Pearls

This is brief, but well said,

~Al

And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 

And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 

In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: Col 1:20-22 

 

 

III. Christ is the redeemer. There is no other. His types and symbols teach this. There was but one ark in the flood, and all perished save those who sailed in it. There was but one altar in the Temple, one way through the Red Sea, "one Mediator between God and man."

1. Christ does not redeem us by simply revealing the truth. Were He a Savior only in this sense there are others. From "the Sun of Righteousness" He changes into a star, one of a constellation which is formed of Moses and the prophets. Many of them, indeed, had more to do in revealing God's will than Christ. No book bears His name, and the truths which fell from Him form but a fraction of Scripture. Yet who but He is set forth as the Redeemer, in whose name else are we commanded to believe and be baptized?

2. Christ does not redeem us by His example. That man is in a sense my savior who leads me safely along any dangerous path, and in a corresponding way some say Christ redeemed us. He set us such an example, that by following His steps we may enter the kingdom of heaven. Alas for safety if it turn on that I Walk as He walked! Who is sufficient for that? We should certainly attempt to follow Jesus, yet our best attempts will leave us more and more convinced that our only hope for redemption lies in the mercy of the Father and the merits of the Son.

3. Christ has redeemed us by suffering in our room and stead. "Without shedding of blood is no remission." "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin."

(T. Guthrie, D. D.)