The atonement is the centre of the Christian faith and of the work of the gospel ministry. The purpose of gospel preaching is to make known what God has done in the cross of Jesus Christ. The evangel is 'the preaching of the cross' (1 Cor. 1:18).
If this was apostolic Christianity then we must examine ourselves as to whether our emphasis corresponds with it. Is the cross central to the message we preach in our evangelism?
But how are we to preach the cross? Does our preaching resemble that of the NT apostles? Does it match the passionate freeness with which the church's greatest evangelists preached the cross to needy sinners?
In this booklet, Iain Murray helps us to think through the message of the cross, to appreciate God's love and justice in the death of Christ, and to grasp the truth afresh that 'by Christ crucified the love of God and his willingness to save is to be made known to all people.'
Iain H. Murray, born of Scots parents, was educated in the Isle of Man before serving with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in the Emergency in Malaya. After study at Durham University, he entered the Christian ministry, serving as assistant to Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones at Westminster Chapel, and subsequently as minister of Grove Chapel, London, and St Giles, Sydney. From 1955 (to 1987) he edited the Banner of Truth magazine, and in 1957 became co-founder of the Trust with which he remains closely connected.
