Article VI That God, in His kindness, conceived a plan of restoration which, without setting aside His just and necessary law of sin and death, should ultimately rescue the race from destruction, and people the earth with sinless immortals.
This part of the statement is expressive of two key points so essential now because of Adam’s fall and all that surrounded his great failure. They both center in God Himself and logically because of them infer a response on the part of man. Simply they are God’s love and God’s plan.
“God in His kindness . . . “is a phrase too much taken for granted as if restoration was a duty God owed to his rebellious creatures. Most have seen themselves as not too bad anyway and therefore have a right to restoration. God in this kind of thinking is made subordinate to man and inferior to His rights. This is the problem of Adam and Eve all over again.
The first sentence of the Bible begins, “In the beginning, God . . . “. The supremacy and majesty of God as God is fundamental to all things even to love, but it was the love of God “while we were yet sinners” that conceived a plan of restoration.
The wonder of God’s love is staggering in its immensity. A sample is expressed in the simple statement, “He sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Or “nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” The wonderful abiding nature of God’s love to His children is pictured by the Apostle as the ultimate in absolute expressions as he writes, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
A recognition of this overpowering, unmerited love is a praise to God and properly humbling to man. It is an implanted element in the midst of all His children. It is the substance of their praise and song in this life and in the life to come.
“But God in His kindness, conceived a plan of restoration “our statement says. It was God’s plan that stopped Adam short in his backward progress in the way of rebellion and disobedience. It was God’s plan that gave him a hope of restoration in the darkness of what he had done. God’s plan slowly unfolded as it was seen first by Adam, then Abraham, Moses, and the prophets as they moved across the stage of time. When Christ came it reached its fullest meaning and culmination as the perfection of all that had passed before.
In each age it was commensurate and compatible with men’s experiences and ability to understand, but in each nevertheless it was the basic victory over sin and all its evil consequences and a full restoration of fellowship and association into all things divine. To Adam it was a simple statement built around the victory by the “seed of the woman.” This with the accompanying lessons served as his hope and his anchor all his days. To Abraham the simple hope was expanded to fit an expanded society, but still the same hope in God’s plan carried him through all his pilgrimage. Thus this plan expanding as God saw fit, gave strength to each generation and served each age. It served each as a hope and a goal. Its value could easily be seen in the lives of those who so patiently waited for its. fulfillment. For these men death was no barrier, but only a gentle sleep until in God’s good time the fulfillment should come. For all ages a living faith in this. plan was the moving factor in the lives of God seekers. Its importance in God’s. sight is readily illustrated by the Apostle as he quotes from the example of Abraham, “he believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.”
Since angels played a prominent part in the lives of the men of early history like Adam and Abraham, the ageless life of immortality and the endless strength of the “mighty ones” was not new to them. It was a meaningful part of their understanding of this ultimate victory over sin. Moreover, it was a victory associated with the very planet which was the stage chosen for this life and death drama. Here the imprint of man’s fall was recorded, and here it is by God’s grace man will he restored.
However, this we must understand, God’s plan was not sole)’ and singly an expression of his love. It is imperative that God’s absolute justice be met and His righteousness and word vindicated. In the Garden of Eden these conditions were accepted and understood first by Adam before there was any forgiveness. The principles attached to the slain lamb must have been perceived or explained to Adam as he laid his hand on the head of the animal. The vindication of God’s righteousness, His justice, and His word are the first principles of any restoration and demonstrated first in any acceptable sacrifice.
In His good time, and may it be soon, God’s plan will ultimately be realized and cannot fail. The salvation and restoration promised will be seen at last. The victory over all sin and all death will have been won, and God’s faithful men will have been ushered into that age of God-likeness and joy. The earth and all things in it will at last reflect His goodness and His glory. It can then be said more completely at the last than at the first, “and God saw all that He had made and behold it was very good.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One