“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world!” Galatians 6:14
In the cross we see . . .
the rights of divine justice maintained,
the designs of divine mercy revealed;
sin appearing exceedingly sinful;
the law magnified and honoured, and
the law-breaker pardoned and delivered!
At the cross, God and sinners meet — and a reconciliation takes place.…
Sit down (suggests J.I. Packer, in his celebrated book Knowing God) and read through Mark’s Gospel, and you will receive an impression of Jesus that includes at least the following four features:-
1. Jesus was a man of action. He was ‘a man always on the move, always altering situations and precipitating things—working miracles; calling and training disciples; upsetting error that passed as truth and irreligion that passed as godliness; and finally walking straight and open–eyed into betrayal, condemnation and crucifixion (a freakish sequence of anomalies which in the oddest way one is made to feel that he himself controlled all along the line),’
2. …
There are three principal ways in which Christ’s death has been understood in the church:-
First, there is the type of account which sees the cross as having its effects purely on us: it reveals God’s love to us; it tells us how much God hates sin; it sets us a supreme example of godliness; it blazes a trail to God, which we may now follow. The cross motivates us to seek God and it opens up the flow of divine life. …
Under the heading of ‘The Pervasive Influence of the Cross’, John Stott has identified the following affirmations in the letter to the Galatians:-
1. The cross and salvation, Gal 1:3-5
2. The cross and experience, Gal 2:19-21
3. The cross and preaching, Gal 3:1-3
4. The cross and substitution, Gal 3:10-14
5. The cross and persecution, Gal 5:11; 6:12
6. The cross and holiness, Gal 5:24
7. The cross and boasting, Gal 6:14.…
‘Irony’ means using words with the opposite meaning to that which is usually intended. It is a powerful device, and can sharpen up our understanding of people and events by showing us who ‘gets it’ and who ‘doesn’t get it’.
Irony is not only a verbal device. There is also ‘dramatic irony’, in which the ‘real’ meaning of an entire event may be the opposite of its assumed, or apparent, meaning.
The account of Jesus’ crucifixion as recorded in Gospel of Matthew (Mt 27:27-51) is dripping with irony. …
At first sight, the selection of an instrument of brutal execution as the symbol of a religion of love seems extremely odd, perverse even.
There were, after all, plenty of other candidates. The church might have chosen
But the cross is the fitting symbol of the Christian faith. …
By God’s marvelous grace Paul had come to view [the] cross as:
a. The Mirror, and this not only of his own unworthiness but also of God’s resplendent attributes, that is, of such “excellencies” as God’s righteousness which must receive its due (Rom 8:3-4); God’s power and wisdom (1 Cor 1:24); and his love, mercy, and grace (2 Cor 5:19-21; Gal 2:20); all of these in sublime harmony with each other (Psa 85:10).
b. The Means of Redemption in its most comprehensive sense (Justification, Sanctification, Glorification).…
John Stott spells out one important aspect of ‘living under the cross’:-
…The cross is a revelation of God’s justice as well as of his love. That is why the community of the cross should concern itself with social justice as well as with loving philanthropy. It is never enough to have pity on the victims of injustice, if we do nothing to change the unjust situation itself. Good Samaritans will always be needed to succour those who are assaulted and robbed; yet it would be even better to rid the Jerusalem-Jericho road of brigands.
Reflection on the death of Christ and its achievement, so far from being a sombre experience, actually leads to a type and degree of celebration that can be found nowhere else.
For the cross brings us into a new relationship with God. This relationship is marked by boldness, love and joy. And these do not belong merely in the interior experience of the individual believers, but are to distinguish our public worship.
As W.M. Clow points out:-
‘There is no forgiveness in this world, or in that which is to come, except through the cross of Christ. …
There is not a word in the Bible which is extra crucem, which can be understood without reference to the cross. (Martin Luther)
This one event of the cross of Christ is a final revelation both of the character and consequence of human sin and of the wonder and sacrifice of divine love. (Alan Stibbs)
Calvary shows how far men will go in sin, and how far God will go for man’s salvation. (H.C. Trumbull)
In the cross, sin is cursed and cancelled. …
