Christ’s Sacrifice for Us

The Lord created man pure and holy. But Satan led him astray, perverting his principles and corrupting his mind, turning his thoughts into a wrong channel. His purpose was to make the world wholly corrupt. But when the poor, condemned sinner was lying under the curse of the Father’s broken law, Jesus so loved him that he gave himself for the transgressor.

That he might accomplish his purpose of love, he became bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. «As the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.»

«We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through suffering.»

Christ redeemed man by the virtue of his blood. We cannot estimate the value of this precious ransom.

Through the agency of the Holy Spirit, a new principle of mental and spiritual power was to be brought to man, who, through association with divinity, was to become one with God. Christ, the redeemer and restorer, was to sanctify and purify man’s mind, making it a power that would draw other minds to himself. It is his purpose, by the elevating, sanctifying power of the truth, to give men nobility and dignity. He desires his children to reveal his character, to exert his influence, that other minds may be drawn into harmony with his mind. «As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. . . . For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.»

Christ might, because of our guilt, have moved far away from us. But instead of moving farther away, he came and dwelt among us, filled with all the fulness of the Godhead, to be one with us, that through his grace we might attain perfection. By a death of shame and suffering he paid our ransom. From the highest excellency he came, his divinity clothed with humanity, descending step by step to the lowest depths of humiliation. No line can measure the depth of his love.

Christ has shown us how much our God can love and suffer in order to secure our complete restoration. The Son of God, in whom dwelt absolute perfection, became sin for the fallen race. He did not know sin by the experience of sinning, but he bore the terrible weight of the guilt of the whole world. He became our propitiation, that all who receive him may become sons of God. The cross was erected to save man. Christ uplifted on the cross was the means devised in heaven of awakening in the human soul a sense of the sinfulness of sin. By the cross Christ sought to draw all to himself. He died as the only hope of saving those who because of sin were in the gall of bitterness.

To break down the barrier that Satan had erected between God and man, Christ made a full and complete sacrifice, revealing unexampled self-denial. He revealed to the world the amazing spectacle of God living in human flesh, and sacrificing himself to save fallen men. What wonderful love!

To carry this truth to the inhabitants of the earth, to rescue them from their guilt and indifference, is the mission of the followers of Christ. Men must have the truth in order to be sanctified through it, and we are the channels of God’s light. Our talents, our means, our knowledge, are not merely for our own benefit; they are to be used for the salvation of souls, to elevate man from his life of sin, and bring him, through Christ, to the infinite God.

The principle illustrated by the cross is to give, give. This principle, carried out in actual benevolence and good works, is the true fruit of the Christian life.