Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

The sphere in which our Lord sacramentally applies His redeeming work is that in which He made it.  That sphere was indeed on this earth, but not of it.  Our Lord made His propitiatory sacrifice; it was a true and real sacrifice, but its truth and reality are not of the nature of this earth, nor comprehended by any of its modes of apprehension.  Judged by the world's standards, the blood of the Lamb of God has not more efficacy than the blood of animal sacrifices.  But there is a sphere of reality in which the shedding of Christ's blood was an actual ransom for the sins of the race.  The atonement is of the invisible world, and hence incomprehensible to us, who are of the visible.  In the same order of verities is the sacramental presence which applies what the atonement provided.  It is a most true presence, but not in the sphere of this life.  -- C. P. Krauth, *Conservative Reformation* p. 460.