The fathomless mystery of the Cross!
(Alexander Smellie, "On the Secret Place" 1907)
"From the sixth hour until the ninth hour, darkness came over all the land!" Matthew 27:45
With bowed head and an adoring heart, I draw near to the crucifixion-darkness of Christ's suffering and my salvation. I think of the fathomless mystery of the Cross!
On Calvary, I am within the clouds of God's eternal purpose. The beginning of His grace in Jesus Christ, is beyond my reach. He loved me from eternity — before the foundations of the earth were laid! How can I comprehend it, this everlastingness of redemption? Yet it should be my joy to ponder it. If He has cared for me from eternity past — I may be assured of His sustaining me through an incalculable future.
But on Calvary, too, I am within the clouds of God's immeasurable sorrow. There are secrets of unfathomable anguish here, with which I dare not meddle. This is a midnight blackness before which the angels must veil their faces with their wings. "God — forsaken by God!" Luther exclaimed, "who can understand it?" I tread softly — the place is holy ground. Yes — but happy ground, since He has redeemed me. My Savior was made a curse for me — that I might be a child forever within His heavenly home!
On Calvary, moreover, I am within the clouds of God's ineffable wisdom. The Cross of Jesus has been the central theme in the study of the profoundest Christian thinkers — and none of them has exhausted the theme. It is God's most wondrous work — God's last word. I can never explain it fully. But I perceive that it glorifies both the inflexible holiness of my Judge — and the unfathomable love of my Father! This I am sure of, that it gives me an unveiling of His many-sided attributes and perfections, such as I cannot gain anywhere else.
Shrouded in the darkness — Christ gained new beauty, new worth, new dominion. It was in crucifixion-darkness, that His glory shone most brightly forth. Now He was invested with the Calvary-attraction which draws me to Him.
May the thick crucifixion-darkness be an ever-opening secret between Him and me. Out of the shadows, may the beams of divine hope and love pour into my soul. Jesus sacrificed for my sins — may He be all my salvation and all my desire!
(Alexander Smellie, "On the Secret Place" 1907)
"From the sixth hour until the ninth hour, darkness came over all the land!" Matthew 27:45
With bowed head and an adoring heart, I draw near to the crucifixion-darkness of Christ's suffering and my salvation. I think of the fathomless mystery of the Cross!
On Calvary, I am within the clouds of God's eternal purpose. The beginning of His grace in Jesus Christ, is beyond my reach. He loved me from eternity — before the foundations of the earth were laid! How can I comprehend it, this everlastingness of redemption? Yet it should be my joy to ponder it. If He has cared for me from eternity past — I may be assured of His sustaining me through an incalculable future.
But on Calvary, too, I am within the clouds of God's immeasurable sorrow. There are secrets of unfathomable anguish here, with which I dare not meddle. This is a midnight blackness before which the angels must veil their faces with their wings. "God — forsaken by God!" Luther exclaimed, "who can understand it?" I tread softly — the place is holy ground. Yes — but happy ground, since He has redeemed me. My Savior was made a curse for me — that I might be a child forever within His heavenly home!
On Calvary, moreover, I am within the clouds of God's ineffable wisdom. The Cross of Jesus has been the central theme in the study of the profoundest Christian thinkers — and none of them has exhausted the theme. It is God's most wondrous work — God's last word. I can never explain it fully. But I perceive that it glorifies both the inflexible holiness of my Judge — and the unfathomable love of my Father! This I am sure of, that it gives me an unveiling of His many-sided attributes and perfections, such as I cannot gain anywhere else.
Shrouded in the darkness — Christ gained new beauty, new worth, new dominion. It was in crucifixion-darkness, that His glory shone most brightly forth. Now He was invested with the Calvary-attraction which draws me to Him.
May the thick crucifixion-darkness be an ever-opening secret between Him and me. Out of the shadows, may the beams of divine hope and love pour into my soul. Jesus sacrificed for my sins — may He be all my salvation and all my desire!
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