| Christian Life and Doctrine | July 1982 |
The Hope of Deliverance
WHEN God pronounced the sentence of death upon our first parents, he did not leave them without hope that at some time and in some manner the penalty might be lifted. A ray of hope is to be noted in the statement God made to the serpent pertaining to a coming seed that would bruise his head.—Gen. 3:13-15
We cannot suppose that Adam and Eve understood clearly the implications of God’s statement concerning the seed of the woman; but they seemed to have been given some hope by it, for when their first son, Cain, was born Eve said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.”
In the light of subsequent promises of God, it is now clear that God’s statement concerning a seed that would bruise the serpent’s head actually did mean that in God’s due time Adam and his race would be delivered from Satan’s rulership and from sin and death. This means that the original purpose of God in the creation of man will be fulfilled and that the earth will become one vast paradise, populated by the redeemed and restored offspring of Adam and Eve.
About two thousand years after man’s fall into sin and death, God made a promise to Abram—who was later called Abraham—saying that through him and his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed. Later, when Abraham proved his worthiness by demonstrating his willingness to obey the Lord by offering his son Isaac in sacrifice, God confirmed this promise by his oath.
In the New Testament the seed promised to Abraham is identified as Christ. The further explanation is given that those who follow in the footsteps of Christ will be associated with him as the promised seed. This means that true Christians will participate with Jesus in the future work of blessing mankind with health and life.
It was because God continued to love his human creatures, even though they had disobeyed him, that he carried out his provision for them to be released, through Christ, from the penalty of death. God’s plan for the deliverance of mankind from death through Christ is on the same basis as the condemnation of the entire human race through one man. All lost life through Adam, and all will have an opportunity to regain life through Christ.—I Cor. 15:22
There are many promises in the Bible to assure us that when the divine plan for the deliverance of mankind from sin and death is complete there will be no more sickness, pain or death, that joy will replace sorrow, and that all tears will be wiped away. This deliverance of mankind from sin and death will include the awakening of those who have died. These have all been ransomed by Jesus and will be restored.—Isa. 35:10