When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ my God:
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.
See from his head, his hands, his feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
P. 23 - Whoso wants to climb Jacob's ladder, to see angels, to touch the stars, to become intoxicated with heavenly emotions, to stand near the Gate of Gethsemane and to have his heart wrung with feelings of adoration at the goodness of God - let him read on.As Packer shows, there is a Godwardness about this book to which our day may be unaccustomed. But, may we be better acquainted with our God - through His Christ - because of our time in this book! Welcome to our first meeting, please share your thoughts about this week's reading.
And when he is finished let him not see Charnock or any man. But let him gaze on the face of Jesus and cry out through choking tears: 'I have seen the God-Man in his agonies. Surely this suffering was damnation taken lovingly for me. To Thee, O blessed Christ, I give my heart promptly and sincerely'.
5 comments:
An experimental (subjective, heart) knowledge of the crucifixion of Jesus is crucial for us. Packer does well in encouraging us to seek a warm hearted approach to these great truths and realities from Charnock. The cross is vital for our entire lives, not just the doorway to God (initial salvation experience), but our continued standing in fellowship with him while we live on earth, and our hope to worship Him face to face for all of eternity as well.
The cross is not only the meritorious cause of all salvation—but is the instrumental cause of all sanctification. As there is no other way of salvation than by the blood of the cross—so there is no other way of holiness than by the power of the cross.
Through the cross, that is, through union & communion with Him who suffered upon it, not only is there a fountain opened for our being justified before God, but a fountain that remains open for our constant cleansing of daily iniquities for our walk and fellowship with Him!
All our . . .
pardon & peace, acceptance & justification, happiness & holiness, wisdom & strength,
victory over the world, mortification of the body of sin and death, hope and confidence,
prayer and praise, gracious feelings, spiritual desires, warm supplications, honest confessions, godly sorrows for sin, spring from the cross!
At the cross alone can we . . .
be made wise unto salvation, become righteous by a free justification, receive of His Spirit to make us holy, and be redeemed and delivered from sin, Satan, self, death and hell.
To the cross we are to bring . . .
our sorrows, our trials, our temptations, our sufferings, in order that we may get life from His death, pardon and peace from His atoning blood, justification from His divine obedience, and resignation to the will of His Father from His holy example.
At the cross alone is . . .
the world crucified to us, and we to the world; sin mortified, and its reigning power dethroned; the old man crucified and put off, and the new man put on.
May God give us all grace to know Him, to determine to know nothing but Him and Him crucified.
While reading the Intro I was reminded of an article by Bob Kauflin of Covenant Life Church. He had this to say when asked about the lack of references to the cross of Christ in modern worship music. I think it greatly mirrors what Packer is conveying and is a challenging word for us all today:
“We think the Christian life begins with Christ saving us from our sins and moves on to pleasing God through our good works and service. We don’t realize that the Gospel remains our only foundation, providing hope, joy, security, peace, faith, and assurance for our life with God. The New Testament writers were consistent in their focus on the significance of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ for our lives”
We are often prone to forget that the cross is not only the “hinge and fulcrum of the gospel”, but is also central to the believer’s daily walk of faith. For example, as believers we should be driven to humility by the example of Christ (Phil. 2). For husbands, the atonement is our model for loving our wives (Eph. 5). By it we should be motivated to a zealous obedience and it should reinforce a radical separtion from all things worldly. As Packer points out, it is our call to devotion & consecration, and our model for enduring suffering.
O, the necessity of living the cross-centered life! Like the Apostle Paul in Galatians 6:14 it should be our only boast!
I love this quote from page 11:
“Trusting, loving and following Jesus necessitates keeping the cross in view at all times. Our living Lord calls for what we may call cruciform discipleship, clear headed, open-eyed, and whole hearted.”
Emphasis on: whole-hearted.
Which made me think of this:
“When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” – Col. 3:4
Emphasis on: our life.
May we be whole-hearted in our devotion to Christ! May we run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus.
It was my joy to pray for each of you by name this morning. Please remember to intercede for each groupie each week. No doubt, our first ten minutes together is the most significant portion of our weekly meeting.
# Anthony Mathenia
# Brad Nelson
# Brandon Sheridan
# Brienne Smith
# Bryan Smith
# Clif Johnson
# Cody McNutt
# Debbie Thomas
# Jake Shivley
# Jim Suggs
# Jonathan Hopper
# Jordan Thomas
# Justin Tucker
# Kevin Wilkins
# Kirk Benson
# Melissa Sparks
# Nate "Dawg" Sawyer
# Ron Franks
# Shaun Hair
# Todd Smith
Special thanks to those who have commented already. My heart was stirred by the things you shared.
The to comments that stood out to me most in Packer's introduction are on pages 10 & 11.
P 10 - "[the cross] is the centerpiece of God's eternal plan of grace." (emphasis on 'eternal plan').
God REALLY sent His only Son to be a propitiation for our sins! It happened! And (thank God that Packer is correct) the sending of God's Son was NOT "plan B." God, from eternity, has been setting the stage, and once set, sent His Son at the perfect timing (Gal 4:4), and has now exalted Him back to the highest place...all according to plan! May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His sufferings - indeed He will.
P 11 - The cross must shape our faith, and thereby reshape our entire lives.
On 10/5/06 how is the cross shaping your faith? Your life? These questions are penetrating me today. I'm only promised this moment, not tomorrow. There seems to always be an excuse of why today won't work for Christlikeness. Let's take a look at Christ today. Look at His cross. Look at Him. Today. Now. He is sufficient to save, to sanctify, and to enable us to life TODAY for His glory.
My heart was stirred most over this sentence:
"Paul was so much taken with Christ, that nothing sweeter than Jesus could drop from his lips and pen." pg 17
I wanted to continue to read further but the Holy Spirit would not let me get away from those words. How I want to be "taken" with Christ and the cross so much more than I am now.Thankfully the Lord assured me He plans to captivate my heart more and more.
I was reminded in a study with some highschool girls a couple months ago how boring the story of the cross is to many Christians. I heard the girls make comments like "I've just heard that story so many times", or "Yeah, I know Christ died for my sins but it's just not a big deal anymore". My heart broke when I heard their thoughts and when I thought about how I was guilty for not being awe struck at the thought of Christ on the cross everytime I heard or read about it.
Since then the Lord continues to remind me how humbling that thought is and He's used it to quicken my affections for Christ as I remind myself that that story must never leave me un-amazed.
I also loved this line; "Christ and his death is the choicest subject for the wisest ear." pg 18
Those who want to have their hunger satisfied, their thirst quenched and their minds and hearts elevated to the highest level will due well to wrap their thoughts around the life and death of "the man Christ Jesus".
I simply want to love Him more.
The others in this group need to be writing books. The verses that come to my mind are John 3:30 - 31.
I know John 3:30 is one of Jordans favorites.
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