In my seminary days in New York, the beginning of each chapel included the singing of the alma mater.
To all the world for Jesus’ sake
Where bodies hurt and sad hearts ache
Lift high the cross, His love proclaim
Mid-America bear His Name.
One thing I noticed, particularly in a school which was focused on training pastors and missionaries: everyone heard that calling through a filter. If you sensed the calling to foreign missions… “all the world” meant panta ta ethne (all the people groups of the world). If you knew that God had called you to local church ministry, it meant the unreached people in your city.
Regardless of one’s filter, the alma mater reminded us, regularly and consistently that we exist for the glory of God and are purposefully deployed in this world to proclaim Christ’s love for the broken and hurting. Our message is simple: “The Cross.”
In “the cross” we see the gravity of sin. In its day, the crucifixion was reserved as punishment for the highest of crimes and the worst of criminals. God’s view of our sin is not that of some little indiscretion but of a capital offense. Only a perfect God could hold such a view…since we, as sinners, are often seeking to minimize the offensiveness of sin. We turn “false witness” into a partial truth or “little lie” as if that were so. Ultimately though, it is the Judge’s judgment that stands, not the person on trial. Sin is horrendous.
In “the cross” we see the substitutionary sacrifice of God for us. He is both JUST (in His judgment of sin) and JUSTIFIER of man (because He assumed the punishment for our sin). His justification was not in response to some sense of merit in us, but according to His own good purpose and predetermined plan.
In “the cross” we find hope. No one is crucified twice. For those condemned (cursed) to die on a tree, once the penalty is paid, it is paid. In Christ’s vicarious (representative) atoning work, each person’s debt is settled.
In “the cross” we find the prescribed response. We look at the Innocent One who took our place, experienced the fullness of the cup of God’s wrath poured out on Him, and as it (the cross) is lifted high, we are called to look upon it. If we do, we feel conviction, shame, and unworthiness. As we hear Him call to us we are drawn. The acknowledgment of our sin and insufficiency of our efforts to atone for our sin are overshadowed by the gracious invitation to yield and KNOW eternal life.
“To all the world, for Jesus’ sake.”
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