Graham guardian., 1916-07-28

lAs!SeR RQ2stlLy We give syn
Opsis:
The Pastor declared that there Is n
measure of truth In the well-knOwn
expression. THE fatherhood Of God
and the brotherhood Of mau." but not
In the sense In which 1t Is commonly
used-that since God IS the Life-givel
of the world, therefore lie is under
obligation to save all mankind-that
the world Is to have universal saliva,
tion. While the thought Of universal
salvation is much to be preferred to
that Of universal damnatlon, yet mel.
ther Is wholly Scrlptural. According
to the Bible God Is the Father of all
In that the race received life from
Him when He created Adam. But
Adam forfeited his sonship by his dis.
obedience; and his entire race have
been born I'm n condition of alienation
from God, Only through faith in the
redemption effected by the death of
our Lord Jesus Christ can any human
being hope for salvation.
The speaker reminded his audience
that the word father means life-giver,
one who bestows life He pointed out
the Bible declaration that all life ema.
mates from God alone. and that the
Heavenly Father recognizes His re
sponsibility In this respect. Every
earthly parent has responsibility for
his child. 1t Is his duty to make pro-
vision for the child's welfare, physical,
mental and moral. Whoever cannot do
this has no right to bring child into
being. This seems to be just prin-
ciple, one generally recognized by all
intelligent people. Then surely II
would apply to the great Father from
whom comes every blessing.
People Misled by False Theology,
This thought contradicts much Of
tell us that God is all-wise all-powcr.
ful. loving and good. they spoil 1t all
by declaring that Notwithstanding His
Wisdom. Justice. Love and Power. Tie
kind to endless misery-in other words,
that He has made miserable failure
i'm creating mankind. and that His
Plan Of Salvation Is farce Even
without Bible, we should have known
better than this. The only reasonable
explanation for our believing such
teachings Is that given by the Apostle
Paul-that Satan has so blinded the
minds of many that they seem unable
to reason intelligently upon the sub.
ject.-2 Corinthians A.; Timothy III.
The Adversary has shrewdly backed
up the theory Of eternal torment by the
other theory that God made man i'm
mortal and therefore cannot destroy
him. How puerile the Idea that. in ere.
ating man. God gave him something
that even his Creator Is powerless to
take from him! This theory Is direct.
ly contradicted by our Lord Jesus Him.
self, when He said, Fear Him who is
able to destroy both soul and body I'm Ge.
henna"-the Second Death.-Matthew
1923; Ezekiel 1874, 20; Psalm 1920.
Some Of our learned people talk about
"the fatherhood Of God and the broth
erhood of man." This thought Is not
upheld In Scripture. While the Bible
declares that mankind are the offspring
of God. that He is their Creator, yet II
does not say that He is now the Father
of the race. Many Of these men urge
the theory Of eternal salvation for all
mankind. While preferable to the
theory Of universal damnation. this
theory is also unscriptural
Through Sin Came Death.
The plain declaration of the Bible is
that our first parents received life from
God, and were forewarned that II they
disobeyed Him He would take that life
from them. Not even hint was given
that the penalty for disobedience would
be life continued in eternal torment
Genesis PIT: $40: Romans 6:23) Man
lost his right to life by taking wrong
course. From Gods standpoint, the hu.
man race Is dead. Thus we see that
mankind today are not children Of God
Adam was son Of God until he for,
feited that blessed relationship. Since
his sin there have been no human sons
Of God except Jesus while he was In
the flesh.
When our Lord came into the world,
He opened up a way whereby those
who would follow closely in His steps
might become sons of God on the very
highest plane of life. II faithful unto
death, they would share the glorious
reward which the Father had promised
Fundamentally, life in Its highest
form. For over 1900 years the Call
to saintship has gone quietly forth.
Comparatively few have responded
But It Is to these alone that God now
becomes the Father.-John 1:12: Ro,