0480. The Reason for the Cross

The Reason for the Cross

"But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel" (Psa_22:3).

1. "Thou art holy." These words, in part, answer our Lord’s question of Psa_22:1 and Psa_22:2. Christ was forsaken, He was not heard, because, upon the Cross, He hung in the sinner’s stead and place, and bore the sinner’s curse. "Thou art holy," therefore Thou canst not fellowship the unholy. God is of purer eyes than to behold evil.

How could our God look upon Christ as He died in the sinner’s place? He refused to look upon the sinner now. There is only one method of approach into the presence of the Holy God. Such approach is possible only to those who are washed and made white in the Blood of the Lamb.

2. Christ answers the question of Psa_22:1 and Psa_22:2, by saying, "Our fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them. They * * were not confounded." He delivered them by virtue of the shed Blood; they were not confounded because they were hid in the Rock of Ages, under the shelter of a true token.

Therefore, in behalf of the faith of the fathers, who were delivered and not confounded, Jesus Christ must be delivered and must be confounded.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR