“Did e’re such love and sorrow meet?”
ISAAC WATTS
What a privilege is ours at Grace to have reached the heart of the Gospel of Mark. This Sunday, we’ll move from the courtroom travesty to Golgotha, as Rob Price helps us consider the greatest sacrifice in the history of the world – one that will never be equaled again.
Golgotha, “the place of the skull.”
C. H. Spurgeon helps us consider the comfort that flows from the cross:
“The hill of comfort is the hill of Calvary. The house of consolation is built with the wood of the cross. The temple of heavenly blessing is founded upon the riven rock – riven by the spear that pierced His side. No scene in sacred history ever gladdened the soul like Calvary’s tragedy.
Is it not strange, the darkest hour
That ever dawned on sinful earth
Should touch the heart with softer power
For comfort than an angel’s mirth?
That to the Cross the mourner’s eye should turn
Sooner than where the stars of Bethlehem burn?
“Light springs from the midday-midnight of Golgotha. Every herb of the field blooms sweetly beneath the shadow of the once accursed tree. In that place of thirst, grace has dug a fountain which still gushes with waters pure as crystal, each drop capable of alleviating the woes of mankind.
“You who have had your seasons of conflict will confess that it was not at Olivet that you ever found comfort, not on the hill of Sinai, nor on Tabor, but Gethsemane. The bitter herbs of Gethsemane have often taken away the bitters of your life. The scourge of Gabbatha has often scourged away your cares, and the groans of Calvary yields to us comfort rare and rich.
“We never should have known Christ’s love in all its heights and depths if He had not died, nor could we have guessed the Father’s deep affection if He had not given His Son to die. The common mercies we enjoy all sing of love, just as the seashell, when we put it to our ears, whispers of the deep sea from where it came. But if we desire to hear the ocean itself, we must not look at everyday blessings, but at the transactions of the crucifixion.
“You who would know love retire to Calvary and see the Man of sorrows die.”
Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary,
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.
CHORUS:
This, the pow’r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us,
Took the blame, bore the wrath;
We stand forgiven at the cross.
Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin;
Ev’ry bitter thought,
Ev’ry evil deed,
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.
Now the daylight flees,
Now the ground beneath
Quakes, as its Maker bows His head –
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life –
“Finished!” the vict’ry cry.
Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering, I am free;
Death is crushed to death,
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.
FINAL CHORUS:
This, the pow’r of the cross:
Son of God slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.
The Power of the Cross
Words and Music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music
THE POWER OF THE CROSS
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