UNDERSTANDING THE LOVE OF THE FATHER

Jesus could not express in words to the understanding of man the love of the Father; he could only say, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” But he did express the love of God in his actions. Never can we equal the goodness and the love of Jesus, but he calls upon every man and woman, youth and child, to behold him, and by beholding his perfection of character, to become changed into his image. Call every talent into exercise to copy the Pattern. Christ died to save man, and he calls upon us to live as seeing Him who is invisible, that we may save souls. Then seek the Lord most earnestly. Eternal life at the right hand of God is worth a lifelong, persevering, untiring effort. Look to the cross of Calvary, and be no longer half-hearted. It is either life or death with every one of us; and when we surrender all, then Jesus will open ways that we may serve him with every power of our being. The Lord would have us gather up the rays of light, and be witnesses for Christ. {ST November 28, 1892, par. 7} Says the prophet, “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” {ST November 28, 1892, par. 8} The church may individually be all that they profess to be; for if they will seek the Lord with all the heart, they will be filled with the Spirit. Jesus Christ is the Pattern, and everyone who copies the Pattern will estimate the value of his own soul as the purchased possession of Christ. He will see that the Lord requires all the members of his church, as living, human agencies, to exert a sanctified influence in unity to build up the Redeemer’s kingdom in the earth. The careless inaction, the indolence, the neglect to improve a single faculty and intrusted capability which might have been employed for blessing humanity, robs the world of the promised influence of the Holy Spirit, which might have accompanied with its presence the living witness for God. A message from heaven is sent to the world by those whom the Lord has called. They are to make known the salvation of God, that, by the testimony of those who are sanctified, many may be saved. {ST November 28, 1892, par. 9} Science is too limited to comprehend the atonement; the mysterious and wonderful plan of redemption is so far-reaching that philosophy cannot explain it; it will ever remain a mystery that the most profound reason cannot fathom. If it could be explained by finite wisdom, it would lose its sacredness and dignity. It is a mystery that One equal with the eternal Father should so abase himself as to suffer the cruel death of the cross to ransom man; and it is a mystery that God so loved the world as to permit his Son to make this great sacrifice. The Holy Spirit exalts and glorifies the Saviour. It is his office to present Christ, the great salvation that we have through him, and the sacred, elevated purity of his righteousness. Says Christ, “He shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.” The Spirit of truth is the only effectual teacher of divine truth; those who are taught of him have entered the school of Christ. How must God esteem the race, that he gave his Son to die for them, and appoints his Spirit to be man’s teacher and continual guide. Satan understands this, and he lays his plans to mar and wound man, the workmanship of God, and to prevent him from enjoying the happiness that this great rebel lost through his disobedience and malice. {ST April 3, 1884, par. 7} Since his fall from Heaven, it has been Satan’s only joy and constant employment to thwart the plan of God by preventing the salvation of perishing men. He has carried on this work with marked success, and will continue it until Christ shall bring his career to an end. He has tried to induce men to aid him in treading the honor of God into the dust, and many have become co-laborers with him, and have encouraged his rebellion. Those who do this, who glory in their skepticism, and lead others to despise the law of Jehovah, place themselves in the ranks of the enemies of Christ, and use their influence to destroy rather than to save souls. They second Satan in his efforts to undermine the law of God by assuring the sinner that he will be saved while transgressing that law. They serve Satan, and will share his terrible fate. {ST April 3, 1884, par. 8} “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Christ came to the world to reveal the character of the Father, and to redeem the fallen race. The world’s Redeemer was equal with God. His authority was as the authority of God. He declared that he had no existence separate from the Father. The authority by which he spoke, and wrought miracles, was expressly his own, yet he assures us that he and the Father are one. John bore witness of Christ, and pointed all men to him as the promised Messiah. When he beheld Jesus before him, he declared, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me; for he was before me.” “And of his fullness have we all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” {RH January 7, 1890, par. 1} As legislator, Jesus exercised the authority of God; his commands and decisions were supported by the Sovereignty of the eternal throne. The glory of the Father was revealed in the Son; Christ made manifest the character of the Father. He was so perfectly connected with God, so completely embraced in his encircling light, that he who had seen the Son, had seen the Father. His voice was as the voice of God. Mark Christ’s prayer before his crucifixion: “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” Again he says, “I am in the Father, and the Father in me.” “No man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” {RH January 7, 1890, par. 2} The only way in which salvation could be provided for man was through the union of divinity with humanity. Christ in human flesh alone could bridge the gulf that sin had made. With his humanity he was prepared to touch humanity. The greatness, the breadth, of the plan of salvation invests it with incomparable grandeur; but it can only be spiritually discerned, and it increases in greatness as we contemplate it. Looking to Jesus dying upon the cross, and knowing that it was our sin that placed the innocent Sufferer there, we are bowed down before him in wonder and love. The greatness of this salvation proves the peril of its neglect. {RH March 10, 1891, par. 4} Satan constantly seeks to make of none effect the great work of redemption. What importance, what magnitude, it gives to the theme of redemption, that he who has undertaken the salvation of man was the brightness of the Father’s glory, the express image of his person. How, then, can heaven regard those who neglect so great a salvation, wrought out for man at such infinite cost? To neglect to lay hold on the rich blessings of heaven, is to refuse, to set at naught, him who was equal with the Father, the only one who could save fallen man. O, shall we through neglect of Christ throw away our one chance for eternal life? Shall we scorn divine mercy, and trample underfoot the Son of God, and count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing? {RH March 10, 1891, par. 5} The divine Author of salvation left nothing incomplete in the plan; every phase of it is perfect. The sin of the whole world was laid upon Jesus, and divinity gave its highest value to the suffering of humanity in Jesus, that the whole world might be pardoned through faith in the Substitute. The most guilty need have no fear but that God will pardon, for because of the efficacy of the divine sacrifice the penalty of the law will be remitted. Through Christ the sinner may return to allegiance to God. How wonderful is the plan of redemption in its simplicity and fullness. It not only provides for the full pardon of the sinner, but also for the restoration of the transgressor, making a way whereby he may be accepted as a son of God. Through obedience he may be the possessor of love and peace and joy. His faith may unite him in his weakness to Christ, the source of divine strength; and through the merits of Christ he may find the approval of God, because Christ has satisfied the demands of the law, and he imputes his righteousness to the penitent, believing soul. The spotless robe woven in the loom of heaven, covers the contrite one, and he wills to be obedient, taking the yoke of Christ, suffering as Christ suffered when he walked a man among men. {RH March 10, 1891, par. 6} What love, what wonderful love, was displayed by the Son of God. The death we deserved was suffered to come upon him, that immortality might be given to us, who could never merit such a reward. Is not salvation great in its simplicity, and wonderful in its comprehensiveness? Christ takes the sinner from the lowest degradation, and purifies, refines, and ennobles him. By beholding Jesus as he is, the sinner is transformed, and elevated to the very summit of dignity, even to a seat with Christ upon his throne. Contemplating the fullness of the provision that God has made, whereby every son and daughter of Adam may be saved, we are led to exclaim with John, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” The angels are amazed at the manifestation of divine love for the fallen race. The fact that angels look with wonder upon the marvelous display of love on the part of God for man, shows how terrible a thing it is to neglect the salvation he has provided. The plan of redemption provides for every emergency, and for every want of the soul. If it were deficient in any way, the sinner might find some excuse to plead for neglect of its terms; but the infinite God had a knowledge of every human necessity, and ample provision has been made to supply every need. Thereby our sin can be pardoned, and eternal life secured; for the righteousness of Christ may be imputed unto us, to bear the test and meet the approval of a holy God. What, then, can the sinner say in the great day of final judgment, as to why he refused to give attention, the most thorough and earnest, to the salvation proffered him? {RH March 10, 1891, par. 7}