by

Adolph Saphir

To preach Christ means to preach Christ crucified; that the death of Christ on the cross as an atoning sacrifice, is the very center and heart of preaching Christ.

It is necessary to dwell on this point, as it is so often impugned, obscured, and evaded in the present day. The instinct of the world, as well as the profound and vivid conviction of the church, have agreed on this one point, that the center of Christianity is Christ crucified. The world—with doubt, unbelief, aversion; the church—in faith, love, adoring joy and triumph. When we say a man believes in Christ, we mean—he trusts in Christ, Who died the Just for the unjust; when we say a man preaches Christ, we mean—he declares the redemption, the forgiveness of sins through faith in His Blood: when Christians take the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Him, it is in remembrance of Him Who laid down His life as a ransom for the sins of many. The cross of Christ is the summary of all; the central point, from which radiate Justification, Sanctification, and the Future Glory.

It has been said that the message of the church is the resurrection of Christ; to declare that Jesus is living. Blessed be God, that Christ is risen and at the right hand of the Majesty on high. But Christ’s resurrection is not, strictly speaking. the message of salvation to the world. We can have no doubt what the Gospel is, which God sends His messengers to preach. For the apostle Paul writes most clearly: that God “hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, and “hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation”. “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ: as though God did beseech by us, we pray in Christ’s stead, Be ye reconciled to God”. And that by this reconciliation on God’s part nothing else is meant but the expiatory substitution-death of Christ on the cross is most evident by the verse immediately following: “For He hath made Him to be sin for us Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

This is the gospel. This must be preached to the world. To the world our message is—Christ crucified: to the believer, the church, our message is —Christ is risen: He lives; He is your Righteousness and Strength, your Life and Hope. It is in analogy with this, that the death of Christ, the crucifixion, took place before the whole world, Jewish and heathen; all the people beheld Him; Christ was lifted up. The resurrection of Christ took place in secret; no human eye witnessed the mysterious and glorious moment; and the risen Savior appeared only to the chosen ones, and not to the world. It is perfectly true that if Christ is not risen the gospel would neither be true nor a living and vitalizing Power; but the gospel itself is—Christ died for the ungodly.

But besides, and this is of equal significance, What is meant by the resurrection of Christ? And why is it of such cardinal and blessed importance? Not that Jesus as man was raised from the dead, nor that Jesus as all godly men, lives now and lives for ever; but that Jesus, the Christ, our Substitute, was raised; that He Who was offered up for our offences, rose again because of our justification; that Isaiah 53 was fulfilled in Him—He was despised and rejected by Israel; He was honored and exalted by the Father: and why? Because He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. He lives and sees His seed; because His soul was made an offering for sin. He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death. This is the significance of the resurrection; and thus all the apostles preached; and Jesus Himself said unto the beloved disciple: “Fear not, I am the First and the Last: I am He that liveth and was dead: and behold, I am alive for evermore.

As the atoning death of Christ not merely explains the true meaning of the resurrection and the foundation on which His exaltation rests (Phil. 2)—so the glory of the risen Lord, as Prophet and royal Priest, can only be seen in the light of Golgotha. Because He died, God exalted Him to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. (Not to prove to skeptics the supernatural and the life to come.) “By His Own Blood He entered into the holy place, the true sanctuary, having obtained eternal redemption for us”: thus the epistle to the Hebrews teaches us. He is the Mediator of the New Testament and the High Priest over the house of God, because He was once offered to bear the sins of many. And only by faith in His Blood can we enter into the Holiest, and thus be partakers of the spiritual and eternal blessings of His Priesthood. Nor do the glorified saints around the Throne throughout eternity ever lose sight of the central and most blessed manifestation and act of Divine Love. “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy Blood”—this is the foundation on which rests the glory which the royal Priest gives unto His saints—“and hast made us unto our God kings and priests”.

Preaching Christ crucified is, lastly, the only way in which Christ’s life and ministry can be truly understood. We are often accused of not bringing out with sufficient emphasis the example of Christ and the perfection of His character and life. We are told that to preach the sinlessness and purity, the love and self-denial, of Christ is the most important thing. But is this true? Men say: Unfold to us the beauty, the grandeur, the love of Christ the perfect man, that we may imitate every feature of His noble character. This would be practical preaching. Just as the Jews at the foot of Mount Sinai promised that they would observe whatever God would command them, not knowing the true nature of sin and the real condition of sinful and fallen man, so do our twentieth century Europeans imagine that all they need is to have a high and attractive ideal of humanity set before them. This is one aspect of the fallacy. But another aspect is—that men fail to see what the example of Christ really is. What is the glory of Christ’s earthly life? —wherein consists its incomparable character whereby it was to the Father an infinite delight, and is to the believer the great model and sustaining strength? As the apostle explains in the epistle to Philippians, the mind which was in Christ Jesus, which is also to be in us, is—that for the glory of the Father and the salvation of sinners He became man, and having become man went in the path of humility; always looking forward to, and at last enduring, the death of the cross. This was the will of God, which He came to do. This was the obedience. In this light alone we truly behold the Lamb without spot or blemish; the love and obedience which He manifested during all the days of His flesh. Thus we preach Christ crucified: not to the exclusion of His life, but to the inclusion and true possession, of all that is in Christ.