0916. The Cross and the Father

The Cross and the Father

"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give as all things?" (Rom_8:32).

When we linger around the Cross of Calvary we fail ofttimes to take the Father into our consideration at all. We forget that the Cross was the deliberate and determinate purpose of God for our redemption. Therefore let us endeavor to grasp some of the things the Cross meant to God the Father.

1. It meant the gift of His Son. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (Joh_3:16).

Christ was "His Son" (1Jn_5:11).

Christ was His "only begotten Son" (1Jn_4:9).

Christ was His "beloved Son" (Mat_3:17).

Christ was His "dear Son" (Col_1:13).

Christ was His "well beloved Son" (see Mar_12:6).

When Abraham took Isaac, it was "thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest."

When God gave Christ to die, it was His Son, His only begotten Son, Whom He loved.

What greater gift could God have given? Did not this gift mean much, yea, everything unto God the Father?

2. It meant the only means of His saving a lost sinner. Act_4:12 : "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

God found no other way than the way of the Cross, and no other Saviour than His Son. For this reason, and for this alone "He * * spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all" (Rom_8:32).

Because God was shut up to Christ therefore "it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief; when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin" (Isa_53:10).

3. It meant an expression of God's love toward the world and of His willingness to save the world. "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (Joh_3:16).

No man can stand at the foot of the Cross, believing that God gave Christ to die, and refuse to believe in the depth and the sincerity of God's love.

The Cross forever convinces that the heart of God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth.::

4. The Cross meant untold sorrow and untold joy to God. What anguish the heart-broken cry of Calvary, "My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken Me?" must have brought to the heart of God! What joy that other cry: "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit."

There was sorrow because it was the Son of His love that was dying; there was joy because the Son had finished His task, and passing through Paradise would soon be seated at the Father's right hand, a Prince and a Saviour.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR