Love, Christian Style

Remember your leaders. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith’

by Rhys Bezzant

Leon Morris wrote copiously on the doctrine of the atonement in the course of his ministry at Ridley College. One of his last books was called “The Cross of Jesus,” in which he highlighted themes about the Cross which often go unreported. I can still hear him say, when giving a talk at the Melbourne University Christian Union introducing this book, that the cross can be explained under three headings: love, law, and victory. His very particular spoken style emphasised the first syllable of the word “victory” and provided a useful framework for what was to follow. Clarity was one of his great strengths.On another occasion he said he achieved such clarity through at least eight drafts of each book he wrote. Patience must have been another of his virtues!

The last time I heard him preach was in the Ridley Chapel on Galatians 2:20, where Paul teaches how the love of God seen in the cross is made available to me, even me, as Leon stressed. In this recording, in which his voice is so recognisable, he treats the theme of love in a lecture delivered at the CS Lewis Institute in Washington DC in 1979. Listen and learn to love God and neighbour once again.

Click here to be taken to the resource page.

Rev’d Dr Rhys Bezzant