June 25 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Eph. 5:2).

Devotional

It was an entire sacrifice. "He gave himself." More he could not give; less would not have sufficed. He gave himself. All that he possessed in heaven, and all that belonged to him on earth, he gave in behalf of his people. His life of obedience, his death of suffering, he gave it all as "a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." It was an entire surrender.

It was a voluntary offering. "He gave himself." It was not by compulsion or by constraint that he surrendered himself into the hands of Divine justice. He did not go as a reluctant victim to the altar. They did not have to drag him to the cross. He went voluntarily.

It is true that there existed a solemn necessity, why Jesus should die in behalf of his people. It grew out of his covenant engagement with the Father. He voluntarily entered into that engagement. His own ineffable love constrained him. But after the compact had been made, the covenant of redemption ratified, and the bond given to justice, there was a necessity resting upon Jesus why he should finish the work. His word, his honor, his truth, his glory, all were pledged to the entire fulfillment of his suretyship. He had freely given himself into the power of justice. Therefore, on his taking upon him the form of a servant, he was under obligations to satisfy all its claims. He was legally bound to obey all its commands. And yet it was a voluntary surrender of himself as a sacrifice for his people. It was a willing offering. If there was a necessity—and we have shown that there was—it grew out of his own voluntary love to his church. It was, so to speak, a voluntary necessity.

See how God's Holy Word sustains this blessed view of the death of Jesus. "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth" (Isa. 53:7).

His own declaration confirms the truth. "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father" (John 10:17–18).

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 a present far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.

(Isaac Watts, 1707, text of 1709)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2011.