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The Great Atonement, November 6
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Acts 4:12
.
Adam, in his innocence, had enjoyed open communion with his Maker; but sin
brought separation between God and man, and the atonement of Christ alone could
span the abyss and make possible the communication of blessing or salvation from
heaven to earth. Man was still cut off from direct approach to his Creator, but God
would communicate with him through Christ and angels.
Thus were revealed to Adam important events in the history of mankind, from
the time when the divine sentence was pronounced in Eden, to the Flood, and
onward to the first advent of the Son of God. He was shown that while the sacrifice
of Christ would be of sufficient value to save the whole world, many would choose
a life of sin rather than of repentance and obedience. Crime would increase through
successive generations, and the curse of sin would rest more and more heavily upon
the human race, upon the beasts, and upon the earth. The days of man would be
shortened by his own course of sin; he would deteriorate in physical stature and
endurance and in moral and intellectual power, until the world would be filled with
misery of every type. Through the indulgence of appetite and passion men would
become incapable of appreciating the great truths of the plan of redemption. Yet
Christ, true to the purpose for which He left heaven, would continue His interest in
men, and still invite them to hide their weakness and deficiencies in Him. He would
supply the needs of all who would come unto Him in faith. And there would ever be
a few who would preserve the knowledge of God and would remain unsullied amid
the prevailing iniquity.
The sacrificial offerings were ordained by God to be to man a perpetual reminder
and a penitential acknowledgment of his sin and a confession of his faith in the
promised Redeemer. They were intended to impress upon the fallen race the solemn
truth that it was sin that caused death. To Adam, the offering of the first sacrifice
was a most painful ceremony. His hand must be raised to take life, which only God
could give. It was the first time he had ever witnessed death, and he knew that had
he been obedient to God, there would have been no death of man or beast. As he
slew the innocent victim, he trembled at the thought that his sin must shed the blood
of the spotless Lamb of God.... And he marveled at the infinite goodness that would
give such a ransom to save the guilty. A star of hope illumined the dark and terrible
future and relieved it of its utter desolation....
The act of Christ in dying for the salvation of man would not only make heaven
accessible to men, but before all the universe it would justify God and His Son in
their dealing with the rebellion of Satan (
Patriarchs and Prophets, 57-69
).
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