Chapter VIII: Part I: Eternal Intelligences and Progress (7)

_6. Exposition of the Symbols of the Atonement in Holy Sacrament:_ In these prayers, the whole scheme of man's salvation is generalized and symbolized. There is a more solemn and awe-inspiring title used in addressing the Deity than is used in the Lord's prayer, but that is wholly warranted from the nature of the prayer of consecration which is to follow--"O, God, the Eternal Father." And this is repeated in the body of both prayers in a second appeal to God the Father. But this does not fall under the head of "vain repetition," since it is the repetition of emphasis, of deep solemnity, as any one will determine if he considers it with attention and will allow for both the solemnity and greatness of the occasion. But not only is God the Eternal Father recognized in this prayer, but the Son also--"We ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ," etc. And not only is the Father and Son recognized but the Holy Spirit also--"That they may always have his Spirit to be with them." This prayer of consecration, then, is a confession of faith in the Holy Trinity.

"Bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son." * * * "Bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them." The broken bread is the symbol of the broken or wounded body of the Christ, broken for sinful man. The wine is the symbol of the blood--the blood shed for the sins of men: and the sincere Christian eats of the one and drinks of the other in grateful remembrance of what the Christ has done for him--the suffering he underwent in order to establish justification of man and the forgiveness of his sin under a reign of law, without violence to the Justice of God or the exclusion of Mercy from our earth-scheme of things. In all this the Atonement is recognized and celebrated most beautifully, and its benefits accepted and appropriated by the celebrants. Moreover, they witness in the act of eating and drinking these emblems of the body and the blood of the Christ, "that they are willing to take upon them the name," of the Christ, become "Christians." "And always remember him;" and who could remember him and not with gratitude in view of what he had done for mankind! "And keep his commandments which he hath given them"--a solemn covenant of obedience upon which, as we have seen, depends the reception of the benefits of the Atonement made for man's individual sins--"he [the Christ] became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him." And to what end does all this lead--this covenanting to take upon them the name of Christ; to always remember him; to keep his commandments--to what culmination does all this conduct the celebrant? To union with God, the one thing most important; the climax is "that they may always have his spirit to be with them!" Just as the several steps of faith, repentance and baptism culminate in possession of the Holy Ghost.[A]

[Footnote A: Acts ii:38, 39. Heb. vi:1-6.]

Thus in two paragraphs, making less than fifteen lines of printed matter is given the story of man's redemption, in this symbol of the Atonement--the Lord's Supper. As in the case of baptism, however, I would remind the student that the virtue is not in the symbols, but in the realities they represent; in the actually broken body of Christ--broken by nail-wounds, by crown of thorns, by spear thrusts in the side; by suffering of mental and spiritual agony that made blood-sweat for the body, and torture for the sin-burdened spirit--vicariously suffering for the sins of all men. By these realities was our salvation purchased; and the virtue lies in them, not in the symbols of them. The symbols we use in remembrance of the realities, and without mistaking them for the realities themselves.

LESSON XXII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

DOES THE NECESSITY OF THE ATONEMENT ARISE FROM THE NATURE OF THE CASE, OR FROM ARBITRARY ARRANGEMENT?

ANALYSIS.

I. Could Other Means than the Atonement Have Been Provided for Man's Salvation?

1. The Evidence from the Fact of Divine Institution.

2. The Evidence of Scripture.

II. The Severity of the Atonement Justified.

1. By the Value of the Things Purchased.

2. On the Ground that it was a Voluntary Sacrifice.

3. By the Lessons it Teaches Man.

REFERENCES.

The texts and contexts of scriptures quoted and cited in the body of this lesson.

History of Christian Doctrine (Shedd), Book V, Ch. ii; Anselm's Theory of Satisfaction; Neander's History of the Christian Religion and Doctrine, Vol. IV, pp 49-511.

Taylor's Mediation and Atonement.

_SPECIAL TEXT: "Put up thy sword into its place. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than Twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" (Matt. xxvi:52, 54.)_

DISCUSSION.

1. Could Other Means than the Atonement Have Been Devised for Man's Salvation: The question, could any other plan have been devised for the redemption of man than the Atonement as made by the Christ, was discussed, in part, in a previous lesson when considering the question of possible redemption by the sovereign act of God.[A] It is a question that has been often asked, and oftener in our own day perhaps than at any previous time, since our age is pre-eminently critical, and questions the rationality of the Atonement as set forth in the scriptures and also as taught by the Catholic and the Protestant churches. Shedd propounds the question in this form:

[Footnote A: See Lesson XVI.]

"Does the necessity of expiation in order to pardon arise from the
nature of the case, or from an arbitrary arrangement? Could the
Deity have dispensed with any or all satisfaction of Justice, or is
Justice of such an absolute and necessary character, that it would
be impossible to save the guilty without an antecedent satisfaction
of this attribute [Justice] as it would be for God to lie?"[A]

[Footnote A: "History of Christian Doctrine," Shedd--Vol. II, p. 223.]

Answering these questions from the point of view developed in this treatise, it would be necessary to say (1) that the necessity of expiation in order to pardon does arise from the nature of the case and not from arbitrary arrangement; (2) that the Deity could not dispense with any or all satisfaction to Justice since Justice as an attribute of God is of such an absolute and necessary character that it would be as impossible to save the guilty without an antecedent[A] satisfaction as it would be for God to lie. The attribute of Justice is as necessary to maintain in Deity as the attribute Truth.

[Footnote A: Or pre-determined satisfaction, that ultimately must be realized in fact. I make this qualification of "antecedent" satisfaction in the interest of the great truth that the effects of the Atonement were realized by the ancient saints previous to the coming of Christ to earth and hence previous to his actually making the Atonement; but that was because the Atonement for man's sins, the satisfaction to Justice, had been pre-determined upon, and this fact gave virtue to their faith, repentance and obedience to ordinances of the Gospel. (See Seventy's Year Book II, Lesson XX. "Antiquity of the Gospel.")]

_2. (a). The Evidence of Scripture:_ Considered from the standpoint of scriptural evidence, there can be no doubt of the absolute necessity of the Atonement as it was wrought out in the suffering and death of the Christ. The two disciples overtaken on their way to Emmaus by the unrecognized, risen Savior, gave him an account of the crucifixion and the reported resurrection of Jesus. They also voiced their own great disappointment in the seeming anti-climax of the events which had resulted in the crucifixion by saying: "But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel;" but it was now three days since the crucifixion, and consequently their hopes were disappointed. Then said the Christ unto them:

"O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have
spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to
enter into his glory?"[A]

[Footnote A: Luke xxiv:13-27.]

The same evening Jesus appeared to a company of his disciples and gave the most palpable demonstration of his resurrection, and said to them:

"These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with
you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the
law of Moses, and in the Prophets and in the Psalms, concerning me.
Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures. And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it
behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day;
and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his
name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."[A]

[Footnote A: Luke xxiv:44-47.]

If, then, "all things must be fulfilled" which are written in Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning Christ; and if it "_behoved Christ thus to suffer and to rise from the dead_ * * that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations;" then it would seem that there must have been absolute necessity for that order of procedure followed in the events which make up and attend upon the Atonement as we now know it. To this evidence there must be added the thrice repeated, agonized prayer of the Christ, in Gethsemane, when contemplating the approaching climax of his passion:[A] "O, my Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me! nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."[B]

[Footnote A: Passion--Any suffering or endurance of imposed or inflicted pain * * especially the suffering of Christ between the time of the last supper and his death--especially in the garden and on the cross. (Webster.)]

[Footnote B: Matt. xxvi:39.]

The silence of God in the presence of that prayer tells us that it was not possible for other means to be devised for man's salvation. And when the officers and the rabble led by Judas came upon Jesus and his friends in the garden and Peter drew the sword in defense of the Master, the latter said:

"Put up thy sword into its place; * * thinkest thou that I cannot
now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than
twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be
fulfilled, _that thus it must be?_"[A]

[Footnote A: Ibid, verses 52-54.]

"_Thus it must be_," confirms again the absolute necessity of the Atonement as the Christ made it.

_3. (b). Evidence of Necessity from the Fact that God Instituted It:_ The opinions of some of the early Christian fathers upon the possibility of other and perhaps milder means being used to save men than the Atonement, have already been considered, as connected with the suggestion that God might arbitrarily forgive sin by the virtue of his Omnipotence. Also a list was given of both the principal early Christian fathers and the medieval Christian doctors and the views they respectively supported;[A] and from the necessity of the principles involved, the conclusion was reached that the Atonement as made by Christ was absolutely necessary. It might be argued with great force that since God instituted the Atonement it must have been necessary or it would never have been ordained; especially if milder means could have been made to answer or the satisfaction to justice could have been set aside, and man's reconciliation with God brought about by an act of pure benevolence; for it is inconceivable that either God's Justice or his Mercy[B] would require or permit more suffering on the part of the Redeemer than was absolutely necessary to accomplish the end proposed.

[Footnote A: Lesson XVI.]

[Footnote A: Ibid, p.-- and note --]

On the influence of pain and suffering Baring-Gould has the following fine passage:

"There was no necessity, some theologians have taught, for Christ
to have died but as S. Bernard says, "perhaps that method is best,
whereby in a land of forgetfulness and sloth we might be more
powerfully and vividly reminded of our fall, through the so great
and so manifold sufferings of Him who repaired it." Then quoting
Oxenham:

"'Pain is one of the deepest and truest things in our nature; we
feel instinctively that it is so, even before we can tell why. Pain
is what binds us most closely to one another and to God. It appeals
most directly to our sympathies, as the very structure of our
language indicates. To go no further than our own, we have English
words, such as condolence, to express sympathy with grief; we have
no one word to express sympathy with joy. So, again, it is a common
remark that, if a funeral and wedding procession were to meet,
something of the shadow of death would be cast over the bridal
train, but no reflection of bridal happiness would pass into the
mourners' hearts. Scripture itself has been not inaptly called 'a
record of human sorrow.' The same name might be given to history.
Friendship is scarcely sure till it has been proved in suffering,
but the chains of an affection riveted in the fiery furnace are
not easily broken. So much, then, at least, is clear, that the
Passion of Jesus was the greatest revelation of sympathy: 'Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends.' And hence fathers and schoolmen alike conspire to teach,
that one reason why he chose the road of suffering was to knit us
more closely to himself. For this he exalted his head, not on a
throne of earthly glory, but on the cross of death. It is, indeed,
no accident of the few, but a law of our present being, which the
poet's words express:

'That to the Cross the mourner's eve should turn
Sooner than where the stars of Christmas burn.'

For in all, in their several ways and degrees, are mourners. The
dark threads are woven more thickly than the bright ones into the
tangled skein of human life; and as time passes on, the conviction
that it is so is brought home to us with increasing force.' I
(Oxenham: "Doctrine of the Atonement, 1869, pp. 290-292.)

"The Incarnation is the manifestation of perfect love, but perfect
love cannot halt at anything short of the extreme disintegration
wrought by the fall. Christ must sacrifice Himself wholly to man,
or his love is not sufficient to draw man to him. He must enter
into man's joys and man's woes, to meet him at every turn of the
winding lane of life. Love is not satisfied till it has made
every sacrifice that is in its power to make and no more complete
sacrifice can be imagined than that of honor, ease, and finally
life.

The narrative of Christ's life is, therefore, one of continuous
sacrifice, of emptying himself of everything in the overflowing
Passion of his love, counting all as nought if only he might catch
man's eye and draw him towards himself.

"He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Such is reported
by the Evangelist to be the account he gave of his mission." * * *
"Pain is the deepest thing we have in our nature, and union through
pain has always seemed more real and more holy than any other.[A]

[Footnote A: "Origin and Development of Religious Beliefs," Vol. II, pp, 305, 307, 330.]

_4. The Severity of the Atonement Justified from the Value of Things Purchased by It:_ The severity of the Atonement may be justified if viewed with reference to what it purchased for man, and the effect it was doubtless designed to have in forever fixing the values upon certain great things, in the mind of man. When the plan of redemption is contemplated with reference to what it cost the Christ, then we must have exalted notions ever after of the majesty and Justice of God, for it was to make ample satisfaction to that majesty and Justice of God that the Christ suffered and died; we must have exalted conceptions of the value of that stately fabric known as the moral government of the world, for it was for the preservation of its integrity that the Christ suffered and died; we must hence forth have a higher regard for God's attribute of Mercy, for it was that Mercy might be brought into the earth-scheme of things, and claim her own, that the Christ suffered and died; we must set a higher value even upon physical life hereafter, for it was in order to bring to pass the resurrection of man to physical life, and to make that life immortal, that the Christ suffered and died; new glory must attach hereafter to spiritual life,--perpetual union between soul of man and soul of God,--for to bring to pass that spiritual life, that indissoluble union with God on which it depends for existence, that the Christ suffered and died; we must henceforth have a deeper reverence for the Love of God and the Love of the Christ for man,--and a higher regard for man himself since God so loved him--for it was to give a manifestation of that Love, that the Christ suffered and died.

If it be true, and it is, that men value things in proportion to what they cost, then how dear to them must be the Atonement, since it cost the Christ so much in suffering that he may be said to have been baptized by blood-sweat in Gethsemane, before he reached the climax of his passion, on calvary. "Behold he suffereth the pains of all men; yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam;"[A] "surely every man must repent or suffer [i. e., the eternal consequences of sin]. * * * For behold, I God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent, but if they would not repent, they must suffer even as I, which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit, and would that I might not drink the bitter cup."[B] Advantages to be realized in eternal life purchased at such a cost as this, should indeed be regarded by men as pearls of great price, to obtain which a man would be justified in selling all that he hath, that he might buy them.

[Footnote A: II Nephi ix:21.]

[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xix:4, 16-18.]

But on the other hand if high values for the great and important things enumerated above could only be secured by the severity of suffering that attended upon the Atonement made by the Christ, then, I say, and I trust with becoming reverence, that they were worth all that even the Christ by his blessed suffering paid for them.

_5. The Atonement a Voluntary Offering:_ Another thing may be urged in justification of the severity of the plan of redemption through the Atonement--it was a voluntary act; and no one was compelled to undertake the terrible mission unless he himself elected to do so. "Whom shall I send," asked God the Father, after he had explained the necessity of a Redeemer for man in the earth-scheme of things.[A] "Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of man, saying, 'Here am I, send me.'" The act was voluntary. Indeed the glory of the Atonement as well as the justification for its severity depend upon its being so. "Therefore doth my father love me," said the Christ, "because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. _No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself._ I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."[B] And when one would have defended him by physical force the Christ bade him put up his sword, saying, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my father and he shall give me more than twelve legions of angels?" That is, to deliver him from his captors. "But," he added, after declaring the possibility of his deliverance by legions of angels, "how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that _thus it must be?_"[C]

[Footnote A: See Lesson VI.]

[Footnote B: John x:17, 18.]

[Footnote C: Matt. xxvi:53, 54.]

_6. Lesson Taught by Severity of the Atonement:_ Let the severity of the Atonement impress men with one very important truth, viz., that breaking up the harmony of the moral government of the world is a serious, adventurous, and dangerous business, even though when necessary to bring about conditions essential to the progress of Intelligences; and more serious when man in his presumption and apostasy from God, of his own perverse will, to gratify his ambition, or pride or appetite or passions, violates the law of God and breaks the union between himself and Deity. That is serious; and how difficult it is to re-establish that union, to purchase forgiveness for that sin! How hard it is to make amends to the majesty of God, dishonored by man's individual transgression of divine law--let the severity of the Christ's Atonement for man's sin bear witness; for it required all that the Christ gave in suffering and agony of spirit and body, to lay the grounds for man's forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

The severity of the Atonement should impress men with the fact that we live in a world of stern realities; that human actions draw with them tremendous consequences that may not be easily set aside if the actions in which they have their origin are wrong.

Moral laws have their penalties as physical laws have their consequences; there could be no moral laws without penalties; and penalties of laws must be enforced, else laws are mere nullities. Violations of moral law are attended by shame and suffering; suffering is the consequence or the penalty of violating divine, moral law; and the penalty must be paid, either by the one sinning or by another who shall suffer vicariously for him.

This brings us to one of the great questions inseparably connected with the Atonement. Can there be such a thing as vicarious suffering? And can the vicarious suffering of an innocent victim pay the debt to justice due from one who is guilty of the transgression of law?

LESSON XXIII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE EFFICACY OF VICARIOUS ATONEMENT.

ANALYSIS.

I. The Law of Righteousness.

II. Possibility of the Spirit Suffering.

III. The Suffering of Men.

1. Because of Their Own Sins.

2. Because of the Sins of Others.

3. With Each Other on Account of Sin.

4. Willingness of Men to Suffer for Others and what it Suggests.

IV. Vicarious Suffering the Doctrine of Christ.

V. The Reign of Law and Love.

REFERENCES.

The texts and contexts of the scriptures quoted and cited in the body of this lesson.

_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--

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets."[A] "Love is the fulfilling of the law"[B]--

_"All's Love, yet all's Law."_[C]

[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._