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There will always be sin in the church until Christ comes again. But there are signs that we can identify, signs that new families in Christ are being created all the time. May his blessed Holy Spirit come afresh upon all the branches of his church here in this great country of America, where God has been pleased to bring members of all the peoples of the earth. May we who belong to Christ be newly committed to our calling, so that blood and race and class and theological differences may be truly transcended in his Name, for our good and for his glory.

* * *

The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is his new creation by water and the Word:
From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy Bride;
With his own blood he bought her, and for her life
he died.

From Fleming Rutledge, The Seven Last Words from the Cross, (c) 2004 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI. Used by permission; all rights reserved. To order this title, contact the publisher at 800.253.7521 or visit http://www.eerdmans.com/

Copyright © 2005 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

The Seven Last Words from the Cross is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

'It Is Finished' But It Is Not Over | God's work of redemption continues in the redeemed, an excerpt from Cross-Shattered Christ.

When the Giver of Eternal Life Thirsts | Meditations on Franz Joseph Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Christ.

And Jesus Stood | An excerpt from Holy Week Sonnets, by Philip Rosenbaum.

The Last Words of Jesus | A new book renews a classic musical meditation.

Other Holy Week articles include:

Maundy Thursday | Part one of "The Great Reversal," a CT Classic article, by Walter Wangerin, Jr. (April 20, 2000)

Good Friday | Part two of "The Great Reversal," a CT Classic article, by Virginia Stem Owens (April 20, 2000)

Holy Saturday | Part three of "The Great Reversal," a CT Classic article, by Eugene H. Peterson (April 20, 2000)

Easter Sunday | Part four of "The Great Reversal." by Philip Yancey (April 20, 2000)

The Goodness of Good Friday | An unhappy celebration—isn't that an oxymoron? (April 17, 2003)

The Other Holy Day | In the rush toward Good Friday and Easter, don't forget Maundy Thursday. (March 22, 2002)

More Easter articles include:

Who Killed Jesus? | After centuries of censure, Jews have been relieved of general responsibility for the death of Jesus. Now who gets the blame? (Aug. 24, 2000)

The Scars of Easter | He knows the wounds of humanity. His hands prove it. By Paul Brand with Philip Yancey (April 18, 2000)

Grave Matters | Take away the Resurrection and the center of Christianity collapses. By N. T. Wright (April 6, 1998)

Jesus v. Sanhedrin | Why Jesus "lost" his trial. by Darrell L. Bock (April 6, 1998)

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March (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49