Law and the Gospel
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lamb; the blood of beasts appeared to him without virtue. The gospel
was preached to Cain as well as to his brother; but it was to him a savor
of death unto death, because he would not recognize, in the blood of
the sacrificial lamb, Jesus Christ the only provision made for man’s
salvation.
Our Saviour, in His life and death, fulfilled all the prophecies
pointing to Himself, and was the substance of all the types and shadows
signified. He kept the moral law, and exalted it by answering its claims
as man’s representative. Those of Israel who turned to the Lord, and
accepted Christ as the reality shadowed forth by the typical sacrifices,
discerned the end of that which was to be abolished. The obscurity
covering the Jewish system as a veil, was to them as the veil which
covered the glory upon the face of Moses. The glory upon the face
of Moses was the reflection of that light which Christ came into the
world to bring for the benefit of man.
While Moses was shut in the mount with God, the plan of salvation,
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dating from the fall of Adam, was revealed to him in a most forcible
manner. He then knew that the very angel who was conducting the
travels of the children of Israel was to be revealed in the flesh. God’s
dear Son, who was one with the Father, was to make all men one with
God who would believe on, and trust in Him. Moses saw the true
significance of the sacrificial offerings. Christ taught the gospel plan
to Moses, and the glory of the gospel, through Christ, illuminated the
countenance of Moses so that the people could not look upon it.
Moses himself was unconscious of the beaming glory reflected
upon his face, and knew not why the children of Israel fled from him
when he approached them. He called them to him, but they dared not
look upon that glorified face. When Moses learned that the people
could not look upon his face, because of its glory, he covered it with a
veil.
The glory upon the face of Moses was exceedingly painful to the
children of Israel because of their transgression of God’s holy law.
This is an illustration of the feelings of those who violate the law
of God. They desire to remove from its penetrating light which is a
terror to the transgressor, while it seems holy, just, and good to the
loyal. Those only who have a just regard for the law of God can rightly
estimate the atonement of Christ which was made necessary by the
violation of the Father’s law.