Offering and Sacrifice (2)

What benefit do we derive from the fact of Christ’s giving Himself so completely and devotedly to the Father? The greatest and the most beatifying of which thought is capable—Listen! Jehovah says in His law, “None shall appear before Me empty.” Consider, that if we wish to inherit heaven we cannot do without salvation. We now possess it, and the days of our grief and shame are at an end. We may now appear boldly before the Father, knowing that He loves us and has opened the gates of His palace to us.

What have we to exhibit to Him that is meritorious? Sufficient—yea, more than the angels possess. We have, indeed, nothing of our own. In the records of our lives, we perceive only transgression and guilt. God be thanked that we need nothing of our own and are even warned against trusting and depending upon anything of the kind. We are instructed to appeal to the righteousness of Another, and this is the living “offering” of which we speak—Christ, with the entire fullness of His obedience in our stead. If He were accepted, so are we, since all that He did and suffered is placed in our account. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.”

Those who are in Christ are no longer transgressors in the sight of God but are pure, blameless, and spotless. What a blissful mystery! If you are unable to believe it, grant it at least a place in your memory. The hour may come in which you will be able to use it, for we have often had occasion to witness how it fared at the last with those who supposed themselves among the most pious and holy of mankind. Whatever of a meritorious and approved character they imagined they possessed, nothing remained when the light of eternity and approaching judgment threw its penetrating rays upon their past lives. The splendor of their virtues expired, their gold became dim, and that which they had preserved as real worth proved only valueless tinsel.

What is to be done in such a case? How to weave together, in haste, such a righteousness as God requires, and without which no man can enter heaven? What answer are we to make to the accusers that open their mouths against us— Satan, the law, and our own consciences, which say to us, “Thou art the man”? If we are not to give ourselves up to despair, something which is not ours must be bestowed upon us which we may offer unto God as the ground of our claim to salvation. The living offering which Christ made of Himself can then alone suffice, and that abundantly, to recommend us to God. Possessing this we no longer need to be mute in the presence of our accusers. In Christ as our Surety, we fulfilled the conditions to which the heavenly inheritance is attached. Henceforth, who will accuse us, who will condemn us? We rejoice with Paul and say, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Lord Jesus appears in our narrative not only as an “offering” but also as a “sacrifice.” Our sins are imputed to Him, and in His sacred humanity He endured what we deserve. Let us therefore consider Him in the character of our Representative, and the sufferings which He endured and the wrongs which He sustained will then appear in their proper light.

A blissful and heart-cheering mystery is here presented before us. If I possess saving faith, I find myself in a peculiar relation to the Sufferer at Gethsemane. Know that the horrors He there experienced are not His curse but ours. The Holy and the Just submits Himself representatively to the fate of the guilty and the damnable; while the latter are forever liberated, and inherit the lot of the holy Son of God. Wonderful and incomparably blissful truth! Our only shield and comfort in life and death!

O ye blessed, who belong to Christ, who can worthily describe the glory of your state! We hail the wondrous exchange which the eternal Son of God has made with you. We glorify the Surety and Liquidator of your debts. Never forget the nocturnal arrest of your High Priest. Paint it in bright and vivid colors on the walls of your chambers. If you are again reminded of the curse which your sins have brought upon you, accustom yourselves to regard it only in this sacred picture where you no longer behold it lying upon you but upon Him in whose agonies it eternally perished.

Therefore, let not shadows any longer disturb you. There will never be a period in eternity when you will be compelled to say to your enemies and accusers, “now is your hour and the power of darkness.” Your Representative uttered it once for all, for you; henceforward, only the hour of triumph and delight which shall never end awaits you. Peace be with you, therefore, ye who are justified by His righteousness and forever perfected by His one offering. No longer dream of imaginary burdens, but know and never forget that your suit is gained to all eternity. Behold, Christ yonder bears your fetters, and nothing more is required of you than to love Him with all of your heart and embrace more and more closely Him who took your entire anathema upon Himself so that you might be able to rejoice and exclaim, “Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness!”

(This installment marks the end of this series.)

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