All consciousness bears witness to it. And he has not expressed himself too strongly, who says, "a man must be a fool, nay, a stock, or a stone, not to believe, it. He has no eyes, he has no senses, he has no perceptions, if he refuses to believe it." And in this fallen, degenerate condition, man is lost.
Darkness, which he cannot dissipate, is around him. Stains of guilt, which he cannot wash out, are upon him The curse of condemnation stands written against him, beyond his power to expunge it, or check it off A foul disease is fretting through all his nature, against which there is no earthly antidote or remedy.
Death and decay are on him, and cling to him as part of himself, and he cannot cut loose from them. Eternity itself, so far as his own strength goes, can bring him only sorrow and despair. But God comes to us in this desperate estate, and proffers, through Christ, an eternal deliverance. For darkness, he proposes to give us light. For sin, he holds out to us the means of an effectual cleansing. For condemnation, he tenders to us a present and full reprieve. For all our ailments, he engages to work for us an abiding cure.
And for our corruption and death, he offers us glory and immortality. In one word, he proposes to save us. Restoration—complete restoration—is now proclaimed from the heavens as the portion of those who will receive it through Jesus Christ. It is a blessed proclamation. It is, indeed, Good news—glad tidings of great joy. And this proclamation is the Gospel.
—Gospel in Leviticus, The
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