_5. Man May Not Be Left to Suffer the Course of Justice, As That Would Thwart the Divine Purposes and Promises:_ But to return now to the thought that God himself must make atonement for man's transgression. And we come back to that thought with increased conviction after considering the necessary element of power in connection with the Atonement, the ability to restore that which was lost--life, spiritual and physical; not the work of man, but the work of a Deity, a Lord of life--God must himself redeem man. That or justice must take its course and the sinner be left to satisfy the justice of God by an endless misery under the sentence of law; without union with God--spiritual death; and subject to the dissolution of spirit and body, without the power of resurrection--physical death. But that would thwart the purpose of God with reference to the earth-life of man, which was designed for his progress, that progress might bring him joy.[A] Moreover, to leave man under the penalty of a broken law, which means to him eternal death, physical and spiritual, would be contrary to the pledge of eternal life "which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began."[B] Under these circumstances justice may not be left to take its course. There must be an atonement made for man and as none but God can make an adequate atonement in the case, then a Deity must make it. And hence one of the Nephite prophets, coming to the same conclusion, wrote: "And now the plan of mercy could not be brought about, except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also"[C] The Atonement, we conclude, must be made by a Deity, in order to be adequate; but it must be made by a Deity living a man's life--hence the incarnation of the spirit of a Deity in the person of Jesus Christ.[D] It must be made by a Deity who will live man's life with all its temptations, yet remain without sin that the sacrifice might be without spot or blemish;" by one who will give to the world the illustration and the one demonstration of a perfect life--a life in which the will is wholly subjected to the will of God Also the Atonement must be made by a Deity living man's life that the satisfaction to the justice of God may be rendered from the same plane on which the offense was offered, and essentially from amid the same conditions. Hence the special temptation of Jesus by Lucifer. The Atonement must be made by a Deity who shall die man's death, but who shall not be holden of it, but break its bands and demonstrate the power of the resurrection of which he is the first fruits, and ever after Lord of life and the power of the resurrection--such, for instance, as was Jesus Christ. [Footnote A: II Nephi ii:25; Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93:33,34, and I Peter i:18-20.] [Footnote B: Paul to Titus: Titus i:1, 2; see also Lesson IV.]