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Bright Beams of Glory, December 21
And his brightness was as the light; he had bright beams out of
his side: and there was the hiding of his power.
Habakkuk 3:4
,
margin.
Satan, by means of his success in turning man aside from the path
of obedience, became “the god of this world.”
2 Corinthians 4:4
. The
dominion that once was Adam’s, passed to the usurper. But the Son
of God proposed to come to this earth to pay the penalty of sin, and
thus not only redeem man, but recover the dominion forfeited.... The
apostle Paul has referred to it [the restoration of the lost dominion] as
“the redemption of the purchased possession.”
Ephesians 1:14
.
Not only man but the earth had by sin come under the power of the
wicked one, and was to be restored by the plan of redemption.
The cross of Calvary, while it declares the law immutable, proclaims
to the universe that the wages of sin is death. In the Saviour’s expiring
cry, “It is finished,” the death knell of Satan was rung. The great contro-
versy which had been so long in progress was then decided, and the final
eradication of evil was made certain. The Son of God passed through the
portals of the tomb, that “through death he might destroy him that had
the power of death, that is, the devil.”
Hebrews 2:14
. Lucifer’s desire
for self-exaltation had led him to say, “I will exalt my throne above the
stars of God: ... I will be like the most High.”
Isaiah 14:13, 14
. God
declares, “I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth.... And never shalt
thou be any more.”
Ezekiel 28:18, 19
.
“I saw a new heaven and a new earth....”
Revelation 21:1
.... Every
trace of the curse is swept away....
One reminder alone remains: our Redeemer will ever bear the marks
of His crucifixion. Upon His wounded head, upon His side, His hands
and feet, are the only traces of the cruel work that sin has wrought.
Says the prophet, beholding Christ in His glory, “He had bright beams
coming out of his side: and there was the hiding of his power.”
The cross of Christ will be the science and the song of the redeemed
through all eternity.
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