  (Scripture Reading Exercise.) THE EFFICACY OF VICARIOUS ATONEMENT.
SPECIAL TEXT: "He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. * * * Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our sins. "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (I John iv:8-11.) DISCUSSION.1. The Law of Righteousness: All sin against moral law is followed by suffering. At first glance that statement may not be accepted without qualification; but it is true. "Sin is transgression of the law," is scripture definition of sin.[A] No difficulty will arise from that definition, but there might arise difference of opinion as to what constitutes "moral law," which to violate would be sin. Of course moral law, varies among different races, and nations; and indeed varies in the same race and nation in different periods of time; but no matter how variant the law may be, between different races or nations; or how variant it may be between individuals, the principle announced that suffering follows sin will hold good. Of course between the Christian whose conscience is trained in the moral law of the doctrine of Christ, and the heathen, "who know not God," there is a wide difference. Many things which are sin to the Christian conscience are not sin to the heathen races, unenlightened by the ethics of the Christian religion; but, nevertheless, what I say is true; and if heathen peoples do not have the same moral standards that prevail in Christian lands, they have some moral standards; and whenever they violate what to them is the "rule of righteousness," it is followed by chagrin, by sorrow, by mental suffering for them; and so with the Christian people who are instructed in the high, moral principles of the Christian religion. When they fall below their ideals, when they consciously violate their rule of righteousness, it is followed by suffering, by sense of shame, by sorrow; and, indeed, the great bulk of the sorrows of this world spring from sin, the transgression of the moral law, and there is no escaping its penalty—suffering. [Footnote A: I John iii:4; and Rom. iv:15.] 2. Possibility of the Spirit Suffering: It is just as real, this suffering of the spirit for the violation of the moral law, as the suffering of physical pain that comes from the violation of some physical law. The mind no less than the body may be hurt, wounded as deeply as the body, and carry its scars as the evidence of its wounds as long. Mental suffering is as real and poignant as physical pain; and he who sins suffers. "And it often happens," says Guizot, "that the best men, that is, those who have best conformed their will to reason, have often been the most struck with their insufficiency, the most convinced of the inequality between the conduct of man and his task between liberty and law;" and therefore have they suffered most. It is possible, then, for men to suffer because of their own sins. 3. Men Suffer Because of the Sins of Others: This we know, also, it is possible for men to suffer because of the sins of others, and they often do it. You can scarcely conceive of a man being so far isolated, so far outside the sympathies of the world, that it can be said of him that he lives unto himself alone; that his sinning and his suffering concerns only himself. We are so knit together in a net work of sympathies—not seen, but real nevertheless—that we suffer because of each other. It is easily proven. Take the case of an honorable father and mother who have led we will say—and there are such fathers and mothers—ideal lives. They have lived in honor; they have met their obligations to the world with reasonable fidelity; they have lived lives of righteousness; they have set good examples to their children; they have taught the Christian truths at the fireside; they have surrounded their family with every advantage that would prepare them for honorable stations among men. They have taken pride as they have seen their children grow from infancy to manhood, and their souls have hoped that a sort of immortality would subsist in the perpetuation of their race through their children. Then out of this family group, over which the parents have watched with such anxious solicitude, there comes forth a reprobate youth, in whom there seems to be scarcely any moral sense. He violates all the conventions of society, and of moral living; he destroys his intellect by his excesses, and he becomes a vagabond and outcast among men, a degenerate, perhaps finds his way through the sewers of sin, into the prison house, and at last, perchance, may go to the very gallows itself. And what is the condition of that righteous father and mother the while, when they look upon this sad mischance in their household? Sorrow! The one who has led the shameful life, though he may suffer somewhat for his sins, has not suffered the one-thousandth part of the shame and humiliation and disgrace that has been experienced by this father and mother. They suffer because of the sins of this wayward son. They illustrate in their experience the fact that men can suffer because of each other; the innocent are involved in the sins and crimes of the guilty. From this confessedly extreme case all down the line of human experiences and relationships in constantly varying degrees men suffer because of each other. 4. Men Suffer With Each Other on Account of Sin: Then men suffer with each other? An outsider, looking at this scene I have presented —I mean one not a member of the grief-stricken family—witnessing the sorrow of the father, and the inconsolable grief of the mother; the mental distress and shame experienced by brother and sisters; the stranger witnessing all this, weeps with the sorrowing father and mother; he suffers with them. 5. Willingness of Men to Suffer for Each Other: There is still another phase of this suffering on account of sin, and one that draws very near to the point I am trying to reach. There is among men, and especially among men of highly sensitive natures, a willingness to suffer for others. Take the case, for instance, of David and Absolom. Absolom was the most worthless of all David's many worthless sons; he had planned rebellion against the grand old king; he would have clutched the crown from the hoary head of David and put it upon his own. In every way he had warred against the honor and the interests o. his noble father. Yet when news was brought to the king that the worthless young man had been caught in the battle and slain, the old king was stricken with sorrow, and gave vent to the parent-cry that rings through all the ages—"Oh Absolom, my son! my son! would to God I had died for thee!" In this experience of David's we see the willingness of one to suffer for another. Nor is this willingness confined to parents alone who would so often and so willingly take upon themselves the consequences of their children's sins, though those consequences involved death. The same willingness exists on the part of the children, but perhaps is less frequently manifested, to suffer for their parents. The same is true also as to brothers and sisters, and among friends, where no tie of consanguinity exists; and even among strangers, on the occasion of great, imminent danger, this impulse in man, this willingness to risk his own life for others is frequently manifested. Such experiences make up the history of heroism, which is the chief glory of our human race. 6. The Great Principle Suggested by the Foregoing Facts: Does this fact of willingness to suffer for others, so abundantly attested in human experiences, bear witness to the existence of no great and eternal principle, that may be of incalculable benefit in the moral economy of the world? Is it meaningless? I think not. On the contrary it suggests the existence of a great and effective truth, namely, that the Intelligences of the universe are so bound together in sympathetic relations that at need they can suffer for each other, as well as with each other, and because of each other. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."[A] This is true because when a man lays down his life for a cause or for a friend he has then given all he has to give; for with life goes all things else; he can give no more. Shall those Intelligences we must needs think of as Divine, as making up David's "congregation of the Mighty," the Gods among whom God the greatest of all the Intelligences, standeth and judges,[B] shall these be denied the privilege of love-manifestation which goes with this giving of all? And shall this suffering for others have no benefiting effect upon those others for whom the suffering is endured? Shall this love-force of men and of divine Intelligences be mere waste of the highest and most refined of all forces—spiritual force? Not so, if reason answers the question. Certainly not so if scripture answers it. "Here by perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us."[C] "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life."[D] "For Christ hath also once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God."[E] "When we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for us. * * * Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. * * * When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son * * *."[F] The scriptures then abundantly confirm the declaration made that divine Intelligences are not denied the power of giving the highest love manifestation for others by suffering for them; and in that love-manifestation giving all they can give even to taking upon themselves the consequences of the sins of others and making Atonement for them; suffering that others might have placed within their reach the means of escape from suffering, if only they would accept such means and apply them. Otherwise, of course, the sinners themselves must suffer all the consequences due to their sins; for nothing is clearer in the revealed word of God, developed in this treatise, than that satisfaction must be made to Justice whenever the domain of Justice is trespassed upon, else all is confusion in the moral government of the world; so that if men will not avail themselves of means which Mercy provides for their redemption, then they themselves must meet the inexorable demands of Justice. [Footnote A: St. John iii:15.] [Footnote B: Psalms lxxxii.] [Footnote C: I John iii:16.] [Footnote D: St. John iii:16.] [Footnote E: I Peter iii:16.] [Footnote F: Rom. v:6-10.] 7. Vicarious Suffering. Its Reality and Its Effectiveness is the Doctrine of the Christ: This, then, is the especial doctrine of the Christ on which his earth-life's mission is based. One Intelligence at need can suffer for others. It is possible for one to stand responsible for another; a man can be his brother's keeper, and vicariously endure even suffering for another's sins; make a satisfaction to justice, and bring the quality of Mercy into the moral economy of things, and give it legitimate standing under a reign of law, softening somewhat the otherwise harsh aspect of things. 8. The Reign of Law and Love: To this then our inquiry and discussions lead us; to recognize in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the central truth of which is the Atonement, a reign of Law and Love; and that to preserve this Law, and to manifest this Love was the purpose of the earth-life's mission of the Christ. To teach and to demonstrate, first of all, God-love for man, by a sacrifice that tasks God that man might be saved;[A] and second, to inspire man-love for God, by the demonstration that God first loved man, and how deeply God loved man;[B] and third, to teach man-love for man. "For beloved," said the apostle whom Jesus loved pre-eminently—"If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."[C] In this love for one another the children of God are manifest, he contends. "Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. * * We know that we have passed from death into life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. * * Here by perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."[D] It is not to be marveled at that this same apostle declared that "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love,"[E] or that Paul, accepting the same principles, should say, "he that loveth another, hath fulfilled the law. * * * Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."[F] [Footnote A: St. John iii:16, 17.] [Footnote B: "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins" (I John iv:9, 10.)] [Footnote C: I John iv:11.] [Footnote D: I John iii:10-16.] [Footnote E: I John iv:8.] [Footnote F: Rom. xiii:8, 10.] Jesus, however, teacheth the matter most perfectly. Accepting the love of God for man as assured, then the great commandment for man is—
[Footnote A: Matt. xxii.] [Footnote B: Rom. xiii:10.] [Footnote C: Browning.] Love exists in the earth-scheme of things, in the moral government of the world, as we have seen, in harmony with the universal reign of law. It is not born of some caprice, or mere impulse, howsoever beneficent; but interwoven it is into the very web of things, and is immanent in them, an indestructible Presence. It is because love reigns in harmony with law that we mortals can be so sure of it; and rest so secure in it. For as it was not born of caprice, so, too, it will not depart from the world, nor from individuals on caprice; but will endure as space itself endures—from the very nature of it; as truth abides; as law itself subsists; as God lives; for it is of the Eternal Things—the Things that do not pass away. |
|
