Jared C. Wilson's Blog, page 47

Might As Well Call Jesus the “Daughter of God”

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

– John 5:18

Okay, so the biggest problem with the quasi-evangelicals justifying their referring to God as “Mother” is not necessarily their feminist ideology or their misapplying actual biblical metaphors (like Matthew 23:37, for instance). Those are serious problems of course, but the real trouble lies in the very area in which they claim continuity with orthodoxy — discipleship to Christ.

What I mean is, it’s becoming more and more common for these folks who see nothing wrong with calling God “Mom” say that their faith is less about doctrinal truth claims and more about “following in the way of Jesus” (or whatever), but what they seem to miss (or ignore) is that “the way of Jesus” was to relate to God as Father. Yes, God is spirit and therefore without gender, but the Son of God exclusively referred to the first person of the Trinity as “Father.” And that is the way he taught his followers to relate to God (Matt. 6:9, etc.).

The progressive evangeliwhatchamacalits seem to think they can mess with the revelation of the nature of our relational God without messing with the revelation of the nature of his Son. But we find all our information about “the way of Christ” in the same Bible we find all our information about God our Father. To mess with God as Father, then, is also to mess with Jesus as Son. (Unless one wants to argue that the eternal Word of God, the second Person of the Trinity, is not God’s eternally begotten Son but only became “Son” when he incarnated male flesh.)

That God is genderless is besides the point, really. He has revealed his relational nature to us in the first case as Father and in the second as Son. That was his call, and it’s no more a suggestion than Jesus’ command to love our enemies. If you want to mess with the biblical revelation of God’s Fatherhood, then, you end up messing with the revelation of Jesus Christ himself, like “red letter Christians” with bottles of white-out. Might as well call Jesus “daughter,” I s’pose.

For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”?

– Hebrews 1:5

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

– John 4:23

How Salvation is Ultimately About God

Salvation is for us, of course — God doesn’t need it — but it’s not mainly about us. It is mainly about God. How so?

Turning to the deep well of Ephesians 2, we read:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Here we find three ways salvation is ultimately about God:

1. Its aim is our Christlikeness. See the contrast between the deader-than-deadness described in vv.1-3 as life apart from Christ and the new life described in vv.5-6. See also 2 Corinthians 3:18.

2. Its aim is our “in Christ”-ness through union with Christ. See v.6, as well as Galatians 2:20 and Colossians 3:3.

3. Its aim is to show off God’s glory. “Because of [his] great love.” “So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace.” “This is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” “For we are his workmanship.” So that we will not boast. But God may and will.

New Release: The Wonder-Working God

My latest book officially releases today from Crossway.

The Wonder-Working God: Seeing the Glory of Jesus in His Miracles is a companion volume of sorts to last February’s The Storytelling God (on the parables). This book covers most of Jesus’ most startling supernatural acts and teases out the myriad ways they help us see his satisfying magnificence coming to bear in the gospel of his kingdom.



Some kind words from others on the book:

“Christianity is supernatural. We read the Bible and see God doing things that can’t be explained rationally. That is the God we long for, One who can do extraordinary things in and around our ordinary lives. But Christianity is about God, not just what God does. I love this book, because Jared Wilson helps us worship the miracle worker, and not settle for just wanting and worshiping miracles.”

—Darrin Patrick, Lead Pastor, The Journey, St. Louis, Missouri; Vice President, Acts 29; Chaplain to the St. Louis Cardinals; author, The Dude’s Guide to Manhood

“Could it be that Jesus’s miracles were not the paranormal, but actually the true normal breaking into our world of paranormal sin corruption? Wilson gets to the biblical heart of why Jesus performed miracles—these harbingers of God’s mission to set right all that has gone so terribly wrong. Along the way, Wilson helps us hear what Jesus has to say to enlightened postmoderns, skeptics demanding apologetic proofs, and the paranormally fascinated. A soul-refreshing, gospel-drenched read.”

—Jon Bloom, President, Desiring God; author, Not by Sight and Things Not Seen

“Jesus walked on water and healed the sick. He turned water into wine and raised men from the dead. How often we skim over these familiar stories, but as Jared Wilson writes, ‘Miraculous events in the Bible are God putting an exclamation point where he normally puts a period.’ The Wonder-Working God teaches us that these miracles aren’t meant only to amaze us, they are to point us to Jesus Christ himself. I’m convinced I will never read about Jesus’s life the same way again. Read it and think deeply about it as you glimpse the glory of Jesus—our Savior.

—Trillia Newbell, author, United: Captured by God’s Vision for Diversity

“Jared Wilson brings his characteristic wit and careful exegesis to the often-misunderstood passages on God’s miracles in a fresh and insightful way. The Wonder-Working God is a timely and necessary work for the church if we are going to better understand the workings of our great God in the present age.”

—Matt Carter, Pastor of Preaching, The Austin Stone Community Church, Austin, Texas; author, The Real Win

“Finally, a treatment of Jesus’s miracles that presents them more as a ‘preview of coming attractions’ and less as God’s attempt to convince skeptics of his existence—as though God has ever ‘attempted’ to do anything. As Jared shows us, Jesus’s miracles are more normal than we realize—an indicator of the way things used to be, before sin and death invaded God’s story, and a precursor of the way things will be one day, when Jesus returns to finish making all things new.”

—Scotty Smith, Teacher in Residence, West End Community Church, Nashville, Tennessee

“Into a world where naturalism is the prevailing philosophy, Jared Wilson casts a fresh vision for the wonder-working power of the God-man, Jesus of Nazareth. This biblically engaging, Christ-exalting, and never-boring book deserves your close and attentive reading.”

—Sam Storms, Lead Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bridgeway Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

“Jared Wilson’s crisp, potent, and winsome style portrays the Savior whose worth is magnified by his miraculous power. If you’re holding this book, my advice is: Buy → Read → Wonder → Worship!”

—Dave Harvey, Pastor of Preaching, Four Oaks Community Church, Tallahassee, Florida; author, When Sinners Say I Do and Am I Called?

A Funeral Sermon for Another Friend

In January I had the bittersweet honor of preaching our friend Anne‘s memorial service. Below is the text of my sermon, from Ecclesiastes 7:2-3, for those who may be interested.

I am glad that Anne instructed us to celebrate her life today and not to make the day all gloomy. But I think we need to remember the real reasons for this demeanor. She has asked us to celebrate her life because SHE CONTINUES TO LIVE IT. Anne at this very moment is enjoying the presence of her glorious redeemer Jesus Christ, who forgave her sins, restored her broken soul, and saved her from his own holy wrath by his death and resurrection, which she received through her trust in him. What I mean to say is, if we turn this funeral into a party simply to avoid the big reality death asks us to face, we are missing the point entirely – AND not honoring Anne at all.

So it’s my job in these minutes before us to direct all of our attention to something God says in his word about mourning and about celebration. We find these provocative words in the wisdom book in the Old Testament called Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 7:2-3

It is better to go to the house of mourning

than to go to the house of feasting,

for this is the end of all mankind,

and the living will lay it to heart.

3 Sorrow is better than laughter,

for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.

One thing you need to know about the man who wrote these words – most believe it is Solomon — is that he had tried everything, done everything, experienced everything. In chapters 1-6, he surveys all he’s achieved, all he’s enjoyed, beginning with the fact that he was king of Israel. “I was king,” he says. “And I acquired untold wisdom.” In chapter 2, he says, “I sought all the pleasure I could.” He built huge mansions that he adorned with beautiful gardens. Then with all his money and power he assembled the best entertainers and artists to perform for him. He ate the best foods in the world and drank the finest wines. He sought more and more money, more and more pleasure, more and more women even. He had accumulated and indulged in everything anyone can think of to make life worth living. Anything you can come up with to define what happiness is in this life, he had done it. And do you know what his conclusion about all of it is? Over and over he says, “It’s all meaningless.” He says, “It was like chasing the wind.”

And so when he gets to this part of his book, to say “It’s better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting” and “Sorrow is better than laughter,” he is not someone who doesn’t know the difference. He is someone who knows what he’s talking about. So we need to pay attention. You and I today at this celebration of Anne’s life need to focus and dig deep to find out what God is saying when he says through Solomon “mourning is better than feasting.”

So why does he say this? What is it about this setting today that is better than a party where you don’t have to think about a loved one having died? In what way is sorrow better than laughter?

I think in three primary ways:

1. The house of mourning makes us face the big questions we tend to avoid.

One thing Solomon talks quite a bit about in Ecclesiastes is youth and aging. He’s getting older. And he’s starting to realize that all this stuff he’s poured himself into to make life better, more enjoyable, more thrilling, to make himself happier, are really all serving as ways to avoid the fact that he’s going to die. That he’s getting older. That he’s made from dust and that one day his body will be dust again.

And he’s not even guaranteed a long life. Even if you could fill a hundred years with every pleasure imaginable, it could not ward off death, but so many people don’t even get sixty years, or fifty, or forty, or thirty. Or ten.

So today, don’t get distracted by the celebration from the reality of death. Death has your attention. The reality that the house of mourning makes us face is this: We are going to die. You and I are going to die.

And we are not guaranteed a long life. Isn’t cancer proof of that?

Aren’t meaningless car accidents that happen on icy roads proof of that?

So we have to face the big questions, we can’t ward them off forever, and today in the house of mourning is the best opportunity to do so: What happens when you die? What will happen to you? Is living a life seeking the most pleasure, the most good times really the answer? Is trying to be happy in this life really the meaning of life? The magazine covers in the grocery store checkout line seem to think so. The songs on the pop radio station tells us it is.

Well, what did the smartest man who ever lived say? No, not Solomon. Jesus. Didn’t Jesus say if we just be nice to each other we’ll be okay? Just be good and you don’t have to worry about what comes after we die?

Well, not exactly. In John chapter 8, Jesus warns a group of people who did not believe he was the Son of God and the Savior of sinners this way: “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

Jesus is saying, “you are going to die, and unless you have faith in me, you are going to die AFTER you die.” Learning this important truth – the same kind of important truth as learning you are standing on railroad tracks and a train is coming – is part of what makes going to the house of mourning better than going to the house of feasting.

But there’s a second way the house of mourning is better, and it’s very much related to the first way. The house of mourning makes us face the big questions, makes the big questions of life and death unavoidable, and secondly:

2. The house of mourning prepares us to hear the truth.

Being in mourning doesn’t just make us hear the big questions, being in mourning helps us be more open to the truth. It prepares us to hear the answer to the questions.

Here is the truth:

Dying is actually not the worst thing that can happen to you. As much effort as we put into forestalling death – through exercise and eating right and benefiting from medical advances – we mistakenly think that dying is the worst fate that could befall us. But it’s not.

In Matthew 10:28 Jesus says, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul . . .” In other words, Jesus is saying, “Look, all that person can do is kill you. That’s it.” Instead, he says, in the same verse: “Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Who’s he talking about? Who can destroy both body AND soul in hell? He’s talking about God; he’s talking about himself.

In other words, Jesus is saying, “Dying isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you. Dying AFTER you die is the worst thing that can happen to you.”

For Jesus, missing out on eternal life with him in the painless, grief-less everlasting joy of heaven – and the new heavens and earth to come – is the worst thing that can happen to you. Trading in eternal joy for temporary happiness is the worst decision you can make. And so Anne would urge you right now not to waste your life. The only security any of us can have is found in Jesus. To not believe in the good news of Jesus’ work, then, is to agree to eternal condemnation after you die.

Oh but we think we know the way to avoid this death that is worse than death. We think, “All I have to do is be good. I just have to be better at good stuff than I am at bad stuff. I just have to make sure that my good stuff outweighs my bad stuff.” But just like all the medicine in the world can’t keep us from physical death, all the good works in the world can’t keep us from spiritual death.

Jesus even says so. In Matthew 7, Jesus says “In the day of the final judgment, many will come to me saying, ”Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

And so you see “Be a good person” is no security. It cannot ward off death and it cannot earn heaven. I mean, how good do you have to be? How will you know if you’ve been good enough?

Galatians 2:16 says “By works no one will be justified.”

Because we’d have to be perfect. But who can be perfect?

There’s only one person who’s ever been perfect.

In John 14, Jesus declares, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

In other words, if you want to be reconciled to God, if you want perfect goodness, you can only get it through belief in Jesus. When you trust in Jesus Christ, the Scriptures say, HIS goodness is credited to us, as if it is ours. If we trust in our own goodness, we will wind up in the fate that is worse than death. But if we repent of our sins AND OUR GOODNESS, and trust in HIS goodness, we will escape the judgment and spend eternity enjoying the glory of God in everlasting life.

And this leads to the third way going to the house of mourning is better than the house of feasting.

The house of mourning makes us face the big questions about life and death. The house of mourning prepares us to hear the true answers to those questions. And finally:

3. The house of mourning reminds us of what Jesus has done.

And I think this is what Solomon is getting at in v.3 when he says “by sadness of face the heart is made glad.” He’s saying you can get to temporary happiness any old time – any medication will do, and that’s what all these attempts to make ourselves happy apart from Jesus end up being—drugs to medicate us from sadness and the inevitability of death – but you can’t get to lasting, deep, abiding, eternal joy except through finding out the only answer to death. The only ANTIDOTE to death:

One of my favorite moments from the life of Jesus in the Gospels is when he attends the funeral of his friend Lazarus. It’s the passage that includes the shortest verse in the entire Bible. Do you know what the shortest verse in the Bible is? John 11:35: “Jesus wept.”

Jesus is at the grave of his friend Lazarus, and he’s grieving the loss of his friend along with Lazarus’ sisters Mary and Martha, and Martha says to him, “Jesus, if you’d only been here four days ago, you could have healed my brother. Lazarus would not have died.”

But Martha doesn’t remember that Jesus is never late. He never shows up late. And if you’re in a relationship with Jesus, he will never leave you in a place of total insecurity. Jesus responds to Martha, saying this: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die . . .” And then he drives this provocative point home by pressing those in the house of mourning to respond to his claim to be the end-all, be-all, the only source of real life in existence, the only antidote to death, the only rescuer and redeemer and reverser of the curse of death: He says to Martha, “Do you believe this?”

And to prove his point, to prove that belief in himself is the only way to cheat death, Jesus goes to the mouth of Lazarus’ tomb and shouts, “Lazarus, come forth!”

And Lazarus rises from the dead.

It is a great foreshadow of Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead, and it is a great foreshadow of what the Bible promises to those who die trusting Jesus: They will be raised again on the day of judgment, given new bodies – bodies that don’t get hurt, bodies that don’t mourn, bodies that don’t die. It is the promise Anne believed in. Cancer might have numbered Anne’s days, but because Jesus Christ is the victor over sin and death, cancer’s days are numbered.

When you have trusted in Jesus, your outlook on death changes. The Bible says that believers in Jesus “Grieve as those with hope.” And that’s why this house of mourning today is also a house of feasting.

I want to show you from another moment in Jesus’ ministry. In Mark chapter 5 we see another example of Jesus raising someone from the dead. It is a little girl. Jesus enters the room where the girl has passed away in her bed, and Jesus says to the mourners:

“Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking

Talitha literally means “little girl.” With this term of endearment, Jesus shares the affection of the girl’s father. In the parlance of that day, however, the word talitha would be more akin to our “sweetie” or “honey.” Cumi, on the other hand, basically means “get up.” Do you see what Jesus is doing here? The girl has died, but because he is Jesus the Lord, God incarnate in the flesh, sovereign over life and death, the head of all rule and authority, the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the sustainer of the universe by a mere word from his lips, he is treating her like it’s time to eat breakfast and get ready for school. “Sweetie, it’s time to get up.”

When Anne died on this side, some of us were gathered in the hospital room, as her body lay in the bed. There were tears, hugs, stories, songs, even some laugher shared. But on the other side of the veil, as Anne passed from this life to the next, I picture her waking up in the new world to come, and seeing Jesus her savior there by her side. And I see Jesus taking Anne’s hand, firmly but gently, and saying to her in the golden dawn of heaven’s light, like the perfect older brother he is, “Sweetie: it’s time to get up.”

Don’t waste your life another second. Stop filling it up with temporary satisfactions that lead to death. Stop trusting your good intentions and your good feelings and your good works. None of that will save you.

Desire something better for yourself! Something eternal.

If you want to cheat death, you can only do so by trusting in the one who conquered death. His name is Jesus Christ. And he has come in the love of God the Father to die for the sins of the world and rise again to reverse the curse of death and purchase the gift of eternal life for all who would believe in him. So if you feel sorrow over your sins against God and sorrow over Christ’s death for you, you are ripe for the kind of gladness that will never go away, the kind of gladness that will sustain you for all eternity, the kind of gladness that will resound and abound for infinite days long after this world and everyone in it has crumbled to dust. Don’t miss out on the gladness of heart Ecclesiastes 7:3 is talking about because you’re too bored with or too scared of the sorrow of face it talks about. See Jesus on the cross and see that he has died for you – to forgive you, to redeem you, to restore you, to save you.

If you want him, it’s because he’s wanting you. I urge you – on Anne’s behalf — to trust in him today.

Related:

A Funeral Sermon for a Friend

All His Breakers and His Waves: Our Church, Suffering, and Stubborn Faith

The Life of Sons and Daughters

“The Christian life is the life of sons and daughters; it is not the life of slaves. It is freedom, not bondage. Of course, we are slaves of God, of Christ, and of one another. We belong to God, to Christ, to one another, and we love to serve those to whom we belong. But this kind of service is freedom.

“What the Christian life is not, is a bondage to the law, as if our salvation hung in the balance and depended on our meticulous and slavish obedience to the letter of the law.

“As it is, our salvation rests upon the finished work of Christ, on His sin-bearing, curse-bearing death, embraced by faith.”

– John Stott, The Message of Galatians (Intervarsity, 1968), 108-109

Luther’s Prayer Written on the Eve of the Diet of Worms

In The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul calls this “Luther’s own private Gethsemane.”

O God, Almighty God everlasting! how dreadful is the world! behold how its mouth opens to swallow me up, and how small is my faith in Thee! . . . Oh! the weakness of the flesh, and the power of Satan! If I am to depend upon any strength of this world – all is over . . . The knell is struck . . . Sentence is gone forth . . . O God! O God! O thou, my God! help me against the wisdom of this world. Do this, I beseech thee; thou shouldst do this . . . by thy own mighty power . . . The work is not mine, but Thine. I have no business here . . . I have nothing to contend for with these great men of the world! I would gladly pass my days in happiness and peace. But the cause is Thine . . . And it is righteous and everlasting! O Lord! help me! O faithful and unchangeable God! I lean not upon man. It were vain! Whatever is of man is tottering, whatever proceeds from him must fail. My God! my God! dost thou not hear? My God! art thou no longer living? Nay, thou canst not die. Thou dost but hide Thyself. Thou hast chosen me for this work. I know it! . . . Therefore, O God, accomplish thine own will! Forsake me not, for the sake of thy well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ, my defence, my buckler, and my stronghold.

Lord – where art thou? . . . My God, where art thou? . . . Come! I pray thee, I am ready . . . Behold me prepared to lay down my life for thy truth . . . suffering like a lamb. For the cause is holy. It is thine own! . . . I will not let thee go! no, nor yet for all eternity! And though the world should be thronged with devils – and this body, which is the work of thine hands, should be cast forth, trodden under foot, cut in pieces, . . . consumed to ashes, my soul is thine. Yes, I have thine own word to assure me of it. My soul belongs to thee, and will abide with thee forever! Amen! O God send help! . . . Amen!

Things Jesus Will Never Say to You

To those who trust in him for salvation, Jesus will never say:

“Go play somewhere; I’m busy.”

“Fake it til you make it.”

“I just don’t think it’s gonna work out between us.”

“I knew you were a screw-up, but this one really surprised me.”

“It’s too late.”

“I don’t care.”

“My assistant will get back to you on that.”

“We’re through.”

“I need some ‘me time’ right now.”

“I just ‘can’t’ right now.”

“I feel like I’m doing all the giving; what have you done for me lately?”

“Yeah, good job on ___________, but what about ____________?”

“I’ll be glad to help if you’ll ‘let’ me.”

“I can’t bless you until you release my power with positive words.”

“Who are you, again?”

“Beat it.”

Happy 18th to Us

How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine . . .

– Song of Solomon 4:10

Becky and I are celebrating 18 years of marriage today. We got married on our three-year dating anniversary, so we’ve been a hot ticket now for 21 years. We have had our ups and downs — plenty of downs, actually, mainly because I’m a first-class, grade-A, off-the-charts moron — but here we are, still standing in Christ, still sleeping in each other’s arms, still holding hands in the car. Ours is a hard-fought love. We know what grace is.

Over the years, I’ve learned a million things about marriage, but I suppose I still have a million things left to learn. I have to re-learn half of those things every day, it seems. When you put two sinners in close proximity and say, “Don’t either of you leave,” you’re gonna get a mess at some point or another, but I’d say the biggest thing we’ve both learned is that the gospel is made for messes. Grace is for messy people. Becky especially knows this, because she has had to tap a deeper well than I because of the mess that is me.

When I wonder sometimes how the Spirit’s love gets fleshed out in real space and time, I can look at the church or the examples of self-sacrifice in other spheres, but I really don’t need to look any further than my wife:

Becky serves so many with her whole self without much recognition, toiling behind the scenes, diligently storing up treasures in heaven.

Becky pours out her life for our daughters, every day “spending and being spent” with self-abandon that they might grow in grace and godliness.

Becky suffers the slings and arrows of ministry life, of being the minister’s wife, counseling me and comforting me and challenging me, while going forth in humor and dignity even in ministry’s rough seasons.

Becky loves me with great affection, with laughter and resolve, with flirty eyes and mushy talk that embarrasses our kids (in a good way).

“An excellent wife, who can find?” Me. I did. Right here. And as we embark on another year, nearing the day of embarking on another decade, Becky is my brightest, clearest, greatest daily reminder that a great and loving Savior, the wonderful and faithful forgiver and friend, is real and present. She reminds me that he is right here, which is really the best thing you could want in a marriage.

Thanks for gospeling me, babe.

The heart of her husband trusts in her,

and he will have no lack of gain.

– Proverbs 31:11

1 Corinthians 13 Reversed Reveals Much

What if we looked at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 from the reverse angle? I think it helps us put so much of our pettiness and self-interest in stark perspective and shows love as that much more beautiful.

Impatience and unkindness is hatred.

Hate is envious and ego-centric.

Hate is arrogant and rude.

Hatred is insisting on one’s own way;

hatred is irritable or resentful;

it celebrates sin, and it mocks what is true.

Hate is whiny and thin-skinned,

thoroughly skeptical,

always pessimistic,

a born quitter.

But hatred ends . . .

What a Boundless, Fathomless Ocean!

Eternal love moved the heart of Jesus to relinquish . . .

heaven for earth;

a diadem for a cross;

the robe of divine majesty for the garment of our nature;

by taking upon Himself the leprosy of our sin.

Oh, the infinite love of Christ!

What a boundless, fathomless ocean!

Ask the ransomed of the Lord, whose chains He has dissolved, whose dungeon He has opened, whose liberty He has conferred — if there ever was love like His!

What shall we say of the ransom price? It was the richest, the costliest, that Heaven could give! He gave Himself for us! What more could He do? He gave Himself; body, soul and spirit. He gave His time, His labor, His blood, His life, His ALL — as the price for our ransom, the cost of our redemption. He carried the wood and reared the altar. Then, bearing His bosom to the stroke of the uplifted and descending arm of the Father — He paid the price of our salvation in the warm lifeblood of His heart!

What a boundless, fathomless ocean! How is it that we feel the force and exemplify the practical influence of this amazing, all commanding truth so faintly? Oh, the desperate depravity of our nature! Oh, the deep iniquity of our iniquitous hearts! Will not the blood-drops of Jesus move us? Will not the agonies of the cross influence us? Will not His dying love constrain us to a more heavenly life?

– Octavius Winslow