Legacy Of John R.W. Stott – An English Anglican Priest And Leader Of The Worldwide Evangelical Movement
John R. W. Stott (1921-2011) is known worldwide as a beloved evangelist, preacher, and Scripture enthusiast. He served as rector of All Souls Church in London, where he oversaw an urban pastoral ministry. He is thought to be a leader amongst evangelicals in both the United States and Britain and around the world. Stott’s books have sold millions of copies worldwide, his best-known work being Basic Christianity. Stott has written eight volumes in the New Testament exposition series The Bible Speaks Today. Honored by TIME Magazine in 2005 as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World”, he was also named in the Queen’s New Years Honours list as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Stott founded Langham Trust, a scholarship for evangelical leaders, and also the Evangelical Literature Trust which provided books to pastors, students and theological libraries. He longed to see enhanced evangelical theological education throughout the world.
In The Cross of Christ, John R. W. Stott points the reader to the centrality of the cross of Christ for faith and effective Christian living. He addresses matters concerning the centrality of the cross as seen in Jesus’s teaching, the New Testament cannon, and overall church history. Although he was handed over to be crucified by both the Jews and Roman leadership, Jesus’s death was ultimately his own choice because he laid down his life for sinners.
Stott also explains the heart behind the cross: the forgiveness of sins from a holy God to a sinful people through the cross of Christ. Jesus’s death provides completion, not just to Satan’s demise or the Law, but to God himself in the person of Jesus Christ. He was a necessary substitute for sin. In the final section, the author details the achievements of the cross including salvation, revelation of God’s righteousness and love, and the victory over evil. The reader then knows what it looks like to live under the cross. Neither crib nor manger, the universal symbol of the Christian faith is a gruesome cross.
From early on, the distinguishing symbol of Christianity is the instrument by which Christ suffered the cruelest possible method of execution. The Cross of Christ examines Jesus’s perspective on his own death, the multiple predictions he made about his upcoming suffering, and the reason he had to suffer. Second to Jesus’s perspective are those of his apostles. Author Stott surveys the apostles’ emphases of the cross in their subsequent teachings throughout Scripture and history. Corinthians 1:18 proves true as unbelievers vehemently oppose the message of the cross. In turn, Christians find it to be the power of God. So why did Christ have to die? Why did he have to die in such a gruesome fashion?
Notable in the text are the involvement of Roman soldiers, Pontius Pilate, and Judas Iscariot. After the views of involvement, the author turns the tables to Jesus, his choice to die and the way he had to die. Jesus died to procure our salvation. In order to do so, he had to pay a penalty for our sins. Jesus taught his disciples to commemorate his death. He emphasized the importance of his death over his life. He explained that his death established a new covenant between God and man. By participating in commemoration of his death by eating and drinking, Jesus taught the need for everyone to appropriate the benefits of his death personally in thanksgiving.
Stott elaborates on Jesus’s distress over his upcoming execution. His thoughts were not on the physical pain he would soon experience by flogging and crucifixion. Instead, Jesus agonized over the cup of God’s wrath that he would drink for our sins. While on the cross, Jesus cried out asking God why he had forsaken his son. This moment reveals what Jesus was truly experiencing: the separation from God that we deserve.
