A Redeemer is someone who buys back something that has been taken from Him. That's what God did when He sent His Son to buy back a world that Satan had taken from Him.
Galatians 4:4,5 "When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son...to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."
The Savior's coming was foretold in Eden when Adam and Eve sinned and they joyfully looked forward to His coming, thinking that it might be their first born son, but the fulfillment of the promise tarried and the promise was repeated over and over again by patriarchs and prophets keeping alive the hope of His appearing but Century after Century passed and the hand of the oppressor was heavy upon Israel and many were ready to give up that a Redeemer would come.
But God's purposes know no haste or no delay, When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son. At this time the nations were united under one government, one language was widely spoken and was everywhere recognized as the language of literature.
At this time the systems of heathenism were losing their hold on the people. People were weary of the pageants and fables that were being taught and they were thirsting for the knowledge of the living God, for some assurance beyond the grave. Among the Jews there were still those that believed that God would send the Redeemer to save them. The fullness of the time had come. Humanity becoming more degraded through ages of transgression, called for the coming of the Redeemer. Even among the heathen there were men through whom Christ was working to uplift the people from their sin and degradation. But these men were despised and hated. Many of them suffered a violent death. The dark shadow that Satan had cast over the world grew deeper and deeper.
Through heathenism, Satan had for ages turned men away from God; but he won his great triumph in perverting the faith of Israel. By contemplating and worshiping their own conceptions, the heathen had lost a knowledge of God, and had become more and more corrupt. So it was with Israel. The principle that man can save himself by his own works lay at the foundation of every heathen religion; it had now become the principle of the Jewish religion. Satan had implemented the principle. Wherever it is held, men have no barrier against sin.
The people whom God had called to be the pillar and ground of truth had become representatives of Satan. They were doing the work that Satan desired them to do and taking a course to misrepresent the character of God, and cause the world to look upon Him as a tyrant. The priests in the temple had lost sight of the significance of the service they performed. They had ceased to look beyond the symbol to the object it signified. In presenting the sacrificial offerings they were as actors in a play. The ordinances which God Himself had appointed were made the means of blinding the mind and hardening the heart. God could do no more for man through these channels. The whole system must be swept away.
The deception of sin had reached its height. All the agencies for depraving the souls of men and been put in operation. The Son of God looking upon the world, beheld suffering and misery. With pity He saw how men had become victims of satanic cruelty He looked with compassion upon those who were being corrupted, murdered, and lost. They had chosen Satan for their ruler and were chained to his beliefs. The were moving on in gloomy procession toward eternal ruin, to death in which is no hope of life, toward night to which comes no morning. Such was the prospect upon which the world's Redeemer looked. What a spectacle for Infinite Purity to behold.
Can you see a replay in the world's condition today? It is even getting worse than it was then. It is time for God to work, isn't it? These thoughts were taken from the Desire of ages chapter 3. I am sure God has a plan for His people. Stay with me and we will learn what it is. Grandma Joan
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