From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the
apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through
the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not
ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its
existence, and made provision to meet the terrible
emergency. So great was His love for the world,
that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son,
“that whoever believes in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).
This was a voluntary sacrifice. Jesus might
have remained at the Father’s side. He might have
retained the glory of heaven, and the homage of
the angels. But He chose to give back the scepter
into the Father’s hands, and to step down from the
throne of the universe, that He might bring light to
the benighted, and life to the perishing.
By His life and His death, Christ has achieved
even more than recovery from the ruin wrought
through sin. It was Satan’s purpose to bring about
an eternal separation between God and man; but
in Christ we become more closely united to God
than if we had never fallen. In taking our nature,
the Saviour has bound Himself to humanity by a tie
that is never to be broken. Through the eternal ages
He is linked with us. “God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son.” (John 3:16).