Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-03-19
1ST Coz. 1922.


was perfect world, and God himselfits
Creator pronounced an eulogy upon it
that it was good. ''God saw that it was
good" Perfection's breath came from
every living thing, and was stamped up
on every inanimate object. Creation
was perfect result Of the infinite con-
ception, perfect fulfllment of Gods
purpose, and there was perfect obedi-
ence in all the living natures created of
His will. Joy, peace, love, hope, and
order were supreme, and brightness,
gladness, content, and rest, swayed the
sceptre and sat upon kingly throne.
The sovereign ruler Of all ruled, and
was obeyed, from Adam, the noblest
created being, to the little blade of grass
beneath his feet. Gods will was done
on earth as it is in heaven. The ami
mails were in obedience to man, recog-
nizing his lordship and yet not fearing
him. Man was perfect in his nature,
his happiness was complete; his eyes,
his ears, and his heart were filed with
Gods goodness. He could perfectly
love the partner Of his joys, one created
in his creation, his before and after the
marriage, in which the TriUne God
united them The world belonged to
God at that time, and man was truly
His son, but we find that time tells quite
different story, the adversary came to
our first parents in the form of q ser
pent, doubtless rejoicing at such an
opportunity to ruin man, and to sin
blight the human race. He tempted
them, they yielded to the temptation,
and the entire scene was instantaneous
ly changed. Man fell
"Fell like the Snowlalles
From Heaven to he'll"
and he hid himself, shivering with fear,
from the eyes of his Creator and Bene-
| factor. The visits he once loved, now
he dreaded, and did not feel easy in his
nakedness before God. SIN increased,
and grew as a rivuiet into river, a
river into vast tumultOus sea, until cit
repented the Lord that he made man."
! The world was drowned with sin before
it was drowned with water. Sin and all
It's companions, such as sorrow, discOrd,
pain and death now found an abiding
place in man, because he disobeyed
Jehovah's law
Who can tell the history of woe, the
evil consequences Of one transgression,
!
of evil allowed to 90 to seed, and bear
fruit poisons that could be eaten and
inherited by descendants in the very
life blood The point to be seen here
is-that the fact of our existance es-
tablishes another fact that we cannot
exist without sin in our nature. As man
multiplied, sin multiplied the faster,
and it brought its army to the first con-
| tiicl when Cain slew his brother. Man
was not all love now, but hatred filed
his heart. Take the long line of deaths
! between the death of Cain and that of
| Christ, and what long line of these sad
events we have; and yet a still longer
list from Jesus until now, and if the
calculation of some be correct that some
one exchanges time for eternity, mo-
mentary, what vast proof we have of
the fact that all must die. To-day we
are brought face to face with a practical
! test of this, as we gather around these
precious remains, to pay our last sad
rites to such a persevering, honest and
respectful gentleman as was John Ed
wards, who did a great deal toward
Transforming this northern part of this
state Of Wisconsin into a garden, and
making it blossom as the rose" He was
a sef-made man, as most of the men
have been, whose names adorn the
earlier history Of our country and who
stood at the head of the nations well
fare But like ali of these he has gone
the way of all flesh. In century from
now this vast audience will 90 the same
way and be laid in the silent city of the
dead What a solemn ct,-that we
must die, and how necessary it is that
we should be fully prepared for this
messenger.
1t would seem as soon as man sinned,
and brought upon himself the death
that never dies, by sheer disobedience,
that Savior was promised. ''The
scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the lawgiver from between her feet
until Shiloh come" This is declared
in prophecy for hundreds of years;
sparkling from the pens of the inspired
prophets, until it actually takes place in
the incarnation of Deity, Jesus the only
begotton of the Father assuming hui
manity, leading a suffering life, and
dying an ignominous death that by His
death we may have life everlasting.
80 love devine, what hast thou done,
To save guilty worm like me;
The Fathers well beloved Son
Bore all my sins upon the tree,
Be this my trust whatere betidc
My Lord, my Love, was crucifed.''
In spite of sin, and its evil consequent
ces, the purposes of God were realized
The light shines, the everlasting gates
give way, the Heavenly Hosts resound
the high arches of Heaven, and Jesus
comes. His will is done III a portion ot
the earth by some men, as it is done il
Heaven. The condemnation papers
were written by Gods unerring hand
and the sentence went forth, but Jesus
blessed Jesus, precious Savior steps
forward, and by the sacrifice of himself
makes it possible for all men to be pard-
oned, and now the emancipation deed
is endorsed by His own prcious blood