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God’s People Delivered
313
Saviour lifts him up, and directs his attention to the Eden home from
which he has so long been exiled.
After his expulsion from Eden, Adam’s life on earth was filled
with sorrow. Every dying leaf, every victim of sacrifice, every blight
upon the fair face of nature, every stain upon man’s purity, was
a fresh reminder of his sin. Terrible was the agony of remorse
as he beheld iniquity abounding, and, in answer to his reproofs,
met the reproaches cast upon himself as the cause of sin. With
patient humility he bore, for nearly a thousand years, the penalty
of transgression. Faithfully did he repent of his sin, and trust in
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the merits of the promised Saviour, and he died in the hope of a
resurrection. The Son of God redeemed man’s failure and fall, and
now, through the work of the atonement, Adam is re-instated in his
first dominion.
Transported with joy, he beholds the trees that were once his
delight,—the very trees from which he plucked fruit when he re-
joiced in the perfection of innocence and holiness. He sees the vines
that his own hands have trained, the very flowers that he once loved
to care for. His mind grasps the reality of the scene; he comprehends
that this is indeed Eden restored, far more beautiful now than when
he was banished from it. The Saviour leads him to the tree of life,
and plucks the glorious fruit, and bids him eat. He looks about him,
and beholds a multitude of his family redeemed, standing in the Par-
adise of God. Then he casts his glittering crown at the feet of Jesus,
and, falling upon his breast, embraces the Redeemer. He touches
the golden harp, and the vaults of Heaven echo the triumphant song,
“Worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and lives again!”
The family of Adam take up the strain, and cast their crowns at the
Saviour’s feet as they bow before him in adoration.
This reunion is witnessed by the angels who wept at the fall of
Adam, and rejoiced when Jesus, after his resurrection, ascended to
Heaven, having opened the grave for all who should believe on his
name. Now they behold the work of redemption accomplished, and
they unite their voices in the song of praise.
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The Saviour’s chosen have been educated and disciplined in the
school of trial. They walked in narrow paths on earth; they were
purified in the furnace of affliction. For Jesus’ sake they endured op-
position, hatred, calumny. They followed him through conflicts sore;