God, in His infinite love, has undertaken the restoration of mankind and the reconciliation of all things to Himself through the mediation of Christ Jesus. It is to be salvation through a Saviour.

If man’s complete salvation is effectually accomplished, five things must be done.

First: Man must be restored to such a relationship with God as shall make possible the fulfillment of the original, divine intention in his creation.

Second: The sin question must be fully and finally settled. Sin must be dealt with in respect to its guilt, penalty, power, and presence.

Third: Such propitiation and reconciliation must be effected as shall remove the barrier of separation between God and man and give to every person the opportunity of restoration to God’s favor and fellowship.

Fourth: A new order of human beings must be inaugurated to supersede the old order, which is in ruin and rejection.

Fifth: Satan, the original cause and continual instigator of sin in man must be defeated and dethroned. God’s sovereignty over all things must be fully restored.

To accomplish such salvation, God erected a bridge of four spans over the chasm made by sin. Each span is an integral part of the whole. Without any one span, the bridge would be incomplete and inadequate. The four spans are incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Incarnation is the first span in the bridge of salvation.

That there would be an incarnation God’s prophet had plainly foretold.

Isaiah 7:14

^“Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

Isaiah 9:6

^6 “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

The moment sin stained the heart of humanity, God gave the promise of a Saviour. All down through the centuries, those who, like Simeon and Anna, were eagerly anticipating the Coming One, could hear the advancing steps of the Lord of glory on His way from heaven to earth.

In the fullness of time, He came. “Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king.” “God manifest in the flesh ” was God’s first step in the fulfillment of His prophecy-promise in Eden.

God’s original intention in the creation of man was a being made in His own image. Through sin, man lost all true knowledge both of God and of himself as God meant him to be.

Living in a world of sinful men, the sinner had no one better than himself with whom to compare himself. So he measured himself with himself and with others like himself, and the result has been self-complacency and self-sufficiency. Left to himself alone, there is no desire for anything better, for there is no sense of need. In his moral and spiritual darkness and degradation, man is incapable of knowing either God or himself aright. Hence it is clearly evident that if man is to be restored to favor with God, he needs a twofold revelation, a revelation of God as He is, and of himself as he is and as God means him to be.

Source: “Life on the Highest Plane” by Ruth Paxson

Gracious God, thank You for being completely responsible for all things concerning us.