| Strength and Beauty |
Chapter 3 |
Page 3 |
A religion without the cross is not Christ’s religion. He did not come merely to blaze the way for us through the tangled forest, to mark out the path for our feet, or to give us an example of true living. Nor did he come merely to be a teacher, to reveal to the world the character and the will of God. He came to be a Saviour. Woven into the very fibre of the gospel, dyed into the texture of its threads, is the thought of sacrifice, of expiation. Leave out the passion, and what remains of the gospel?
There is no satisfactory solution of the mystery of the life of Christ but that which recognizes him as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. He took our nature that he might do his redemption work, cleanse our lives, purge away the guilt and foulness of our sins, and restore us to our lost place.
“He came in winter’s frost and snow
That thou shouldst warmed be!
That heavenly light should thee enfold
In midnight shades came he!
Come; meet him here, with love sincere,
For much hath he loved thee.”
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