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Friday, April 2, 2010

DAYS OF PRAISE-DARK CALVARY

Days of Praise
Dark Calvary
April 2, 2010
"Now from the sixth hour there was
darkness over all the land unto the
ninth hour." (Matthew 27:45)
The second verse of the grand old hymn
"The Old Rugged Cross" contains much
truth, rich and deep.
Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised
by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory
above
To bear it to dark Calvary.
The world despises the cross, and the
One on the cross. "He is despised and
rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief: and we hid as it
were our faces from him; he was despised,
and we esteemed him not" (Isaiah 53:3).
But yet, even in His bloodied and broken
form, there is a wondrous attraction, for
"surely he hath borne our griefs, and
carried our sorrows: . . . he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for
our iniquities: the chastisement of our
peace was upon him; and with his stripes
we are healed" (vv. 4-5).
His death substituted for ours. He was the
sacrificial "Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
This Lamb is none other than God the
Son, who willingly "took upon him the
form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men: . . . and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross"
(Philippians 2:7-8). Remarkably, even
God the Father "despised" Him as He hung
on the cross, for God is holy, and for our
sakes had "made him to be sin for us, who
knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him"
(2 Corinthians 5:21). The apex of Christ's
suffering came, as we see in our text,
when God the Father separated Himself
from His beloved Son, "forsaking " (v. 46)
Christ to suffer for three hours the awful
pangs of hell which we deserved. So I'll
cherish the old rugged cross. JDM
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