Christ’s Victory Gained Through Pain and Death

Charged with an embassage of mercy, Christ came to the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He saw that rebellion had overspread his provinces, and that despite was done to God in every section and by every tenant of the earth. Man was in rebellion against God; but «God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.»

When sin first entered the world, God had promised a deliverer. He had said to the serpent, «I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.» When Jesus came to the world, his own nation despised him, his friends denied him, his brethren did not believe on him. The unbelief with which he was met was indeed a bruising of his heel. Christ, the world’s Redeemer, was buffeted with temptation, but it had been written of him, «He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth.» Through the very bruising of his heel by Satan, because of affliction, temptation, and sorrow, Christ was gaining the victory in behalf of the human family; for he triumphed over his enemy in not yielding to his temptation, and thus bruised the head of the serpent. He endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, and every pang of anguish he suffered, every temptation he resisted, as man’s substitute and surety, was elevating the human family in the scale of moral worth, and was procuring for man deliverance from Satan’s power and bondage. The character of Satan, through his efforts to overcome and destroy the Son of God, was developing before the universe, and was being made manifest in its true malignity before the unfallen worlds that had been created by Christ. Every time he stung the heel of Christ with his murderous fang, the serpent was making more sure his own discomfiture and ruin.

Could Satan have caused the Son of the infinite God to become in the least degree a partaker of his own hellish attributes, then Satan would have wounded the head of Christ, and in hellish exultation he would have triumphed over him, and the world would have remained his dominion, the human family his slaves. The synagogue of Satan would have been victorious, and man would have perished, without God and without hope. Satan could cause pain to the Son of God, but he could not force him to transgress the law of God. He could cause him to suffer, but he could not defile him. He did make the Saviour’s life one of sorrow and affliction; but Jesus patiently endured grief, for he knew that through his conflict with the powers of darkness, the chains of Satan could be broken from the human family, and he would place them on vantage ground before God. With his human arm Jesus encircled the human race, and with his divine arm he grasped the throne of the Infinite. To him was given power to unite whoever would consent to be drawn to him, to the Father’s throne.

Jesus became the world’s Redeemer, rendering perfect obedience to every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. He redeemed Adam’s disgraceful fall, and threw the kingdoms of this world back into favor with God, uniting the earth, that had been divorced by sin from God, to the continent of heaven. It was in the very sight of Heaven that Satan led on the Jewish priests and rulers, and made them his agents to stir up the passions of the murderous mob against the Prince of life. It was in the hearing of Heaven that the hoarse cry was raised against the Majesty of heaven, «Crucify him; crucify him.» It was in the sight of Heaven that they scourged him, that they plaited the crown of thorns, that they mocked and derided him. But in these very scenes it was made manifest to angels and principalities what is the power of Satan over the human mind. It was made plain that under the dominion of the deceiver men became liars and murderers. The railings of the multitude reached the ears of God and holy angels. The hoarse cries, that sounded like the bellowing of wild beasts, made their record for time and eternity. Those who instigated the suffering that Jesus endured as a malefactor, will yet behold him in all his glory. They will see that He whom they derided and rejected and crucified, that He whom they set aside for a robber and murderer, is none other than the King of kings, and the Lord of lords.

In the scenes that transpired at the judgment hall, and at Calvary, we see what the human heart is capable of when under the influence of Satan. Christ submitted to crucifixion, although the heavenly host could have delivered him. The angels suffered with Christ. God himself was crucified with Christ; for Christ was one with the Father. Those who reject Christ, those who will not have this man to rule over them, choose to place themselves under the rule of Satan, to do his work as his bond slaves. Yet for them Christ yielded up his life on Calvary.

In the death of Christ on Calvary’s cross, the temple seemed to be destroyed, the head seemed to have been bruised; but this was not so. Satan, in the very act of grasping his prey, demolished his own throne. Satan, evil angels, and evil men united in a desperate companionship, and thought to claim the victory, but it was in the death of Christ, in the cruel suffering and crucifixion, that the Son of God accomplished the very work for which he was ordained from before the foundation of the world. He died a victim to jealousy and hate, a victim to false religious zeal. But in his dying agony he was victor over the powers of earth and hell. He reinstated man in the position from which Satan had hurled him through temptation and sin, and, by his own perfect obedience to the law of God, placed him on vantage ground. In his death he broke the spell that had held millions in slavery, under perfect subjection to Satan’s rule and jurisdiction.

A stronger than the strong man armed had come and overpowered the one who had seduced man, and led him away from allegiance to God. Against Christ evil angels and evil men had combined in an unholy confederacy of rebellion. They had made war on God and his government. But help had been laid upon One who was mighty to save, who could measure weapons with the apostate. Satan was next in power to Christ; he was highly exalted the covering cherub, and none but Christ could engage in battle with him, enduring successfully the temptations with which he had beset the human family.

Satan had come to Christ in the wilderness, representing himself as an angel of light; but though he attacked Christ in the moment of his greatest weakness, he was vanquished by the Prince of life. Thus, as man’s substitute and surety, did he make it possible for every son and daughter of Adam to be an overcomer, to return to allegiance to God, and render perfect obedience to the law of Jehovah. All this man is required to do, notwithstanding his weakness, his degradation and sinfulness; for moral power has been provided for him in Christ. Through faith in Christ man is made complete: for Christ gave his life in order that we might be rescued from the power of Satan.

Jesus measured weapons with the prince of darkness in the garden of Gethsemane, where the agony was so great that he sweat as it were great drops of blood. It forced from his pale and quivering lips a cry of agonizing prayer, when he besought his Father, saying, «If it be possible, let this cup pass from me.» Three times he raised this prayer to God, but at last added the submissive words, «Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.»

He had said, «Destroy this temple [speaking of the temple of his body], and in three days I will raise it up.» On the cross he received the wounds that will mark his form through the ceaseless ages of eternity; but those very wounds will be his glory, the insignia of his triumph over him who bruised his heel; for he shall bruise the serpent’s head. On the cross he cried, «It is finished,» and bowed his head and died. He descended into the grave; but after three days a mighty angel, clothed with the panoply of heaven, parted the darkness from his track, and caused the Roman guard to fall as dead men at his feet. The angel rolled back the stone from the sepulcher, and the Roman seal was broken, and Christ came forth from the prison of death, and, over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, proclaimed himself «the resurrection and the life.» Through him it was announced that every son and daughter of Adam might be emancipated from their bondage to Satan, to sin and transgression; for, as man’s substitute and surety, Jesus had won the victory. The world and its inhabitants were his inheritance, purchased at infinite cost, and every soul who believed in his name, might be an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. When Christ rose from the dead, the victory was proclaimed in triumph by the loftiest order of heavenly intelligence, and joy, inexpressible joy, filled the courts of God. —

«Look and Live.»

«And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom; and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.» The Lord does not remove all the difficulties and trials and hardships from the pathway of his people. He would have them learn to put their trust in him, believing that the invisible God is their mighty helper. The children of Israel became accustomed to the presence of the pillar of cloud, that covered them as a canopy by day, and was as a pillar of fire by night. They came to look upon the cloud as a common thing. They did not appreciate the fact that they were favored with the presence of the only-begotten Son of God, who was equal with God; and, in spite of all their perversity, their murmuring and rebellion, he had done wonderful things for them in all their journeyings.

The Lord had said: «Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions; for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; than I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. For mine Angel shall go before thee.» The one great object of the care and guardianship of Christ was the church in the wilderness. He said of Israel: «I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour; I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee; therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.» Egypt was desolated with plagues and became a wasted land, in order that Israel might be freed from bondage; but the people did not appreciate the goodness and mercy and love of God. The Lord, their Redeemer, undertook to lead and guide them, but when he brought them into strait places, they were discouraged because of the way, and spake against God and Moses, saying: «Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.»

The Lord had fed them with the bread of heaven, even with angels’ food; and yet they murmured against him. By his power he had held in check the wild beasts of the forests, and the reptiles of the wilderness, so that they had not hurt his people; but now he removed his restraining hand, and let the poisonous serpents do as they would have done all along the way had the Lord not restrained them. The real trouble that now came upon them served to bring them to their senses, and to awaken their paralyzed thoughts as to what course to pursue. «Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. . . . And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.»

Throughout the camp of Israel there were the suffering and the dying who had been wounded by the deadly sting of the serpent. But Jesus Christ spoke from the pillar of cloud, and gave directions whereby the people might be healed. The promise was made that whosoever looked upon the brazen serpent should live; and to those who looked the promise was verified. But if anyone said: «What good will it do to look? I shall certainly die under the serpent’s deadly sting;» if he continued to talk of his deadly wound, and declared that his case was hopeless, and would not perform the simple act of obedience, he would die. But everyone who looked, lived.

Jesus said: «As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.» Christ is speaking to us now as certainly as he spoke to the children of Israel in the wilderness. He is the Healer of both body and soul. Our attention is now called to the Great Physician. «Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.» Just as long as we look at our sins, and talk of and deplore our wretched condition, our wounds and putrefying sores will remain. It is when we take our eyes from ourselves, and fasten them upon the uplifted Saviour, that our souls find hope and peace. The Lord speaks to us through his word, bidding us «look and live.» «He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.»

There is every reason why we should be encouraged to hope for the salvation of our souls. In Jesus Christ every provision for our salvation has been made. No matter what may have been our sins and shortcomings, there is a fountain open in the house of David for all sin and uncleanness. «Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.» This is the word of the Lord. Shall we accept it? Shall we believe on him?

David had been bitten by the fiery serpent,—he had been poisoned with the venom of sin,—yet hear the words that describe his experience after looking upon the uplifted Saviour: «Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. . . . I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found; surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.» «The Lord is night unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. . . The Lord redeemeth the souls of his servants, and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.» —