which proceeds from the throne of God, is based upon these enduring principles of justice, and of judgment according to justice. Law which has no backing, no power nor authority to enforce its requirements by suitable rewards and penalties, is a dead letter. Not so is the divine law of love. Love is a law; a righteous law, for the protection and blessing of the righteous, and for the punishment of the wicked. Love which has no foundation in these principles is not worthy of the name, and quickly subsides. True love cannot operate contrary to justice. They are related features of the same divine law.
In Psa. 11:3 the importance of justice and judgment as foundation principles of the divine law and government, is brought out under the figure of a building founded upon these principles, and thus, in righteousness, built to stand eternally. Here God calls attention first to the importance, and then to the security, of this foundation, saying - "If the foundations be destroyed what can the righteous do?"
The suggestion is put in the form of inquiry by way of inviting us to consider what would surely come to pass were these principles ignored or repudiated by our God; or in any way rendered inoperative. Such a course would manifestly be unjust to the righteous. It would be to discriminate in favor of the wicked, and contrary to all the interests of the righteous.
Of the impossibility of such a contingency we are then fully assured in the statement that follows -"Jehovah is in his holy temple" - the temple of justice, the throne of the universe, and "the righteous Jehovah loveth righteousness." Yes, his righteousness is our assurance of the everlasting stability of these safe and sure principles. He is the "Rock of Ages" to which the hope of the righteous may safely and confidently anchor (Isa. 26:4 margin) - just as safely as the material universe is anchored to his throne in the heavens. Truly the Psalmist adds, "Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand" - lifted in solemn oath and covenant with the righteous [compare Deut. 32:40-43]. "Justice and judgment are the establishment of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before thy face. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance, and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted." Psa. 89:13-16.
Paul refers to this same foundation, saying, "The foundation of God standeth sure, bearing this inscription, The Lord knoweth them that are his." 2 Tim. 2:19. He was probably thinking of Nahum's prophecy (1:7) - "Jehovah is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him." And in view of God's invincible righteousness which cannot be deceived with empty professions, he exhorts - "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity"; for to take the name of Christ and yet not depart from iniquity is to take his name and Jehovah's name in vain, and "the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." Only those who in heart depart from iniquity and seek to conform their lives to the fundamental principles of God's holy law of love can be built upon this sure foundation of eternal life. We cannot be saved in our sins, but we can be saved from our sins through the Redeemer if we will.
And no matter how obscure the righteous soul, or how sorely tried in the buffetings of this period of probation, let such remember the Rock of their strength, and the blessed inscription it bears, and think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you; for The Lord trieth the righteous to prove them worthy to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Psa. 11:4, 5; Rev. 2:7.
And the wicked are just as sure of the penalties of God's violated law as the righteous are sure of its rewards; for "the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest [symbols of sudden and unexpected punishment and eventually utter destruction]: this shall be the portion of their cup, for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness."
So though these foundation principles of justice, and of judgment according to justice, can never be ignored or repudiated by our God, nor in any way rendered inoperative, yet in considering what would come to pass in such an event, we shall understand more clearly the depths of divine wisdom and goodness in so jealously maintaining these principles even at the highest cost.
Many, from failure to consider this divinely suggested inquiry, have hastily sprung to false conclusions contrary to the word and spirit of God. Consider then, that righteousness is love in activity. Its tendency is to unity, perpetuity, happiness - life. Unrighteousness is discordant: its tendency is always to ultimate unhappiness, disintegration, destruction - death. Therefore God's law of love commands righteousness and forbids unrighteousness. Virtue is obedience to this command, sin is disobedience. Therefore virtue secures what the law is designed to preserve, viz., life; while sin necessitates what the law prescribes as penalty, viz., death. If the law is thus unto life, then the converse is manifestly true, that neglect or disobedience of this law must be unto death.
Thus the law of love is seen to be a spiritual or life-sustaining law, and the refusal of the intelligent freewill to recognize its claims, and to respect its authority, is anarchy. Divine law is for the protection of the principles of righteousness in the interest of all those who are actuated by those principles, and for the security to them of its peaceable fruits, which are unto life. And to this end it beareth not the sword in vain, against those who, in violation of this law, aim at the destruction of the harmony, peace, prosperity and life of the righteous.
Let us remember this when we read the divine warnings of justice and judgment. They are not cruel: they are simply just: and when God puts the case strongly it is to warn and to awaken his subjects to a full sense of the inflexibility of his law, and of the certainty of its operation; and to assure the righteous of its strong bulwarks of defense round about them. "Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power," says Paul, "do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same; for [law] is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for [it] beareth not the sword in vain. For it is the minister of God, a revenger, to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." Rom. 13:3, 4.
Well may we inquire, If these foundation principles were ignored or repudiated by our God, what would the righteous do? Or even is they were relaxed, what security would faith have against the charge of weakness
and insecurity in the divine government, and a possible ultimate triumph of iniquity? If the Supreme Ruler were vacillating, or if he were to show any sign of weakness, to that extent must confidence in his government be and remain unsettled. And men have had sufficient experience to learn that nothing short of actual calamity is more detrimental to the interests of a people than lack of confidence in the government. It unsettles business, paralyzes trade, encourages evil-doers to hope to escape justice, and causes the righteous to tremble for the security of all their interests.
Precisely so would it be in the divine government of the universe. Note this in the realm of physical law. If the sun were to shine spasmodically, and if the seasons should come and go without any fixed principles of time and order, men would never know when to count on the light of day, or when they might be overwhelmed with a night of uncertain duration, when to plant, or when to hope for harvest. But behold, the Author of these fixed laws stands, the great Gibraltar of firmness, which cannot be moved, the eternal assurance that "while the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease," and "the earth abideth forever." "To eternity, O Lord, standeth firm thy word with the heavens. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth and it abideth. According to thine ordinances they continue this day, for all are thy servants." Gen. 8:22; Eccl. 1:4; Psa. 119:89-91. Leeser.
So age to age is witness to his faithfulness, and no power in heaven or in earth can ever disturb or relax it. Therefore when darkness curtains the world, in quietness and in confidence we lie down to rest, with full assurance that in a few hours the light of day will dispel the shadows of night, and we shall go forth with new strength born of this confidence. So also, with unquestioning assurance, we plow the earth and sow the seed in confident anticipation of a harvest of plenty. It has been so for ages, notwithstanding the ingratitude of men. God sends his rain and causes his sun to shine upon all alike, and the whole world goes on from day to day, and from year to year - waking and sleeping, sowing and reaping, planning and executing their plans, measuring their days and months and years by the dial of the sun - the fixed unalterable time established in the heavens.
Do we ever stop to think of the vast importance of this absolute firmness of these fundamental principles of God's physical laws, which ages of precision and regularity, as well as the divine assurance, have proven cannot be moved? Let us consider what it would mean to us if it were not so, and as we go forth from day to day let it be with grateful hearts to the giver of every good and perfect gift, singing with David, "Jehovah is my Rock and my Fortress: I will love thee, O Lord my strength."
Thus in the realm of physical law unvarying steadfastness is our confidence, our hope, our blessing. And nonetheless so is it in the realm of spiritual law; for just as the fixed principles of physical order and of physical activity in harmony with that order, are at the foundation of the whole universal system of material things, so the fixed principles of moral order and of moral activity in harmony with that order, are the foundations of the whole system of the moral government of the intelligent creation.
Why Evil is Permitted
While the principles of moral government were fixed from the beginning, the irregularities which for a time permit evil to run its course, we see, are due to the necessity of the probation period for the formation of character in intelligent beings. They are due thus to a necessary process of development and of trial, and will disappear when the probation period ends.
The same is also true in nature. Though in nature there have been, and still are, great irregularities of operation - great earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc., these irregularities have never disturbed the established fundamental principles of physical order. They have never turned the earth from its orbit, nor altered God's appointed times and seasons. These irregularities have doubtless been due to processes of physical development, all under the control of the great Executor of the divine eternal purpose, who has never lost sight of the established principles of physical law, but who, by all of these varied means, has been ministering to the final end of that perfect universal physical order which will be fully established when God's eternal purpose shall have reached its culmination - when there shall be nothing to hurt nor to destroy. Isa. 11:9. And this perfection of physical order will tally with that of the spiritual order, for the conditions of the new heavens and the new earth will be those of perfect adjustment and harmony of all things, both natural and spiritual to the divine law in both its material and its spiritual aspects.
The all-important lesson which the material creation impresses upon the intelligent creation is the righteousness and profitableness of absolute unquestioning obedience to the divine Lawgiver, whether his law be fully comprehended or not. Behold the glorious order, peace and harmony which the perfect obedience of material things presents: herein is substantial ground for faith to trust such wisdom and goodness even where the finite mind cannot trace it. Hence the divine requirement of such obedience of intelligent creatures from the very beginning of their existence was a most reasonable requirement, and also most necessary; for, except under the protection and guidance of divine wisdom from the beginning, the intelligent creation would soon have wrecked itself, even as the material creation would rush to appalling collision and destruction could it disobey the divine physical law of gravity.
Every parent's experience justifies this conclusion, since all realize the importance of beginning to train a child to obedience to parental authority as soon as it is born. At first it is blind obedience, but even this blind obedience is necessary for its safety until it comes to that degree of intelligence which makes obedience its own free choice. Then the higher divine authority may be presented, when both reason and habit will co-operate to establish the character in righteousness. Thus "the reverence of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and is the great first lesson to all intelligent beings.
The divine law presents two sets of obligations: first, the filial; second, the fraternal; and on these two hang all the requirements of the law, and all the promises of the prophets. Matt. 22:40. On the filial side hang four commandments. The first commands supreme reverence to Jehovah, saying, "I am Jehovah, thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me." So, "though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth (as there be gods many and lords many) to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things." 1 Cor. 8:5, 6. Even the Son of God leads in this worship of Jehovah, saying, He is "my Father and your Father, and my God and your God." John 20:17.
The second commandment forbids the strange inclination of fallen humanity under the delusions of the powers of darkness, to embody their depraved ideas of superhuman power in works of their own hands, or creatures of their own imagination, to be worshipped - a masterly device of the wicked one, to give to his evil suggestions the apparent sanctity of supernatural authority, and ever leading men to opposition to God's holy law, and to violation of its moral standard. Against this awful delusion and snare of Satan, God commands, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image," etc.
The third commandment forbids the taking of God's name in vain. To cloak unrighteousness with false profession of membership in the family of God is one way of taking his name in vain. Or in any way to desecrate that holy name, which should never be spoken but in reverence and awe, is to take it in vain. "The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."
The fourth commandment is to reverence his Sabbath and to keep it holy in commemoration of God's mighty and finished work of creation, and of his good gifts to men.
These four commandments Jesus comprehends in one - "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." "This," he adds, "is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Matt. 22:36-40. Thus in this second comprehensive commandment Jesus sums up the remaining six of the ten delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The first of these six is that to honor parents, to whom, under God, we owe our existence and our safepiloting from infancy to maturity. Their self-sacrificing love commands obedience while under their authority -until maturity; and then always "honor" - grateful reverence and loving ministry. Then follow the commands against those violations of the divine law of love to humanity in general, which constitute the criminal code -viz., murder, adultery, theft, false witness and covetousness.
Observe how our Lord emphasizes the first commandment. It is first and greatest, for though one should avoid the whole criminal code, and therefore be reckoned among men as righteous, yet is his righteousness but filthy rags in God's sight (Isa. 64:6) not being actuated by that Holy Spirit of love which is the essence of the divine law, and which only from its true source in God, can flow, through Christ, to hearts at one with him. In the absence of this true love - which is first to God, and then to all of his creatures - only the meaner motives of policy and self-interest prevail.
This first commandment expresses man's natural attitude toward God in view of his glory and goodness. It commands and awakens supreme veneration, love and joyful adoration in those who think upon his name. "And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels." Mal. 3:16, 17. This joy is the highest joy which the creature can experience. And, we say it reverently, and because his word so teaches, the highest joy of the Creator is that derived from the reciprocal love of his intelligent creation - of every rank and order. The joy is mutual: it flows from heart to heart.
This second commandment is man's natural attitude toward his brother man. In fraternal fellowship and mutual worship of the Father of all, and in pursuing the path of life which he points out, man finds his natural joy and complete happiness. The temporary gratifications of sin cannot compensate, even for a moment, for the forfeiture of the natural joy. The joy of innocent childhood most nearly resembles it; and yet there is a fullness of joy in Christian fellowship and communion which childhood never knew.
In view of its character - holiness, of its power to bless and to protect from evil, and of its unchangeable steadfastness, this divine law is manifestly, what the apostle James calls it, "the perfect law of liberty." James 1:25. See also Psa. 118:44, 45. It is the voucher for the true liberties of every intelligent being, insuring every natural right to all, both individually and collectively. And such will be the perfect state of society when, in the end of Christ's millennial reign, this law is fully established. Such is the unchangeable character and wise purpose of the divine spiritual law. It is a straight unbending rule, as firmly fixed and as certain in its operations as it the material law that controls the rising and setting of the sun and the revolutions of the earth that bring our changes of seasons. We can depend upon it just as surely; and as certainly as we plow and sow and know that a harvest will follow, so certainly may we know that in spiritual things also we shall reap the harvest of our sowing in due time.
Thus far we have been viewing in its broadest sense and in its universal application, the divine law of love - that expression of the divine character, the model for the whole intelligent creation - rooted in justice, towering in strength and majesty, spreading abroad in works of righteousness, fruitful in blessing, and glorious in imperishable moral beauty. It is this to which the Psalmist refers, saying, "O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day." Psa. 119:97.
This law is so firmly established in the divine character, that, for God to act contrary to it, is a moral impossibility; and his purpose is that eventually, it shall be as firmly established in the hearts of all of his obedient creatures who shall be counted worthy of eternal life as it is in his own. With this perfect law thus established in the hearts of all to whom eternal life is granted no ripple of sin can ever disturb the delightful calm of the ocean of eternity, and no cloud can ever shadow its radiant glory.
Thus, as it is written, will Jehovah magnify his law and make it honorable. Isa. 42:21. So our Lord Jesus honored it; so all the sinless angels have honored it; and so, by and by, a redeemed and restored humanity will honor it. Then indeed will it be magnified in the esteem of the whole creation as the law unto life - the only possible law of life and liberty. That God is able thus firmly to establish his law, and to give to the righteous this absolute assurance, is abundantly proven, both by the testimonies of his Word and by the exhibitions of his power already made manifest.
Thus far in the consideration of this subject it will be observed that our main object has been to gain a comprehensive view of that perfect law which is the divine universal and eternal standard of righteousness and moral order. Obedience to such a law is harmony with the highest wisdom, gratitude for the deepest love, and loyalty and reverence for the supreme and rightful authority of Jehovah our God; while willful disobedience to it is treason against the righteous government of the universe, and is therefore most justly punishable with the penalty it inflicts, viz., death.
While the penalty for disobedience to the supreme authority of God was clearly stated to Adam, and is easily understood, the great deceiver who beguiled Eve into disbelief in it, has been busy ever since with various efforts to fortify that first lie in Eden. God's word to Adam was, "In the day that thou eatest thereof, dying, thou shalt die." Gen 2:17, margin. And again, "For dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." Gen 3:19. Satan's denial was in equally plain terms: "Ye shall not surely die." Then he added what was true, "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil. Gen. 3:4, 5. And so Jehovah also said, evidently addressing his Son, "Behold the man is become as one of us to know good and evil," etc., and therefore he was expelled from the prepared home in Eden so that the death-sentence might go into effect. See Gen. 3:22-24.
As we have seen, man had been made in the likeness of God in every respect except character, which could only be made by his own free choice of good or evil. Now, by his choice to oppose the righteous sovereignty of God, he had determined his character. He was now like God in that he had developed character, but unlike God in that it was an evil instead of a good character. Hence the penalty which followed, and which, by the divinely ordained law of heredity, involved all of his race. And so "death passed upon all men." Rom. 5:12.
It may be objected by some that one act could not determine the character, but God's decision and penalty proves that in his estimation, it did. And not only so, but the entailment of inherent sin upon all of Adam's posterity to the latest generation, the motions of which are manifest in every individual of his race, is unmistakable evidence that Adam, by that one sinful act, not only determined his own character, but also in measure that of all of his posterity.
Thus, "by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin." Rom. 5:12. Thus the mournful procession of the whole human race from the cradle to the tomb for the last six thousand years is seen to be the penalty of the sin introduced by Adam's first act of disobedience to the supreme authority of God; and thus is Satan's lie exposed.
But the expert deceiver has various ways of meeting various exigencies of argument - for glossing over that lie so as to give it still a semblance of truth, and in so doing, to cast reproach on the divine Lawgiver. O yes, he now tells us, the body dies, but not the soul, which, separated from the body, is then more alive than ever. And it is upon this falsehood that the abominations of spiritism (which is the worship of evil spirits) are built and sustained. And it is remarkable how widely this gloss has been accepted; for it has been incorporated in all the creeds of Christendom, and is devoutly held by many sincere Christians as a sort of heirloom handed down from generations past and not needing investigation to prove whether it be true or false.
But let those who are willing to take a "Thus saith the Lord" for the confirmation of their faith call to mind the statement of Ezek. 18:4, 20 - "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." "The wages of sin is death." - Rom 6:23 - death of the body surely, death of the soul just as surely, on the same divine authority. And so we find death defined in the Scriptures by the terms "destruction" and "perishing." Consult a Bible Concordance and see how repeatedly these terms are so used. Then note in the description of Adam's creation the meaning of the term, "soul" - Gen 2:7 - that the body was formed first, then the breathing process was established, and the result was "a living soul," a conscious being. This is life. Now reverse the order: stop the breathing process -the coming and going of the life-current, and instantly thought perishes, and the body returns to the dust whence it came. Gen. 3:19. "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth: in that very day his thoughts perish." Psa. 146:4. This is death; destruction - the destruction of the whole man - the destruction from which we are redeemed through Christ - "Who redeemeth thy life from destruction." Psa. 103:4
With this scriptural view of death, and only so, are we prepared to understand the meaning and value of the resurrection, which is the awakening again to life, from what our Lord symbolically terms the sleep of death. Hear him: "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. ... Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And hear him present to Martha the hope of the resurrection, as the great comfort in bereavement - 'Thy brother shall rise again." And note also Martha's reply - "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day," for this had been our Lord's teaching. Hear Paul also (1 Thes, 4:14) - "Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." Observe also that Paul expected to wait for his reward after finishing his course, until the appearing of Jesus Christ, when the reward will come not only to him, but "unto all them also that love his appearing" - both to those who sleep in Jesus, and to those who are alive and remain to that time. Compare 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Thes. 4:13-17.
So also Job is intelligible. See Job 14. When God prevails against man he passeth away. His sons come to honor and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them. Man dieth and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up, so man lieth down and riseth not till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep. O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time and remember me!
Thus Job is inspired to pray for the resurrection in God's appointed time, and was content to rest in the grave until that time. Then the question is plainly raised, "If a man die shall he live again?" And Job's inspired hope of a resurrection is expressed in the words that follow: "All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come: Thou shalt call and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thy hands." Job 14:20, 21, 10-15.
With the true idea of death and the scriptural hope of a resurrection of all that are in the graves - both of the just and of the unjust, the God-dishonoring theory of eternal torment of the wicked disappears, and the real significance of the millennial Day of Judgment - "the times of restitution of all things" - becomes manifest. True there will be everlasting punishment for the wicked in the "lake of fire and brimstone" - a symbol which is defined by the pen of inspiration as "the second death" (See Rev. 20:11-15); and those who go into it are said to be "punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power." 2 Thes. 1:9.
Our limits will not permit an exhaustive treatment here of the penalty of God's law, to meet all of the devices whereby it has been glossed, but as no single error has done more to becloud the divine purpose, no sincere Christian should be satisfied to let the question rest in uncertainty. We see the beauty, the dignity and glory of the divine law, and the absolute necessity for the maintenance of its perfect standard of righteousness: hence the justice of its penalty - death. Its reward is life, but no man since the fall could earn that reward except "the man Christ Jesus," in whose vicarious sacrifice in satisfaction of the claims that were justly against us, is the only hope of our ruined race.