June 21, Evening

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"The foundation of God standeth sure." — 2 Timothy 2:19 · KJV

The foundation on which our faith rests is this: that "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." The great fact on which genuine faith relies is that "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," and that "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God"; that He "His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree"; that "the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed." In one word, the great pillar of the Christian's hope is substitution: the vicarious sacrifice of Christ for the guilty—Christ made sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him; Christ offering a true and proper atoning, substitutionary sacrifice in the room, place, and stead of as many as the Father gave Him, who are known to God by name and recognized in their own hearts by their trusting in Jesus. This is the cardinal fact of the gospel. If this foundation were removed, what could we do? But it stands as firm as the throne of God. We know it; we rest on it; we rejoice in it; and our delight is to hold it, to meditate on it, and to proclaim it, while we desire to be moved by gratitude for it in every part of our life and conduct. In these days a direct attack is made on the doctrine of the atonement. Men cannot bear substitution; they gnash their teeth at the thought of the Lamb of God bearing the sin of man. But we, who know by experience how precious this truth is, will proclaim it confidently and unceasingly in defiance of them. We will neither dilute it nor change it nor whittle it away in any shape or fashion. It shall still be Christ, a positive Substitute, bearing human guilt and suffering in the place of men. We cannot and dare not give it up, for it is our life, and despite every controversy we feel that "the foundation of God standeth sure."