Atonement in Christian preaching emphasizes Christ's sacrificial death as the necessary means for reconciling sinful humanity to God, covering the guilt and consequences of sin (Romans 3:25). Illustrations often use vivid images of sacrifice, warning, or protection to show the seriousness of sin and the mercy provided through Jesus' atoning work.
Why the Cross is important:
1. He died for us.
2. To bring us to God.
3. For our sins.
4. He died our death, took our penalty.
Jesus' life mission was accomplished in his last six hours on earth. He knew his death had theological significance. Evidence is in words of the Last Supper, Gethsemane, and the Cry from the Cross.
#107
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Joseph Queenan is a writer living in Tarrytown, New York. Three years ago his alcoholic father called him to apologize for all the pain he had inflicted on Joe and the family. Joe knew what the pain had been. For years his father had beaten the kids, terrorized his wife, and wrecked the house. He had gone through an endless series of menial jobs. And like most alcoholics, he was a compulsive liar.
He was so lazy he didn't even bother to invent new lies. At least three times a year he would tell them his wallet had been stolen at the Philadelphia train station. He would even use the kids. Once, when Joe was 5, his father borrowed $20 from their Catholic priest. He took Joe to the local bar and for the next three hours rehearsed the amount of money - $15, $10, $5 - he was to tell his mother the priest had loaned them.
Joe's father was a devout Christian. As Catholics, they said the rosary as a family devotion. His father dragged it out so it would take 40 minutes. One day during the ritual, their dad pitched forward dead drunk and passed out in the middle of the room. They left him there, face down on the carpet, all night long. In the morning, he couldn't remember any of it. Like many alcoholics, if he didn't remember it, then it probably didn't happen. He couldn't remember beatings, thefts, car accidents, or lies.
So three years ago, Joe's dad called him up. Joe's mom had left him, and he had lost his job and his pension. But these events had convinced him to give up drinking. He told his son, "One of the things I've learned through Alcoholics Anonymous is that you have to admit that you've hurt people. "And you have to let them know how sorry you are. "Son, I'm sorry for anything I may have done to harm you." He then shook Joe's hand.
Joe Queenan liked the part about "anything I may have done." And the apology with a handshake seemed like just another ritual. To many Christians, this is pretty much what repentance amounts to. You tell God you're sorry, and assume he'll accept you. After all, he has to - he's God, right? Did Joe Queenan's father really confess to his son? He sort of said he was sorry. But he added the phrase, "for what I may have done." He wasn't really owning up to it. And yet I have to give his father credit for coming as far as he did. Many children receive far less. And we don't give much more to God when we confess our sins.
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Over the years this Biblical principle has been abused. Among Roman Catholics, it became an automatic ritual of saying a few Hail Marys or giving a certain amount of money. But just because something has been abused does not mean it is no good. I think people today are looking for more evidence of repentance, not just words.
If Joe Queenan's father is serious about making amends, it will take more to convince his son than a handshake. Staying sober and doing right by his family will carry much more weight.
White mouse put in snake cage. Covers up snake with shavings, thinking it has solved its problem. Solution is when owner takes pity and removes mouse. "No matter how hard we try to cover or deny our sinful nature, it's fool's work. Sin will eventually awake from sleep and shake off its cover. Were it not for the saving grace of the Master's hand, sin would eat us alive."
#341
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The meaning of the cross of Jesus. Looks at relation of sin and God's love, different theories of atonement (such as "satisfaction"), and the exclusivity of Christian salvation.
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A description of the different words used by the New Testament to communicate the gospel:
1. Redemption
2. Propitiation
3. Reconciliation
4. Covenant
5. Justification
How Christ’s death on the cross satisfies God’s justice and mercy.
1. Jesus’ death on the Cross provides the ultimate demonstration of God’s mercy.
Ultimately, the prayer, “show me your glory” brings us to the Lord Jesus. For in Jesus we see the very same qualities that God proclaimed to Moses in dynamic human form. In Jesus we also see wonderfully fulfilled the sovereign mercy of God, grace to the totally undeserving.
2. The Cost of God’s Mercy.
Not only does the Lord Jesus Christ perfectly fulfill and reveal the mercy of God in His character and life, but He perfectly vindicates it in His death. This dilemma is at the heart of our understanding of Jesus’ death on the Cross, for that is where the justice and mercy of God meet. Jesus’ death is to be understood as a “sacrifice of atonement”. Jesus’ death shows that God’s mercy is not opposition to His justice, but is in harmony with it through Jesus’ death. Since God’s mercy is so costly, let us value it, let us believe and embrace it.
In a missionary hospital in Vellore, India, Reeve Betts and Paul Brand encountered difficulty in trying to set up a blood bank. The Indian people themselves offered the biggest challenge. To them, blood is life, and who can tolerate the thought of giving up lifeblood, even to save someone else? In one case, a 12-year-old girl had a very bad lung. To save her life it must be removed, he continued, as the family members nodded with appropriate gravity. The surgery required at least three pints of blood, and they had only one, so the family must donate two more. At that news, the family elders huddled together, then announced a willingness to pay for the additional pints.
Reeve flushed red at their response. The veins in his neck began to build, and his shining bald head was an excellent index of how much patience he had left. Working to control his voice, he explained that they had no other source of blood - it could not be purchased. They might as well take the girl home and let her die. Back to the conference. After more lively discussion the elders emerged with a great concession. They pushed forward a frail old woman weighing perhaps 95 pounds, the smallest and weakest of the tribe. The family had decided to offer her as a transfusion donor, they reported. The doctors could bleed her.
Reeve fixed a stare on the sleek, well-fed men who had made the decision and then his anger took over. In halting but more-than-expressive Tamil he blasted the dozen or so cowering family members, jabbing his finger back and forth from the husky men to the frail woman.
Finally, with a melodramatic flourish, Reeve rolled up his own sleeves and called over to Dr. Brand, “Come on, Paul - I can’t stand this! I won’t let that poor girl die just because of these cowardly fellows. Bring the needle and bottle and take my blood.” The family fell silent and watched in awe as Brand dutifully fastened a cuff around Reeve’s upper arm, swabbed the skin and plunged the needle into this vein. A rich red fountain spurted into the bottle and a great “Ahhh!” rustled through the family and spectators.
At once there was a great babel of voices. “Look, the sahib doctor is giving his own life!” Onlookers called out shame on the family for allowing the great doctor to give himself in the presence of so many kin. Usually in such cases the family got the message. Before the bottle was half-full, two or three would come forward and he would stop Reeve’s donation and take their trembling, outstretched arms. The reputation spread: if the family refused blood, the great doctor himself would give his own.
Sermon in Leviticus series. "PAYING THE PRICE" Lev 4:27-31
I. People have an inner feeling that our wrongdoing must be atoned for.
A. Perhaps we want to make others pay for what they have done
B. Or we want to make ourselves pay for our own sins.
C. Human efforts to atone (pay for sin) are doomed to failure.
II. The Old Testament presents sacrifices as the way of atonement.
III. The meaning of sacrifice.
A. Sin separates us from God, according to Leviticus.
B. Sacrifice reverses the process.
1) Sacrifice cleans the unclean. 4:31
2) Sacrifice as atonement.
a) Sacrifice requires a death.
b) Word "atonement" carries the idea of substitution.
IV. How sacrifice functions.
A. God takes the initiative and makes sacrifice effective.
B. Priest performs ceremony and acts as a go-between. 1 Tim 2:5
C. Worshipper:
1) Unintentional sin, remorse and sacrifice. 5:15
2) Deliberate sin, confession and reparation required. 6:1-7
V. Christ's sacrifice.
A. John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, Peter, and writer of Hebrews all
view Christ's death as a sacrifice.
B. The crucifixion was unlimited in scope & required no repetition.
C. Like the OT, there must be a divine call and personal response.
VI. Making Jesus' sacrifice, your sacrifice.
A. Recognize your need for God and forgiveness.
B. Realize that the price of your sin has been paid.
C. Don't try to make others pay for what they do to you. #1856
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I read about a small boy who was consistently late coming home from school. His parents warned him one day that he must be home on time that afternoon, but nevertheless he arrived later than ever. His mother met him at the door and said nothing. His father met him in the living room and said nothing.
At dinner that night, the boy looked at his plate. There was a slice of bread and a glass of water. He looked at his father's full plate and then at his father, but his father remained silent. The boy was crushed.
The father waited for the full impact to sink in, then quietly took the boy's plate and placed it in front of himself. He took his own plate of meat and potatoes, put it in front of the boy, and smiled at his son.
When that boy grew to be a man, he said, "All my life I've known what God is like by what my father did that night."
#1866
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Illustration of blood transfusion and application to atonement:
Paul Brand's career in medicine traces back to one dreary night at Connaught Hospital in East London. Hospital orderlies wheeled a beautiful young women into his ward. She had lost much blood in an accident. It had drained from her skin, leaving her an unearthly pale color, and her oxygen-starved brain had shut down into an unconscious mode. The hospital staff lurched into their controlled-panic response to any patient near death. A nurse dashed down a corridor for a blood transfusion bottle while a doctor fumbled with the apparatus to get the transfusion going. They could not detect even the faintest pulse on her cold, limp wrist.
She looked like a wax museum exhibit or a marble statue in a cathedral. Her lips were pale and only a few freckles stood out against her pallor. She did not seem to be breathing, having long before passed through the desperate phase of heaving breathing. Paul Brand was certain she was dead.
The nurse arrived with a bottle of blood, which she buckled into a high metal stand as the doctor punctured the woman's vein with a large needle. They had mounted the bottle high and were using an extra-long tube so that the increase in pressure would push the blood into her body faster. The staff told Paul to keep watch over the emptying bottle as they hurried off for more blood.
Nothing in his memory could compare to the excitement of what happened next. As he nervously held her wrist while the others were gone, suddenly he could feel the faintest press of a pulse. He thought it might be his own pulse. Paul searched again, and it was there, barely perceptible.
The next bottle of blood arrived and was quickly connected. A spot of pink appeared on her cheek, and spread into a beautiful flush. Her lips darkened pink, then red, and her eyelids fluttered lightly and at last parted. She squinted at first, and then looked directly at Paul. To his enormous surprise, she asked for some water. Paul Brand was so amazed he became a missionary doctor and served for years in India and Louisiana.
A. It is a beautiful thing to receive life from another person.
B. Transfusion is a close image of what Jesus does for us.
#2805
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[full text follows at end]
John Robinson, bishop of Woolwich, writes: "Most people would genuinely LIKE to believe the Christmas story, but wonder whether it CAN be true with the world as it is after nearly 2,000 years. But in the case of the Atonement, they ask with some impatience how anything done 2,000 years ago on the cross could 'affect me now.'" Good Friday and Easter are unattractive because the biblical view of God has been totally eclipsed. We use God as a tool at appropriate moments of need, like a Santa Claus. The Christian doctrine of the Atonement deals with the moral gulf between God and man. The biblical answer is the blood of Christ.
Theories of the Atonement:
1. "Christus Victor."
Jesus conquered the demonic forces. Good points, but inadequate.
2. Jesus as our example.
We live in imitation of Jesus. Also inadequate.
3. Love theory of the Atonement.
We love because he first loved us. Insufficient by itself, because it
provides no moral ground for the shedding of Christ's blood for our
salvation.
4. Substitutionary-satisfaction theory.
Has come under heavy fire in modern times. The Bible speaks of
Christ's death as a redemption and ransom for our deliverance from sin.
It enables a holy God to forgive us without detriment to his moral
nature. Problems: Is God a severe deity who has to be appeased? Did
God need to wait for Christ's death before he could love us? God has
always loved humans. Moreover, we must never conceive of Jesus Christ
as some innocent third party introduced to bear the punishment of the
world. It is God himself who has redeemed us, for Jesus Christ is God.
Why could not God choose simply to forgive us the way we forgive those
who do us wrong? The answer is to be found in the kind of God with
whom we have to deal. He is not a sinful person who takes wrongdoing
lightly and can therefore forgive lightly. He is holy and he takes sin
with dreadful seriousness. The shedding of Christ's blood in our
behalf is God's solution to a dilemma. On one hand, he loves us
infinitely and desires even at infinite cost to accept us into his
loving fellowship and kingdom. On the other hand, he must uphold his
own moral law and the righteousness of his sovereign rule over the
universe.
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Full text of editorial:
EDITORIAL: "Why Is Easter Unattractive?" By Kenneth S. Kantzer
Somehow Easter is different from Christmas. John Robinson, bishop of Woolwich, writes: “Most people would genuinely LIKE to believe the Christmas story, but wonder whether it can be true with the world as it is after nearly 2,000 years. But in the case of the Atonement, they ask with some impatience how anything done 2,000 years ago on the cross could `affect me now'.”
It is easy to see why this is so. Every child loves Christmas. Families come together to renew their bonds, and to give and receive gifts. No holiday fills the hearts of adults or children with nostalgia as Christmas does. But the celebration of Easter, with its Passion Week and Good Friday, creates no such joyful memories. And not even the Resurrection theme of Easter Sunday can begin to rival the appeal of Christmas.
ROOT OF THE PROBLEM
The basic reason for the relative unattractiveness of Good Friday and Easter lies in the nearly total eclipse of the biblical view of God. The Death of God theologians were almost right. The God of the average American never did exist. He is only a handy tool that can safely be allowed to lie unused on the workbench until such time as we need it. Then, for this and that purpose of our own, we call upon God. God is necessary for the preservation of democracy. Or the capitalist system. Or a stable society of law and order. Or a truly fulfilled life. In desperate moments of great sickness or overwhelming catastrophe, God is handy to have around. For then, he alone can sustain us and help us out of our difficulties.
But God, the occasional helper in time of need, is a far cry from the God revealed in Holy Scripture. The God of the Bible is certainly no tool to be used at our convenience, but is the sovereign Lord of the universe. He is the ultimate being in whom all of us live and move and have our being (Acts 17:29). The point is, we cannot really understand anything rightly until we first have a right conception of God. Naturally, therefore, we cannot expect to understand either Good Friday or Easter without recognizing the framework in which they occur.
GOD IN A RED SUIT?
For example, the God of the Bible is no Santa Claus. True, God loves. But we moderns tend to see this as meaning that God gives us all good things but never makes any demands. Yet a God of all love and mercy alone would be unjust. The love of God must also be penetrated by the holiness of God.
On the other hand, some of the older theologians recognized holiness alone as the fundamental moral quality of God, and this led to an unbiblical view of God as stern and harsh, inadequately tempered by love. Yet the holiness of God is no more rightly understood than the love of God if we fail to see that his holiness is thoroughly penetrated by love. The God of the Bible is essentially a God of holy-love. To disconnect one aspect of this essential attribute from the other is only to create a false God who is not there.
From the divine perspective, holiness is a distinctive attribute of God that uniquely sets him off from humans. In biblical language, the very word “holy” means “separate,” and it is this quality of God that uniquely creates a distance between God and man. But we mortals do not see it that way. From our perspective, the distinctive thing about God is that he is omnipotent, while we have little power, or that he is omnipresent, while we are bound in space. But that only shows how badly our sin has warped our understanding of our own sin, and of the gulf between God and us created by our sin, and of the importance of this distance to God himself.
The Christian doctrine of the Atonement deals with this moral gulf between God and man. It seeks to answer the question, How can an absolutely pure and holy God ... ? No! The question must not be put that way! The question is, How can I - a sinner who has sinned against God in what I think, say, and do, and who therefore rightly stands under divine judgment - how can I find forgiveness and acceptance with the God who is, the God of infinite holiness?
HEART OF THE SOLUTION
The biblical answer to that question is the blood of Christ. Even the term falls harshly on our modern ears.
But Scripture is replete with references to the blood of Christ and his death in our behalf. The blood of Christ - his sacrificial death - is God's way of bridging the gulf between a holy God and sinful humans. At first glance it may seem strange that the death of Christ and events leading directly to it should take up nearly half the pages of the four Gospels. But the New Testament places the death of Christ at the center of its message. Paradoxical as it may seem, the death of Christ is good news. The apostle Paul wrote, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).
THEORIES OF THE ATONEMENT
Exactly HOW the blood of Christ brings us God's full forgiveness and restores us into perfect fellowship with him is enshrouded in the mystery of the infinite God of holy-love. But it is not all mystery. For though we see only in part, and even that part obscurely, God in his grace has seen fit to break through the darkness sufficiently to give us comfort and hope. On the basis of Scripture, Christians have formed several theories of the Atonement. Each is based on a piece of truth, but none contains within itself the whole truth, and all together do not begin to exhaust what the death of Christ means to the sinner who finds life and forgiveness in the biblical God of holy-love.
Popular in recent years is the theory of CHRISTUS VICTOR, defended by the Swedish bishop Gustav Aulen. By his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus Christ conquered the demonic forces of evil that destroy man and keep him from God. This understanding of the Atonement prevailed widely in the early church and has persisted across the centuries. As some have presented it, God made a bargain with Satan, who agreed to release believers from his bondage if God would give his own Son into Satan's hands. Jesus paid the ransom agreed upon, but rose from the dead and so in the end escaped Satan's clutches. (Satan, fortunately, kept his part of the bargain, even if Christ did not.)
Relieved of such bizarre aspects, the idea finds solid support from Scripture. By his death and resurrection, Christ crushed Satan's power and won for mankind a great victory over death and hell (see such passages as Gen. 3:15 and 1 Cor. 15:57-58). However, this view is inadequate because it fails to take into account the overwhelming moral emphasis in the New Testament teaching on the death of Christ. This death was no payment to Satan, but in some way his sacrifice made it RIGHT for God to forgive us our sins. So the apostle writes, “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement. ... he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be [both] just and the one who justifies the man who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:25-26, NIV).
A second attempt to understand the death of Christ is in the terms of an example. The Christian life is lived in imitation of Jesus so that we see what he did in his earthly life and are always to do the same. No doubt we would all be better if we followed this guide in our daily life, but New Testament teaching about the Christian life is far removed from this. We are to live our own genuine life-not just imitate the things Jesus did. True, in living our own lives, we are to be like Christ. Like him, we are to live out our lives in self-giving love for others rather than for ourselves. This is precisely the point of the apostle Paul in Philippians 2 (v. 5ff.).
More deeply imbedded in the heart of biblical ethics is the so-called love theory of the Atonement. God “loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.... We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:10-11, 19).
Christian ethics rests at bottom on a conviction that love is stronger than fear, or hate, or greed, or anything. The most powerful motive for living a truly good life of self-giving service to God and to others is the love that wells up in our hearts in response to the overwhelming love of God in Christ. Isaac Watts captures this truth in what many regard as the greatest hymn ever written in any language:
When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
But even the love theory of the Atonement is insufficient when it stands alone, because it provides no moral ground for the shedding of Christ's blood for our salvation. Christ's death could not be interpreted as the ultimate tragedy-the best man who ever lived, trapped by the forces of irrational evil. It is only when his death is seen as the ultimate act of divine love doing for me what had to be done to save me that it gains its transforming moral power.
THE MORAL NECESSITY OF CHRIST'S DEATH
This leads us to the substitutionary-satisfaction theory of the Atonement, which has come under such heavy fire in modern times. In part, this view has suffered from the well-meant excesses by which it has often been explained. It has suffered even more because of the erosion of the biblical concept of divine holiness and human sin. In reality, it is only on the basis on the substitutionary-satisfaction understanding of Christ's death that the love theory and all other views of the Atonement make any sense. The shedding of Christ's blood as a necessary price for our redemption from sin runs, in fact, through all the Bible from the entrance of sin into the human race (Gen. 3:15) to the final triumphant song of the Book of Revelation: “... you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9).
In anticipation, the prophet Isaiah says, `The punishment that brought us peace was upon him ... and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all (53:5-6, NIV). The same theme resounds throughout the New Testament.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). He is the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). “But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb. 9:26). “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2; all quotations from the NIV).
The Scriptures, therefore, speak of the death of Christ as a redemption and as a price paid for our deliverance from sin. They speak of it as a “propitiation,” or, better, as an act that meets the demands of ultimate righteousness. It enables a holy God, who loves us infinitely, to forgive us without detriment to his moral nature and moral government.
Of course, the idea of any sort of substitutionary satisfaction to make it morally right for God to forgive our sins presents' difficulties. It is alien to our modern lighthearted view of sin and the easy chumminess of a Santa Claus God.
We have no time to answer all these objections, even if we could. There is something ridiculous about the charge that an atonement is neither necessary nor appropriate for God. It smacks of spiritual arrogance, a covert claim to omniscience that borders on the absurd. The New Testament documents tell us that Christ's death was the way God secured our salvation and became free to accept us. We either believe it or we do not. But who are we to psychoanalyze the infinite holy God and then pronounce on what he needs to do to receive sinners into his fellowship? If Scripture is not sufficient for us, then modesty at least dictates silence on such a mysterious topic.
Yet the most frequent objections can be answered fairly easily. For example: Is God a severe and angry deity who must be appeased by the sacrifice of Christ, rather as unfriendly pagan deities were either bought off from doing harm to their worshipers or bribed to do favors for them? Did God need to wait until the penalty at Christ's death was fully paid before he could respond in love to us? Of course not. The Bible is clear that God loves all humans and, in fact, has always loved them. It was his eternal, self-giving love that brought him down into the world as God incarnate in Jesus Christ to redeem us. Moreover, we must never conceive of Jesus Christ as some innocent third party introduced to bear the punishment of the world. It is God himself who has redeemed us, for Jesus Christ is God.
But why could not God choose simply to forgive us the way we forgive those who do us wrong? Again, the answer is to be found in the kind of God with whom we have to deal. He is not a sinful person who takes wrongdoing lightly and can therefore forgive lightly. He is holy and he takes sin with dreadful seriousness. He is also the sovereign judge of the universe, ultimately responsible for its moral order. What would we think of a judge who, with no recognition of the moral order, freely and easily forgave every repentant criminal? The shedding of Christ's blood in our behalf is God's solution to a dilemma. On one hand, he loves us infinitely and desires even at infinite cost to accept us into his loving fellowship and kingdom. On the other hand, he must uphold his own moral law and the righteousness of his sovereign rule over the universe.
The story of Easter would not be complete without the glorious conclusion of the bodily resurrection, and the present and future ministry of the living Christ. He shed his blood as a sacrifice of love to win us back to God. And that same life-giving blood by the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit now works in us to give us spiritual life. Daily it nourishes, sustains, and strengthens us. By the power of Christ's life, we conquer sin and come to spiritual health. And one day, that same life-giving power will transform us into the perfect Christlikeness that is promised to all who are willing to receive it.
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The best popular work on the Atonement is by Leon Morris, “Glory in the Cross: A Study in Atonement” (Hodder and Stoughton: London, 1966).
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A different kind of kingdom, means a different kind of ruler.
Who ever heard of a king who gives up everything he has, including the blood
in his own veins, for the life of his people?
1. A king like no other. John 18:37
2. Gentleness and Majesty
3. When we're weary and discouraged. 1 Tim 1:9-10,17, 6:14-16
4. When we long for justice. Jer 10:6-7, Rev 19:11-16
HIS SUBSTITUTE
A great preacher of another generation, Dr. John McNeill, used to say that of all people in Jerusalem he thought Barabbas had the best idea of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Said he: "You will remember that he should have been crucified and Jesus released, but the order was exactly reversed. The door of the
prison swings open and Barabbas is free. As he comes out into the light of day all the people seem to be hurrying in one direction. He hears them saying that someone named Jesus was to be crucified out that way. He stops a moment to think, then exclaims, ~Why, that is the man that is dying in my stead; I
will go and see him.' He pushes his way through the city and on up the hillside until he reaches the surging mob around the cross, pushes his way through to the Savior. I hear him say, `I do not know who this man is, but he is dying in my place, and because he is dying in my place, I do not need to die.' And that is the substance of the atonement,--Christ, your substitute, dying in your place."
("Choice Illus." W.W. Clay pg. 35)
Don Richardson, a missionary to the Sawi people of Irian Jaya, sought a culture-appropriate way to tell the Sawi people the story of Jesus. (In his book, PEACE CHILD.) Richardson learned that all demonstrations of kindness among the Sawi were regarded with suspicion--with one notable exception. If a father gave his own son to an enemy, his deed of ultimate sacrifice was deemed proof that he could be trusted completely. Furthermore, anyone who ever touched that child was thereafter held to be at peace with his father. With this knowledge, Richardson and his group proceeded to explain the gospel against that background.
~~~~~~~~~~ expanded article from The Evangelist ~~~~~~~~~~ [see also 12619]
Don and Carol Richardson worked as missionaries among the Sawi people of Indonesia. When they went to these isolated, head-hunting cannibals in the early 1960s, they struggled to learn enough of their language to share the gospel. Finally Don climbed the ladder into a Sawi man-house and, surrounded by the skulls of cannibalized victims, began trying to teach in the terms and categories familiar to him. Richardson told about Abraham and God’s selection of the Jews. He explained about the Messiah and the Lamb of God. The Sawi were bored and unresponsive.
Although fascinated by the foreigners, the Sawi continued to fight each other. Tribal factions battled within sight of the Richardsons’ jungle home. Fear and frustration led the missionaries to make a decision to leave. When tribal leaders learned of their plan, they said, “If you will stay, we promise to make peace in the morning.”
Don and Carol Richardson witnessed an incredible ceremony the very next day. Two hostile groups were positioned opposite their house, on either side of a clear- ing. A tangible suspense wafted in the air between them. Finally, one man picked up his newborn child and dashed across the meadow. His wife ran after him, screaming and begging for her baby to be given back to her. Unable to catch him, she fell to her knees on the ground and sobbed for her infant.
The child’s father presented his baby to the enemy clan. “Plead the peace child for me,” he said. “I give you my son, and I give you my name.” Soon thereafter, someone from the recipient tribe performed the same agonizing ritual in reverse. For as long as those peace children remained alive, the missionary was later told, the two warring factions were bound to each other in peace.
Richardson had his analogy of redemption! He soon climbed into the Sawi manhouse again to tell the story of the ultimate Peace Child given to humankind by the one true God. Chiefs who had been unresponsive to the gospel sat spellbound. Over time, he continued to develop a theology based on Jesus, the Peace Child.
A matchless Christmas for Richardson and the Sawi came as first a few and finally hundreds of the once-warring, once-cannibalistic souls received Christ. A large group of new believers gathered for worship, and a Sawi man stood and read these words in his own language:”For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders. And He shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6).
As you read these familiar words this Christmas season, try to hear them with the ears of the Sawi. See Bethlehem’s baby as the Peace Child. And receive the gift.
From Pulpit Helps published by AMG Publishers Chattanooga, TN 37422
#5899
*
In her book, “Living with Love,” Josephine Robertson tells the story of Rev. Joe Roberts. In 1883 the youthful clergyman arrived by stagecoach in a blizzard to minister to the Indians of Wyoming. This great, wild area had been assigned to the Protestant Episcopal Church by President Grant. Soon after Joe Roberts arrived, the son of the chief was shot by a soldier in a brawl, and Chief Washakie vowed to kill the first white man he met.
Since this might mean the start of a long, bloody feud, young Roberts decided to take action. Seeking out the teepee, fifteen miles away in the mountains, he stood outside and called the chief’s name. When Washakie appeared, Roberts opened his shirt.
“I have heard of your vow,” he said, “I know that the other white men have families, but I am alone. Kill me instead.”
The chief was amazed and motioned him into his tent. “How do you have so much courage?” he asked.
Joe Roberts told him about Christ, His death, His teachings.
They talked for hours. When Joe left, the chief of the Shoshones had renounced his vow to kill and resolved to become a Christian. Washakie had seen love in action.
Every group which calls itself Christian would do well to decide what it should do to make love visible in the home, church, community, and world. For unless love becomes visible it is not love at all.
At a preaching seminar Ian Pitt-Wattson told the following true story which a student named Bill had shared from his own life in a student sermon at Fuller Theological Seminary: "When I was a young boy I fell in love with golf and my parents gave me a club and a harmless whiffle-type golf ball which I could hit around the back yard. I loved to swing the club and the feeling of hitting the ball -- even though it would not go very far because of its lightness and all the holes in it. One day, thinking my parents weren't home, I had the overwhelming temptation to feel the click of a real ball against the club head. I teed it up and gave it a hard whack. Unfortunately the ball was not hit properly and it hooked sharply from its intended flight and the ball went directly for one of the windows of our house and right through the window with a terrifying crash. But the crash was immediately followed by a piercing scream. Oh, no! I ran for the house, burst into the living room and there, standing in front of the window was my mother, bleeding. I gasped. What had I done? I cried out, "Mother, I could have killed you!" She hugged me and said, 'I'm O.K. It's all right. I'm going to be all right!'" Bill concluded the story by saying, "There in that moment -- when I saw my mother bleeding -- there were some things I could never do again in the back yard. I could never so much as carry a golf club across the lawn of our back yard. The sight of her standing there with blood flowing down -- that I had caused -- changed my behavior forever." Bill then invited the class to look at another one -- Jesus Christ -- bleeding.
H. A. Ironside once told the following:
"One of the first gospel illustration that ever made a real impression upon my young heart was simple story that I heard a preacher tell when I was less than nine years old. It was of pioneers who were making their way across one of the central states to a distant place that had been opened up for homesteading. They traveled in covered wagons drawn by oxen, and progress was necessarily slow. One day they were horrified to note a long line of smoke in the west, stretching for miles across the prairie, and soon it was evident that the dried grass was burning fiercely, and was coming toward them rapidly. They had crossed a river the day before but it would be impossible to go back to that before the flames would be upon them. One man only seemed to have an understanding as to what should be done. He gave the command to set fire to the grass behind them. Then when a space was burned over, the whole company moved back upon it. As the flames roared on toward them from the west, a little girl cried out in terror. "Are you sure we shall not all be burned up?" The leader replied, "My child, the flames can reach us here, for we are standing where the fire has been!"
The fires of God's judgment burned themselves out on Him, and all who are in Christ are safe forever, for they are now standing where the fire has been. - Robert G. Lee, Sermonic Library, pp. 105-06.
In a testimony an evangelist one time described his mother as being love personified. As a boy he found her sitting at the table with an old tramp one day. Apparently she had gone shopping, met the tramp along the way, and invited him home for a warm meal. During the conversation the tramp said, "I wish there were more people like you in the world." Whereupon his mother replied, "Oh, there are. But you must look for them." The old man simply shook his head, saying. "But, lady, I didn't need to look for you. You looked for me." When that mother reflected her Christian kindness toward the tramp she did something more than simply offer him welfare. It was a compassion that went out of its way to love the unlovely. And that's the story of our Savior's live, death and resurrection. He came looking for us in the sick, the maimed, the lame, the bruised, the broken hearted, the wretched wanderer, the poor and forgotten, the prisoner, and the lonely rich. Has he found you?
In his Easter sermon, "Victory for Us," Earl Palmer shows by an analogy from the Winter Olympics that Christ won a victory not only for himself, but also for us: "The high point of the Olympics from a sentimental standpoint is those award ceremonies. When the victors stand on those three pedestals, that's where everybody is crying. The three flags are raised, and the national anthem of the gold medalist is played.
"Something else is signified there: not only did [the various skaters] win, but their countries won, too. Not only their countries but their parents. Notice how the cameras try to find parents in the audience and the skaters' trainers and sometimes a whole town in Wisconsin--they all share in that victory. That's what makes it great. They won not only for themselves, they won for us, too. "In the Easter narratives of the New Testament, two great affirmations are made. One affirmation is that Christ has won the victory, and it's his alone. But the second theme, perhaps more subtly portrayed but also present in all the Gospel narratives, is that we too win a victory on Easter day. Our Lord's victory is his vindication, but it's also our vindication."
The positive approach fits the theme of resurrection and life.
"Study the cross for no other sake than God’s sake, and you will be holy without knowing it."
-- Oswald Chambers, Approved unto God
"Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first He suffered pain, and entered not into glory before He was crucified; mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord."
-- Book of Common Prayer
"The cross is a denial that self-assertiveness can ever be a satisfying way."
-- Leon Morris, The Atonement
"What significance will the cross have in connection with the crown? If anything is true, this is true: there will be nothing in heaven that does not have the mark of the cross upon it and has not passed through death and resurrection."
-- A. B. Simpson, The Cross of Christ
"Even a superficial study of church history reveals that the Spirit of God blows with hurricane force only through those prophets and lovers who have surrendered to the folly of the cross. If there is little power and shallow wisdom in our preaching, teaching, worship, and ministry, I believe it is because the Crucified Christ has been ignored in favor of a lot of ‘burning theological issues,’ most of which are neither burning nor theological."
-- Brennan Manning, The Signature of Jesus
"In the cross God is revealed not as one reigning in calm disdain above all the squalors of earth, but as one who suffers more keenly than the keenest sufferer -- 'a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.'"
-- Oswald Chambers, The Place of Help
“If Christianity were made up, we would expect a rescue; instead, we have a conclusion that would have horrified any reader in the first century, Jewish, Roman, or Greek. They crucified Him, divided His clothes, and sat down to keep watch”
-- Mark Dever
GRACE
The boy stood with back arched, head cocked back and hands clenched
defiantly. "Go ahead, give it to me."
The principal looked down at the young rebel. "How many times have you
been here?"
The child sneered rebelliously, "Apparently not enough."
The principal gave the boy a strange look. "And you have been punished
each time have you not?"
"Yeah, I been punished, if that's what you want to call it." He threw out
his small chest, "Go ahead I can take whatever you dish out. I always
have."
"And no thought of your punishment enters your head the next time you
decide to break the rules does it?"
"Nope, I do whatever I want to do. Ain't nothin you people gonna do to
stop me either."
The principal looked over at the teacher who stood nearby. "What did he do
this time?"
"Fighting. He took little Tommy and shoved his face into the sandbox."
The principal turned to look at the boy, "Why? What did little Tommy do to
you?"
"Nothin, I didn't like the way he was lookin at me, just like I don't like
the way your lookin at me! And if I thought I could do it, I'd shove your
face into something."
The teacher stiffened and started to rise but a quick look from the
principal stopped him. He contemplated the child for a moment and then
quietly said, "Today my young student, is the day you learn about grace."
"Grace? Isn't that what you old people do before you sit down to eat? I
don't need none of your stinkin grace."
"Oh but you do." The principal studied the young mans face and whispered.
"Oh yes, you truly do..."
The boy continued to glare as the principal continued, "Grace, in its
short definition is unmerited favor. You can not earn it, it is a gift and
is always freely given. It means that you will not be getting what you so
richly deserve."
The boy looked puzzled. "Your not gonna whup me? You just gonna let me
walk?"
The principal looked down at the unyielding child. "Yes, I am going to let
you walk."
The boy studied the face of the principal, "No punishment at all? Even
though I socked Tommy and shoved his face into the sandbox?"
"Oh, there has to be punishment. What you did was wrong and there are
always consequences to our actions. There will be punishment. Grace is not
an excuse for doing wrong."
"I knew it," Sneered the boy as he held out his hands. "Lets get on with
it."
The principal nodded toward the teacher. "Bring me the belt."
The teacher presented the belt to the principal. He carefully folded it in
two and then handed it back to the teacher.
He looked at the child and said. "I want you to count the blows."
He slid out from behind his desk and walked over to stand directly in
front of the young man. He gently reached out and folded the child's
outstretched, expectant hands together and then turned to face the teacher
with his own hands outstretched. One quiet word came forth from his mouth.
"Begin."
The belt whipped down on the outstretched hands of the principal.
Crack!
The young man jumped ten feet in the air. Shock registered across his
face,
"One" he whispered.
Crack! "Two." His voice raised an octave.
Crack! "Three..." He couldn't believe this.
Crack! "Four." Big tears welled up in the eyes of the rebel."OK stop!
That's enough. Stop!"
Crack! Came the belt down on the callused hands of the principal.
Crack! The child flinched with each blow, tears beginning to stream down
his face.
Crack!
Crack! "No please", the former rebel begged, "Stop, I did it, I'm the one
who deserves it. Stop! Please. Stop..."
Still the blows came, Crack! Crack! One after another.
Finally it was over. The principal stood with sweat glistening across his
forehead and beads trickling down his face. Slowly he knelt down. He
studied the young man for a second and then his swollen hands reached out
to cradle the face of the weeping child.
"Grace..."
My years of track and field competition date roughly back to the days when they gave out laurel leaves, and Sparta and Athens were the teams to beat. I was a sort-of long jumper. In the aeons since, the world record in that event has been extended dramatically; but long jumpers still jump pretty much the same way ... just farther.
But that's not true of the high jump. No other track and field event has changed more radically than the high jump. Thirty years ago high jumpers used to "scissor" over the bar; it looked like a punter punting, first with one leg and then the other. Then jumpers discovered they could go higher by rolling their bodies over the bar in a horizontal fashion.
Then in 1968 the high jump changed forever. A tall, gangly American named Dick Fosbury startled the world with the oddest high jump style anyone had ever seen. Fosbury ran up to the bar and threw himself over head-first, his face to the sky, arching his back impossibly, then kicking his trailing heels up and over at the last second. We seasoned tracksters all laughed the first time we saw Fosbury. What a bizarre and un-athletic act this guy had! It was dubbed "the Fosbury Flop, " as much in derision as in description. But Dick Fosbury kept jumping higher. And higher. Higher than anybody. Olympic gold medal. Olympic record. And guess what? Every high jumper stopped laughing and started flopping. And every single high jump world record, and every single Olympic medal since then, has been accomplished by someone using the Fosbury Flop.
Shifting from the relatively-ridiculous to the ultimately-sublime, what Dick Fosbury did to the high jump, Jesus has done to the human enterprise of faith. Across history, people have typically sought to know and understand God either through the miraculous (signs and wonders) or through philosophy (rationality). And God has communicated himself both through his mighty deeds in history and through rational revelation.
Then Jesus came. And died an atoning death. And was resurrected gloriously. Now -- since Calvary -- we know something about God we never quite knew before. Now we have a new and better means (or paradigm, or perspective) for understanding the eternal purposes of God: the Cross. The Cross shows us a God who comes to us as a suffering servant, who loves to the uttermost. So Paul says that while some seek signs and others wisdom, what we preach as primary is Christ crucified (I Corinthians 1:22-23). Because that is the key to understanding history; and that is the key to life.
Sometimes history turns a corner. After one singular event or one person's unique achievement, nothing can ever again be the same: Copernicus, Gutenberg, the Wright Brothers, Madame Curie, Dick Fosbury. The Cross is history's utmost singular perspective-changing and reality-changing event. And the funny thing is, many then and now, still see it as foolishness, a stumbling block ... a flop.
--Ken Durham
KNOT
It was a huge, hopeless tangle of rope and vine that had defied the best efforts of people form all over the world. Ancient soothsayers claimed Gordins, legendary king of Gordium, formed the knot. "Whosoever shall untie the Gordian Knot," said the soothsayers, "shall have all of Asia as their reward." All of Asia, the fabled land of mystery and magnificence... what a prize! Yet for centuries, no one had succeeded in unraveling the Gordian Knot. Kings and wise men, warriors and wizards: they all tried, and they all failed. Then, in the year 333 BC, a mighty Macedonian King arrived on the scene. Flanked by thousands of his troops, and armed with one of history's finest and most creative minds, Alexander the Great stood transfixed before the great Gordian Knot. A hush swept through the ranks as all eyes turned to Alexander. Suddenly a flash of inspiration lit up his face. And with one bold and innovative stroke, Alexander untied the untie-able. Grasping his sword, he slashed through the knot with a swift decisive blow. He went on to rule all of Asia. In this legend, Alexander not only cut through the knot, but also freed the people from trying to solve a mystifying problem.
People throughout the ages have gotten tied up in knots. All tangled up. Overwhelmed by sin. Entrapped by it. Today is no different than thousands of years ago. We are tempted and give in to it. Sin then exists in our life. But God, who sent His Son, blesses us. Blesses us through Christ, who cut through and gave us hope.
The writer of Hebrews states in chapter 12: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
-Waymarks, Brown Trail church of Christ, Bedford, TX
The Blood
One night in a church service a young woman felt the
tug of God at her heart. She responded to God's call
and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. The young
woman had a very rough past, involving alcohol, drugs,
and prostitution. But, the change in her was evident.
As time went on she became a faithful member of the church.
She eventually became involved in the ministry, teaching
young children.
It was not very long until this faithful young woman had
caught the eye and heart of the pastor's son. The
relationship grew and they began to make wedding plans.
This is when the problems began.
You see, about one
half of the church did not think that a woman with a past
such as hers was suitable for a pastor's son. The church
began to argue and fight about the matter. So they decided
to have a meeting. As the people made their arguments
and tensions increased, the meeting was getting completely
out of hand.
The young woman became very upset about all the things
being brought up about her past. As she began to cry the
pastor's son stood to speak. He could not bear the pain
it was causing his wife to be. He began to speak and
his statement was this: " My fiancee's past is not what
is on trial here. What you are questioning is the ability
of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today you have
put the blood of Jesus on trial. So, does it wash away
sin or not?" The whole church began to weep as they
realized that they had been slandering the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Too often, even as Christians, we bring up the past and
use it as a weapon against our brothers and sisters.
Forgiveness is a very foundational part of the Gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If the blood of Jesus does not
cleanse the other person completely then it cannot
cleanse us completely. If that is the case, then we are
all in a lot of trouble.
What can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood
of Jesus....end of case!!!
Ron Rand writes in For Fathers who Aren't in Heaven:
Michael usually takes his family out each week to see a movie or
sports event. When they come home, they make a fire in the fireplace
and pop popcorn.
During one of these evenings, little Billy made a real pest of himself
in the car on the drive home, so he was punished by being sent to sit
in his bedroom while the rest of the family had popcorn. After the
family had the fire going and the popcorn ready, Michael went back to
Billy's room and said, "You go out with the others. I'll stay here and
take your punishment." Through Michael's action, the entire family
experienced a vivid example of what Jesus did for everyone.
(Love, Fathers)
Larson, Illustrations, 4
In the History of Persia a very tender incident is related. Twelve men had been robbed and murdered under the very walls of the city. The King resolved that the crime should be traced out and all concerned in it put to death.
After a long search the guilty ones were found and their guilt established beyond a doubt. The King had sworn ... that they should be put to death.
The sentence had been passed and the day of their execution come.
Great efforts had been made to procure a pardon for the prisoners, but it was impossible, although they in some ways belonged to a branch of the King's family.
Among the men to be executed was a young man of great promise, scarcely twenty years of age. His very appearance drew universal interest and sympathy to him. Men and women were in tears, crying out, "can't this young man be pardoned?" But no way was seen. He was to be executed in a few hours. Just then a tender scene was witnessed; the father of this young man came rushing forward and was admitted to an interview with the King. He addressed the monarch in words something like these:
"You have sworn ... that these men should die, and it is just they should, but I who am not guilty, come here to ask a great favor; it is that I may die in my son's place. He is young and just betrothed in marriage, and has hardly tasted the sweets of existence. Oh, sir, be merciful! and let me be executed in his place. Let my son live to taste of the waters and till the ground of his ancestors! I will meet the just demands of the law for him. I know he is guilty and deserves it all, but I love him and will cheerfully die for him."
The monarch was deeply moved by the father's appeal but could not pardon without a suitable substitute, and so accepted this kind, loving father in the place of the son.
The son, wild and almost distracted with grief, plead with the king to reverse his decree to accept his father, and to inflict on him the doom he justly merited and save the life of his aged and innocent father. All hearts were melted at the scene. But the son was spared while the innocent father met the just demands of the law, and was executed instead of the son, and so the law of the kingdom of Persia was magnified and made honorable.
This father's love to the son was wonderful, but our Heavenly Father "commendeth his love to us" that while we were yet sinners, enemies, in open opposition to him, in giving his son to die for us. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And Jesus, knowing all he would suffer, freely offered himself for us, saying, "Father, here am I, send me." This was love beyond degree; it has no parallel. How can any one treat it indifferently.
"So strange, so boundless was the love
That pitied dying men;
The Father sent his equal Son
To give them life again."
-- A. B. Earle, From: "Incidents Used ... In His Meetings," published in 1888
A very tender, suggestive sight can be seen in Greenwood cemetery. It is the monument of a noble fireman, with his fireman's cap and trumpet, and a little babe in his arms.
The occasion of the monument was this:
In one of those terrible fires in New York, that often burn whole blocks, several families had been burned out. It was supposed that every one had been taken from the burning building, when a half frantic mother cried at the door:
"My darling child is in the building."
She was about to rush into the flames to rescue her babe, when this fireman cried:
"You cannot get your child."
She said, "I must have my child."
The fireman's heart was moved for the mother and he said:
"I will get your child."
At the risk of his life, he went up through the fire to the room, and sure enough there was the little unharmed babe, unconscious of its danger. He took it in his arms to bring it to his mother, and had gone but a short distance, when he discovered that the floor had fallen in. Then he knew he must die, there was no escape for him. A quick thought struck him, "Can't I save this child, if I must die? I will try." So tossing the child through the fire and smoke (as he knew about where the men were), strange to tell the child was caught and saved, while the fireman went down among the falling timber and fire, and lost his life.
"Would any one blame that child if it went every opportunity that offered, and got down on its knees and kissed and kissed again the cold marble feet of the fireman, and looking up in his face should say:
"He saved me, but he lost his life in doing it."
So who is there among us who would not go to the bleeding feet of our Saviour and kiss them, and looking up in his face, say:
"He saved me, but he lost his life in doing it."
"All for Jesus I all for Jesus,
All my being's ransomed powers,
All my thoughts, and words, and doings,
All my days, and all my hours."
-- A. B. Earle, From: "Incidents Used ... In His Meetings," published in 1888
At Ragenbach, Germany, one afternoon a great number of people were
assembled in the large room of the inn. The room door stood open and
the village blacksmith, a pious, brave-hearted man, sat near the door.
All at once a mad dog rushed in, but was seized by the smith with an
iron grasp and dashed on the floor. "Stand back, my friends," cried
he. "Now, hurry out while I hold him. Better for one to perish than
for all." The dog bit furiously on every side. His teeth tore the arms
and thighs of the heroic smith, but he would not let go his hold. When
all the people had escaped, he flung the half-strangled beast from him
against the wall and left the room and locked the door. The dog was
shot, but what was to become of the man? The friends whose lives he
had saved stood around, weeping. "Be quiet, my friends," he said;
"don't weep for me. I've only done my duty. When I am dead, think of
me with love. Now pray for me, that God will not let me suffer long or
too much. I know I shall become mad, but I will take care that no
harm comes to you through me."
Then he went to his shop. He took a strong chain. One end of it he
riveted with his own hands around his body; the other end he fastened
around the anvil so strongly that it could not work loose. Then he
turned to his friends and said, "Now it's done! You are all safe. I
can't hurt you. Bring me food while I am well, and keep out of my
reach when I am mad. The rest I leave with God." Soon madness seized
him, and in nine days he died -- died gloriously for his friends. But
Jesus died for His enemies (R. Newton) . -- W. W. GLENN.
William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."
In a school for the poor and underprivileged there was a rule that,
if certain things took place, the offender was to be stripped and
receive so many lashes. One day a very poor boy broke this rule. He
was called and stripped to receive his punishment. He had had little
to eat, and was almost a skeleton. The teacher and others grieved.
Finally the teacher asked if anyone would like to volunteer and take
the punishment instead of this poor, sick boy. One fine fellow stepped
up and said, "I will." His back was bared and he received the lashes.
The poor boy who had broken the rule stood by and looked on and wept.
When it was over, he was so broken up he could hardly speak. He begged
forgiveness, thanked his substitute, and vowed he would never disobey
again.
But there is another who "was wounded for our transgressions" and
"bruised for our iniquities." It seems we should surely love and obey
Him.
William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."
"If men can get to heaven by being good then the death of Christ is
the worst waste in human history." - Dr. Toussaint
There is a legend that on that night of the Exodus a young Jewish
maiden - the first born of the family - was so troubled on her
sick-bed that she could not sleep. "Father," she anxiously inquired,
"are you sure that the blood is there?" He replied that he had
ordered it to be sprinkled on the lintel. The restless girl will not
be satisfied until her father has taken her up and carried her to the
door to see for herself; and lo! the blood is not there! The order
had been neglected, and before midnight the father makes haste to put
on his door the sacred token of protection. The legend may be false;
but it teaches a very weighty and solemn admonition to every sinful
soul who may be near eternity and is not yet sheltered under the
Atonement of Jesus Christ. - {Cuyler}
- Aquilla Webb, {1001 Illustrations for Pulpit and Platform}
(New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1926) 37
Charlotte Elizabeth, the writer, tells of a half-witted man who
could hardly speak, and who lived all his life with the vision, as he
said, of the Red Hand, and she puts down in a beautiful writing her
interview with him. She calls it "The Vision of the Red Hand." The
poor, nearly speechless, half-witted man, tells her that God will come
at the last, and he will say, ''Jack,'' and I shall get up, and shall
stand before his judgment seat, and God will take the book of his
remembrance, and all my sins are there, all my thoughts and acts, my
whole life, my bad heart. Jack's record is there; and God will hold
the book up to the light, and something will be wrong with his eyes,
for he cannot see any of Jack's sins. Do you know why? Because the
Lord Jesus, the Son of God, will get up, and take from the mark of the
wound in his hand, that which is stopping the flow of his blood; and
he will say to God, "Please give me Jack's book," and he will turn
over the leaves and, as he turns, the blood will drip; on every page
the blood will go, and Jesus will pass the book to God, but God cannot
see any of Jack's sins, for the "red hand" had been over it all. I
wish to spend my life with no other vision. As a poor guilty sinner,
the "red hand" of the Crucified is over all my record, and the hast is
gone in the meritorious atonement of the Son of God. That Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures, that is the gospel. It is
all done, and do you know, faith will rise in your heart when you
begin to thank him for what had happened, for the fact that Christ
died. -- J. W. C.
By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."
A person once said to me: “I hate your God; your God demands blood. I don’t believe in such a God. My God is merciful to all. I do not know your God.”
If you will turn to Lev. xvii, 11, you will find why God demands blood: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”
Suppose there was a law that man should not steal, but no penalty was attached to stealing; some man would have my pocket-book before dinner. If I threatened to have him arrested he would snap his fingers in my face. He would not fear the law, if there was no penalty. It is not the law that people are afraid of; it is the penalty attached.
Do you suppose God has made a law without a penalty. What an absurd thing it would be! Now the penalty for sin is death; “the soul that sinneth it shall die.” I must die, or get somebody to die for me. If the Bible doesn’t teach that, it doesn’t teach anything. And that is where the atonement of Jesus Christ comes in. — By J. Wilbur Chapman, “Present Day Parables.”
Because he loved us he has washed us in the precious blood of
Christ. Strange effect of love, the washing! strange result of the
affection of the Lord! The washing you, mother, can understand it.
Your little son has been out all the summer day. He has had splendid
fun. Oh, what enjoyment! And he has stayed out till the shadows have
fallen, and he is very tired, tired even of amusement. He comes into
the house where love is, and what does love do? Oh, he is very sleepy;
just let him go to bed. "Mother, I am awfully sleepy; I am not for any
supper; indeed, I am so tired." But love has something to say, love
has some action to go through before the dirty little boy can get
between the clean sheets. Love draws out the bath into the middle of
the floor, and love puts the towels there, and love puts the soap
there, and love catches hold of the little fellow's collar, and in
spite of grumbling, in spite of the little fellow's bad temper -- for
he is sleepy, God help him -- plunges him into the bath, and love
takes him out spluttering, but clean. So with God. Oh, how foul we
were, how the streets of time had left their defilement on our spirit.
What must love do in the first place? "Oh," says one, "love will just
please wink and take us, bad as we are, into heaven; love will open
wide the pearly gates and let us all as we are, unwashed, foul,
unclean, into heaven." Would love do such a thing? How can a soul in
all its vileness get into heaven without washing? That is the problem
that God had to set to solve. How can man be just with God? How can
the sinful soul get into heaven without washing? Nay, nay. There must
be ablution, there must be washing, and what is to do it? A thousand
rivers -- have they water enough to cleanse a sinful heart? What is
necessary? What did God find and feel to be necessary? What is that
awful tinge that reddens the waves of the laver of regeneration? What
is this mysterious chemical, thou God, art putting there? Why this
agony of thy beloved Son? Why the open side, why the pierce d hands
and feet, why the blood? "Without shedding of blood there is no
remission," says God. Do you think that God would have shed the
precious blood of his Son had it not been necessary? Was it
superfluous? Was it a mere superfluous reddening of the laver? It was
necessary, God saw it.
"What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus."
-- John Robertson.
By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."
A father and his young son were viewing a parade in London,
England. Because of the chilling wind, they stepped inside a
small store and watched through the window. In the course of
time a regiment of British troops marched by, and the man
exclaimed, "My, aren't those Redcoats pretty!"
But the little
boy replied, "They aren't red, they are white. If you don't
believe me, just squat down here and look."
Just to prove the
little fellow was wrong, his Daddy got down on his knees and
looked out the window. To his amazement the coats were not red;
they looked white.
What had happened was this. There was a red band of glass
around the storefront window, and at the height of that the boy
was looking out he was viewing the parade through a red band of
glass. When you look at a red object through a red piece of
glass, the red object loses it red color to your eyes. It
appears white.
The same thing is true in salvation. When God looks at you
through the red blood of Jesus your scarlet sins appear white. This is
blood atonement.
- Shophar, Feb, 1980
Many years ago I read an interesting story about the late D. L.
Moody witnessing to a well known judge. At first Moody was
reluctant to witness to the man, because the judge was highly
educated while Moody was an uneducated shoe clerk. But at the
Judge's wife's insistence he finally relented and agree to visit
the judge in his private chamber.
Now the judge was an Unitarian and did not believe in the deity
or the atonement of Christ. Mr. Moody entered the judges inner
office and the conversation was brief. Before he left he asked
the judge to promise that if he were ever converted to tell him
about it.
In less than a years time the judge was saved. Moody found out
about it and went back to see the man reminding him of his
promise. The judge said, "One night, when my wife was at a
prayer meeting, I began to grow uneasy and miserable. I did not
know what was the matter with me, but finally I retired before my
wife came home. I could not sleep all that night. I got up
early, told my wife that I would eat no breakfast and went down
to the office. I told the clerks they could take a holiday and
shut myself up in the inner office. I kept growing more and more
miserable, and finally I got down and asked God to forgive me of
my sins. But I would not say "for Jesus' sake," for I was an
Unitarian and did not believe in the atonement. I kept praying
God forgive my sins, but no answer came. At last in desperation
I cried, "O God, for Christ' sake forgive my sins, and I found
peace at once.
- Strauss
A missionary was speaking to a group of fishermen in a little
village on the coast of Labrador. He had told of Christ's death
on the cross and was trying to get the message of salvation
across. He wondered if he was getting anywhere, if the men
understood him, so he asked a question:
"Will you tell me in your own words what Christ did when He
died upon the cross?" he asked.
"Yes," said a weatherbeaten fisherman, tears coursing down his
face, "I just now saw what He did. He swapped places with me. He took
my place on the cross and left me here in his place, a
man without sin in God's sight. Oh praise His name!"
2:22-24).
- Hazel D. Artis, Quoted by Robert G. Lee, SERMONIC LIBRARY,
pp. 10-11.
"The words of the wise are as goads."
A lady, being visited with a violent disorder, was under the
necessity of applying for medical assistance. Her doctor, being
a gentleman of great latitude in his religious sentiments,
endeavored in the course of his attendance to persuade his patient to
adopt his creed, as well as to take his medicines. He frequently
insisted, with a considerable degree of dogmatism, that repentance and
reformation were all that either God or man could require of us, and
that consequently there was no necessity for an atonement by the
sufferings of the Son of God.
As this was a doctrine the lady did not believe, she contented
herself with following his medical prescriptions, without embracing
his creed. On her recovery she forwarded a note to the doctor,
desiring the favor of his company to tea when it suited his
convenience, and requesting him to make cut his bill. In a short time
be made his visit, and the tea-table being removed, she addressed him
as follows:
"My long illness has occasioned you a number of journeys; and I
suppose, doctor, you have procured my medicines at considerable
expense. "The doctor acknowledged that "good drugs were not to be
obtained but at a very high price." Upon which she replied, "I am
extremely sorry that I have put you to so much labor and expense, and
also promise that, on any future indisposition, I will never trouble
you again. So you see I both repent and reform." The doctor,
immediately shrugging up his shoulders, exclaimed, "That will not do
for me." --Whitecross
Years ago a striking incident is said to have occurred in Paris. In
a back street of that city a fire broke out at night. It was in a
narrow court, and the houses were built with the upper stories
overhanging so that the top stories almost touched. In the midst of
the night a father sleeping with his children was suddenly awakened
by the smoke. In a moment he jumped out of bed, swept away the
framework of his window, and the next moment was safe across through
the window of the opposite house. But he had forgotten the children.
When he saw their terrified faces, without a moment's hesitation he
placed his foot against the sill of the house where he was launched
his body forward and grasped the window of the burning house, thus
making himself a living bridge between the two. One by one his
children crawled over his body to the other side, but as the last one
was passing his father cried, "Quick! Quick! I can't hold out much
longer!" No sooner did the cheer of the crowds announce that the last
child was over, than the father's hold relaxed and he fell a lifeless
corpse. This is but a faint illustration of that salvation that comes
to us poor, helpless sinners through Him Who bridged the chasm, though
it cost His precious life.
The fact that Christ has bought us makes us desire to belong
to him. See the account of the beautiful mulatto girl put upon
the auction block at New Orleans. "$500, $700"-(sold)-at $2,500!
The next day the successful bidder called at the home where the
girl was a slave; and when she saw him who was now her owner she
said sadly, "I am ready to go with you." But the man replied, "I
do not want you to go with me. I bought you in order to set you
free." When the amazed girl was able to take in the meaning of
his words, she said, "Then I will be your servant forever!" So
the purchase of Christ binds us to him with the bonds of love.
John McNeill feels that Barabbas gives us the best idea of the
atonement of Jesus Christ--Christ the substitute, dying in Barabbas'
place and in our place. This man, Barabbas, has teased the minds and
imaginations of mankind through the ages. Whoever and whatever he was,
his role in the Passion was important because Christ died for him.
John Osenham has an imaginary picture of Barabbas. At first
Barabbas could think of nothing but his freedom; but then, he began to
look at the man who died for him. Something about Jesus fascinated
him, and he followed Christ to see the end. As he saw Jesus bearing
His cross, one thought burned in his mind: "I should have been
carrying that cross, not Him. He saved me!
A single verse written on paper, now yellow with age, hangs on the
wall of a nobleman's study in London. It has a remarkable history and
has, in two notable instances at least, been blessed of God to
conversion. The verse was originally composed by Dr. Valpy, the
eminent Greek scholar and author of some standard school books. He was
converted late in life and wrote this verse as a confession of faith:
In peace let me resign my breath;
And Thy salvation see;
My sins deserve eternal death,
But Jesus died for me.
On one occasion, Dr. Marsh was visiting the house of Lord Roden
where he held a Bible reading with the family. He mentioned Dr.
Valpy's conversion by way of illustration in the course of his
remarks, and recited the verse. Lord Roden was particularly struck
with the lines, wrote them out, and affixed them to the walls of his
study, where they still are. Lord Roden's hospitable mansion was often
full of visitors, among whom were many old army officers. One of these
was General Taylor, who served with distinction under Wellington at
Waterloo. He had not at that time thought much on the subject of
religion and preferred to avoid all discussion of it. But soon after
the paper was hung up he went into the study to talk with his friend
alone, and his eyes rested for a few moments upon the verse. Later in
the day, Lord Roden upon entering his study came upon the general
standing before the paper and reading it with earnest face. At another
visit the host noticed that whenever General Taylor was in the study
his eyes rested on the verse.
At length Lord Roden broke the ice by saying, "Why General, you
will soon know that verse by heart." "I know it now by heart," replied
the general, with emphasis and feeling. A change came over the
general's spirit and life. No one who was intimately acquainted with
him could doubt its reality. During the following two years he
corresponded regularly with Lord Roden about the things which
concerned his peace, always concluding his letters by quoting Dr.
Valpy's verse. At the end of that time, the physician who attended
General Taylor wrote to Lord Roden to say that his friend had departed
in peace, and that the last words which fell from his dying lips were
those which he had learned to love in his lifetime.
A young relative of the family, an officer who served in the
Crimea, also saw it but turned carelessly away. Some months later,
Lord Roden received the intelligence that his young acquaintance was
suffering from pulmonary disease, and was desirous of seeing him
without delay. As he entered the sickroom, the dying man stretched out
both hands to welcome him, at the same time repeating Dr. Valpy's
simple lines. "They have been God's message," he said, "of peace and
comfort to my heart in this illness, when brought to my memory, after
days of darkness and distress, by the Holy Ghost, the Comforter." --C.
H. Spurgeon
Christ in some way saved us by identifying Himself with us in our
suffering and misery. A faint glimpse of this is seen in the following
incident: When the king of Greece came over to this country some years
ago, one of his attendants had with him a most beautiful dog, which
during the voyage fell overboard. The master entreated the captain to
stop the ship and rescue the dog. But the captain did not deem the
matter of so much importance, and, having the king on board, refused
to stop. Quickly addressing the captain he said, Would you stop the
ship if it had been a man?!" "Certainly!" was the reply. Instantly
before any had time to hinder, he flung himself into the sea. The ship
was stopped, and not only the man but the dog too was saved--all
because the man devoted to the dog identified himself with him in his
peril and braved even death itself.
Mr. Frank Weaver, at one of the tent meetings, told the following
story: Two men, who had been friends and companions in their youth,
met in the police court, the one on the magistrate's bench, the other
in the prisoner's dock. The case was tried, and the prisoner was found
guilty. Would the judge, in consideration of their friendship years
before, forbear to pass judgment? No, he must fulfill his duty;
justice must be done; the law of the land obeyed.
He gave out the sentence--fourteen days hard labor, or a fine of 10
pounds. The condemned man had nothing with which to pay, so the prison
cell was before him. But as soon as he had pronounced the sentence,
the judge rose from the bench, threw aside his magistrate's robes,
and, stepping down to the dock, stood beside the prisoner, paid his
fine for him, and then said: "Now John, you are coming home with me to
supper."
It is just so with the sinner. God cannot overlook sin. Justice
must be done, and sentence pronounced, but Christ Himself pays the
debt, and the sinner is free. --H. F. Sayles
For several generations the Edinburgh review has carried on its cover the Latin epigram, "The Judge is condemned when the guilty is acquitted." The guilty is sometimes acquitted in human courts, but this never happens in the Divine Court. There, if man is justified, or, to put it in plain present-day English, acquitted or found not guilty, it is in strict harmony with the law of right, of justice. How, then, shall mortal man be just with God? Man is a sinner. The penalty upon sin as announced by God is death, eternal death, spiritual death; and God will by no means clear the guilty. The only way whereby God can remain Just, and still become the Justifier of the guilty, is through the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
Only the precious blood of Christ can cover our transgressions.
In Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, there is the grave of a Civil War soldier. The stone bears the date of his birth and death, and then these words: "Abraham Lincoln's substitute." In the woe and anguish of the war, realizing that thousands upon thousands were falling in his place on the field of battle, Lincoln chose to honor one particular soldier as his substitute and make him a symbol, as it were, of the fact that the soldiers who perished in battle were dying that others might live.
When you and I come to the Cross of Christ, each one of us supplying his own name, can say, "My Substitute!"
________
Lincoln's substitute was John Summerfield Staples.
When C.H. Spurgeon was under the conviction of the Holy
Spirit, he had a clear sense of the justice of God, and sin
became an intolerable burden. He didn't fear hell as much as he
despised the reality of his own wrong-doing. He said, "All the
while I had upon my mind a deep concern for the honor of God's
name and the integrity of His moral government. I felt that it
would not quiet my conscience if I could be forgiven without
justice being satisfied. But then came the question: `How can
God be just and yet justify me with all my guilt?'" Spurgeon
finally came to see that substitutionary atonement was the
answer. He said, "I believe that the doctrine of Jesus paying
for my sins is one of the surest proofs of the inspiration of
Scripture, for who would or could have thought of the just Ruler
dying for the unjust rebel?"
"Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people. \reference{Leviticus 16}{Leviticus 16}:l5
To illustrate the principle of substitution, George Sweeting, Chancellor of Moody Bible Institute, told of a series of tornadoes that devastated several communities in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Nearly 100 lives were lost.
Prior to the storm, a man named David Kostka was umpiring a Little League baseball game in Wheatland, Pennsylvania. When he saw the black funnel heading toward the field, he rushed into the stands and grabbed his niece. He pushed her into a nearby ditch and covered her with his body. Then the tornado struck. When the youngster looked up, her uncle was gone. He had given his life in the deadly storm to save her.
In an old German city there is a sight that attracts every traveler
as he passes through and brings out a very urgent and curious inquiry
from him. Away up on the peaked roofs of one of these old German
houses, if you look up you will find a marble statue of a lamb carved
and lifted up. A traveler passing through that village two or three
years ago inquired of an old resident what it could mean and he said:
"There is a curious story connected with it. When the first owner of
this house was building it, he was working away up just where you see
that object. Suddenly slipping, losing his balance, he fell from the
roof and would have been dashed to pieces except from a strange fact.
Just at that moment his pet lamb happened to be on the green grass,
and he fell with all his weight upon the lamb. It was crushed, but
when he rose, he himself was unharmed and unscratched, with not a bone
broken, and not a bruise received. He found his lamb lying there in
its blood, crushed beneath the weight of the fallen master. This is
the reason why he reared this statue of the lamb that it might be
there, a perpetual memorial of the fact that his life had been saved
by the intervention of this innocent being." --Dr. Gordon
A Roman servant, knowing that his master was to be put to death,
clothed himself in the garments of the latter that he night be taken
for him. He was taken and put to death, and his master caused a statue
of brass to be erected as a monument of gratitude for the poor
servant's fidelity and affection. In what way are we showing our
gratitude to Jesus, Who died for us when we were sinners and did not
love Him? --The Treasury
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