God’s People Delivered
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to meet. The Son of God is standing with outstretched arms to receive
the father of our race,—the being whom he created, who sinned against
his Maker, and for whose sin the marks of the crucifixion are borne
upon the Saviour’s form. As Adam discerns the prints of the cruel
nails, he does not fall upon the bosom of his Lord, but in humiliation
casts himself at his feet, crying, “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was
slain!” Tenderly the Saviour lifts him up, and bids him look once more
upon 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 warnings, met the reproaches
cast upon himself as the cause of sin. With patient humility he bore,
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for nearly a thousand years, the penalty of transgression. Faithfully
did he repent of his sin, and trust in 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 whose fruit he himself had gathered in the
days of his innocence and joy. 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, more lovely 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 Paradise 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