GOD’S WORD FOR APRIL 4

Today, as it is Holy Saturday, we’re again going back in time, this time to 1919

And  excerpts from A.C. Dixon’s sermon on the Incarnation of Jesus—when the

Word of God put on humanity.

The INCARNATION

By A.C. Dixon, D.D.  |  Originally published March 12, 1919

The Cross: The Glory Of The Incarnation

The tragedy of the crucifixion is one thing, the glory of the cross is quite another. In its tragedy, it is repulsive. In its deeper meaning, it is most attractive. There is a big monument on Bunker Hill that was built—not to the tragedy, but to a deeper feeling that we call patriotism. There were men there who were willing to die for what they believed to be right, and this monument was erected to their memory, and so the crucifixion of our Lord was one of the most repulsive things this world ever saw,  yet underneath the surface of this revulsion, there is an attraction which is simply irresistible. Some of the most repulsive scenes in history have been sung in song, painted on canvas and chiseled in marble, just because of the deeper meaning of them.

Now we will stand out underneath the cross and look and listen that we may learn to love. I think as we catch the words which fall from the lips of our dying Lord, we will have defined for us, in a large measure, the deeper meaning of the cross. “Father forgive them for they know not what they do,” and that cry is an appeal to heaven by way of the cross for forgiveness, and it is a plea made by the Lord at the moment when He was making it possible for God to forgive. Mercy is not a species of justice. The very moment a judge begins to be merciful, he ceases to be just, and when he ceases to be just, he begins to be merciful. No man can be absolutely just and absolutely merciful at the same time; yet God is infinitely just, and how can He be infinitely merciful? It is only by the satisfaction of justice that God can be merciful at all, and there is only one place in this universe of which I know, where God shows mercy. He shows His loving kindness, His goodness, His favor in a thousand ways; but not His mercy, His favor for the guilty, His love for sinners, criminals before God. Crime is an offense before the law, and sin is a crime before God. (Because kindness and grace are undeserved  blessings given, but mercy is a deserved punishment not given.)

Now in Jesus Christ on the cross there is mercy. God is dealing with the guilty, and His love is expressing itself in satisfying justice. Can you tell me a place in nature where God shows mercy? You keep natural law and you are rewarded; you break natural law and you are punished. You are rewarded in proportion as you keep it, and you are punished just as you break it. There is no mercy in natural law; it has no heart; it never weeps; there is no sympathy. Jesus Christ on the cross is making it possible for God to be just and the justifier of him that believes; so that now as He satisfies the demands of righteousness and justice, He can pray, “Father, forgive them; it is now possible to be merciful as You have been just,” and so that cry on the cross is an appeal to heaven for mercy, because justice has been satisfied.

And then as we listen, we hear the voice of prophecy. “Today you shall be with me in Paradise,” and there is no entrance to Paradise except through Christ on the cross; that is the door here and hereafter. I have met some who believe in Christ as a historical character. They magnify His human attributes, they praise His qualities; but they don’t believe in salvation through the atoning blood. They will take everything except the cross of Christ. I have never yet found a so-called Christian of that kind with any joy, with any peace of soul. There is no entering into the Paradise of joy in the Lord except by the way of the cross. You may magnify the human attributes of Jesus as much as you will, as our Unitarian friends do, but not one of them can you find with rest of soul. The sin question has not been settled; it has been waived aside, it is a sort of imperfect righteousness; but there is no confession of the guilt of sin and meeting of justice that gives real peace of conscience and rest of soul. But in Christ on the cross, there is such a satisfaction of God, and there comes such a peace of heart into the soul as to bring one right into a spiritual Paradise.

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        Romans 5:6-8: “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This verse underscores the idea that Jesus died for those who did not deserve it.

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        Isaiah 53:5: “But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds, we are healed.” This passage illustrates the substitutionary nature of His sacrifice.

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        1 Peter 3:18: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God…” This highlights the concept of Jesus as the righteous one taking the place of the unrighteous.

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John 18:37

Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

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