Mercy and Justice Met at the Cross, August 24

Thank God Every Day for the Cross

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Psalm 85:10.SD 243.1

Justice and Mercy stood apart, in opposition to each other, separated by a wide gulf. The Lord our Redeemer clothed His divinity with humanity, and wrought out in behalf of man a character that was without spot or blemish. He planted His cross midway between heaven and earth, and made it the object of attraction which reached both ways, drawing both Justice and Mercy across the gulf.... There it saw One equal with God bearing the penalty for all injustice and sin. With perfect satisfaction Justice bowed in reverence at the cross, saying, It is enough.SD 243.2

By the offering made in our behalf we are placed on vantage-ground. The sinner, drawn by the power of Christ from the confederacy of sin, approaches the uplifted cross, and prostrates himself before it. Then there is a new creature in Christ Jesus. The sinner is cleansed and purified. A new heart is given to him. Holiness finds that it has nothing more to require. The work of redemption involved consequences of which it is difficult for man to have any conception. There was to be imparted to the human being striving for conformity to the divine image an outlay of heaven's treasures, an excellency of power, which would place him higher than the angels who had not fallen. The battle has been fought, the victory won. The controversy between sin and righteousness exalted the Lord of heaven, and established before the saved human family, before the unfallen worlds, before all the host of evil workers, from the greatest to the least, God's holiness, mercy, goodness, and wisdom.^{51The General Conference Bulletin, October 1, 1899.}SD 243.3

Christ on the cross was the medium whereby mercy and truth met together, and righteousness and peace kissed each other.^{52The General Conference Bulletin, April 1, 1899.}SD 243.4

The greatness of this gift was to furnish men with a theme of thanksgiving and praise that would last through time and through eternity.^{53The Youth's Instructor, December 13, 1894.}SD 243.5