Chapter 153—Matchless Condescension
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he
also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he
might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.
Hebrews 2:14
.
Satan accomplished the fall of man, and since that time it has been his
work to efface in man the image of God, and to stamp upon human hearts
his own image.... He intercepts every ray of light that comes from God to
man, and appropriates the worship that is due to God....
But the only begotten Son of God has looked upon the scene, has beheld
human suffering and misery.... He looked upon the schemes by which Satan
works to blot from the human soul every trace of likeness to God; how he
led them into intemperance so as to destroy the moral powers which God
gave to man as a most precious, priceless endowment. He saw how, through
indulgence in appetite, brain power was destroyed, and the temple of God
was in ruins.... The senses, the nerves, the passions, the organs of man, were
worked by supernatural agencies in the indulgence of the grossest, vilest
lust. The very stamp of demons was impressed upon the countenances of
men, and human faces reflected the expression of the legions of evil with
which they were possessed. Such was the prospect upon which the world’s
Redeemer looked. What a horrible spectacle for the eyes of infinite purity to
behold! ...
The great condescension on the part of God is a mystery beyond our
fathoming. The greatness of the plan cannot be fully comprehended, nor
could infinite wisdom devise a plan that would surpass it. It could be
successful only by ... Christ becoming man, and suffering the wrath which
sin has made because of the transgression of God’s law. Through this plan
the great, the dreadful God can be just, and yet be the justifier of all who
believe in Jesus, and who receive Him as their personal Saviour. This is the
heavenly science of redemption, of saving men from eternal ruin....
God so loved the world that He gave Himself in Christ to the world
to bear the penalty of man’s transgression. God suffered with His Son, as
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