The Aberdeen weekly., 1918-04-19

sacrifice, for the Lamb must be with
out blemish or spot. But even though
he had lived his perfect life. there
would have been no salvation for SIN
ners had he not gone to the cross. In
the strong words Of Bishop 10ule,
His life had to do with his being
all-worthy. But 1t did not. In whole
or In part, constitute the sacri-
fice." The Apostle Peter sums up the
matter thus: "Ye were not redeemed
with corruptibfe things. az silver and
gold, from your vain conversation re-
ceived by tradition from your fathers.
but with the precious word Of Christ.
as Of lamb without blemish and
without spot"
His life was given ''fOr' us, that is,
'instead Of US, for so the word may
be translated. The idea Of substitu-
ton cannot be removed from this ex-
preston. An illustration of the
thought is found in Exodus 30 10:
when thou takest the sum Of the
children of Israel after their number,
then shall they give every man a ran
som for his soul unto the Lord" The
half-shekel given by each man was
"atonement money" ito make atone
ment for their souls" as the succeed
ing verses make clear. The people were
considered not as doomed but as ran
sOmed by the atOnement money paid
instead of their death. Just so. Christ's
death takes the place Of ours.
The reality and solemnity OF the
substitution OF Christ for sinners Is
set forth In Galations 3:13: Christ
hath redeemed us from the course Of
the law. having become a curse for
u.s." The old revival hymn well ex-
presses the amazing and glorious
fact:
Bearing shame and scofIing rude,
In my place condemned he stood;
Sealed my pardon with his blood:
HalleluJah!
The death Of Christ cannot be under
stood save as the death Of the sim
bearer. This alone explains the agony
and bloody sweat Of Gethsemane and
the plea. Father, IL thou be willing,
remove this cup from me-" Christ
would not be worthy of the respect
paid even to soldiers who have gone
without fiinching to death, or to mar
tyrs who have sung at the stake, il
his death were no different from
theirs. But IL we understand that he
was entering into the shadow Of the
cross upon which he would bear the
sins OF the world. we can understand
his shrinking horror OF 1t all.
AS to what Christ suffered on the
cross we must speak with reverent re-
serve. But his cry. my God. my God,
why has thou forsaken meT must not
be emptied Of its awful content. Bish-
Op MOule points out that Christ could
not suffer that personal remorse for
sin which must be one awful element
Of the future woe of sinners; yet his
cry on the cross ''at least favors the
belief that the all-blessed Sufferer
willed to bear. and the Father to or
dain, the personal experience of de-
sertion such as enters into the final
DOOM" The bishop wisely adds, "The
disciple will avoid all detailed
speculation In such q matter" But
we'll may we sing:
None of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed.
Or how dark was the night the Lord
To find the sheep that was lost.
What a price has been paid for our
Surely we could ask for
40 more God himself could ask for no
more and Satan is silenced in view Of |
the work done on the cross. Christ's
cry. 1T is finished" answers all the |
questions which could be asked in
heaven, earth or hell.
We need only fall down and thank !
'ully accept the deliverance bought by |
lis precious blood.
A Christian girl lay dying. With |
much effort she moved one hand to the |
,ther and, after feeling the palm for
whispered. mo nail his hand |
vas pierced with the nail" With even
more effort she raised her hand to her
,row and, after feeling II. said. mo
horns: his brow was crowned with
Finally. her hand stole to her
dde. and with triumph she cried, mo
pear; his side was pierced by the