Quote of the Week

Rebecca's riddle got me thinking about Christ's work on the cross, so this week's quote will be from John Murray's excellent treatise on the subject, Redemption Accomplished and Applied.

The Christ's atonement for sins lies at the center of both the Old and New Testaments; in the Old Testament concealed, in the New Testament revealed.  This is a rather long passage--longer than will easily fit in the sidebar--but I'll include the entire passage here in the post and shorten it for the side bar.

That Christ's work was to offer Himself a sacrifice for sin implies, however, a complementary truth too frequently overlooked.  It is that, if Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice, He was also a priest.  And it was as a priest that He offered Himself.  He was not offered up by another; He offered Himself.  This is something that could not be exemplified in the ritual of the Old Testament.  The prist did not offer himself and neither did the offering offer itself.  But in Christ we have this unique combination that serves to exhibit the uniqueness of His sacrifice, the transcendent character of His priestly office, and the perfection inherent in His priestly offering.  It is in virtue of His priestly office and in pursuance of His priestly function that He makes atonement for sin.  He indeed was the lamb slain, but He was also the priest that offered Himself as the lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. 

John Murray

Redemption Accomplished and Applied, pg 28 

"He offered Himself without spot to God." (Eph 5:25)