Mankind, from century to century, has sought to leave a legacy, a footprint in the world to be remembered for generations to come. Humanity’s footprint appears in the form of street names, plaques, statues and even somber tombstones. God has raised up a testament that completely satisfies the grandeur of His righteous character (Romans 3:26). God’s mark on history is the glory of the cross. The apostle Paul recognizes God’s glory in the cross when he writes:

“Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14)

 

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2)

Paul, in effect, sums up his entire life and ministry in the proclamation of the cross. Why would Paul place such weight on the cross? The cross essentially proclaims the glory of God’s righteousness in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The cross underlines the eternal chasm that separates humanity’s sin from the transcendent holiness of God. Through the lens of the cross we are confronted with mankind’s total depravity. The cross manifests the utter futility of sinners to approach God by the works of the flesh (Galatians 2:16). Yet, the cross not only shows humanity’s sin, but it also highlights the holiness of God. Through the window of the cross we are surrounded by the light of the glory of God’s inescapable righteousness. Consequently, the cross proclaims the work of Christ, the righteousness of God. He fulfilled the righteousness required by the Law in His perfect obedience (Romans 5:19; Matthew 3:15, 5:17-18). He satisfied the justice of the Law when He hung on the cross and boldly received the wrath of God’s judgment – perfect righteousness met holy justice (Galatians 3:13; Isaiah 53:10).

The cross also proclaims the person of Christ. In the cross we see His full-orbed divine nature and human nature united in one person to avail the sinner of the fullness of God in Christ Jesus. The God-Man conquered our sin with divine holiness, our helplessness with sovereign grace, our unrighteousness with righteousness, our guilt with perfect obedience, our condemnation with His propitiation of God’s wrath, our enmity with His peace, our hostility with His love. The cross testifies to all that God is for us in Christ Jesus. We are overcome with the glorious supremacy of Christ in the inescapable reality of the futility of ourselves.

Christ is the sinner’s highest good. Apart from the righteousness of God in Christ credited to the sinner through faith in Christ’s person and work, nothing else matters when it comes to standing before God. Winslow captures the grandeur of God’s glory in the cross when he writes, “Study God in Christ, and Christ on the cross. In nothing could He appear more like Himself. Upon no platform could He so honourably and completely withdraw the veil from His perfections, and stand forth in His full-orbed majesty, “mighty to save,” as this” (Octavious Winslow, The Precious Things of God, 12-13).

Believer, we need to consider the cross to be reminded that Christ is sufficient! Paul reminded the believers in Corinth that the message of the cross was a demonstration of the Spirit and of divine power “that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). The cross, the gospel, stands at the center of the Christian life. The believer never leaves the shadow of the cross! Through the cross we have obtained access into this grace and in the cross we continue to stand in grace.