55
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
February 1932
CHRIST’S CROSS—AND OURS ^ . . . By CHARLES G. TRUMBULL,* Philadelphia, Pa.
C/lviM
of the death of their worst enemy, and God had brought that death to pass. C hrist ’ s C ross The cross of Calvary marked an
seems safe to say that there is no other word in the Christian vocabulary that is so little understood, and so constantly misused, as the word
“ cross.” It is misunderstood and mis used not only by the world at large, but even by Christians themselves. Yet the teaching of Scripture con cerning the cross is very plain; and it is central in the message of the en tire Bible. As the great army of Sun day-school people throughout the world comes again to the study of the crucifixion o f our Lord, as given in
other .occasion when death was good news. How could this be ? It was the place where the sinless Son of God died. Nevertheless, the fact of His death on the cross, and the announce ment of it, was the best news this old world of lost sinners ever has had of ever could have. For the cross was
Gethsemane By Amos R. Wells To the shadows of Gethsemane My Saviour went alone; No friend to share His agony And answer groan for groan; No beat o f understanding heart, No clasp of brother hand, No watching touch o f human love In all that midnight land.
John’s gospel in the rich course of the In ternational Uniform Lessons, it is worth while to search out the m e a n i n g of Christ’s cross and of the Christian’s cross. The cross is the sign of death, the place of death. Let us be in no doubt as to this. If “ there is no death,” as certain poets and sentimen talists and false re ligionists tell us, then there is no meaning to the cross. Death is a r e a l i t y : dread, grim, terrible. Who ever says there is no death simply repeats the old, old lie that Satan first uttered in the Garden of Eden when he successfully
the p l a c e w h e r e Christ died for our sins that we might live. Some one had to receive the wages of sin, w h i c h is death: either the en tire human race, or the sinless Son of ' God as the sinners’’ Substitute. Have we realized the awful thing that took place at Cal vary? Jesus Christ was and is the only i One o f whom can' truly be spoken the w o r d s , “ altogether lovely.” Yet, in the mystery of the cross, we read of Him that “ he hath no form nor comeliness; . . . there is no beauty that we should de- s i r e h i m.” A n d
* * * In the shadows, of Gethsemane, Throughout the deadly night, No blessed gleam o f heavenly hope, No ray of heavenly light, '■ But steady piercing thrust o f hate , Against the heart-of love, The war of all the death below With all the life, above. To the shadows of Gethsemane Beneath the waiting hill, ; Came at the last the triumph shout O f God’s victorious will, Came at the last the conquering shout: “ Thy will, not mine, be done!’’ And all the shadows fell before God’s Sacrificial Son. ■ .- ■ —T he S unday S chool T imes .
Isaiah, who writes those inspired words, explains them as he says: “ He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: . . . the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” On the cross, Christ, who knew no sin, was made sin for us, “ that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
tempted the woman to put his word above God’s word and to accept the falsehood, ‘We shall not surely die.” But froni that day to this, men and women have died, because “ the wages of sin is death.” Death is an enemy ; “ the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Ordinarily, the news of death is
. Sin is otir worst enemy, a deadly enemy. And Christ, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree, was ac tually “ made to be sin” for us. God cannot look upon sin, and He had to, turn His face away from His Son, hence the heart-broken “ orphan cry” on the cross, “ My God, my God, why hast thou for saken me ?” It is a startling but blessed fact that the reason why
bad news. But there have been occa sions when the announcement of death was good news. When the word went swiftly throughout Israel, long ago, that their worst enemy, Goliath, the leader and the champion of the Philistines, was dead, the nation re joiced. God wanted His people to rejoice in this news
*Editor o f “ The Sunday School Times.’’
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