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From Here to Forever
men.”
Isaiah 52:14
. Upon the heads of the overcomers Jesus places
the crown of glory. For each there is a crown bearing his own “new
name” (
Revelation 2:17
) and the inscription, “Holiness to the Lord.”
In every hand are placed the victor’s palm and the shining harp.
Then, as the commanding angels strike the note, every hand sweeps
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the strings with skillful touch in rich, melodious strains. Each voice
is raised in grateful praise: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us
from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and
ever.”
Revelation 1:5, 6
.
Before the ransomed throng is the Holy City. Jesus opens the
gates, and the nations that have kept the truth enter in. Then His
voice is heard, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
Matthew 25:34
.
Christ presents to the Father the purchase of His blood, declaring:
“Here am I, and the children whom thou hast given me.” “Those
that thou gavest me I have kept.”
Hebrews 2:13
;
John 17:12
. Oh,
the rapture of that hour when the infinite Father, looking upon the
ransomed, shall behold His image, sin’s blight removed, and the
human once more in harmony with the divine!
The Saviour’s joy is in seeing, in the kingdom of glory, the souls
saved by His agony and humiliation. The redeemed will be sharers
in His joy; they behold those won through their prayers, labors, and
loving sacrifice. Gladness will fill their hearts when they see that
one has gained others, and these still others.
The Two Adams Meet
As the ransomed are welcomed to the city of God, there rings out
an exultant cry. The two Adams are about to meet. The Son of God
is to receive the father of our race—whom He created, who sinned,
and for whose sin the marks of the crucifixion are on the Saviour’s
form. As Adam discerns the prints of the nails, in humiliation he
casts himself at Christ’s feet. The Saviour lifts him up and bids him
look once more upon the Eden home from which he has so long
been exiled.
Adam’s life was filled with sorrow. Every dying leaf, every
victim of sacrifice, every stain upon man’s purity, was a reminder of
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