Originally, Adam and Eve are given a portion of responsibility for perfecting each stage of growth. In each stage of the growth period, the portion of responsibility required for that stage-in other words, in the three stages of growth, one must complete the portions of responsibility required for all three stages. There is no exception for this. Everybody possesses the same conditions and can grow only by completing the responsibility.

If after the Fall God had demanded fallen man to fulfill the same amount of responsibility, then there would be no hope that we can restore ourselves to the original position before the Fall. In exchange for the lost opportunity to complete the portion of responsibility, we must set the condition for indemnity.

In the path to restoration we can make a great leap by God's grace, just like a high jump. This is what we means when we say that we are inheriting the merit of the age.

There were three providential Ages the Age before Abraham, the Age from Abraham to Jesus, and the Age from Jesus to today. People were benefited simply by living in one of these Ages. The reason is that it was a time when providential history had made progress through the conditions for indemnity.