Some of those who question the miracle also question the theory of atonement; they assert that it does not accord with their idea of justice for one to die for all.  Let each one bear his own sins and the punishments due for them, they say.  The doctrine of vicarious suffering is not a new one; it is as old as the race.  That one should suffer for others is one of the most familiar of principles and we see the principle illustrated every day of our lives.  Take the family, for instance; from the day the mother’s first child is born, for twenty or thirty years her children are scarcely out of her waking thoughts.  Her life trembles in the balance at each child’s birth; she sacrifices for them, she surrenders herself to them.  Is it because she expects them to pay her back?  Fortunate for the parent and fortunate for the child if the latter has an opportunity to repay in part the debt it owes.  But no child can compensate a parent for a parent’s care.  In the course of nature the debt is paid, not to the parent, but to the next generation, and the next—­each generation suffering, sacrificing for and surrendering itself to the generation that follows.  This is the law of our lives.

Nor is this confined to the family.  Every step in civilization has been made possible by those who have been willing to sacrifice for posterity.  Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of conscience and free government have all been won for the world by those who were willing to labor unselfishly for their fellows.  So well established is this doctrine that we do not regard anyone as great unless he recognizes how unimportant his life is in comparison with the problems with which he deals.

I find proof that man was made in the image of his Creator in the fact that, throughout the centuries, man has been willing to die, if necessary, that blessings denied to him might be enjoyed by his children, his children’s children and the world.

The seeming paradox:  “He that saveth his life shall lose it and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it,” has an application wider than that usually given to it; it is an epitome of history.  Those who live only for themselves live little lives, but those who stand ready to give themselves for the advancement of things greater than themselves find a larger life than the one they would have surrendered.  Wendell Phillips gave expression to the same idea when he said, “What imprudent men the benefactors of the race have been.  How prudently most men sink into nameless graves, while now and then a few forget themselves into immortality.”  We win immortality, not by remembering ourselves, but by forgetting ourselves in devotion to things larger than ourselves.

Instead of being an unnatural plan, the plan of salvation is in perfect harmony with human nature as we understand it.  Sacrifice is the language of love, and Christ, in suffering for the world, adopted the only means of reaching the heart.  This can be demonstrated not only by theory but by experience, for the story of His life, His teachings, His sufferings and His death has been translated into every language and everywhere it has touched the heart.