The Atonement: Why It Was Necessary

IMPROVEMENT ERA. Vol. IX. JANUARY, 1906. No. 3. THE ATONEMENT— WHY IT WAS NECESSARY. BY ELDER CLARK GRAY. The question is often asked, why did not God enact some other plan to save mankind instead of permitting Jesus Christ to give his life on the cross? Some who cannot satisfy themselves upon this question, find herein argument against the plan of the scripture, taking the stand that this teaching of atonement is not compatible with the attributes of love and mercy that Christians ascribe to Deity, and that, therefore, the scriptures contradict themselves. And often, some of our young people are perplexed in contemplating this question, for the alert and inquisitive mind is ever asking the question, "why?" But others, again, among those who accept the principle of atonement, say that it is presumptuous on the part of man to pretend it necessary to justify an act of God by the wisdom of man. For there are people so constituted that they accept a popular religious principle merely because it comes under the name of religion. And they are prone to manifest a disposition to condemn others who question it. But it is necessary to have respect for others, and not to condemn even the agnostic too quickly. The sign of agnosticism is lack of knowledge. The agnostic does not say that he knows there is no God, but merely says that

186 IMPROVEMENT ERA. he does not know there is a God; and that he does not believe that any one else knows. He has not seen, he has not felt, he has not heard; therefore, with Christ we may say: "Seeing, they see not, and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand. ' ' And what is true of one rejecting the whole plan of the scriptures is true, in proportion, of one who rejects the part. Men are skeptical concerning a principle of truth, because they do not see its propriety. Therefore, they must be shown what they have not seen. This is especially true of the subject in hand. Then, recognizing the question, and realizing that it is attacked from a standpoint of human judgment, it may not be improper to answer, or justify, a principle opposed by human wisdom, from a standpoint of human wisdom. I think that this can be done in no better way than to consider, in the beginning, a statement upon which objectors base their argument, and qualify this statement, if necessary, that it may not assume a meaning ©"ther than a true one. The statement is: "There is nothing impossible with God," and, therefore, they argue that God could have enacted some different plan, and thereby obviated the necessity of an atonement. In fact, that he could have effected redemption without a consideration, (atonement). It is the first part of this statement, (viz., that there is nothing impossible with God) that we will consider and qualify thus: instead of saying that there is nothing impossible with God, let us say that there is nothing impossible with God, except the breaking of law. I hope that none will take exception to this exception. But I wish to explain here that when I speak of law here, I mean fundamental truth which even God himself is subject to. Because I anticipate that some will say that He (God) could have made the laws different. But these laws, with which we are dealing at present, are fundamental laws, a part of truth, (I say a part of truth, because there is other truth besides that which constitutes any one law. ) Truth is uncreatable, and, therefore, the parts of truth composing any law were not created, but were simply applied. It was always truth but became law by application, and God himself can not change it, and still retain its effect. This may be illustrated in this way. Every condition has its opposite. It could not exist without an opposite. Light could not be intelligible to

THE ATONEMENT— WHY IT W^AS NECESSARY. 187 man without its opposite, darkness; sound, without stillness; nor heat without cold. No law could be without its existence in antithesis. In fact, life itself, which is manifest in our senses, is only made possible by the law of contrast. We could not see were it not for light, contrasted with shade. We could not hear, were liot sound contrasted with stillness, etc. These are truths which could not be otherwise, and have always been truth, but became law to us when applied to this earth. Then, truth is unchangeable, even outside the power of God to change. God's attitude towards law and truth is emphasized by the words of the Psalmist: "The word of the Lord is right, and all his works are done in truth. ' ' Taking, then, as a fundamental principle, the statement that God cannot break law, we will consider his plan, and his dealings with his children. In the first place, he had an interest in their welfare, and his object was that men might attain joy; in fact, we are taught that man was created that he might have joy. But there are other basic principles that we must consider here, which play a great part in the attainment of joy. One of these is that appreciation comes by paying the price, and another is that power to do is gained by doing. These, I say, are fundamental truths which God recognizes in his plans to give men joy. God desired that man should enjoy life. But to enjoy, he must appreciate; and to appreciate, he must pay the price. Another necessary feature to appreciation is to taste the opposite. So, in order that man might appreciate the sweet, it was necessary for him to taste the bitter; and that he might appreciate eternal life, he must taste one that was not eternal. Yet, for all these laws, there was still one other, and that was the law of choice. God did not intend even to force upon man a life under these conditions, but recognized that true appreciation could only come through freedom and choice. So we were given the privilege of choosing whether or not we would come into a material world, take upon us a material body, and gain joy by paying the price. The occasion of this choice was the crucial point in the relationship between man and law, and man and God. So crucial, indeed, that one-third of the host of heaven rebelled against God. This choice was presented in the spirit world. So man (Adam) was created in the flesh, and placed here under a condition of freedom, and, although he had

188 IMPROVEMENT ERA. once voiced his willingness to become subject to the great plan, was yet free to choose an eternal life devoid of the contrast of good and evil, or a life subject to temptation and trial, with reward crowning victory. It was necessary that the children of men should taste adversity, that they might enjoy happiness; and that adversity might be brought into the world justly, God made it the punishment for sin, on the part of our first parent. Adam and Eve being given the intelligence to know their own desire, being tempted, accepted the one which they had been warned against, and entailed upon themselves and their posterity the result of the law. So, God, in his infinite love, had brought atjout the condition by which man, by his own choice, embraced a future from which he could wrest achievements and enjoy them. Need I explain further that for man to enjoy and appreciate, he must win by his own achievements? Or will any one question the love of God in this matter? Let us see. Loving and wise parents will not do for their children what they, the children, should do for themselves, because they know that such a course would be injurious to their children's welfare. Loving parents desire to see their children learn to do by doing, to triumph over obstacles, and enjoy their victory. Now we find man on earth subject to the laws of nature and to mortality. But now we have only come to the condition from which Christ's atonement would redeem us. Then, the question, why did not God establish some other plan? I have already shown that the condition of mortality, to which we acquiesced in the spirit, was made the punishment for sin on the part of our first (earthly) parents. Directly, it was made the result of a broken law; indirectly, it was something vital to the attainment of joy. But though it be a part of a plan, still it is the demand of justice for a broken law, and if man be brought from the place where an inviolable law had brought him, a ransom had to be given that law be not broken. If someone would pay the ransom, God could bring men back to life and immortality without leaving a broken law unsatisfied. And here again we find the principle of choice. This plan of redemption was part of the occasion spoken of before, where the spirits of men were given their agency to choose or reject the plan

THE A TONEMENT- WHY IT WA S NECESSAK Y. 1 89 of truth. On this oceasion, God made the proposition and asked, who will pay the ransom and redeem mankind? Lucifer, then the Son of the Morning, in answer, made a proposition. But in his plan he was going to break a law, by taking away man's free agency. But Christ, our Elder Brother, proffered to come and save whomsoever would be saved, and give his Father the glory. He would redeem all men from the grave, and establish a plan whereby they would choose for themselves their reward and condition. His plan was accepted. But- what would be the ransom? An unsatisfied law is as bad as none. If he were going to pay the ransom and redeem man, he must necessarily pay that which would satisfy the law. What would satisfy the law? The debt being death, what could be given in exchange for it? Nothing — it must be paid in its kind. Who could pay it for the human race? Not sinful man, because each owed the debt for himself. But it must be paid by one begotten by other than sinful and mortal man. So Jesus Christ was given a tabernacle, begotten of God, and he freely gave it in ransom for man. The law is now satisfied; and with a more glorious result. The condition of death which mortality demanded has been dispelled by Innocence atoning for Sin. And this is not all: Christ has proved to men his love in a way which could not be greater. As a leader and a pattern, he showed to mankind that self-sacrifice is one of the most glorious principles. And more than that, he, being like his Father, not able to break law and reap its blessings, complied with the law that appreciation comes by paying the price. Certainly, if he were going to be a pattern to mankind, and if he were going to occupy a position of being worshiped, he must attain it by paying the price. And so it was, ''though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation. ' ' He purchased the most exalted position occupied by any of God's children, by paying the greatest price. Not that others have not given their lives for their fellowman, but that he, the only person of accountability, without sin, gave his life for sinners. Thus we have a lesson taught that ought to impress us of our close relationship to God. One that proves to us that God has not one set of laws for

190 IMPROVEMENT ERA. himself and another for his children, but that his law is truth, and truth is eternal. Christ himself, though he were a God, recognized the truth that has since been expressed in words something like this: Heaven is not reached in a single bound, But we build the ladder by which we rise From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, And mount it round by round. What is heaven? Heaven is a condition of joy and satisfaction derived from the correspondence that we are able to appreciate. We appreciate by an inward power attained by doing; and, as was stated in the beginning, we learn to do by doing. So the heaven of Jesus Christ, though he be a God, is a condition of appreciated power, gained by doing. Therefore, he descended below all things that he' might rise above all things. His joy is accelerated by the knowledge that he conquered death; that he was tempted, and overcame temptation; that he had not asked men to d(5 more than he showed them he would do; in sum: that he overcame all. So, making reference again to this lesson, we see that God does not disregard law, because he is God; but he observes law, because he is God. If this, then, is one of the things that constitute him a God, and if we wish to attain a condition like him, (or, using the words of Jesus, become ''perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect, ") it is expedient that we conform to the law in a way that he has pointed out. When we come to see things clearly, and not "through a glass darkly," we will discover that we are punished by our sins rather than for them. And the same is true of our meritorious acts; we are rewarded by them. Each act does not bring upon the actor a reward or punishment from without, but has within it a reward. And when the mist, which for a time obscures the light of truth, has rolled away, and we behold the brightness, we shall say, in the words of Paul, that God's plan is a ''perfect law of liberty," and in our ecstasy, as we behold the union of justice and mercy, we shall exclaim, ' 'All is love, yet all is law. " New York City, N.Y.