How stupendous is the thought that heaven's Lord-the mighty former of the heavens and the earth, the sustainer of all things, the One who could say, "All the gold and the silver is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills"—died in agony upon the cross! The creature crucified its Creator! the created thing suspended between heaven and earth Him who had created it! Oh, wonder of wonders! what can it mean? Why this death, this agony, this suspension upon the cross, this being enveloped in thick darkness? Why the rollings of the billows of Divine wrath over the soul of One who never had sinned? Why this outpouring of blood?
Reader, can you tell why was all this? Let thy soul weep at the very thought, let the fountain of thy tears be unsealed. Do you plead ignorance? Do you say I can hardly tell why? Oh! listen, then, to me, and I will tell you.
There is a bright heaven above—a scene of marvelous and inexpressible glory—where God dwells: a scene of light, and love, and blessedness. But, alas! man, poor man, is a sinner, and God and His abode are infinitely holy—no sin can ever enter there. God hates sin, and He must judge it, yet He loves the sinner. But how is He to spare the sinner, and yet vindicate His throne and character in the judgment of sin? To judge the sinner personally, would be to exclude him from Paradise forever; and God's love, then would not be satisfied, for it yearns for the Firmer. God had one only Son, who had teen with Him from all eternity, His delight and joy. To spare the sinner, this Son must be given up to die.
But Deity cannot die, hence the emphatic words, "A body hast thou prepared me." (Heb. 10:55Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: (Hebrews 10:5).) The Word was made flesh, and this body was given up as a spotless sacrifice upon the cross. The Son of God dies as the sinner's substitute: bears the sin, endures the wrath, finishes atonement, and as the Prince of Life rises again from the dead, the mighty Savior of all who believe in Him. Sins have been put away, the blood that cleanses the sinner who believes has been shed, and now God can introduce the pardoned one into His presence of light, and into His Paradise of glory.
Yes, God would save the sinner, and that is the meaning of that dreadful cross, the agonies, the forsaking, the blood-shedding of that blessed One who hung there.
Dear reader, can you look at that scene and remain unmoved? I challenge you! I warn you not so to do! He was there, then, that you might be saved—that you might escape eternal woe. Do you know Him as a Savior—as your Savior? Can you bless God that you are saved? If not, make no delay: flee to Him at once, be washed from thy sins, be accepted in Jesus, and read in His precious blood your title to enter Paradise above.
“O Lord! we adore thee
For Thou halt redeemed us;
Our title to glory
We read in Thy blood.”
E. A.