The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1910-10-14

fathers SNkcS ana the glIlS ana CulllnE
OF God to them are things he will not
repent of. At that time the great anti
typical Prophet, Priest and King will
begin his work as Mediator. At that
time he will mediate by bringing into
operation the New Covenant which
God promised he would make with Ia
rael and Judah. after those days
after the days of their humiliation and
being cast OFF: they shall be reclaimed
and uplifted and blessed and used of
the Lord. This Is Gods Covenant with
them when he will take away their
sins-when by virtue of the better
sacrifices" their sins shall be abso-
lutcly and forever cancelled by the
antitypical Priest, of whom the Proph-
ct David wrote. THE Lord hath sworn.
and will not repent, Thou art n priest
for the age after the order OF Mel
chizcdek"-a klngly priest on the spirit
plane psalm OK, ~.
What Atonement Signifies.
The word Atonement or At-one-ment
signifies the bringing of persons alien
ated or estrunged back into harmony.
sympathy, union. Many are perplcxed
at the doctrine of bood-atonement SO
prominently set forth I'm the Bible. The
shedding of blood Is naturally revolt
ing and properly so. 1t seems strange,
therefore, to those who do not under
stand the philosophy of the Divine
Plan of Salvation, why God should
have required blOod-atoncmCnt for
sin. Sometimes the very people who
object TO blOod-atoncmcnt believe some
thing much more uwful-that an atone
mcnt for sin can be effected by hun
dreds or thousands of years of most
terrible torture Some believe even
worse than this-that an everlasting
tormcn! penalty for sin will be eXacted
Of all except the sanity few of hu-
manity. How inconsistent and illogi-
cal we have all been i'm our reasoning
upon religious SUBJECTS
In Scriptural usage blood stands for,
or represents. the life. In harmony
with this is our ordinary use of the
word. We read. THE blood of Jesus
Christ our Lord cleanseth us from all
sin" Here the word blood stands for
death, or rather. for the merit of the
sacriiicia death of Jesus. His death
would have been equally eflicacious as
mans Ransom-Price if his side had not
been pierced. 1t would have been
equally meritorious If he had died in
any other manner, except that he was
to take the place of the sinner to the
very last dcgree-as the Mosaic Law
declares, Cursed is everyone that
hangeth upon II tree" thus branding
crucifXion us the most ignominious
form of death
But why should God require the
death of a victim as Il basis for the
forgiveness of the sins of Adam and
his racet We reply that Gods Law
was intended to be an Illustration of
the eXactness of Divine Justice. JUS
tice could not punish Adam nor his
children with everlasting torture or
| any other of the horrible things we
once imagined. The severest penalty
of the Divine Law is represented in
our common law, which, as an extreme
penalty, requires the death of the
transgrcssOr. Adam, having been sch
fenced to death, would have had no
/ future opportunity for Iife-neither by
resurrection nor otherwise. Adams
| children, sharing his Weaknesses, would
have had no opportunity to regain life,
because justice is Interchangeable. If it
/ was just to condemn sin, it would be
| injustice to reScind the penalty and
set the culprit free. Divine Love has
| provided a way by which Adam and
! his children are all TO be freed from
death and have an opportunity of eter-
nal life-not by violating the require
ments of Divine Justice, but by fulfill
) ing them. Hence in due time. the
man Christ Jesus died for the man
Adam, to cancel his sin. to satisfy his
penalty. And since his sin and pen
atty have been inherited by his chill
dren. the one sacrifice for sin is suffi-
cient for all.
The work Of atonement is not COM
pleted. The first half of atonement
| is the satisfaction of Justice. But
even this part Is not yet completed.
The Redeemer presents his sacrifice
| Ill WV pui uISciuihS W ehc tyPV.
The first effusion of his blood spoke
peace to believers who now have the
ears to hear and the heart to obey;
the second effuslon, as shown by the
Law Ueviticus xvi, 15), will make
reconciliation for the sins of all the
people-the whole world of mankind.
Then the other part of Atonement be-
gins.
After the Divine reconciliation comes
human reconciliation. The great Mes
siah will not require sacrifices of hui
manity, but, on the contrary, will
open the blind eyes and cause the
knowledge Of the grace of God to
reach Adam and every member of his
race. Then all willing for reconcilia-
ton will be helped by the great Medi-
ator of the New Covenant and by
Israel. his Chosen People and earthly
representatives. The object to be ac-
compished during Messiah's reign is
the bringing TO all the willing and
obedient the restitution which God
has NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. to all that
~