The Plan of God in Brief

Study 7—Ransom and Restoration

"For to this end Christ died, and lived again, that He might be Lord [Ruler, Controller] of both the dead and the living." (Rom.14:9 RV)

That is to say, the object of our Lord’s death and resurrection was not merely to bless and rule over and restore the living of mankind, but to give Him authority over, or full control of, the dead as well as the living, insuring the benefits of His ransom as much to the one as to the other. He "gave Himself a ransom [corresponding price] for all," in order that He might bless all, and give to every man an individual trial for life. To claim that He gave a "ransom for all," and yet to claim that only a mere handful of the ransomed ones will ever receive any benefit from it, is absurd; for it would imply either that God accepted the ransom‑price and then unjustly refused to grant the release of the redeemed, or else that the Lord, after redeeming all, was either unable or unwilling to carry out the original benevolent design. The unchangeableness of the divine plans, no less than the perfection of the divine justice and love, repels and contradicts such a thought, and gives us assurance that the original and benevolent plan, of which the "ransom for all" was the basis, will be fully carried out in God’s "due time," and will bring to faithful believers the blessing of release from the Adamic condemnation and an opportunity to return to the rights and liberties of sons of God, as enjoyed before sin and the curse.

Let the actual benefits and results of the ransom be clearly seen, and all objections to its being of universal application must vanish. The "ransom for all" given by "the man Christ Jesus" does not give or guarantee everlasting life or blessing to any man; but it does guarantee to every man another opportunity or trial for life everlasting. The first trial of man, which resulted in the loss of the blessings at first conferred, is really turned into a blessing of experience to the loyal‑hearted, by reason of the ransom which God has provided. But the fact that men are ransomed from the first penalty does not guarantee that they may not, when individually tried for everlasting life, fail to render the obedience without which none will be permitted to live everlastingly. Man, by reason of present experience with sin and its bitter penalty, will be fully forewarned; and when, as a result of the ransom, he is granted another, an individual trial, under the eye and control of Him who so loved him as to give His life for him, and who would not that any should perish, but that all should turn to God and live, we may be sure that only the wilfully disobedient will receive the penalty of the second trial. That penalty will be the second death, from which there will be no ransom, no release, because there would be no object for another ransom or a further trial. All will have fully seen and tasted both good and evil; all will have witnessed and experienced the goodness and love of God; all will have had a full, fair, individual trial for life, under most favourable conditions. More could not be asked, and more will not be given. That trial will decide forever who would be righteous and holy under a thousand trials; and it will determine also who would be unjust, and unholy and filthy still, under a thousand trials.

The ransom given does not excuse sin in any; it does not propose to count sinners as saints, and usher them into everlasting bliss. It merely releases the accepting sinner from the first condemnation and its results, both direct and indirect, and places him again on trial for life, in which trial his own wilful obedience or wilful disobedience will decide whether he may or may not have life everlasting.

One difference between the experiences of the Church under trial now and the experiences of the world during its trial will be that the obedient of the world will begin at once to receive the blessings of restoration by a gradual removal of their weaknesses—mental and physical; whereas the Gospel Church, consecrated to the Lord’s service even unto death, goes down into death and gets her perfection instantaneously in the first resurrection. Another difference between the two trials is in the more favourable surroundings of the next age as compared with this, in that then society, government, etc., will be favourable to righteousness, rewarding faith and obedience, and punishing sin; whereas now, under the prince of this world, the Church’s trial is under circumstances unfavourable to righteousness, faith, etc. But this is to be compensated for in the prize of the glory and honour of the divine nature offered to the Church, in addition to the gift of everlasting life.

Adam’s death was sure, though it was reached by nine hundred and thirty years of dying. Since he was himself dying, all his children were born in the same dying condition and without right to life; and, like their parents, they all die after a more or less lingering process. It should be remembered, however, that it is not the pain and suffering in dying, but death—the extinction of life—in which the dying culminates, that is the penalty of sin. The suffering is only incidental to it, and the penalty falls on many with but little or no suffering. It should further be remembered that when Adam forfeited life, he forfeited it forever; and not one of his posterity has ever been able to expiate his guilt or to regain the lost inheritance. All the race are either dead or dying. And if they could not expiate their guilt before death, they certainly could not do it when dead—when not in existence. The penalty of sin was not simply to die, with the privilege and right thereafter of returning to life. In the penalty pronounced there was no intimation of release. (Gen.2:17) The restitution, therefore, is an act of free grace or favour on God’s part. And as soon as the penalty had been incurred, even while it was being pronounced, the free favour of God was intimated, which, when realized, will so fully declare His love.

Had it not been for the gleam of hope, afforded by the statement that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head, the race would have been in utter despair; but this promise indicated that God had some plan for their benefit. When God swore to Abraham that in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed, it implied a resurrection or restoration of all; for many were then dead and others have since died, unblessed. Nevertheless, the promise is still sure: all shall be blessed when the times of restoration or refreshing shall come. (Acts 3:19) Moreover, since blessing indicates favour, and since God’s favour was withdrawn and His curse came instead because of sin, this promise of a future blessing implied the removal of the curse, and consequently a return of His favour. It also implied either that God would relent, change His decree and clear the guilty race, or else that He had some plan by which it could be redeemed, by having man’s penalty paid by another.

God did not leave Abraham in doubt as to which was His plan, but showed, by various typical sacrifices which all who approached Him had to bring, that He could not and did not relent, nor excuse the sin; and that the only way to blot it out and abolish its penalty would be by a sufficiency of sacrifice to meet that penalty. This was shown to Abraham in a very significant type: Abraham’s son, in whom the promised blessing centred, had first to be a sacrifice before he could bless, and Abraham received him from the dead in a figure. (Heb.11:19) In that figure Isaac typified the true seed, Christ Jesus, who died to redeem men, in order that the redeemed might all receive the promised blessing. Had Abraham thought that the Lord would excuse and clear the guilty, he would have felt that God was changeable, and therefore could not have had full confidence in the promise made to him. He might have reasoned, if God has changed His mind once, why may He not change it again? If He relents concerning the curse of death, may He not again relent concerning the promised favour and blessing? But God leaves us in no such uncertainty. He gives us ample assurance of both His justice and His unchangeableness. He could not clear the guilty, even though He loved them so much that He "spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up [to death] for us all." (Rom.8:32)

As the entire race was in Adam when he was condemned, and lost life through him, so when Adam’s life was redeemed by the man Christ Jesus, a possible race in his loins died also, and a full satisfaction, or corresponding price, was rendered to justice for all men; and He who bought all has full authority to restore all who come unto God by Him.

"As by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." (Rom.5:18,19) The proposition is a plain one: as many as have shared death on account of Adam’s sin will have life‑privileges offered to them by our Lord Jesus, who paid their penalty to Justice, who became Adam’s substitute before the broken law, and thus "gave Himself a ransom for all." 1 Tim.2:6) He died, "the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." (1 Peter 3:18) It should never be overlooked, however, that all of God’s provisions for our race recognize the human will as a factor in the securing of the divine favours so abundantly provided. Some have overlooked this feature in examining the text just quoted—Rom.5:18,19. The Apostle’s statement, however, is that, as the sentence of condemnation extended to all the seed of Adam, even so, through the obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Father’s plan, by the sacrifice of Himself on our behalf, a free gift is extended to all—a gift of forgiveness, which, if accepted, will constitute a justification or basis for life everlasting. And "as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one many shall be [not were] made righteous." If the ransom alone, without our acceptance of it, made us righteous, then it would have read, by the obedience of one many were made righteous. But though the ransom has been given by the Redeemer and has been accepted by Jehovah, only a few during the Gospel age have been, though many during the Millennial age will be, made righteous—justified—"through faith in His blood." Since Christ is the propitiation (satisfaction) for the sins of the whole world, all men may on this account be absolved and released from the penalty of Adam’s sin by Him—under the New Covenant.

There is no unrighteousness with God; hence "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) As He would have been unjust to have allowed us to escape the pronounced penalty before satisfaction was rendered, so also He here gives us to understand that it would be unjust were He to forbid our restoration, since by His own arrangement our penalty has been paid for us. The same unswerving justice that once condemned man to death now stands pledged for the release of all who, confessing their sins, apply for life through Christ. "It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us."—Rom.8:33,34 (NKJV)

The completeness of the ransom is the very strongest possible argument for the restitution of all mankind who will accept it on the proffered terms. (Rev.22:17) The very character of God for justice and honour stands pledged to it; every promise which He has made implies it; and every typical sacrifice pointed to the great and sufficient sacrifice—"the Lamb of God who takes away the SIN OF THE WORLD"—who is "the propitiation [satisfaction] for our sins [the Church’s]: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (John 1:29 NKJV; 1 John 2:2) Since death is the penalty or wages of sin, when the sin is cancelled the wages must in due time cease. Any other view would be both unreasonable and unjust. The fact that no recovery from the Adamic loss is yet accomplished, though nearly two thousand years have elapsed since our Lord died, is no more an argument against restitution than is the fact that four thousand years elapsed before His death, a proof that God had not planned the redemption before the foundation of the world. Both the two thousand years since and the four thousand years before the death of Christ were appointed times for other parts of the work, preparatory to "the times of restitution of all things." (Acts 3:21)