For Thee

"The spotless Son of God hung upon the cross,

His flesh lacerated with stripes;    

those hands so often reached out in blessing,

nailed to the wooden bars;    

those feet so tireless on ministries of love,

spiked to the tree;    

 that royal head pierced by the crown of thorns;

those quivering lips shaped to the cry of woe,    

And all that He endured--
     the blood drops that flowed from His head,
         His hands,
             His feet,
                the agony that racked His frame
                     and the unutterable anguish that filled His soul
                          at the hiding of His father's face--

speaks to each child of humanity, declaring,

It is for thee that the Son of God consents

to bear this burden of guilt;

for thee He spoils the domain of death,

and opens the gates of paradise,

He who stilled the angry waves

and walked the foam-capped billows,

who made devils tremble and disease flee,

who opened blind eyes and called forth the dead to life--

offers Himself upon the cross as a sacrifice,

and this from love to thee. 

He the Sin Bearer,

endures the wrath of divine justice,

and for thy sake becomes sin itself." 

The Desire of Ages, p. 755.