"GOD--Forsaken By GOD!" ... "Who Can Understand It?"

The fathomless mystery of the Cross!
(Alexander Smellie, "On the Secret Place" 1907)

"From the sixth hour until the ninth 
hour, darkness came over all 
the land!"   Matthew 27:45

With bowed head and an adoring heart, 

I draw near to the crucifixion-darkness 

of CHRIST'S suffering and my salvation. 

I think of the fathomless mystery 

of the Cross!

On Calvary, I am within the clouds 

of GOD'S eternal purpose. 

The beginning of HIS grace in 

JESUS CHRIST, is beyond my reach. 

HE loved me from eternity--

before the foundations 

of the earth were laid! 

How can I comprehend it, 

this everlastingness of redemption? 

Yet it should be my joy to ponder it. 

If HE has cared for me from eternity past--

I may be assured of HIS sustaining 

me through an incalculable future.

But on Calvary, too, I am within 

the clouds of GOD'D immeasurable 

sorrow. There are secrets of unfathomable 

anguish here, with which I dare not meddle. 

This is a midnight blackness before 

which the angels must veil their faces 

with their wings. "GOD--forsaken by GOD!" 

Luther exclaimed, "who can understand it?" 

I tread softly--

the place is holy ground. Yes--

but happy ground, since HE has 

redeemed me. My SAVIOR 

was made a curse for me--

that I might be a child forever 

within HIS heavenly home!

On Calvary, moreover, I am 
within the clouds of GOD'S ineffable 
wisdom. The Cross of JESUS has 
been the central theme in the study 
of the profoundest Christian thinkers--
and none of them has exhausted the theme. 

It is GOD'S most wondrous work--
GOD'S last word. I can never 
explain it fully. But I perceive that 
it glorifies both the inflexible 
holiness of my JUDGE--
and the unfathomable love 
of my FATHER! 

This I am sure of, that it gives 
me an unveiling of HIS many-sided 
attributes and perfections, such 
as I cannot gain anywhere else.

Shrouded in the darkness--
CHRIST gained new beauty, 
new worth, new dominion. 

It was in crucifixion-darkness, 
that HIS glory shone most brightly 
forth. Now HE was invested with 
the Calvary-attraction 
which draws me to HIM.

May the thick crucifixion-darkness 
be an ever-opening secret between 
HIM and me. Out of the shadows, 
may the beams of divine hope and 
love pour into my soul. 

JESUS sacrificed for my sins--
may HE be all my salvation 
and all my desire!

   ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ 

GraceGems has published John Newton's, 
"Three letters to a Christian friend".