The Message of the Cross
But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14).
Of all the forms of execution that are conceivable, crucifixion has been most feared throughout history. It was the most painful and shameful kind of death. Death on a cross was saved for the worst of criminals and those committing treason. Even God placed a curse on all those who died by hanging on a tree (Deut 21:23, Gal 3:13).
But God sent His Son to taste this kind of death for us (1 Cor 15:3-4; 2 Cor 5:21, 1 Pet 2:24).
By dying on the cross, Jesus took upon Himself the shame and humiliation of the cross but turned it into an instrument to glorify God and save man.
He went through such agony and suffering for us.
His death was a mystery, like His birth. It defies human reason.
The world sees the cross as a disgrace, an embarrassment, but to us it means victory as Christ has secured our salvation.
In 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, Paul argues that the message of the cross that the world considers as foolishness is actually the demonstration of God’s infinite wisdom.
“God transformed the cross from an instrument of death to one that would bring eternal life; an instrument of torture to one that would bring peace to the human heart; an instrument of extreme pain into one that would bring extreme joy; an instrument of shame and disgrace into one that people would cling to with pride”
No wonder Paul boasts about the cross. What do you boast about?
(MT)