The Story of Redemption
By Mary E. McDonough

(British Edition of a pamphlet issued in U.S.A. under the title of: “What God could not do—What God has done.”)

GOD’S written word, the Bible, gives us the complete story of Redemption. First, it show us why Redemption was necessary; then it reveals the complete execution of God’s great Redemptive Plan; and finally it shows the results of Redemption which we may know experimentally.

If we would really know this wonderful Redemptive story, we must start at the very beginning of the narrative. The first ten words of the Bible reveal a secret which could not be known apart from this revelation of God. In these few words we are shown the origin of the universe.

Man has sought to state the origin of the universe. He has brought forward many theories; but the feebleness of his intellect is shown as we examine his arguments. He has sought to account for the beginning of all things; but his last analysis reveals Something which antedates that which he has stated as the origin of the universe. This baffles him and should silence him. That Something which every thinking person feels, is God, the Originator of the entire universe; therefore we must consider Him as Uncreated, transcendent, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent.

It is not difficult then, for us to believe the statement that He has given us in His word: “You have created all things, and by Your will they are, and were created” (Rev. 4:11). This statement, however, does not mean “all things” were created at the same instant; but that all things were spoken into existence by Him. “He commanded, and they were created”  (Psa. 148:5).

It is reasonable to suppose that such a Being would create for a definite purpose and that He would call into being only that which would be in harmony with His will.

The universe is vast beyond our powers of apprehension, and God’s purpose in creating the innumerable celestial orbs moving through illimitable space has not been fully revealed to us as yet; but His purpose concerning our little earth and its inhabitants has been revealed in His written word—the Bible.

Prior to the creation of our earth, all created things were in harmony with God’s will. The celestial bodies moved in rhythmic order, and the intelligent beings called angels, worshipped and obeyed God. We find this harmonious universe pictured in Job 38:4-­7 where the “sons of God” (the angels) are shouting for joy over the newly created planet—our earth. There is not a discordant note in all the great anthem of adoration and praise.

Later, however, a terrible crash overpowers the sweet harmonious voices, and Lucifer, the angelic leader of the chorus of praise, is uttering words of defiance to his Creator. In Isaiah 14:12‑14, we find him seeking to usurp God’s place as Ruler of the universe. He, the created one, would equal the omnipotent, Uncreated One. He would act independently of God, doing according to his own will, rather than the will of God.

Here we behold the first sinner; for “sin is an attitude of willful, deliberate resistance to the authority of God.”

In Ezekiel 28:16 we find God saying to this anointed cherub (Lucifer), “You have sinned; therefore I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God.” Cast out from the immediate presence of the holy God, where did he go and what did he do? He was ejected from heaven never to return; but permitted to dwell within the bounds of his original dominion—the atmospheric or terrestrial heaven, from which vantage point he could control affairs upon the earthly planet. Lucifer had deliberately chosen to be the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. He had declared before all the angels that he was capable of such rulership and he thought that he was.

God’s omnipotence could crush him, but such crushing would be moral weakness in God; for having bestowed the power of choice upon this angelic being, God’s permissive will must allow him to demonstrate this power.

Limited to that portion of the universe which evidently had been entrusted to his care, he must be permitted to enter upon his independent rulership.

His inability to sustain the earth and its surrounding atmosphere is shown in Genesis 1:2, “Now the earth had become waste and wild and darkness was upon the face of the roaring deep” (Rotherham). Where was the earth full of beauty and light over which the angels had shouted for joy? Who had marred God’s glorious handiwork and brought about this chaotic condition?

Bartoli, a man of science and a devout Bible student, writes concerning this condition as follows:

“Between the first creation indicated by the first verse of Genesis and the description of chaos in the second verse, there occurred a cosmic catastrophe, an appalling cataclysm of worlds, whereby not only our earth was broken up into fragments, but even the solar system was displaced, commingling with the earth, and the whole world became a confused mass of heterogeneous elements, a dark waste and formless chaos.”

Bartoli attributes this chaotic condition of the earth and its surrounding atmosphere to the fall of Lucifer and his angels.

Many thoughtful students of the Bible as well as many men of science clearly perceive that the second verse of Genesis portrays the destruction of the original earth created by God in a period so remote that it is beyond the computation of man. In reference to the length of the chaotic period, this too, is beyond computation. However, we know that during this extended period are the so‑called geologic ages.

Lucifer’s first experience in independent rulership resulted in a failure so complete that it is inscribed upon the strata of the earth; and the surrounding atmosphere also speaks of this awful cataclysm, the result of Lucifer’s vain attempt to equal Elohim in independent rulership.

God waited until the wreck was complete and Lucifer knew that he had utterly failed; then He reconstructed the earth and its surrounding atmosphere in six days of twenty‑four hours each. He was now using the time measurement of man’s day which was about to begin. Vegetable life was restored (not created) upon the third day, and upon the fifth and sixth days God created forms of animal life; not the huge animals of the original earth, but the animals that are in the earth today. Last of all He created human life (Genesis 1:26‑28).

God is triune (three in one); and the scientific man readily perceives that this three‑in‑oneness pervades the entire universe; therefore, it is natural to infer that God would create man a tripartite being, and we find that this fact is definitely stated in the Bible. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 we read of man’s spirit, soul, body. The spirit of man is the seat of God consciousness. It is through the powers of the human spirit that man may know the things of God. In Proverbs 20:27 we read, “The spirit of man (not his soul) is the candle of the Lord.” The soul is the seat of self consciousness. Through the soul powers man may know himself as an individual personality and may apprehend his relationship to other personal beings. The body is the seat of world or sense consciousness and is created for the purpose of manifesting the powers of spirit and soul.

That spirit and soul are not identical, we find in Hebrews 4:12, where we read of the dividing between soul and spirit.

We read that God created the first human pair “in His image and after His likeness.” God is a personal Being, and in creating man in His image, He has created him a personal being; a being who can think, choose, love. In creating man “after His likeness,” He has patterned him after the God­ Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the manifestation of God in the flesh.

Thus we see that the term pre‑historic man is a misnomer; for in the first chapter of Genesis we have the beginning of the human race clearly stated, and the history of the race has continued without a break during the nearly six thousand years that man has been upon the earth.

The creation of Adam was the beginning of Man’s Day, which is now about to close.

We have little idea of the beauty and dignity of the first human pair clothed in garments of light, and with features which bore traces of an intelligence superior to any of their descendants and emotions serene and joyful.

However, we are able to perceive that although created sinless, intelligent and happy, they did not possess one tiny spark of the life of God; therefore, biologically, they were not His children. God’s life is Uncreated (Eternal) and as human beings were created, it is self‑evident that they did not possess uncreated life. We might call them potential sons; for they were created with a spirit to receive the life of God and the will to choose it; but not until they used their power of choice in receiving God’s life could they become His children.

The fact that God had created them with this possibility proves that He desired them to become His children.

Doubtless these sinless human beings who saw and heard God in human form in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8, first phrase) and were taught by the invisible Spirit of God, were about to use their power of choice in partaking of the fruit of the tree of life in the midst of the garden which symbolized the life of God. They believed that eating of this tree would proclaim the fact that they chose to receive the life of God which the fruit of this tree symbolized. Hence we may believe that the moment of their decision had nearly arrived.

It was at this point that Lucifer, who feared the result of their choice God ward, planned very strategically to prevent them from eating of the tree of life. He knew that he could not control them if they should become children of God and exercise their God­-given dominion. Indeed, he feared that if they were controlled by God, they would prevent him from remaining in the garden of God. They would drive him away from the earth. With the consideration of these possibilities, let us examine his carefully laid plan.

In the third chapter of Genesis we find Eve, the lovely, intelligent, sinless woman, in proximity to the forbidden “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” around which is twined a serpent whose bright‑hued coloring is flashing in the morning sunlight.

The woman hears a voice which apparently comes from the serpent, but which we know to be the voice of Lucifer. She hears him saying, “Has God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” His words fix her attention upon the forbidden tree; but her answer reveals the fact that not until this morning has she looked upon the forbidden tree with admiration or desire. She has never thought of eating its fruit.

We must not judge her by ourselves. We need to remember that there was no sin within her being; no desire for that which was against God’s Will. Her answer then, is in harmony with her attitude. Not only does she repeat what God has said in reference to eating of the tree, but she adds “nor touch it.” Psychologically her words reveal her attitude concerning God’s commands, but her answer reveals something more. Psychologically the riveted gaze upon an object and its earnest consideration will cause a former object of consideration to recede; to retire to the background of the mind, while the new object of consideration will occupy the foreground.

Eve’s attention is now so fixed upon the tree before her that her mind is being exercised as never before in reference to the prohibition concerning the eating of its fruit. This is causing the tree of life and her intended eating of its fruit to recede into the background of her mind, while the tree before her is in the foreground. Her reply indicates this: “We may eat of all the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.” Notice that the tree of life is mentioned as being in the midst of the garden (Genesis 2:9). God intended that this tree should occupy the most commanding position, and there was no prohibition concerning the eating of its fruit. Evidently her mind is now occupied with “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” while the tree of life is less distinct to her mental gaze.

Alas, Lucifer knew from experience what looking away from God, the Creator, would do. Now he is ready for another word. Posing as a messenger of God, one who knows His will and His plan, he says to the woman, “You shall not surely die; for God does know that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as gods.” (Notice the plural). Had Lucifer commanded Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit she would not have done so. We must remember that she had desired to eat of the tree of life, that she might become a child of God; that she might be like Him in character. She had not thought of becoming like Him in power; but now this messenger of God, apparently sharing His authority, assures her that not only will no harm befall her if she eats of the tree before her, but eating of the fruit will cause her to become all that God wishes her to become,—all that she herself has desired to be.

In a very subtle manner Lucifer now instills into her mind the thought of power. She is told that she will be a god herself, possessing marvelous powers and able to realize independent activity of a very high order. Deceived, confused, her exalted ego makes its choice; and Lucifer has gained his point with the woman. Then he uses the woman to tempt the man, who now, all too late, comes upon the scene.

Lucifer does not attempt to deceive the man with his specious arguments. He allows the woman to extend the fruit. Doubtless she tells her husband of the great power to be bestowed upon them in choosing to eat of the fruit, and this thought of power with its subtle allurement may have been the deciding factor in Adam’s choosing to take and eat.

Lucifer has now gained his point with the man as well as the woman. He has prevented them from taking the life of God and he has succeeded in causing them to disobey the command of God and to choose independent activity rather than to be dependent upon Him. They have used their power of choice definitely against the authority of God; therefore they are sinners; for we need to remember that “sin is an attitude of willful, deliberate resistance to the authority of God.”

The results of their sin are quickly manifested. The garments of light have disappeared and their bodies are now naked, while emotions of guilt, shame, fear, possess their souls and darken their spirits.

The possibility of sonship now seems gone forever; for owing to the law of heredity, the descendants of the guilty pair will possess the same sinful life throughout all generations. However, we must not forget that human beings were created for a purpose. God had a plan concerning them which antedated Creation. His Father heart desired children, sons sharing His life and associated with Him in the government of the earthly creation. Human beings were created for the purpose of sonship. They had failed to choose His life which would have caused them to become His children, and His wonderful plan seemed to have failed of realization; but when “the Lord of Hosts has purposed, who shall disannul it?" (Isaiah 14:27).

God must have children, glorified sons; but how can sinners now become sons? Sinful human beings cannot return to their former sinless condition, and even if they could do so, they would not be His children; for they would not possess His uncreated (Eternal) life. They cannot eliminate sin from their being, nor can they erase sins, which are the manifestations of sin. Moreover, their sin has separated them from God; they are dead to Him. God had said concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “You shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.”

The scientific definition of death helps us to understand what God means by death. “Death is a falling out of correspondence with environment.” The eye is dead when it no longer responds to the objects placed before it. The ear is dead when it no longer responds to waves of sound. Sinful human beings do not respond to a holy God. They cannot, for they are dead to Him. There is an impassable gulf between them and God.

How can beings dead to God become His glorified sons? So far as man is concerned, it is an utter impossibility. Will the holy angels be able to solve this question? Can they help? No; for they would be unable to deal with the sin of the human race.

Human beings had sinned against God, not against angels; and if they could take away the sin, they would not have the life of God to bestow: We must ever bear in mind that human beings must possess the life of God in order to be His children.

If a human being could be found who had never sinned and was willing to vicariously bear the sin of mankind, he might be able to die in their stead; but even that would not avail, for he would not be able to bestow upon them the life of God. Alas, there was no human being without sin, nor could there be, owing to the‑law of heredity. “All have sinned” is the declaration of God’s Word.

If God is to have children—glorified Sons—He must originate a plan whereby sin could be eliminated and His uncreated (Eternal) life be bestowed.

God’s love never changes. Although human beings had sinned, yet He yearned over them with an unutterable love. He would gladly bear their sin vicariously, but He could not do so. Human sin cannot be placed upon absolute Deity; nor could He bear their penalty, which was everlasting separation from Himself. Here are two things that God could not do. He could not be made sin, and He could not be separated from Himself; yet these two things—sin‑bearing and sin’s penalty, must be borne if God is to have sons free from sin.

We are confronted with the greatest problem in the universe. What is its solution?

We have read “in the beginning God created.” He can create again. He can create another Adam. We have seen that the First Adam did not possess one tiny spark of God’s life; but if God could dwell within this new Adam He could execute a marvelous Redemptive plan. The sin of the human race could be placed upon the sinless humanity of the new Adam in whom the love of God would be so mani­fested that He would gladly bear the sin of the race and their awful penalty. The sin question being settled, sinners might ratify the acts of their Representative, reckoning that in Him they had been executed; then accepting the life of God in Him, they would become biologically the children of God and eventually His glorified sons. This was actually what God planned to do. Indeed, this wonderful Plan of Redemption was foretold and foreshadowed long before it was an historical fact. The first reference to this Redemptive Plan we read in Genesis 3:15, where we find God saying to Lucifer (Satan), “Enmity will I put between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed—He shall crush your head but thou shall crush his heel” (Rotherham).

The first foreshadowing of this Redemptive Plan we find in the slain lamb in the Garden of Eden whose fleece provided garments to cover the nakedness occasioned by sin.

Many, many sinners put faith in God’s word concerning this Plan, to the extent that they chose the life of God which He had shown them was for them in the New Adam, whose historical corning was as yet a future event.

In due time He came. We read of His arrival in Matthew 1:18‑20 and Luke 2:1-­20.

God had created the First Adam a full grown man in the exercise of all the powers of his tripartite being; but this New Adam—“the Last Adam” was to enter the world as a little babe.

We have said that God could create another Adam and that He would dwell within his being; thus the New Adam would be the God Man. God has again created a sinless human life principle; this time in the maternal organism of a Jewish maiden whose life blood nourished the unborn child and gave him birth; but who contributed nothing to his origin.

The invisible God who had been seen in human form in the Garden of Eden is now manifested in human flesh.

“The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.”

We read and re‑read the story of Jesus’ life among men; His love and tender compassion, His teaching, healing and works of power; His patient, holy, dependent life, and we believe Him when He says, “I and my Father are One.”

Yes, the God‑Man has come into the world to reveal God’s love to men in the execution of His wondrous Plan of Redemption.

After living thirty‑three years among men, “tested in every point like as we are, yet without sin,” Jesus turned His face toward Calvary.

Very tenderly He began to tell His disciples that He was about to leave them and that they would see Him no more; but He proceeded to tell them of the unseen Paraclete who would comfort, teach, guide them and whom they would joyfully recognize as His Other Self, always with them, causing them to know Him as they had been unable to do while His visible presence was with them.

After His High Priestly prayer for them and for each one who should believe in Him, even to the remotest age (John 17), He went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where we read in Mark 14:33 and 34 that “He began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; and said unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death.” Strange words, these, for Jesus to utter! What did they mean? “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” The three disciples hear the words, but they fail to discern their meaning. They cannot enter into His suffering. Jesus is alone in Gethsemane.

We read in Luke 22:41‑42, “He was drawn from them about a stone’s cast and kneeled down and prayed saying, ‘Father if You be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done.’ And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

What was “this cup” which He asked His Father to remove? Was it His shrinking from the crucifixion which was before Him? Certainly not; for He had told His disciples that He was to be crucified and slain as a sin offering; the Lamb of God slain for the sins of the world. Were He shrinking from the Cross, He would show less courage than the martyrs who have welcomed sword and flame. Then what was the cup which He prayed might be removed from Him?

The bloody sweat tells us that His suffering was so agonized that His heart was giving way under the intense pressure and He knew what that meant. Then was He praying that He might not die in Gethsemane? Was His fear of dying in the Garden the cup to be removed? No; for He knew that He was to die upon the Cross of Calvary. He could not die anywhere else. Then what was the cup?

The humanity of Jesus was like that of every member of the human race in that it was tripartite; the spirit, being the seat of God‑consciousness, the soul, the seat of self‑consciousness, and the body, the seat of sense consciousness. The soul is the seat of the emotions and psychologically our emotions affect our powers of spirit and body.

In Isaiah 53:10‑12 we find the soul of the Sin Bearer mentioned three times. “When You shall make His soul an offering for sin;” “He shall see of the travail of His soul;” “He poured out His soul unto death.”

In the Garden of Gethsemane, these words uttered so long before were being fulfilled. The cause of this, travail of soul we find in the sixth verse of this chapter: “The Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.”

We have said that “death is a falling out of correspondence with environment.” The human race was dead to God because of sin, and this death Jesus was now vicariously experiencing. The great mountain of human sin was shutting out the face of His Father. He who said, “I delight to do Your will,” now felt that opposition to God’s will which characterizes the sinner. There was now no emotional response to the will of God. This soul agony clouded His spirit and was bringing death to His body, yet He could still say, “Father, Your will be done,” and that prayer was answered; but we can now see why removal of the cup for which He prayed could not be granted; for He was drinking our cup and tasting death for every man (Heb. 2:9). God’s Plan of Redemption was being executed, and it, must be completely finished.

We read that an angel from heaven was sent to strengthen Him, and He arose from the ground to endure the arrest, the illegal trial, the cruel mocking, scourging and crucifixion.

Meanwhile the agony in His soul increased, and God seemed far away. He could not say, “Father” now, but only the cry of the sinful race: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” A martyr upon the Cross? No. It was the sinful human race separated from a holy God there upon the Cross. This was the sinners’ penalty which God in His Deity could not bear. Jesus’ sinless humanity was bearing this penalty and He, as the God Man, could come out from under it; but had He been the son of any human father, this death would have included Himself and there would have been no Resurrection and God would never have had “many sons brought to glory.”

A little later a loud triumphant cry comes from the lips of the One upon the Cross: "It is finished." He had "tasted death for every man," and God's Plan of Redemption is fully executed. The darkness of spirit is over and now He can say, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:36). Physical death which had been held back until the Redemptive work had been accomplished, now claims the body.

As death from crucifixion is of a slow, lingering nature, the Jews had, been given permission by Pilate to hasten the death of the three upon the Cross. The soldiers came to “break the legs of the first and the other . . . but when they came to Jesus and saw that He was dead already, they broke not His legs; but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and out came blood and water.” Here we have the post mortem testimony to the cause of His death. The separation of the serum and crassamentum clearly indicates a ruptured heart prior to crucifixion. What caused this condition? The mortal agony occasioned by bearing the sins of the human race; of being “made sin” for us, and tasting the awful separation from a holy God which we deserved.

The body is then taken down from the Cross and placed in the tomb. Those eyes that looked so tenderly upon the people who came to Him are closed in death. Those hands that touched the leper and the blind and were laid upon the heads of the little children in blessing, are bloodless and cold. Those lips which had uttered the words, “I am the Resurrection and the Life” are closed and silent.

The physical body in which Jesus of Nazareth had lived for thirty‑three years is dead; but His inner Life is Eternal and cannot die; therefore, upon the third day the Eternal Spirit of God came into the lifeless body and every cell of that body was charged with the Uncreated (Eternal) Life of God. His body was now glorified; no longer under the limitations of a body of flesh and blood, and freed from all the restrictions of natural laws, it was a fitting tabernacle for the limitless powers of His soul and spirit. No longer confined to the earth by the force of gravity, He was seen to ascend until a cloud hid Him from their sight (Acts 1:9). This ascension of Jesus through the hostile regions of Satan proves His complete victory over him.

The First Adam, through the wrong use of his power of choice, had unwittingly committed the human race to the leadership of Satan; and this usurper prince thereafter regarded himself as the ruler of the race and “the god of this world.”

In contemplating His Redemptive work, Jesus foresaw the complete failure of Satan to retain his leadership. He knew that He was to completely overthrow Satan and all of his emissaries; therefore He could confidently declare “Now shall the prince of this world be cast out; and I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto Me” (John 12:31, 32). Christ’s lifting up was the casting down of the usurper. Jesus Christ completely conquered Satan and his evil host when by the Cross He triumphed over them and made of them “an open show” (Co1.2:15).

Up through the atmospheric and starry heavens Jesus passed in triumph. The Man of Galilee—the Man of Calvary—is now “The Man in the Glory” and His glorified humanity is a promise and a pledge of what God’s children are to be.

Now we have only to choose to receive that Life which is in His glorified humanity for us, and which He longingly offers us. The reception of His Life causes us to become God’s children. Yes, God has planned a way whereby we may become His children in a true, biological sense.

“God was in Christ reconciling His world unto Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). God, in Christ, beseeches us to become His children joined to Him forever. This indissoluble relationship is indicated in the words of 1 Cor. 6:17, “He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” Jesus prayed for this oneness. “I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected into One” (John 17:23). This birth relationship with God will endure forever; for a birth relationship is indissoluble.

This life of God in Christ received at the moment of regeneration is to permeate the entire tripartite being of man as he yields irrevocably to the transforming work of God’s indwelling Spirit, who is to conform him to the image of Christ. God is now preparing His yielded children to reign with Christ when, “He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found.”

The First Adam lost dominion when he sinned. The Last Adam, the glorified Christ, is to exercise dominion throughout the earth and its surrounding atmosphere when He returns.

The curse of sin has touched the entire earthly creation. Vegetable life, animal life, as well as human life, must be delivered from the bondage of corruption. Thorns, briars, brambles, noxious plants must cease to grow. Animal life must return to its Edenic condition. Warfare, poverty, strife, unjust legislation must cease and the knowledge of the Lord prevail in the earth as “the waters cover the sea.”

Paradise lost through the sin of the First Adam must be regained by the Last Adam.

Redeemed, glorified human beings, no longer held in bondage to the corruptible will be associated with their Lord in His glorious reign.

No longer restricted by three dimensional laws, they will move at His bidding not only from place to place in the world, but throughout planetary space.

God's Plan of Redemption executed in our earth, a tiny speck among the myriads of celestial spheres, will yet enable untold millions to become children of God. Each human being in the future “age of the ages” as well as in our time, must choose the Life of God in the glorified God Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. There. is no other way to become a child of God.

The time will come when throughout the universe, myriads of human voices will join in the glorious chorus of Redemption—“Unto Him that loves us and has loosed us from our sins in His own blood.” Thus at last God will have a great multitude of children—glorified sons—who are doing His will, singing His praise, filled with Eternal Joy.

This blessed condition was in God’s thought when He created human beings. Sin seemed to have made this impossible of realization.

God in His Deity could not do that which was essential to the redemption of mankind; but in creating the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, God, in His humanity, has made possible Eternal Life for every one who chooses to receive this Life.

 God, in Christ, has done the impossible.