GOD’S UNQUALIFIED HATRED OF SIN
For one
moment, to slightly change the angle of observation, let it be kept in mind
that in that Cross of Jesus GOD EXPRESSED HIS UNQUALIFIED HATRED OF SIN. The
very fires that burn the sacrifice were the fires of His wrath against all
evil. The fierceness of the flame was created by the intensity of love. God will
not be dethroned, though His enthronement cost Him the Son of His love; and
therein is most awfully visible the severity and the judgment of God.
Yet that severity and judgment can never be understood except as it is clearly
recognized that the
force of them is His compassion. Of this there is no perfect
illustration other than the Cross itself. I lift my eyes again to the Cross,
and this I see, that in the mystery of its unfathomable anguish I discover that
God will not be dethroned, though all hell be against Him, and this because of
His mighty love. Let
me utter it slowly and carefully, and yet out of my profoundest heart, if there
be nothing to vindicate but His authority, then there is no necessity for the
Cross; for the vindication of justice, or judgment, or righteousness, or
holiness in the last analysis may be realized by the destruction of man,
retribution for man’s sin and how man would end the sorrowful dilemma. In such
destruction, however, love would have been defeated, and for the
vindication of that love, and what is infinitely more than its vindication, for
its, own satisfaction, He will not permit man to dethrone Him. Amid the depth
of the darkness of Calvary it is grace that triumphs in a great authority. He
will not consult with man in his madness, but He will retain the throne for His
very love of the foolish one. God found even in the midst of the ruin the
possibility of redemption, and while God in Christ—for They cannot be
separated—became the butt of brutal malice, He responded with tenderness; and
when man's sin has done its worst in nailing Christ to the Cross with lawless
hands, in that very Cross God plants the kiss of forgiveness upon the face of
the murderers. It is the magnificent and majestic authority of love. He will
love. We cannot prevent Him loving, and let me add reverently to that
statement, He
cannot help loving because He is Love. Love is stronger than death, mightier
than the grave. Many waters cannot quench love. That is the anthem of the
Cross. God retains the throne of authority because of His infinite love. He
will never cease to love a single soul He has created. Man
has trouble understanding that truth.
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