The Cross of Christ # 3

The Cross of Christ # 3

This is the subject Paul loved to dwell upon when he wrote to believers. It is wonderful to observe how full his epistles generally are of the sufferings and death of Christ - how they run over with "thoughts that breathe and words that burn," about Christ's dying love and power. His heart seems full of the subject. He enlarges on it constantly - he returns to it continually. It is the golden thread that runs through all his doctrinal teaching and practical exhortations. He seems to think that the most advanced Christian can never hear too much about the Cross.

"Christ crucified is the sum of the Gospel, and contains all the riches of it. Paul was so much taken with Christ, that nothing sweeter than Jesus could drop from his pen and lips. It is observed that he has the word "Jesus" five hundred times in his Epistles." (Charnock).

This is what he lived upon all his life, from the time of his conversion. He tells the Galatians, "The life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Gal. 2:20). What made him so strong to labor? What made him so willing to work? What made him so unwearied in endeavoring to save some? What made him so persevering and patient? I will tell you the secret of it all. He was always feeding by faith on Christ's body and Christ's blood. Jesus crucified was the food and drink of his soul!

And we may rest assured that Paul was right. Depend upon it, the Cross of Christ - the death of Christ on the Cross to make atonement for sinners - is the center truth in the whole Bible. This is the truth we begin when we open Genesis. The seed of the woman bruising the serpent's head is nothing else but a prophecy of Christ crucified. This is the truth that shines out, though veiled, all through the law of Moses, and the history of the Jews. The daily sacrifice, the Passover lamb, the continual shedding of blood in the tabernacle and temple, all these were emblems of Christ crucified. This is the truth we see honored in the vision of heaven before we close the book of Revelation. "In the midst of the throne and of the four beasts," we are told, "and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain." (Rev. 5:6). Even in the midst of heavenly glory we get a view of Christ crucified. Take away the Cross of Christ, and the Bible is a dark book. It is like the Egyptian hieroglyphics without a key that interprets their meaning - curious and wonderful - but of no real use.

Let every reader of this paper mark what I say. You may know a good deal about the Bible. You may know the outlines of the histories it contains, and the dates of the events described. You may know of the men and women mentioned in it, and admire them. But if you have not yet found out that Christ crucified is the foundation of the whole volume, you have read your Bible hitherto to very little profit. Your religion is a heaven without a sun, an arch without a key-stone, a compass without a needle, a clock without a spring, a lamp without oil. It will not comfort you. It will not deliver your soul from hell.

Mark what I say again. You may know a good deal about Christ, by a kind of head knowledge. You may know who He was, and where He was born, and what He did. You may know His miracles, His sayings, His prophecies, and His ordinances. You may know how He lived, how He suffered, and how He died. But unless you know the power of Christ's Cross by experience - unless you know and feel within that the blood shed on that Cross has washed away your own particular sins - unless you are willing to confess that your salvation depends entirely on the work that Christ did upon the Cross - unless this be the case, Christ will profit you nothing. The mere knowing Christ's name will never save you. You must know His Cross, and His blood, or else you will die in your sins.

"If our faith stops in Christ's life, and does not fasten upon His blood, it will not be justifying faith. His miracles, which prepared the world for His doctrines, had been insufficient for us without the addition of the Cross." (Charnock).

As long as you live, beware of a religion in which there is not much of the Cross. You live in times when the warning is sadly needful. Beware, I say again, of a religion without the Cross. There are hundreds of places of worship, in this day, in which there is everything almost except the Cross. There is carved oak, and sculptured stone; there is stained glass, and brilliant paintings; there are solemn services, and a constant round of ordinances; but the real Cross of Christ is not there. Jesus is not proclaimed in the pulpit. The Lamb of God is not lifted up, and salvation by faith in Him is not freely proclaimed. And hence all is wrong. Beware of such places of worship! They are not apostolic. They would not have satisfied Paul.

"Paul determined to know nothing else but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But many manage the ministry as if they had taken up a contrary determination - even to know anything except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (Traill).

There are thousands of religious books published in our times, in which there is everything except the Cross. They are full of sacraments, and praises of the Church. They abound in exhortations about holy living, and rules for the attainment of perfection. They have plenty of fonts and crosses, both inside and outside. But the real Cross of Christ is left out. The Saviour, and His work of atonement and complete salvation, are either not mentioned, or mentioned in an unscriptural way. And hence they are worse than useless.  Beware of such books. They are not apostolic. They would never have satisfied Paul.

Paul boasted in nothing but the Cross. Strive to be like him. Set Jesus crucified fully before the eyes of your soul. Listen not to any teaching which would interpose anything between you and Him. Do not fall into the old Galatian error - think not that anyone in this day is a better guide than the apostles. Do not be ashamed of the "old paths," in which men walked who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Do not give Christ's honor to another. "He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord" (1 Cor. 1:1)

3. Let me show, lastly, why all Christians ought to boast in the Cross of Christ. I feel I must say something on this point, because of the ignorance that prevails about it. I suspect that many see no peculiar glory and beauty in the subject of Christ's Cross. On the contrary, they think it painful, humbling, and degrading. They do not see much profit in the story of His death and sufferings. They rather turn from it as an unpleasant thing.

Now I believe that such people are quite wrong. I cannot hold with them. I believe it is an excellent thing for us all to be continually dwelling on the Cross of Christ. It is a good thing to be often reminded how Jesus was betrayed into the hands of wicked men - how they condemned Him with most unjust judgment - how they spit on Him, scourged Him, beat Him, and crowned Him with thorns - how they led Him forth as a lamb to the slaughter, without His murmuring or resisting - how they drove the nails through His hands and feet, and set Him up on Calvary between two thieves - how they pierced His side with a spear, mocked Him in His sufferings, and let Him hang there naked and bleeding until He died. Of all these things, I say, it is good to be reminded. It is not for nothing that the crucifixion is descried four times over in the New Testament. There are very few things that all four writers of the Gospel describe. Generally speaking, if Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell a thing in our Lord's history, John does not tell it. But there is one thing is the story of the Cross. This is a telling fact, and not to be overlooked.

~J. C. Ryle~

(continued with # 4)