“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto this world.” Galatians 6:14
Why a cross? It is one thing that the Lord Jesus should die for our sins, but why on a cross? And why is it that in order to follow Him, every believer is charged to take up and bear his cross, so essential to following Him? The answer in part lies in the matter of an illustration and picture, and at the same time, an eternal principle, a work accomplished by Christ on the cross.
The cross is a terrible instrument of suffering and death. It carries with it perpetual, undiminished shame, guilt, the utter wretchedness of the fallen nature of man, and all that this world declares to be righteous in the sight of God. One reason God chose a cross upon which to lift His Son up so that all the world could see Him, is that the picture, or illustration of that which is not of God, that which has its origin and revelation of the true fallen nature of man, could be seen in all of its depravity and wretchedness. Jesus’ death on Calvary was the Conquering Savior’s most blatant, and solemn, declaration of what God thinks of man’s sin, and sinfulness, the world system, and Satan. All that could be expressed of the awfulness of fallen man, and the depths to which he would go to eradicate that which is perfectly good and holy, is revealed in Christ on that cross. The fact that the Son of God had to die there, declaring such an awful truth as the lostness and wickedness of fallen man, is the greatest testimony to the love of God, His mercy in stretching out His perfect and holy hand to save the sinner. How then will He accomplish this? He will use the cross as the embodiment of all that must be dealt with, and the manner in which it must be dealt with, so that the sinner can come to a holy God. Not only must sin be exposed as a total contrast in opposition to the righteousness of God, but it must be dealt with by destroying it, putting it to death, then burying it for eternity. The cross is an instrument of cruel separation between that which is of God and sin. It is cruel because of the suffering, not only of the perfect Man who willingly allowed Himself to be nailed to it, but because of the sins of the world which he took upon Himself, receiving in Himself the judgment of the wrath of God in the sinner’ place. It would take a cross to deal totally with sin, and every evidence, and manifestation of it, in order to set the sinner free to receive not only a perfect pardon for that sin, but the very Spirit of holiness, the Life of Christ by the Spirit, in order to live as a new creation, a new man IN CHRIST. On the one hand is the wretchedness of the cross revealed by the revelation of the wretchedness of sin and the sinner. On the other hand, no one but Christ would voluntarily go to that cross, to save mankind by taking upon Himself the sins of the world and be judged for doing so. There is no greater demonstration of the love of God for the lost and depraved sinner, than the love of Christ in the singular sacrifice of Himself. This is the cross of Christ.
What does the Lord Jesus mean by speaking to us of our own cross, that to be taken up, and borne daily? Again, there is in the answer an illustration, and a life-giving principle at work. By virtue of the believer’s union with Christ, it is as he lays hold of Christ’s work by faith, that he too becomes partaker of the truth of being crucified to sin, self, and this world, to freely live by the Spirit.
Dear Father, Empower us to believe. In Jesus’ name, Amen.