THE LOVE OF GOD IN CHRIST
‘Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us.’
We forget the sordid details, the anguish of the mother, the disappointment of the disciples, which surrounded and accompanied the Cross of Christ; we remember only that Incarnate Love was lifted up for the sin of the world. Upon the unbelieving world the guilt of that shameful death still rests, but for the Church the event makes for forgiveness and restoration.
I. We must be careful to understand rightly what is meant by Christ having taken away our sin by the sacrifice of Himself.—A scoffer might retort, that if that is true, why is sin such a mighty power in the world to-day? Why are selfishness and injustice as rampant as ever? We must understand that what our Lord did upon the Cross was to make satisfaction for the guilt of sin. ‘He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, nailing it to His Cross.’ He did not miraculously endow mankind with the power to avoid sin, and to be perfectly holy in the future. What He did was to make it possible for man to co-operate with God, so that he might be re-created into the Divine image, and that his moral and spiritual nature might be restored to its original righteousness. God created man free, and He left him free. In other words, He treats man as a being, with attributes similar to His own.
II. So when Christ left this earth, He did not leave His disciples comfortless—like helpless orphans bereft of their parents. He promised, and gave them the means to become holy like Himself. He fulfulled His promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit. He instituted and ordained Sacraments as pledges of His love, and as means whereby we may work together with Him, ‘to will and to do after His good pleasure.’ When we are baptized we claim our share in the blessings of the Cross of Christ. We are ‘baptized into His death.’ When we draw near with faith, and take the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, We are partakers of that spiritual medicine and food which is able to heal the sickness of body and soul. This is how Jesus saves us from the power of sin. He does it by once more making us ‘partakers of the Divine nature.’
III. Christ did not take away our sins so as to leave us no duties and no responsibilities with regard to them; He works with us as well as for us. He intends us ‘to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.’ He supplies us with the means, and he invites us to use them. Let us remember this, then, when we approach the Holy Table. If Christ saved us from the guilt of sin, He will save us, if we humbly and heartily desire it, from its power.
—Rev. C. Rhodes Hall.
Illustration
‘The day on which we celebrate this fact is a good day. It is good news to the world to know that, by the life and death of Christ, it is once more reconciled to God. Henceforth God only “looks on us as found in Him.” He sees the world represented in the love and obedience of His beloved Son. The name “Good Friday” is peculiar to the English Church. While we are indebted to other branches of Catholic Christendom of more venerable antiquity for many of the names and customs which make up the Church’s year of festival and fast, we can claim this name as specially characteristic of English Christianity.’