THE ETERNAL CROSS (9 OF 15)
Scripture: PHILIPPIANS 2:8
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The Faith Once Delievered (9 of 15)
The Eternal Cross
Clarence E. Macartney
Philippians 2:8
Even the death of the cross! A death that low, that
cruel, that shameful! Strange that the Prince of life
had to die; but that He should die that death, even
the death of the Cross, death on the cursed tree-that
is strangest of all. The Apostle says that Christ,
"being in the form of God, ...humbled himself, ...and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross."
It is impossible for us today to have in our minds the
thought of the cross which men had when Christ died on
it. The gallows is as near as we can come to the
ancient world's idea of the cross. But even that is
inadequate. In a course in Latin inscriptions one day
a professor sketched a cross with an ass crucified on
it. At the foot of the cross a man was bowing in
worship. Underneath was the inscription, "Aleximenas
Worships His God." That was what the Roman world
thought of the cross, and of anyone who worshiped a
man who had been put to death on it. But today the
cross is emblazoned against the sky. It shines in
golden outline from the spires and towers of our
churches by day and flashes its eternal truth by
night. Today it is the badge of the international
society of mercy, the Red Cross; it is the ground plan
of our churches; it is worn as an ornament upon the
breast of the devout. But then the cross stood for all
that was low and vile. Yet the apostles who went forth
to preach the Gospel never tried to dim or hide the
dreadful fact that the Christ whom they proclaimed as
the Savior of the world had been crucified. To the
Jews this fact about Jesus was a "stumblingblock"; to
the Greeks it was "foolishness," absurdity; but, as
the great Apostle said, "it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth." Far from being
ashamed of this fact in the history of Jesus, they
proclaimed it with joy and triumph, and said ...
The Eternal Cross
Clarence E. Macartney
Philippians 2:8
Even the death of the cross! A death that low, that
cruel, that shameful! Strange that the Prince of life
had to die; but that He should die that death, even
the death of the Cross, death on the cursed tree-that
is strangest of all. The Apostle says that Christ,
"being in the form of God, ...humbled himself, ...and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross."
It is impossible for us today to have in our minds the
thought of the cross which men had when Christ died on
it. The gallows is as near as we can come to the
ancient world's idea of the cross. But even that is
inadequate. In a course in Latin inscriptions one day
a professor sketched a cross with an ass crucified on
it. At the foot of the cross a man was bowing in
worship. Underneath was the inscription, "Aleximenas
Worships His God." That was what the Roman world
thought of the cross, and of anyone who worshiped a
man who had been put to death on it. But today the
cross is emblazoned against the sky. It shines in
golden outline from the spires and towers of our
churches by day and flashes its eternal truth by
night. Today it is the badge of the international
society of mercy, the Red Cross; it is the ground plan
of our churches; it is worn as an ornament upon the
breast of the devout. But then the cross stood for all
that was low and vile. Yet the apostles who went forth
to preach the Gospel never tried to dim or hide the
dreadful fact that the Christ whom they proclaimed as
the Savior of the world had been crucified. To the
Jews this fact about Jesus was a "stumblingblock"; to
the Greeks it was "foolishness," absurdity; but, as
the great Apostle said, "it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth." Far from being
ashamed of this fact in the history of Jesus, they
proclaimed it with joy and triumph, and said ...
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