Galatians 6:14
‘I ... glory ... in the cross’
Read Matthew 27:27-56
With the apostle Paul, I have made it my solemn determination ‘not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified’. I say, ‘God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ To glory in the cross is to trust the crucified Christ alone as my Savior. To glory in the cross is to live by the cross and for the cross. And to glory in the cross is to proclaim it boldly and constantly. That which is in the eyes of men most offensive and most repugnant, I take to be my glory. The cross of Christ is my one message. I glory in that message with good reason.
1. The cross of Christ is a covenant respected. Before the world began God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit chose a people and agreed to save them upon the condition that a suitable ransom would be found, a ransom that could fully satisfy divine justice. That ransom was found in the voluntary agreement of the Lord Jesus Christ to assume our nature and die in our stead at Calvary.
2. The cross of Christ is a conquest realized. Our Lord did not die at Calvary as the helpless victim of circumstances. He laid down his life as a mighty, conquering King. As he was bringing the death-blow to his enemies and ours he cried, ‘It is finished!’ And by his mighty act of redemption he obtained a mighty conquest. He crushed the serpent’s head, breaking the power of the old dragon’s usurped dominion. He took the sword of justice and swallowed it up in his own heart. He took the enormous load of our sin and made an end of it, establishing everlasting righteousness for us. All of this Christ did for us in our stead. He obtained the victory as our Substitute.
3. The cross of Christ is a compassion revealed. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took our sins upon himself and died in our place upon the cursed tree, because of his great love for us: ‘Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us!’ My heart is constrained by the love of Christ to glory in the cross. I cannot do otherwise.