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found peace. That has continued through the centuries. However the fact is going to be explained no rea sonable man who knows anything about the history of the Church can deny the fact. Whether we fully un derstand the philosophy of the thing or not, the fact is of infinite worth to humanity. That it is an ethical thing is demonstrated by the fact that it al ways results in ethical life. -Not only do men find forgiveness at the cross, but they also find new life and power there. It is here that they make con nection with the Christ life. It is here they begin to live this new life, and it is here they get the dynamic by which the ideals of the life are made possible. . There is no question but that Christ died. Neither can there be any ques tion about the fact that the disciples believed that He died for the sins of the world. In that death He was made sin for us. It is just as clear that when men come to God asking for forgiveness on the ground of what Jesus did in that death they feel that they are forgiven and that thev pass into a new relation with God. In this new relationship they feel the imnulse and power of a new life. Thev are a new creation in Christ Jesus/ That part is just as much history as is the fact of the death of Christ. Not only that but this experience in human life is a vital part of the fact of the death of Christ. God did something vital and fundamental in the cross and its significance must be understood in the light of the experience of the men and women who have come into vital con tact with it. The thing that we know is that here sin, the thing that sepa rated man from the life of God, is re moved and the life is so related to God that the life of God begins to flow through it. To use Christ’s own illus tration we are made branches of the vine so that the very life of the vine flows through us and bears, fruit in
our lives. That recreates the branches and makes it possible for them to real ize the very purpose of their life. In stead of being robbed of its individ uality the branch by this new rela tion with the vine realizes itself at its best. In one jplace where I lived we had an apple tree in our yard which had at least three different kinds of apples on it. All the branches bearing apples got their life from the same trunk and roots, but they determined the look and flavor of the fruit. The same life in each branch, but different in its expression. That means that nature recognized the individuality of each branch and helped it to be itself at its best. That is what God wants to do for each life and the cross is the operation, or pro cess by which men are grafted into the life of God. We may not under stand the mystery and philosophy of fhis wonderful process, but we can know the experience and results of it. We know that we are reconciled to God and that His life is in our life, and that experience is both practical and ethical. That is the historical and experimental interpretation of the atonement and it brings the fact into vital relation with life, and that is the fundamental and essential thing. In the light of this we can see how fundamentally true it is that the cross is the very heart of redemption, and we can understand how Christ and His immediate followers made it cen tral in their preaching. This also en ables us to appreciate how vitally true are the words which we already quot ed from Richard Roberts. “In the cross, God began the world over again, lifted it out of the side ,tracks into which it had drifted, and put it on the lines of development which He had or dained for it from the very first.” . Therefore, if we would lift the burden of anguish from the bleeding heart Concluded on P ag e 418
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