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 most shameful and disposed part of Christianity, that part of our holy
faith which the world dispises 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 services, 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, dispised 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, unchangable 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 Realised. 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 everwhere.
Don Fortner