If our faith stops at the cross,
J. R. Miller, life's byways and
waysides. The women had brought spices,
expecting to find Jesus' body wrapped in burial garments lying
in the tomb. He is not here. He has risen,
said the angel. Matthew 28 6 Too many Christians
look yet for their Christ among the dead. They do not get beyond
the cross and the grave. They see Christ as only the Lamb
of God who takes away their sin. They think of Him as accomplishing
in His sufferings and death the whole of His work of human redemption. They do not think of a living
Christ who intercedes for them in heaven and who walks with
them on earth in loving companionship. The cross must never be forgotten. In a certain very real sense,
Christ saved His people by giving Himself for them. The cross was
the fullest, most complete revealing of divine love which earth has
ever seen. There the heart of God broke,
that its streams of life might flow out to give life to the
perishing world. To leave a dying Christ out of
our creed is to leave out salvation. The prints of the nails are the
proof marks on all doctrine, on all theology, on all Christian
life. He who dims the luster of the
cross of Christ is putting out the light of Christian hope,
By which alone souls can be lighted homeward. We must never forget
that Jesus died, died for us. But if our faith stops at the
cross, it misses the blessing of the fullest revealing of Christ. We do not merely need a Savior
who nineteen hundred years ago went to death to redeem us, but
one who also is alive, to walk by our side in loving companionship,
We need a Savior who can now hear our prayers. We need a Savior
to whose feet we can now creep in penitence when we have sinned. We need a Savior to whom we can
now call for help when the battle is going against us. We need
a Savior who is now interested in all of the affairs of our
common life and who can assist us in time of need. We need a
Savior who can now be our real friend, loving us, keeping close
beside us always, We not only need a Savior who saved us by
one great act wrought centuries ago, but one who continually
saves us by His warm heart throbbing with love today, walking ever
by our side. Nothing less than a living Christ
will do for us. That is what the gospel brings
to us. It tells us of Him who lives. He was dead. The nail prints
are in His hands. But He is now alive forevermore. He is risen. He loves us now,
today, always. He is ever with us. It is only
as we realize the truth of a living Christ that our hearts are satisfied. We crave a personal friendship
which will come into our life with its sympathies, its inspirations,
its companionship, its shelter, its life, its comfort. All this,
the living Christ, is to us. Therefore He is able to save
completely those who come to God through Him, because He always
lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7.25