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Redemption
Salvation through Christ
Many years ago the Prince of Wales
visited the capital city of India.
A formidable barrier had been set up to keep back the masses of people
who wanted to catch a glimpse of royalty.
When the prince arrived
he shook hands with some of the political
dignitaries who were presented to him.
Then
looking over their heads to the crowds beyond
he said
"Take
down those barriers!" They
were quickly removed
and all the people
regardless of social rank
had free
access to the heir of the
Salvation by Grace
An Indian and a white man were deeply
moved by the same sermon. That very night the Indian received the Savior
but
for days the white man refused to accept Christ. At last he too repented and enjoyed the
sweet peace of having his sins forgiven.
Later he asked the Indian
"Why did it take me so long
while you
responded right away?"
"My brother
" he replied
"I can best explain it by this
little story: At one time a rich
prince wished to give each of us a new coat. You shook your head and replied
'I
don't think so; mine looks good enough.'
When he made the same offer to me
I looked at my old blanket and said
'This is good for nothing
' and I gratefully accepted the beautiful
garment. You wouldn't give up your
own righteousness. But knowing I
had no goodness of my own
I immediately received the Lord Jesus Christ and His
righteousness."
Salvation by Grace
It's Maundy Thursday
1990 and
thousands of Philippinos are re-enacting the last agony of Jesus. Barefoot
over the hot stone streets in
scorching sun
they are dragging heavy wooden crosses
flogging their bare
backs bloody with glass-studded whips
grizzly Lenten rituals in which at least
a dozen people will be nailed to crosses
seeking through pain and suffering
redemption. It is tradition
so in
a Moslem shrine in Bangledesh
a woman worshipper offering prayers extended her
arms toward one of the crocodiles which live there; it bit off her hand and
swallowed it.
People
continue to do so many odd
self-humiliating acts
not understanding how to
just receive the free gift of eternal life. Praise God
Jesus paid it all!
--Associated Press
Sacrifice
Back in the days of the Great depression a Missouri man named John Griffith
was the controller of a great railroad drawbridge across the Mississippi River.
One day in the summer of 1937 he decided to take his eight-year-old son
Greg
with him to work. At noon
John Griffith put the bridge up to allow ships to
pass and sat on the observation deck with his son to eat lunch. Time passed
quickly. Suddenly he was startled by the shrieking of a train whistle in the
distance. He quickly looked at his watch and noticed it was 1:07-the Memphis
Express
with four hundred passengers on board
was roaring toward the raised
bridge! He leaped from the observation deck and ran back to the control tower.
Just before throwing the master lever he glanced down for any ships below.
There a sight caught his eye that caused his heart to leap poundingly into his
throat. Greg had slipped from the observation deck and had fallen into the
massive gears that operate the bridge. His left leg was caught in the cogs of
the two main gears! Desperately John’ mind whirled to devise a rescue plan. But
as soon as he thought of a possibility he knew there was no way it could be
done.
Again
with alarming closeness
the train whistle shrieked in the air. He could hear
the clicking of the locomotive wheels over the tracks. That was his son down
there-yet there were four hundred passengers on the train. John knew what he
had to do
so he buried his head in his left arm and pushed the master switch
forward. The great massive bridge lowered into place just as the Memphis
Express began to roar across the river. When John Griffith lifted his head with
his face smeared with tears
he looked into the passing windows of the train.
There were businessmen casually reading their afternoon papers
finely dressed
ladies in the dining car sipping coffee
and children pushing long spoons into
their dishes of ice cream. No one looked at the control house
and no one
looked at the great gear box. With wrenching agony
John Griffith cried out at
the steel train: “I sacrificed my son for you people! Don’t you care?” The
train rushed by
but nobody heard the father’s words
which recalled
lamentations 1:12: “Is it nothing to you
all who pass by?”—Dr. D. James
Kennedy
Sacrificial
Lamb
When telling his young daughter the story of Abraham and Isaac
a father
related how God had finally told Abraham not to kill Isaac and had provided a
sacrificial lamb instead. The little girl looked up with a sad expression and
said
“I don’t like killing lambs.” The father was speechless for a moment and
then realized what traumatic and memorable events such sacrifices were. How
serious the killing of a lamb for sacrifice and how destructive the reason for
the sacrifice: sin. If the killing of a pure white lamb seems horrendous
how
immeasurably more was the crucifixion of the Lamb of God!
Consequences
of Salvation
The movie The Hanging Tree was set in a western gold-mining camp
in the late 1800s. Gary Cooper played the role of doctor for the camp. One day
a young boy was seen robbing gold from the camp. He was shot from a distance
but managed to hobble into hiding. All hands in the camp spread out to see who
would be the first to kill him for this offense. The doctor found the hurt
frightened youth. He took him into his cabin
nursed him
and removed the
bullet. After the boy regained consciousness
he inquired what the doctor would
do with him now. The doctor held the slug in the boy’s face and said
“You will
be my servant for as long as I want you to be
maybe forever
because that is
how long you would be dead if this slug had remained in you.”
That
is the length of condemnation for the slug of sin if it remains in us. The
Great Physician has already performed the surgery to remove the slug. The
painless operation of trust in him is the only requirement. It is our privilege
to be servants of the One who healed us forever
for without his healing
we
also would be dead forever.
Gift of
Salvation
A group of believers was meeting by a river when one of their group fell
into the water. It was obvious that the poor fellow couldn’t swim
as he
thrashed about wildly. One of the believers was a strong swimmer and was called
on to jump in and save the man before he drowned. But though able to save the
drowning man
he just watched until the wild struggles subsided. Then he dove
in and pulled the man to safety.
When
the rescue was over
the rescuer explained his slowness to act. “If I had
jumped in immediately
he would have been strong enough to drown us both. Only
by waiting until he was too exhausted to try to save himself
could I save
him.”
It
seems to be all too easy for us to be like that drowning man. Our self-efforts
can actually prevent us from being saved! Unfortunately
some people must reach
the point of being too exhausted to continue trying to save themselves (by
dealing with their own sin) before they become willing to trust in the Savior
and accept his gift of salvation.
Gift of
Salvation
Suppose your best friend came by one day with a special gift for you. How
would you respond? Would you immediately pull out your purse or wallet for some
money to help pay for the gift? Of course not. To do so would be a great
insult!
A
gift must be accepted for what it is-something freely given and unmerited. If
you have to pay for a gift or do something to deserve or earn it
it is not a
gift. True gifts are freely given and freely received. To attempt to give or
receive a gift in any other manner makes it not a gift.
So it
is with our salvation. God offers us salvation as a free gift. He does not
attach strings to it
because to do so makes it something other than a gift. In
addition
any attempt on our part
no matter how small
to pay for our
salvation by doing something or giving up something is an insult to God. No one
in heaven will ever be able to say
“Look at me! I made it! With a little help
from God
I made it!” Salvation is all by God. Not even the smallest part of it
is the result of what we do or do not do. As God says in his Word
“For it is
by grace you have been saved through faith-and this not from yourselves
it is
the gift of God-not by works
so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8~9
NIV).
Gift of
Salvation
The story has been told of a wealthy man who became a Christian. He tried
to reach his friends for Christ and told them
with tremendous enthusiasm
what
had happened to him
how the Lord had changed his whole life and even saved his
marriage. But he found that his words seemed to fall on deaf ears. His friends
were not interested.
Since
this man had great wealth
he developed a plan that would use this wealth to
reach his friends. First he wrote out a check for a million dollars
which
everyone knew he would easily be good for. He then visited his friends in turn
and said
“I have always highly regarded you as a friend and have wanted to do
something for you. Would you receive this check as a gift from me?”
People
would look at the check and
when they saw the amount of it
they would hand it
back and say
“I can’t take that from you.” He tried to give the check to many
of his friends
but no one would take it
although it was a valid and sincere
offer. Finally the man realized that people are not willing to receive great
gifts without having some part in it.
That
may be why some people hesitate to accept God’s offer of eternal life as a free
gift.
Gift of
Salvation
The story has been told of a missionary who became a good friend of an
Indian pearl diver. The two had spent many hours together discussing salvation
but the Indian could not understand anything so precious being free. Instead
in making preparation for the life to come
the diver was going to walk the
nine hundred miles to
Before
the left for his pilgrimage
the Indian gave the missionary the largest and
most perfect pearl he had ever seen. The missionary offered to buy it
but the
diver became upset and said that the pearl was beyond price
that his only son
had lost his life in the attempt to get it. The pearl was worth the life blood
of his son. As he said this
suddenly the diver understood that God was
offering him salvation as a priceless gift. It is so precious that no man could
buy it. It had cost God the life’s blood of his Son. The veil was lifted
he
understood at last.
Example of Substitution
A man was lost in the Alps. The owner of the lodge where he had been
staying sent out his best rescue dog to look for him. The dog found the man
half-conscious
grabbed him
and started to shake him in order to wake him up.
On coming to his senses the man
seeing the dog and thinking it was a wolf
stabbed the animal. The dog let go and returned to the lodge
where it died
shortly thereafter. The dog’s owner followed the trail of blood
came to the
lost man
and saved him. The dog had given his life so that another might live.
Example of Substitution
One day a certain farmer saw that a fire had ignited in his wheat fields
and was being blown toward his barns by the wind. To save the stored grain
there
he lit a backfire
in hopes that it would impede the progress of the
other flames. After both fires had subsided-and the barns had been saved-the
farmer walked out through the smoldering ashes of the nearby fields. There he
discovered the dead body of one of his hens
which had been caught in the
blaze. Sadly
he turned over her black
charred body with his foot-and out from
underneath ran four baby chicks. Her sacrifice saved her young ones. Such is
the work of Christ on the cross
a place where the love of God dealt with
the justice of God
where God’s
mercy matched God’s wrath. Our Lord’s sacrifice has saved us.—Attributed to
Donald Grey Barnhouse
Example of Substitution
In the winter of 1975
the Chicago Sun Times pictured a couple at
a table kissing. The caption read: “Roderick A. Hinson gets a snack and a smack
from Jacqueline Y. Nash in
Example of Substitution
In one of Billy Graham’s evangelistic films
Shiokari Pass
a
young Christian became a hero. He was working with a railroad company
far away
from his fiancée. He worked hard every day and finally the time came to go back
to his fiancée and marry her. On the way back home
just before the peak of a
steep hill
the train suddenly shook hard and stopped. When the young man went
to the front of the passenger car on which he was riding
he found that it was
disconnected from the rest of the train. It then began to roll backward down
the steep slope. Since he had worked on the railroad
he knew there was a sharp
curve behind them that the passenger car could not handle. It would be thrown
off the tracks
killing the passengers. He tried to stop the car with the hand
brake
but he failed. Our hero then remembered his favorite verse in the Bible:
“Greater love has no one than this
that one lay down his life for his
friends.” Although this man had everything to live for
he jumped on the train
tracks and stopped the passenger car with his body. He literally laid down his
life to save the lives of many.
Example of Substitution
During a war between Britain and France
men were conscripted into the
French army by a kind of lottery system. When someone’s name was drawn
he had
to go off to battle. On one occasion
the authorities came to a certain man and
told him he was among those who had been chosen. He refused to go
saying
“I
was shot and killed two years ago.” At first the officials questioned his
sanity
but he insisted that was indeed the case. He claimed that the military
records would show that he had been killed in action. “How can that be?” they
questioned. “You are alive now!” He explained that when his name first came up
a close friend said to him
“You have a large family
but I am not married and
nobody is dependent upon me. I’ll take your name and address and go in your
place.” And that is indeed what the record showed. This rather unusual case was
referred to Napoleon Bonaparte
who decided that the country had no legal claim
on that man. He was free. He had died in the person of another!
Example
of Substitution
A number of years ago
a news story told of a dramatic incident that
occurred in a small Midwestern town. The residents of this town were warned to
take cover because a tornado had been sighted. Living in this town was a young
couple with a small baby. Knowing the tornado was upon them and that they had
no time to take cover
they laid the tiny infant on the floor of their living
room and covered the baby with their own bodies. The tornado struck with
devastating force and leveled a row of homes
including theirs. The next
morning
as rescue workers were rummaging through the destroyed homes
they
heard a muffled crying. They came upon the lifeless bodies of the young couple
with their baby still safe beneath their shattered bodies.
The
gave their lives for their child. This is what Christ has done for us.
Example
of Substitution
A wise and just ruler established a series of laws for his people to
follow. One day his mother broke one of the laws and was brought to the ruler
after being caught. The penalty was twenty lashes. How could the ruler remain
just and still fulfill the demands of his love for his mother? He took the
lashes on his own back. Justice was satisfied
while love was revealed in full
measure.
Example
of Substitution
During the Civil War
a company of irregulars known as “bushwhackers” was
arrested by the Union soldiers. Because they were guerrilla fighters and not in
uniform
they were sentenced to be shot.
A
courageous young boy in the Union Army touched his commanding officer on the
arm and pleaded
“Won’t you allow me to take the place of one of the men you
have just condemned? I know him well-he has a large family who needs him badly.
My parents are dead and I have few friends. No one will miss me. Please let me
take his punishment!” The officer hesitated
but finally gave his consent.
Pulling the husband and father to one side
the young man filled his position
in the death line. On the stone that marks his grave in a little southern town
are these words: “Sacred to the memory of Willy Lear. He took my place.”
Example
of Substitution
In Dickens’s novel A Tale of Two Cities
a young French
Revolution. His punishment was based solely on his forefathers’ crimes against
the peasantry. The hour before his execution he was visited by a young English
friend who could have passed for his twin. After the guard had left
the friend
overpowered the doomed man with an anesthetic and exchanged clothes with him.
Then
pretending to be the one condemned to die
he called the jailor and asked
that his unconscious “visitor”
supposedly overcome with grief
be removed and
returned to his home. The nobleman was thus saved from death.
On
his way to the guillotine
the young Englishman spoke these final words: “It is
a far
far better thing that I do
than I have ever done…” And he comforted
himself with these words: “I am the Resurrection and the Life
saith the Lord:
he that believerth in me
though he were dead
yet shall he live” (John 11:25).
Example
of Substitution
Auschwitz was the first German concentration camp to become an
extermination camp. The gas chambers were in constant use. But because of the
great influx of new prisoners daily
the Germans began to use firing squads as well.
One
day
the commandant selected ten men from one barracks to be executed by the
firing squad. One of those selected was the father of a large family. When he
was pulled from his place in line
he fell to the ground
begging the
commandant to spare his life. The commandant was unresponsive until the man
standing next to the fallen one
a Catholic priest named Maximillian Kolbe
stepped forward to offer his life in exchange for the man on his knees.
Surprisingly
the commandant agreed to such an arrangement. But
instead of
being led away to the firing squad
Father Maximillian was thrown into a tiny
damp cell where he suffered the agonizing death of starvation. Today
Maximillian Kolbe is honored by millions of people because he died in the place
of one man.
Jesus
Christ
through an agonizing death on the cross
died not for one man
or a
few
or even several-but for all men.
Example
of Substitution
One Thanksgiving afternoon
while waiting for the expected feast
two
sisters went outside to play. Being a bit mischievous
they soon found
something that looked like fun to do
which all too soon led them to something
they had been told not to do. Their father came into the backyard and found the
evidence of their disobedience and called them to him. He explained to the
girls that they must go to their room and that neither would be allowed to eat
Thanksgiving dinner until the one who had disobeyed him confessed. The girls
went to their room.
A
while later the girls heard their mother calling them for dinner. Not knowing
what was going to happen
they went and took their usual places around the
table. The girls noticed that their father was not seated at the table as usual
and asked
“Where is Daddy?”
The
mother replied
“Daddy said that you girls could not eat Thanksgiving dinner
with us today until one of you came to him and confessed your disobedience.
Since neither of you came
Daddy decided that he would take your punishment
himself-and so he will not be eating Thanksgiving dinner with us today.”
Extent of Atonement
To
say that Christ redeemed men at the cross but did not also purchase for them
the ability to believe would be like a man promising to give a thousand dollars
to a blind man upon condition that he will open his eyes and see—which he knows
full well the blind man cannot do.
Governmental View of
Atonement
In
a certain community in England
someone had been stealing sheep. The forces of
the law were unable to apprehend the thief. A certain farmer was brought before
the judge and accused of being the thief
but he established his innocence of
any connection with the offense
beyond the shadow of a doubt. Thereupon the
judge said
“You are an innocent man
but someone has been stealing sheep. I
must show to this community what the law would do to a sheep thief.” Then the
judge committed the innocent man to a period of incarceration
“to uphold
public justice.” But what justice! ―― James O. Buswell
Redemption
A pastor of a
church in Boston met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty
cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. The pastor inquired
“Son
where did you get those birds?”
“I tapped them out in the
field
” the boy replied.
“What are you going to do
with them?”
“I’m going to play with
them
and then I guess I’ll just feed them to an old cat we have at home.”
When the pastor offered to
buy them
the lad exclaimed
“Mister
you don’t want them
they’re just little
old wild birds and can’t sing very well.”
The pastor replied. “I’ll
give you two dollars for the cage and the birds.”
“Okay
it’s a deal
but
you’re making a bad bargain.”
The exchange was made
and
the boy went away whistling
happy with his shiny coins. The pastor walked
around to the back of the church property
opened the door of the small wire
cage
and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue.
The next Sunday he took
the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate Christ’s coming to
seek and to save those who-like the birds-were destined for destruction. The
difference was that Christ had to purchase our freedom with his own life.
Redemption
The story has
been told of an orphaned boy who was living with his grandmother when their
house caught fire. The grandmother
trying to get upstairs to rescue the boy
died in the flames. The boy’s cries for help were finally answered by a man who
climbed an iron drain pipe and came down with the boy hanging tightly to his
neck.
Several weeks later
a
public hearing was held to determine who would receive custody of the child. A
farmer
a teacher
and the town’s wealthiest citizen all gave the reasons they
felt they should be chosen to give the boy a home. As they talked
the lad’s
eyes remained focused on the floor.
Then a stranger walked to
the front and slowly took his hands from his pockets
revealing scars on them.
As the crowd gasped
the boy cried out in recognition. This was the man who had
saved his life and whose hands had been burned when he climbed the hot pipe.
With a leap the boy threw his arms around the man’s neck and held on for dear
life. The other men silently walked away
leaving the boy and his rescuer
alone. Those marred hands had settled the issue.
Redemption
There was a
young boy who lived in a New England seaport and loved to watch the boats come
in from their daily catch. One day he decided to build a little sailboat all of
his own. He worked for weeks
making sure each detail was just right. Finally
the big day arrived. He went down to the wharf and proudly put his boat into
the water. As he triumphantly observed his new sailboat
he noticed that the
wind had suddenly changed
and the tiny boat was being swept out of sight. The
little boy was heartbroken. Every day for a month he went back to see if his
boat had been washed up on shore.
Finally
one day in the
market he saw his boat in a store window. He excitedly ran into the store and
told the proprietress that it was his boat. The woman only responded by saying
that the boat would cost him two dollars. After pleading with her to no avail
the boy finally pulled out the money and gave it to the storeowner. As the boy
was leaving the store
he said
“Little boat
you are twice mine. You are mine
because I made you
and now you are mine because I bought you.”
Redemption
One of the
clearest contemporary examples of what redemption means is found in “green
stamps.” Certain stores give you so many trading stamps for each dollar you
spend at their store. You save up the stamps
and when you have enough
you can
go to a redemption center and trade in stamps for something you want.
This transaction has two
parts: purchasing the right of redemption and then claiming your merchandise.
You buy the right of redemption when you make your original purchase and the
store gives you the stamps as a token. Later you take the stamps to the
redemption center and use them to claim something you want. Those items you
redeem are not free
because in reality you already paid the price for them
when you made your original purchase.
In the same way
God-by
Christ’s blood-has already purchased us from the power of sin
and we are
redeemed. Yet God does not come for his merchandise immediately. Instead
he
has given us a token of our redemption
the Holy Spirit. So we have redemption:
the forgiveness of sin.
Salvation through Christ
Many years ago the Prince of Wales visited the capital
city of India. A formidable barrier
had been set up to keep back the masses of people who wanted to catch a glimpse
of royalty. When the prince
arrived
he shook hands with some of the political dignitaries who were
presented to him. Then
looking
over their heads to the crowds beyond
he said
"Take down those
barriers!" They were quickly
removed
and all the people
regardless of social rank
had free access to the
heir of the
Salvation by Grace
An Indian and a white man were deeply moved by the same
sermon. That very night the Indian received the Savior
but for days the white
man refused to accept Christ. At
last he too repented and enjoyed the sweet peace of having his sins
forgiven. Later he asked the
Indian
"Why did it take me so long
while you responded right
away?" "My brother
" he replied
"I can best explain it by this little story: At one time a rich prince wished to give
each of us a new coat. You shook
your head and replied
'I don't think so; mine looks good enough.' When he made the same offer to me
I
looked at my old blanket and said
'This is good for nothing
' and I gratefully
accepted the beautiful garment. You
wouldn't give up your own righteousness.
But knowing I had no goodness of my own
I immediately received the Lord
Jesus Christ and His righteousness." ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Salvation by Grace
It's Maundy Thursday
1990 and thousands of Philippinos
are re-enacting the last agony of Jesus.
Barefoot
over the hot stone streets in scorching sun
they are dragging
heavy wooden crosses
flogging their bare backs bloody with glass-studded
whips
grizzly Lenten rituals in which at least a dozen people will be nailed
to crosses
seeking through pain and suffering
redemption. It is tradition
so in a Moslem shrine
in Bangledesh
a woman worshipper offering prayers extended her arms toward one
of the crocodiles which live there; it bit off her hand and swallowed it.
People continue to do so many odd
self-humiliating acts
not understanding how to just receive the free gift of eternal life. Praise
God
Jesus paid it all! -- Associated Press
Sacrifice
Back in
the days of the Great depression a Missouri man named John Griffith was the
controller of a great railroad drawbridge across the Mississippi River. One day
in the summer of 1937 he decided to take his eight-year-old son
Greg
with him
to work. At noon
John Griffith put the bridge up to allow ships to pass and
sat on the observation deck with his son to eat lunch. Time passed quickly.
Suddenly he was startled by the shrieking of a train whistle in the distance.
He quickly looked at his watch and noticed it was 1:07-the Memphis Express
with four hundred passengers on board
was roaring toward the raised bridge! He
leaped from the observation deck and ran back to the control tower. Just before
throwing the master lever he glanced down for any ships below. There a sight
caught his eye that caused his heart to leap poundingly into his throat. Greg
had slipped from the observation deck and had fallen into the massive gears
that operate the bridge. His left leg was caught in the cogs of the two main gears!
Desperately John’ mind whirled to devise a rescue plan. But as soon as he
thought of a possibility he knew there was no way it could be done.
Again
with alarming closeness
the train whistle shrieked in the air. He could hear
the clicking of the locomotive wheels over the tracks. That was his son down
there-yet there were four hundred passengers on the train. John knew what he
had to do
so he buried his head in his left arm and pushed the master switch
forward. The great massive bridge lowered into place just as the Memphis
Express began to roar across the river. When John Griffith lifted his head with
his face smeared with tears
he looked into the passing windows of the train.
There were businessmen casually reading their afternoon papers
finely dressed
ladies in the dining car sipping coffee
and children pushing long spoons into
their dishes of ice cream. No one looked at the control house
and no one
looked at the great gear box. With wrenching agony
John Griffith cried out at
the steel train: “I sacrificed my son for you people! Don’t you care?” The
train rushed by
but nobody heard the father’s words
which recalled
lamentations 1:12: “Is it nothing to you
all who pass by?”— Dr. D. James
Kennedy
Sacrificial
Lamb
When
telling his young daughter the story of Abraham and Isaac
a father related how
God had finally told Abraham not to kill Isaac and had provided a sacrificial
lamb instead. The little girl looked up with a sad expression and said
“I
don’t like killing lambs.” The father was speechless for a moment and then
realized what traumatic and memorable events such sacrifices were. How serious
the killing of a lamb for sacrifice and how destructive the reason for the
sacrifice: sin. If the killing of a pure white lamb seems horrendous
how immeasurably
more was the crucifixion of the Lamb of God! ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Consequences
of Salvation
The movie
The Hanging Tree was set in a western gold-mining camp in the late
1800s. Gary Cooper played the role of doctor for the camp. One day
a young boy
was seen robbing gold from the camp. He was shot from a distance but managed to
hobble into hiding. All hands in the camp spread out to see who would be the
first to kill him for this offense. The doctor found the hurt
frightened
youth. He took him into his cabin
nursed him
and removed the bullet. After
the boy regained consciousness
he inquired what the doctor would do with him
now. The doctor held the slug in the boy’s face and said
“You will be my
servant for as long as I want you to be
maybe forever
because that is how
long you would be dead if this slug had remained in you.”
That is
the length of condemnation for the slug of sin if it remains in us. The Great
Physician has already performed the surgery to remove the slug. The painless
operation of trust in him is the only requirement. It is our privilege to be
servants of the One who healed us forever
for without his healing
we also
would be dead forever.
── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Gift of
Salvation
A group
of believers was meeting by a river when one of their group fell into the
water. It was obvious that the poor fellow couldn’t swim
as he thrashed about
wildly. One of the believers was a strong swimmer and was called on to jump in
and save the man before he drowned. But though able to save the drowning man
he just watched until the wild struggles subsided. Then he dove in and pulled
the man to safety.
When the
rescue was over
the rescuer explained his slowness to act. “If I had jumped in
immediately
he would have been strong enough to drown us both. Only by waiting
until he was too exhausted to try to save himself
could I save him.”
It seems
to be all too easy for us to be like that drowning man. Our self-efforts can
actually prevent us from being saved! Unfortunately
some people must reach the
point of being too exhausted to continue trying to save themselves (by dealing
with their own sin) before they become willing to trust in the Savior and
accept his gift of salvation.
── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Gift of
Salvation
Suppose
your best friend came by one day with a special gift for you. How would you
respond? Would you immediately pull out your purse or wallet for some money to
help pay for the gift? Of course not. To do so would be a great insult!
A gift
must be accepted for what it is-something freely given and unmerited. If you
have to pay for a gift or do something to deserve or earn it
it is not a gift.
True gifts are freely given and freely received. To attempt to give or receive
a gift in any other manner makes it not a gift.
So it is
with our salvation. God offers us salvation as a free gift. He does not attach
strings to it
because to do so makes it something other than a gift. In addition
any attempt on our part
no matter how small
to pay for our salvation by doing
something or giving up something is an insult to God. No one in heaven will
ever be able to say
“Look at me! I made it! With a little help from God
I
made it!” Salvation is all by God. Not even the smallest part of it is the
result of what we do or do not do. As God says in his Word
“For it is by grace
you have been saved through faith-and this not from yourselves
it is the gift
of God-not by works
so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8~9
NIV). ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Gift of
Salvation
The story
has been told of a wealthy man who became a Christian. He tried to reach his
friends for Christ and told them
with tremendous enthusiasm
what had happened
to him
how the Lord had changed his whole life and even saved his marriage.
But he found that his words seemed to fall on deaf ears. His friends were not
interested.
Since
this man had great wealth
he developed a plan that would use this wealth to
reach his friends. First he wrote out a check for a million dollars
which
everyone knew he would easily be good for. He then visited his friends in turn
and said
“I have always highly regarded you as a friend and have wanted to do
something for you. Would you receive this check as a gift from me?”
People
would look at the check and
when they saw the amount of it
they would hand it
back and say
“I can’t take that from you.” He tried to give the check to many
of his friends
but no one would take it
although it was a valid and sincere
offer. Finally the man realized that people are not willing to receive great
gifts without having some part in it.
That may
be why some people hesitate to accept God’s offer of eternal life as a free
gift. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Gift of
Salvation
The story
has been told of a missionary who became a good friend of an Indian pearl
diver. The two had spent many hours together discussing salvation
but the
Indian could not understand anything so precious being free. Instead
in making
preparation for the life to come
the diver was going to walk the nine hundred
miles to
Before
the left for his pilgrimage
the Indian gave the missionary the largest and
most perfect pearl he had ever seen. The missionary offered to buy it
but the
diver became upset and said that the pearl was beyond price
that his only son
had lost his life in the attempt to get it. The pearl was worth the life blood
of his son. As he said this
suddenly the diver understood that God was
offering him salvation as a priceless gift. It is so precious that no man could
buy it. It had cost God the life’s blood of his Son. The veil was lifted
he
understood at last.
── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Example of Substitution
A man was
lost in the Alps. The owner of the lodge where he had been staying sent out his
best rescue dog to look for him. The dog found the man half-conscious
grabbed
him
and started to shake him in order to wake him up. On coming to his senses
the man
seeing the dog and thinking it was a wolf
stabbed the animal. The dog
let go and returned to the lodge
where it died shortly thereafter. The dog’s
owner followed the trail of blood
came to the lost man
and saved him. The dog
had given his life so that another might live. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Example of Substitution
One day a
certain farmer saw that a fire had ignited in his wheat fields
and was being
blown toward his barns by the wind. To save the stored grain there
he lit a
backfire
in hopes that it would impede the progress of the other flames. After
both fires had subsided-and the barns had been saved-the farmer walked out
through the smoldering ashes of the nearby fields. There he discovered the dead
body of one of his hens
which had been caught in the blaze. Sadly
he turned
over her black
charred body with his foot-and out from underneath ran four
baby chicks. Her sacrifice saved her young ones. Such is the work of Christ on
the cross
a place where the love of God dealt with the justice of God
where God’s mercy
matched God’s wrath. Our Lord’s sacrifice has saved us.— Attributed to Donald
Grey Barnhouse
Example of Substitution
In the
winter of 1975
the Chicago Sun Times pictured a couple at a table
kissing. The caption read: “Roderick A. Hinson gets a snack and a smack from
Jacqueline Y. Nash in
Example of Substitution
In one of
Billy Graham’s evangelistic films
Shiokari Pass
a young Christian
became a hero. He was working with a railroad company
far away from his
fiancée. He worked hard every day and finally the time came to go back to his
fiancée and marry her. On the way back home
just before the peak of a steep
hill
the train suddenly shook hard and stopped. When the young man went to the
front of the passenger car on which he was riding
he found that it was
disconnected from the rest of the train. It then began to roll backward down
the steep slope. Since he had worked on the railroad
he knew there was a sharp
curve behind them that the passenger car could not handle. It would be thrown
off the tracks
killing the passengers. He tried to stop the car with the hand
brake
but he failed. Our hero then remembered his favorite verse in the Bible:
“Greater love has no one than this
that one lay down his life for his
friends.” Although this man had everything to live for
he jumped on the train
tracks and stopped the passenger car with his body. He literally laid down his
life to save the lives of many.
── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Example of Substitution
During a
war between Britain and France
men were conscripted into the French army by a
kind of lottery system. When someone’s name was drawn
he had to go off to
battle. On one occasion
the authorities came to a certain man and told him he
was among those who had been chosen. He refused to go
saying
“I was shot and
killed two years ago.” At first the officials questioned his sanity
but he
insisted that was indeed the case. He claimed that the military records would
show that he had been killed in action. “How can that be?” they questioned.
“You are alive now!” He explained that when his name first came up
a close
friend said to him
“You have a large family
but I am not married and nobody
is dependent upon me. I’ll take your name and address and go in your place.”
And that is indeed what the record showed. This rather unusual case was
referred to Napoleon Bonaparte
who decided that the country had no legal claim
on that man. He was free. He had died in the person of another! ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Example
of Substitution
A number
of years ago
a news story told of a dramatic incident that occurred in a small
Midwestern town. The residents of this town were warned to take cover because a
tornado had been sighted. Living in this town was a young couple with a small
baby. Knowing the tornado was upon them and that they had no time to take
cover
they laid the tiny infant on the floor of their living room and covered
the baby with their own bodies. The tornado struck with devastating force and
leveled a row of homes
including theirs. The next morning
as rescue workers
were rummaging through the destroyed homes
they heard a muffled crying. They
came upon the lifeless bodies of the young couple
with their baby still safe
beneath their shattered bodies.
The gave
their lives for their child. This is what Christ has done for us. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Example
of Substitution
A wise
and just ruler established a series of laws for his people to follow. One day
his mother broke one of the laws and was brought to the ruler after being
caught. The penalty was twenty lashes. How could the ruler remain just and
still fulfill the demands of his love for his mother? He took the lashes on his
own back. Justice was satisfied
while love was revealed in full measure. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Example
of Substitution
During
the Civil War
a company of irregulars known as “bushwhackers” was arrested by
the Union soldiers. Because they were guerrilla fighters and not in uniform
they were sentenced to be shot.
A
courageous young boy in the Union Army touched his commanding officer on the
arm and pleaded
“Won’t you allow me to take the place of one of the men you
have just condemned? I know him well-he has a large family who needs him badly.
My parents are dead and I have few friends. No one will miss me. Please let me
take his punishment!” The officer hesitated
but finally gave his consent.
Pulling the husband and father to one side
the young man filled his position
in the death line. On the stone that marks his grave in a little southern town
are these words: “Sacred to the memory of Willy Lear. He took my place.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Example
of Substitution
In
Dickens’s novel A Tale of Two Cities
a young French Revolution. His
punishment was based solely on his forefathers’ crimes against the peasantry.
The hour before his execution he was visited by a young English friend who
could have passed for his twin. After the guard had left
the friend overpowered
the doomed man with an anesthetic and exchanged clothes with him. Then
pretending to be the one condemned to die
he called the jailor and asked that
his unconscious “visitor”
supposedly overcome with grief
be removed and
returned to his home. The nobleman was thus saved from death.
On his
way to the guillotine
the young Englishman spoke these final words: “It is a
far
far better thing that I do
than I have ever done…” And he comforted
himself with these words: “I am the Resurrection and the Life
saith the Lord:
he that believerth in me
though he were dead
yet shall he live” (John 11:25). ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Example
of Substitution
Auschwitz
was the first German concentration camp to become an extermination camp. The
gas chambers were in constant use. But because of the great influx of new
prisoners daily
the Germans began to use firing squads as well.
One day
the commandant selected ten men from one barracks to be executed by the firing
squad. One of those selected was the father of a large family. When he was
pulled from his place in line
he fell to the ground
begging the commandant to
spare his life. The commandant was unresponsive until the man standing next to
the fallen one
a Catholic priest named Maximillian Kolbe
stepped forward to
offer his life in exchange for the man on his knees. Surprisingly
the
commandant agreed to such an arrangement. But
instead of being led away to the
firing squad
Father Maximillian was thrown into a tiny damp cell where he
suffered the agonizing death of starvation. Today
Maximillian Kolbe is honored
by millions of people because he died in the place of one man.
Jesus
Christ
through an agonizing death on the cross
died not for one man
or a
few
or even several-but for all men. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Example
of Substitution
One
Thanksgiving afternoon
while waiting for the expected feast
two sisters went
outside to play. Being a bit mischievous
they soon found something that looked
like fun to do
which all too soon led them to something they had been told not
to do. Their father came into the backyard and found the evidence of their
disobedience and called them to him. He explained to the girls that they must
go to their room and that neither would be allowed to eat Thanksgiving dinner
until the one who had disobeyed him confessed. The girls went to their room.
A while
later the girls heard their mother calling them for dinner. Not knowing what
was going to happen
they went and took their usual places around the table.
The girls noticed that their father was not seated at the table as usual and
asked
“Where is Daddy?”
The
mother replied
“Daddy said that you girls could not eat Thanksgiving dinner
with us today until one of you came to him and confessed your disobedience.
Since neither of you came
Daddy decided that he would take your punishment
himself-and so he will not be eating Thanksgiving dinner with us today.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Extent of Atonement
To say that Christ redeemed
men at the cross but did not also purchase for them the ability to believe
would be like a man promising to give a thousand dollars to a blind man upon
condition that he will open his eyes and see—which he knows full well the blind
man cannot do. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Governmental View of
Atonement
In a certain community in
England
someone had been stealing sheep. The forces of the law were unable to
apprehend the thief. A certain farmer was brought before the judge and accused
of being the thief
but he established his innocence of any connection with the
offense
beyond the shadow of a doubt. Thereupon the judge said
“You are an
innocent man
but someone has been stealing sheep. I must show to this
community what the law would do to a sheep thief.” Then the judge committed the
innocent man to a period of incarceration
“to uphold public justice.” But what
justice! ―― James O. Buswell
Redemption
A pastor of a church in
Boston met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which
several birds fluttered nervously. The pastor inquired
“Son
where did you get
those birds?”
“I tapped them out in the
field
” the boy replied.
“What are you going to do
with them?”
“I’m going to play with
them
and then I guess I’ll just feed them to an old cat we have at home.”
When the pastor offered to
buy them
the lad exclaimed
“Mister
you don’t want them
they’re just little
old wild birds and can’t sing very well.”
The pastor replied. “I’ll
give you two dollars for the cage and the birds.”
“Okay
it’s a deal
but
you’re making a bad bargain.”
The exchange was made
and
the boy went away whistling
happy with his shiny coins. The pastor walked
around to the back of the church property
opened the door of the small wire
cage
and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue.
The next Sunday he took
the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate Christ’s coming to
seek and to save those who-like the birds-were destined for destruction. The
difference was that Christ had to purchase our freedom with his own life. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Redemption
The story has been told of
an orphaned boy who was living with his grandmother when their house caught
fire. The grandmother
trying to get upstairs to rescue the boy
died in the
flames. The boy’s cries for help were finally answered by a man who climbed an
iron drain pipe and came down with the boy hanging tightly to his neck.
Several weeks later
a
public hearing was held to determine who would receive custody of the child. A
farmer
a teacher
and the town’s wealthiest citizen all gave the reasons they
felt they should be chosen to give the boy a home. As they talked
the lad’s
eyes remained focused on the floor.
Then a stranger walked to
the front and slowly took his hands from his pockets
revealing scars on them.
As the crowd gasped
the boy cried out in recognition. This was the man who had
saved his life and whose hands had been burned when he climbed the hot pipe.
With a leap the boy threw his arms around the man’s neck and held on for dear
life. The other men silently walked away
leaving the boy and his rescuer
alone. Those marred hands had settled the issue. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Redemption
There was a young boy who
lived in a New England seaport and loved to watch the boats come in from their
daily catch. One day he decided to build a little sailboat all of his own. He
worked for weeks
making sure each detail was just right. Finally the big day
arrived. He went down to the wharf and proudly put his boat into the water. As
he triumphantly observed his new sailboat
he noticed that the wind had
suddenly changed
and the tiny boat was being swept out of sight. The little
boy was heartbroken. Every day for a month he went back to see if his boat had
been washed up on shore.
Finally
one day in the
market he saw his boat in a store window. He excitedly ran into the store and
told the proprietress that it was his boat. The woman only responded by saying
that the boat would cost him two dollars. After pleading with her to no avail
the boy finally pulled out the money and gave it to the storeowner. As the boy
was leaving the store
he said
“Little boat
you are twice mine. You are mine
because I made you
and now you are mine because I bought you.” ── Michael P.
Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Redemption
One of the clearest
contemporary examples of what redemption means is found in “green stamps.”
Certain stores give you so many trading stamps for each dollar you spend at
their store. You save up the stamps
and when you have enough
you can go to a
redemption center and trade in stamps for something you want.
This transaction has two
parts: purchasing the right of redemption and then claiming your merchandise.
You buy the right of redemption when you make your original purchase and the
store gives you the stamps as a token. Later you take the stamps to the
redemption center and use them to claim something you want. Those items you
redeem are not free
because in reality you already paid the price for them
when you made your original purchase.
In the same way
God-by
Christ’s blood-has already purchased us from the power of sin
and we are
redeemed. Yet God does not come for his merchandise immediately. Instead
he
has given us a token of our redemption
the Holy Spirit. So we have redemption:
the forgiveness of sin. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Crucifixion
The unnatural position used
in crucifixion made every movement painful; the lacerated veins and crushed
tendons throbbed with incessant anguish; the wounds
inflamed by exposure
gradually gangrened; the arteries—especially at the head and stomach—became
swollen and oppressed with surcharged blood; and while each variety of misery
went on gradually increasing
there was added to them the intolerable pang of a
burning and raging thirst; and all these physical complications caused an
internal excitement and anxiety
which made the prospect of death itself—of
death
the unknown enemy
at whose approach man usually shudders most—bear the
aspect of a delicious and exquisite release. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
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. 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."
J. Allan Peterson.
The government of Polish Prime
Minister Jaruzelski had ordered crucifixes removed from classroom walls
just
as they had been banned in factories
hospitals
and other public institutions.
Catholic bishops attacked the ban that had stirred waves of anger and
resentment all across Poland. Ultimately the government relented
insisting
that the law remain on the books
but agreeing not to press for removal of the
crucifixes
particularly in the schoolrooms.
But one zealous Communist school
administrator in Garwolin decided that the law was the law. So one evening he
had seven large crucifixes removed from lecture halls where they had hung since
the school's founding in the twenties. Days later
a group of parents entered
the school and hung more crosses. The administrator promptly had these taken
down as well.
The next day two-thirds of the
school's six hundred students staged a sit-in. When heavily armed riot police
arrived
the students were forced into the streets. Then they marched
crucifixes held high
to a nearby church where they were joined by twenty-five
hundred other students from nearby schools for a morning of prayer in support of
the protest. Soldiers surrounded the church. But the pictures from inside of
students holding crosses high above their heads flashed around the world. So
did the words of the priest who delivered the message to the weeping
congregation that morning. "There is no Poland without a
cross."
Chuck Colson
Kingdoms in Conflict
pp. 202-3.
Alila stood on the beach holding her
tiny infant son close to her heart. Tears welled in her eyes as she began
slowly walking toward the river's edge. She stepped into the water
silently
making her way out until she was waist deep
the water gently lapping at the
sleeping baby's feet. She stood there for a long time holding the child tightly
as she stared out across the river. Then all of a sudden in one quick movement
she threw the six month old baby to his watery death.
Native missionary M.V. Varghese often
witnesses among the crowds who gather at the Ganges. It was he who came upon
Alila that day kneeling in the sand crying uncontrollably and beating her
breast. With compassion he knelt down next to her and asked her what was wrong.
Through her sobs she told him
"The problems in my home are too many and my sins are heavy on my heart
so I offered the best I have to the goddess Ganges
my first born son."
Brother Varghese's heart ached for the desperate woman. As she wept he gently
began to tell her about the love of Jesus and that through Him her sins could
be forgiven. She looked at him strangely. "I have never heard that
before
" she replied through her tears. "Why couldn't you have come
thirty minutes earlier? If you did
my child would not have had to die."
Each year millions of people come to
the holy Indian city of Hardwar to bathe in the River Ganges. These multitudes
come believing this Hindu ritual will wash their sins away. For many people
like Alila
missionaries are arriving too late
simply because there aren't
enough of these faithful brothers and sisters on the mission field.
Christianity Today
1993.
During the Middle Ages there was a
popular story which circulated about Martin of Tours
the saint for whom Martin
Luther was named. It was said that Satan once appeared to St Martin in the
guise of the Savior himself. St. Martin was ready to fall to his feet and
worship this resplendent being of glory and light. Then
suddenly
he looked up
into the palms of his hands and asked
"Where are the nail prints?"
Whereupon the apparition vanished.
Source Unknown.
Theologians tell a story to illustrate
how Christ's triumph presently benefits our lives: Imagine a city under siege.
The enemy that surrounds they city will not let anyone or anything leave.
Supplies are running low
and the citizens are fearful. But in the dark of the
night
a spy sneaks through the enemy lines. He has rushed to the city to tell the
people that in another place the main enemy force has been defeated; the
leaders have already surrendered. The people do not need to be afraid. It is
only a matter of time until the besieging troops receive the news and lay down
their weapons. Similarly
we may seem now to be surrounded by the forces of
evil -- disease
injustice
oppression
death. But the enemy has actually been
defeated at Calvary. Things are not the way they seem to be. It is only a
matter of time until it becomes clear to all that the battle is really
over.
Richard J. Mouw
Uncommon Decency
pp. 149-150.
For family devotions
Martin Luther
once read the account of Abraham offering Isaac on the altar in Genesis 22. His
wife
Katie
said
"I do not believe it. God would not have treated his
son like that!" "But
Katie
" Luther replied
"He
did."
W. Wiersbe
The Wycliffe Handbook
of Preaching & Preachers
p. 191.
Mahatma Gandhi is fasting to protest
the riot killings that followed the partition that created Hindu India and Moslem
Pakistan in 1947. A fellow Hindu approaches to confess a great wrong. "I
killed a child
" says the distraught man. "I smashed his head against
a wall." "Why?" asks the Mahatma (Hindu for "Great
Soul"). "They killed my boy. The Moslems killed my son." "I
know a way out of hell
" says Gandhi. "Find a child
a little boy
whose mother and father have been killed
and raise him as your own. Only be
sure he is a Moslem--and that you raise him as one."
Reader's Digest
February 1992
p. 106.
In his book Written In Blood
Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood
transfusion. The doctor explained that she had the same disease the boy had
recovered from two years earlier. Her only chance for recovery was a
transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease. Since the
two children had the same rare blood type
the boy was the ideal donor.
"Would you give your blood to
Mary?" the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to
tremble. Then he smiled and said
"Sure
for my sister." Soon the two
children were wheeled into the hospital room--Mary
pale and thin; Johnny
robust and healthy. Neither spoke
but when their eyes met
Johnny grinned. As
the nurse inserted the needle into his arm
Johnny's smile faded. He watched
the blood flow through the tube. With the ordeal almost over
his voice
slightly shaky
broke the silence. "Doctor
when do I die?'
Only then did the doctor realize why
Johnny had hesitated
why his lip had trembled when he'd agreed to donate his
blood. He's thought giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life. In
that brief moment
he'd made his great decision. Johnny
fortunately
didn't
have to die to save his sister. Each of us
however
has a condition more
serious than Mary's
and it required Jesus to give not just His blood but His
life.
Thomas Lindberg.
God requires satisfaction because He
is holiness
but He makes satisfaction because He is love.
A.H. Strong.
Em Griffin writes
in Making
Friends
about three kinds of London maps: The street map
the map
depicting throughways
and the underground map of the subway. "Each map is
accurate and correct
" he writes
"but each map does not give the
complete picture. To see the whole
the three maps must be printed one on top
of each other. However
that is often confusing
so I use only one 'layer' at a
time.
"It is the same with the words
used to describe the death of Jesus Christ. Each word
like redemption
reconciliation
or justification
is accurate and correct
but each word does
not give the complete picture. To see the whole we need to place one 'layer'
one top of the other
but that is sometimes confusing--we cannot see the trees
for the whole! So we separate out each splendid concept and discover that the
whole is more than the sum of its parts."
John Ross.
Who can estimate the value of God's
gift
when He gave to the world His only begotten Son! It is something
unspeakable and incomprehensible. It passes man's understanding. Two things
there are which man has no arithmetic to reckon
and no line to measure. One of
these things is the extent of that man's loss who loses his own soul. The other
is the extent of God's gift when he gave Christ to sinners...Sin must indeed be
exceeding sinful
when the Father must needs give His only Son to be the
sinner's Friend!
J.C. Ryle
Foundations of Faith.
"laid on him the iniquity of us
all" (Isa. 53:6). Commenting on this verse Martin Luther wrote: "All
the prophets did foresee in Spirit that Christ should become the greatest
transgressor
murderer
adulterer
thief
rebel
blasphemer
etc.
that ever
was or could be in all the world. For he
being made a sacrifice for the sins
of the whole world is not now an innocent person and without sins...but a
sinner." He was
of course
talking about the imputing of our wrongdoing
to Christ as our substitute.
Luther continues: "Our most
merciful Father...sent his only Son into the world and laid upon him...the sins
of all men saying: Be thou Peter that denier; Paul that persecutor
blasphemer
and cruel oppressor; David that adulterer; that sinner which did eat the apple
in Paradise; that thief which hanged upon the cross; and briefly be thou the
person which hath committed the sins of all men; see therefore that thou pay
and satisfy for them. Here now comes the law and saith: I find him a
sinner...therefore let him die upon the cross. And so he setteth upon him and
killeth him. By this means the whole world is purged and cleansed from all
sins."
The presentation of the death of
Christ as the substitute exhibits the love of the cross more richly
fully
gloriously
and glowingly than any other account of it. Luther saw this and
gloried in it. He once wrote to a friend: "Learn to know Christ and him
crucified. Learn to sing to him
and say
'Lord Jesus
you are my
righteousness
I am your sin. You have taken upon yourself what is mine and
given me what is yours. You became what you were not
so that I might become
what I was not.'" What a great and wonderful exchange! Was there
ever such love?
James Packer
Your Father Loves You
Harold Shaw Publishers
1986.
We trample the blood of the Son of God
if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only
explanation for the forgiveness of God and for the unfathomable depth of His
forgetting is the death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the outcome
of our personal realization of the atonement which He has worked out for us. It
does not matter who or what we are; there is absolute reinstatement into God by
the death of Jesus Christ and by no other way
not because Jesus Christ pleads
but because He died. It is not earned
but accepted. All the pleading which
deliberately refuses to recognize the Cross is of no avail; it is battering at
a door other than the one that Jesus has opened. Our Lord does not pretend we
are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement is a propitiation whereby
God
through the death of Jesus
makes an unholy man holy.
Oswald Chambers.
In evil long I took delight
Unawed by shame or fear
Till a new object struck my sight
And stopp'd my wild career:
I saw One hanging on a Tree
In agonies and blood
Who fix'd His languid eyes on me.
As near His Cross I stood.
Sure never till my latest breath
Can I forget that look:
It seem'd to charge me with His death
Though not a word He spoke:
My conscience felt and own'd the guilt
And plunged me in despair:
I saw my sins His Blood had spilt
And help'd to nail Him there.
Alas! I knew not what I did!
But now my tears are vain:
Where shall my trembling soul be hid?
For I the Lord have slain!
A second look He gave
which said
"I freely all forgive;
This blood is for thy ransom paid;
I die that thou may'st live."
Thus
while His death my sin displays
In all its blackest hue
Such is the mystery of grace
It seals my pardon too.
With pleasing grief
and mournful joy
My spirit now if fill'd
That I should such a life destroy
Yet live by Him I kill'd!
John Newton
1725-1807.
Jesus Christ
our blessed Savior
Turned away God's wrath forever;
By His better grief and woe
He saved us from the evil foe.
Christ says: 'Come
all ye that labor
And receive My grace and favor';
They who feel no want nor ill
Need no physician's help nor skill.
As His pledge of love undying
He this precious food supplying
Gives His body with the bread
And with the wine the blood He shed.
Praise the Father
who from heaven
Unto us such food hath given
And
to mend what we have done
Gave unto death His only Son.
If thy heart this truth professes
And thy mouth thy sin confesses
His dear guest thou here shalt be
And Christ Himself shall banquet thee.
John Huss
A story told by Paul Lee Tan
illustrates the meaning of redemption. He said that when A.J. Gordon was pastor
of a church in Boston
he met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a
rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. Gordon inquired
"Son
where did you get those birds?" The boy replied
"I
trapped them out in the field." "What are you going to do with
them?" "I'm going to play with them
and then I guess I'll just feed
them to an old cat we have at home." When Gordon offered to buy them
the
lad exclaimed
"Mister
you don't want them
they're just little old wild
birds and can't sing very well." Gordon replied
"I'll give you $2
for the cage and the birds." "Okay
it's a deal
but you're making a
bad bargain." The exchange was made and the boy went away whistling
happy
with his shiny coins. Gordon walked around to the back of the church property
opened the door of the small wire coop
and let the struggling creatures soar
into the blue. The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used
it to illustrate his sermon about Christ's coming to seek and to save the lost
-- paying for them with His own precious blood. "That boy told me the
birds were not songsters
" said Gordon
"but when I released them and
they winged their way heavenward
it seemed to me they were singing
'Redeemed
redeemed
redeemed!"
You and I have been held captive to
sin
but Christ has purchased our pardon and set us at liberty. When a person
has this life-changing experience
he will want to sing
"Redeemed
redeemed
redeemed!"
Our Daily Bread.
The Boy Who Lost His Boat
Tom carried his new boat to the edge
of the river. He carefully placed it in the water and slowly let out the
string. How smoothly the boat sailed! Tom sat in the warm sunshine
admiring
the little boat that he had built. Suddenly a strong current caught the boat.
Tom tried to pull it back to shore
but the string broke. The little boat raced
downstream.
Tom ran along the sandy shore as fast
as he could. But his little boat soon slipped out of sight. All afternoon he
searched for the boat. Finally
when it was too dark to look any longer
Tom
sadly went home.
A few days later
on the way home from
school
Tom spotted a boat just like his in a store window. When he got closer
he could see -- sure enough -- it was his!
Tom hurried to the store manager:
"Sir
that's my boat in your window! I made it!"
"Sorry
son
but someone else
brought it in this morning. If you want it
you'll have to buy it for one
dollar."
Tom ran home and counted all his
money. Exactly one dollar! When he reached the store
he rushed to the counter.
"Here's the money for my boat." As he left the store
Tom hugged his
boat and said
"Now you're twice mine. First
I made you and now I bought
you."
Good News Publishers
Westchester
IL.
A favorite story of the little boy who
built a sailboat. He built the sail and had it all fixed up
tarred and
painted. He took it to the lake and pushed it in hoping it would sail. Sure
enough a wisp of breeze filled the little sail and it billowed and went
rippling along the waves. Suddenly before the little boy knew it
the boat was
out of his reach
even though he waded in fast and tried to grab it. As he
watched it float away
he hoped maybe the breeze would shift and it would come
sailing back to him. Instead he watched it go farther and farther until it was
gone. When he went home crying
his mother asked
"What's wrong
didn't it
work?" And he said
"It worked too well."
Some time later
the little boy was
downtown and walked past a second hand store. There in the window he saw the
boat. It was unmistakably his
so he went in and said to the proprietor
"That's my boat." He walked to the window
picked it up and started
to leave with it. The owner of the shop said
"Wait a minute
Sonny.
That's my boat. I bought it from someone." The boy said
"No
it's my
boat. I made it. See." And he showed him the little scratches and the
marks where he hammered and filed. The man said
"I'm sorry
Sonny. If you
want it
you have to buy it." The poor little guy didn't have any money
but he worked hard and saved his pennies. Finally
one day he had enough money.
He went in and bought the little boat. As he left the store holding the boat
close to him
he was heard saying
"You're my boat. You're twice my boat.
First you're my boat 'cause I made you and second you're my boat 'cause I
bought you!"
If you ever think that you aren't
worth much and if you think you're cheap
just remember what God thinks of you.
He thinks you're His. Twice His. First you're His because He made you. And
second you're His because He bought you on the cross. He paid a price to redeem
you. So let go of your stress to God's care
and let go of your sins to God's
cross.
Source Unknown.
The redeemed are dependent of God for
all. All that we have-- wisdom
the pardon of sin
deliverance
acceptance in
God's favor
grace
holiness
true comfort and happiness
eternal life and
glory--we have from God by a Mediator; and this Mediator is God. God not only
gives us the Mediator
and accepts His mediation
and of His power and grace
bestows the things purchased by the Mediator
but He is the Mediator. Our
blessings are what we have by purchase; and the purchase is made of God; the
blessings are purchased of Him; and not only so
but God is the purchaser. Yes
God is both the purchaser and the price; for Christ
who is God
purchased
these blessings by offering Himself as the price of our salvation.
Jonathan Edwards
Closer Walk
July
1988
p. 15.
A gathering of friends at an English
estate nearly turned to tragedy when one of the children strayed into deep
water. The gardener heard the cries for help
plunged in
and rescued the
drowning child. That youngster's name was Winston Churchill. His grateful
parents asked the gardener what they could do to reward him. He hesitated
then
said
"I wish my son could go to college someday and become a
doctor." "We'll see to it
" Churchill's parents promised.
Years later
while Sir Winston was
prime minister of England
he was stricken with pneumonia. The country's best
physician was summoned. His name was Dr. Alexander Fleming
the man who
discovered and developed penicillin. He was also the son of that gardener who
had saved young Winston from drowning. Later Churchill remarked
"Rarely
has one man owed his life twice to the same person."
Ron Hutchcraft
Wake Up Calls
Moody
1990
p. 22.