The cross of Christ is both repelling and compelling. The Oxford professor and philosopher Sir Alfred Ayer, the idea that Jesus died on a cross for our sins is “intellectually contemptible and morally outrageous.” Yet to the apostle Paul, Christ’s death was the only thing in life worth boasting about.
Why would the cross provide reason to boast? Because it was there that human sin clashed with divine justice and was resolved with divine love. It was there that God’s holiness and love were both satisfied, providing an answer to our deepest longing and need.
“Irresistible” is how an international student described the message of the cross. All his life he had read the Koran, said his prayers, and lived morally. Yet he felt that his sins still separated him from God. He began reading the Bible and eventually cried out to God for mercy. His burden vanished as if a huge weight had been removed, and he knew God had forgiven him.
Commenting on this man’s conversion, John Stott wrote, “It was through the cross that the character of God came clearly into focus for him and that he found Islam’s missing dimension, ‘the intimate fatherhood of God and the deep assurance of sins forgiven.’”
The cross of Christ, not our good works, provides forgiveness of our sins. Is that what you boast in? –Dennis J. De Haan
The Lamb of God was crucified,
And penalty for sin was paid;
God’s holiness was satisfied
When all our sins on Christ were laid. – Sper
The cross of Christ reveals God’s love at its best and man’s sin at its worst.
- August 16, 1992, Our Daily Bread
For You 