p. 3 | Fallen Man in Christ by Charles L. Taylor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Apr 23, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 17.

Fallen Man in Christ

By Charles L. Taylor

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

NO man wilfully and foolishly forfeited all right to life, and tho he did, in fact, deliberately choose death—eternal death—yet God's great Father heart reached out after him, and created for him a new opportunity. The very day that sin entered the world, and its dark and angry cloud entirely covered the heaven of man's hope, and shut him away from the blessed view of his Creator's face, that very day the rainbow of divine love, and life, and promise found a resting-place on earth, and a setting was given it in the very cloud which spoke only of complete disaster and final death. That day the Son of God was given to man.

The wonderful scripture of John 3:16 makes it very plain that had man been left alone, left unaided in the position and condition to which sin brought him, he would have ignominiously perished. The same precious scripture makes it equally plain that through the sacrificial gift of the divine One complete satisfaction was made, and man may again be put into actual possession of the same blessed life and fellowship which were his before his transgression, and again rejoice in the hope of immortality.

The Universal Gift

Jesus Christ, God's proffered gift, was universal Man, "the Desire of all nations." Given at the very foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8), He was the divinely provided Substitute for every person, of every nation, of every age, of every clime. He was a world Offering,—"the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

The apostle Paul sets this forth most beautifully and forcibly in Rom. 5:19: "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous." Or, stating it differently, as he does in another verse, "If by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:17. In taking away the sin, He takes away the death. By Him eternal death is compelled to give place to eternal life.

Speaking of God's wonderful accomplishment in the gift of Jesus, the same apostle wrote to Timothy, saying, He "hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel." 2 Tim. 1:10. Coming, as Jesus did, "to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10), His one great purpose, of course, was to give life—everlasting life—for this was the thing which had been forfeited.

He Came to Give Life

Listen to the repeated testimony of Jesus Himself: "I am come that they might have life." John 10:10. "I am the way, the truth, and the life." John 14:6. "I am the resurrection, and the life." John 11:25. "For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself." John 5:26.

In view of all these striking statements, it must be exceedingly plain to every candid student of the Bible that by nature, apart from God, the children of men abide in death. That they are only mortal, subject to decay, and destined ultimately to go down into eternal oblivion, there can be no question. Every child of Adam could and should say, "In me . . . dwelleth no good thing;" "I am carnal, sold under sin." Rom. 7:18, 14. All need to see that they are irrevocably lost, and that they have no hope except as they find it in the gift of righteousness and life, proffered so freely to them in the Son of God.

Glorious, truly glorious, is the thought that God not only gave His Son for the world, but He gave Him to the world. Men are not saved by the death of the Son of God, but by His life. Reconciliation came by His death, and salvation by His life. Rom. 5:10. His life,—the actual life of the Godhead,—His presence, His power, are to be brought into and take the place of man's life, transforming the sinner into a son of God.

The Truth of the New Birth

This is the real truth of the new birth. Divinity is brought into humanity. Christ comes into man's soul temple and abides, taking control of all his surrendered faculties, and using each and all to the glory of God. And when the great transaction has been effected, man can and does bear witness, as did God's servant of old, "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God." Gal. 2:20.

The key-note of God's great plan of life through Christ is faith. God gave His Son, "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish." As unbelief opened the way for sin and death, so faith opens the way for righteousness and life. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." John 1:12. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." John 3:36.

Faith, then, brings fallen man into touch with the infinite life of the Creator. The current of divine energy and holy virtue again begins its flow through the channel of the soul. The fellowship which was enjoyed in the garden, but which was broken off by transgression, is again established. 1 John 1:3. A new mind, the mind of the Lord Jesus, is imparted. 1 Cor. 2:16. Once again he truly becomes a subject of the kingdom of God's grace. Col. 1:12, 13. A complete transformation of life and character is accomplished; for "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor. 5:17.

Known tho Unexplained

This work of God's grace, this bringing in of life, this enthronement of divinity with the human temple, is indeed a great "mystery." 1 Tim. 3:16. But while it can not be explained, it can be known and enjoyed. Everlasting life, the gift of God (Rom. 6:23), is a mighty demonstration to all who receive it. Every true Christian, every one who has been born again, can say with his Master, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen." John 3:11. Eternal life is a great and concrete fact, but understood, known, and enjoyed, only by faith.

The Gospel of Christ brings to light "life and immortality." He who has received the Son of God into the inner sanctuary of his life, becomes at once, as was man in Paradise

at the beginning, a blessed candidate for immortality. Day by day the great work of character-building is carried forward, day by day man approximates more and more to the divine, step by step he comes nearer to the great goal of perfection; and immortality will finally crown it all at the Master's coming. 1 Cor. 15: 51-54.

Eternal Life and Immortality

Eternal life now and immortality then! God's blessed spirit life during the earthly pilgrimage for the gaining of character, for the transformation of heart and life; God's glorious immortality at the Master's coming for the changing of our poor, weakened physical frame! Says Paul, "Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body." Phil. 3: 20, 21.

Dear reader, is it not a blessed plan? And does it not bring to us a blessed hope?

May the dear Lord help us to prove faithful to our trust, and by willing obedience, maintain our connection with Him, and thus know eternal life here and hereafter.