n the cross stands first? Man would
have written the sufferings of Christ in a far different way. The
descriptions of the sufferings not written by inspiration would have
been in this wise: The physical sufferings, how they scourged Him, all
the sickening details of that which even cruel Rome called the
intermediate death, would have been pictured. Then would have followed a
description of how the nails were driven into the blessed hands who had
lovingly touched so many weary, sin-laden and disease-stricken bodies.
All the agony of the cross and its shame would have been described first
by man. Then how the multitude mocked and darkness came over the entire
scene--then last of all, it would have been stated, He cried, My God, My
God, why hast Thou forsaken me? But the Holy Spirit in this great
Prophecy puts the cry of deepest agony first. Why? Because in that hour
the great work of atonement, propitiation, sin-bearing, judgment and
wrath enduring, was once and for all accomplished. In this same Psalm we
read what men energized by Satan's power, did unto Him. But man could
not put Him to death. It is written, "Thou (that is God) hast brought me
into the dust of death." God's own hand rested upon Him. "God laid upon
Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah liii:6). "It pleased the Lord to
bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief." And elsewhere we read, what
refers to the same atoning work of our Lord when He stood in the
sinner's place.

"All Thy waves and billows go over me" (Ps. xlii:7).

"Thine arrows stick fast in Me" (Ps. xxxviii:2).

"Thine hand presses me sore" (Ps. xxxviii:2).

"Thou hast laid me into the lowest pit" (Ps. lxxxviii:6).

"Thy wrath lieth hard upon me" (Ps. lxxxviii:7).

"Thy fierce wrath goeth over me" (Ps. lxxxviii:16).

"I suffer Thy terrors" (Ps. lxxxviii:15).

But what it all meant for the Son of God! Who can tell out His sorrow
and deep affliction? Never shall we fully discover the greatness of the
price which was paid. The death of the cross, it has been truly said,
stands perfectly alone. It can never be repeated and because of its
eternal efficacy, will never need to be repeated.

_It is Finished._

And this great work He came to do, is finished. "It is finished!" thus
He spoke on the cross and the words assure us that all is done. The rent
veil and the open tomb tell us "It is finished." But what has been
accomplished in this blessed work? We cannot fully grasp it now as long
as we look