The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-02-16
MANkATo FREE PRESS

blessing for our race will come through
the Seed of Abraham-The Christ.
The giving Of His Son to be mans
Redeemer and Deliverer from sin and
death was Gods blessing to man
making man rich. Messiah. having
died for the redemption Of the world.
is about to bestow upon men the Di.
vine blessing promised to Abraham.
"Tn thee and in thy Seed shall oil the
families Of the earth be blessed"
That blessing to the non-elect world
will be a glorious opportunity for ris.
ing up out of sin and death conditions
to full human perfection in the image
and likeness Of God-as. Adam pos
sessed this before his fall. 1t will
mean the bringing Of the earth to the
conditions pictured in Eden. The earth.
God declares. He formed not in vain.
but to be inhabited. At present man
is in a condition Of enmity and sep
aration from His Creator and his earth
| ~ home is disordered. Gods foot
stool, for six thousand years, has been
the scene of terrible reign of Sin and
Death.
Why the Delay In the Removal Of Sin
.-s, =. and Death?
The only hope is in Messiah's King
dom, which God has promised shall
be established for the overthrow Of
Satan. the aboiishing of ignorance and
superstition, the enlightenment Of man
kind and the upiift Of all the willing
aud obedient and for the destruction
of the wilfuily wicked in the Second
Death But before the Kingdom
could be established redemptive work
was necessary for the satisfaction Of
Justice on behalf of Adam. the SIN
ner, and his race involved with him.
BY the grace Of God Jesus has appear
ed and. ls a corresponding price. has
died, the Just for the unjust. that He
might bring us back into harmony with
God and bring in the glorious and long
promised thousand years of restitution.
Acts iii. 1921. 49,.
Eighteen centuries ago Jesus accom-
plished His redemptive work and was
rewarded. In His resurrection, with
glory. honor and Immortality. Ever
since then He is at the right hand Of
Jehovah God, merely awaiting the Di-
vinely ordained time when He shall
take unto Himself. His great power
and reign. OF that time we read
prophetically. Ask of Me. and will
give Thee the heather for Thine in
heritance. and the uttermost parts Of
the earth for Thy possession" psalm
ii, 81 RI -, II
But why SO long a delay between
the time when He. appeared to put
away sin by. the sacrifice Of Himself
and the time when He shall appear in
His glory to .estab lish the reign of
righteousness and lift up the world OF
mankind. for whom He, died?- The
Bible alone answers this question, and
oh, how much we are interested in its
answer! 1t tells us that in this in
term between the death Of the Savior
and the inauguration Of His Kingdom
a special and great work is to be ac-
complished according to the Divine
arrangement-the calling and the
choosing Of a faithful few from
amongst the redeemed race to consti-
tute a Royal Priesthood. to serve and
reign in association with the Savior.
These heirs of God and joint-heirs
with Jesus Christ our Lord are va
riously described in the Scriptures.
Under one figure they are spoken of
as being members Of the Body Of
which He is the Head. Thus is shown
the oneness of Christ and His faithful
followers. In another picture Jesus
is spoken of as the heavenly Bride
groom. and the Church is described AS
His espoused. At the second coming
of Jesus His espoused virgin Church
is to be made alive from the dead and
thus to be married to the bridegroom
and become His Bride and joint-heir
to the glory. honor and immortality
which are His by virtue Of the heav-
emily Fathers arrangement and Of the
Saviors Observation-Disclosures unto
death. even the death of the Cross.
How Rich We Shall Be Made!
Thus seen, God. the Fountain of ev'
cry good and every perfect gift. pro-
poses, first, to make rich the Church
the Elect of this Gospel Age. Theirs
will be heavenly riches, spirit nature
glory, honor. with our Redeemer-'fal
above angels. principalities and pow
ers and every name that is named
The blessing of the Lord will make
these rich indeed. and after they shall
have entered into the riches Of this re-
ward, in the First Resurrection. they
will be absolutely perfect. Sod will
add no sorrow to that completed bless
ing. All the imperfections of the pres
ent will be past and we shall be like
our Redeemer and share His glory and
see Him as He is.
And as for the world, we have al
ready seen that God is waiting to be
gracious to all who will accept His ia
vors. He is waiting for the compile
ton OF the Church of the First-born
who constitute "a kind Of first-fruits
unto God Of His creatures DANES i
1S). He is waiting for the Kingdom
Glass to be fully selected, fully devei
1 oped fully shaped and polished in the
Redeemer's likeness before bestowins
the blessing upon mankind through
natural Israel. The blessing OF the
world will require thousand years fol
its- oufpourfno upon every nation peO