In The Cross I Glory

 

"God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ"

Galatians 6:14

 

That which is the mast shameful and despised part of Christianity, that part of our holy faith which the

world despises as foolishness, is the very point of the true believer's highest glory---THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. We place no confidence upon or honor in our wisdom, our service, our sufferings, or righteousness, our church, or our denomination. Our only confidence and our only honor before God is the cross of Christ. The naked, blood-stained, despised cross of Christ is the glory of every true believer. In our eyes nothing has such wondrous beauty as the doctrine of the cross, the substitutionary death of Christ.

We glory in the cross because---IT IS A COVENANT RESPECTED. The Lord Jesus Christ struck hands with the Father in the covenant of grace, before the world began agreeing to be our Surety and to put away our sins. At the cross, the covenant of grace was ratified, the ransom price paid. Our justification was accomplished. THE CROSS OF CHRIST IS A COMPASSION REVEALED. The infinite, eternal, unchangeable love of God is revealed in the sacrifice of his Son in the place of his people. Without the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ, it would not be possible for any son of Adam to know God's love. Its fulness is displayed only in the cross. AND THE CROSS OF CHRIST IS A CONQUEST REALIZED. At the cross the serpent’s head is crushed, the justice of God in the salvation of sinners is satisfied and vindicated, and the work of redemption is complete. Upon the cross our Savior cried, "It is finished!" And, at that moment, the work was done. Our Savior did not die in vain. The cross of Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage. Every soul for whom the Son of God paid the ransom price of infinite value, shall be with him in glory.

            HOW DOES THE TRUE BELIEVER GLORY IN THE CROSS? We trust the cross alone as the grounds of our acceptance before God and the foundation of our faith. We submit to Christ as our only Lord and Savior, and we proclaim the gospel of the cross to men everywhere.

Don Fortner