 |  |
#4.
(concluded.).
Summary.
pp. 173 - 175
The Kinsman-Redeemer.
Scripture reveals three outstanding features which are fundamental to a true
conception of redemption:--
The redeemer must be next of kin.
The redemption touches (a) A forfeited inheritance, (b) Bondage.
The redeemer is also the avenger.
Heb. 2: 14, 15 reveals Christ as the great Kinsman-Redeemer ("flesh and blood, He
likewise . . . . ."), exercising the twofold office of redeemer ("deliver . . . . . bondage"),
and avenger ("destroy . . . . . the Devil"). The provision of the cities of refuge was not for
a "murderer". Satan was a murderer from the beginning.
The Deity of the Redeemer is abundantly testified in the Old Testament. His
humanity is necessitated by the demand of kinship, and both aspects of His person are
found in "Immanuel", the child born who was nevertheless "the mighty God".
The Mystery of His Will.
God did not plan sin, but He provided against it. His original purpose is spoken of as
His will; the provision against sin and death is spoken of as the "mystery of His will". It
was the will of God that Israel should be "head and not tail", but upon their temporary
failure the mystery of His will was put into operation, placing Nebuchadnezzar upon the
throne, and giving dominion to the Gentiles until such time as "all Israel shall be saved".
We most emphatically repudiate the horrible teaching that God definitely planned sin,
and that the Devil was deliberately designed to be "a devil", but we glory in the fact that
in His matchless wisdom God has taken the wise in their own craftiness and overruled
evil for good.
The Two Mysteries.
Two mysteries run through the ages, viz., the mystery of godliness, and the mystery of
iniquity. Both have relation to claims of Deity. The satanic mystery finds its goal in the
man of sin, the son of perdition, who sits in the temple of God, showing himself as God.
The mystery of godliness finds its goal in the exaltation of the Son of man, the Son of
God, with every knee bowing and every tongue confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord to the
glory of God the Father. The one mystery ends in destruction and is called "the LIE",
the other ends in glory and is called "the TRUTH". Scripture declares that "no lie is of
the truth", and the workers of iniquity, who have even cast out demons in Christ's name,
are repudiated by Him.