Off the coast of South China, on a high hill overlooking the harbor of Macao, is a huge wall. This wall is the only thing that remains from a massive cathedral that Portuguese settlers built on that hill hundreds of years ago.
A typhoon hit that cathedral, literally reducing it to ruins. Everything except this front wall was totally leveled. High on top of that wall stands a huge bronze cross.
In 1825, Sir John Bowring was sailing a ship off this same coast when a terrible storm hit, breaking his ship apart and throwing him into the water. He was holding on to a board for dear life, thinking he was going to pickled in that China sea, believing that all had been lost, including his own life.
When all of a sudden through the storm, he caught sight of this bronze cross atop the cathedral wall. In that moment God spoke to him and he knew in his heart that God was going to deliver him, and that his life would be spared. Indeed, he was miraculously rescued.
John Bowring was so moved by how God had spared his life, that he wrote a poem that years later was put to music, and for over one hundred and fifty years God’s people have sung this song over and over:
In the cross of Christ I glory,
Tow’ring o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.
When the sun of bliss is beaming,
Light and love upon my way,
From the cross the radiance streaming,
Adds more luster to the day.1
That song could have been the theme song of the Apostle Paul. Paul had much that he could have boasted about when he was alive. In his day he was the church’s greatest preacher, greatest mission-ary, greatest apologist, greatest theologian, and greatest author. He wrote more books than anyone else in the Bible; almost one-half of the New Testament.
But whenever Paul boasted it was not in himself, but of all things in a cross. As he put it, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Now it was not the physical cross itself that Paul was so enamored with. It was not those blood-soaked beams of wood which once stood on a hill called Calvary, that had so gripped the heart of Paul. It was the cross “of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Two thousand years ago the cross was nothing to glory about. In fact, the cross was grossly offensive to the three major cultures of Paul’s day. To the Romans the cross was so despicable that Cicero, the Republican orator and statesman, who died in 43 B.C., wrote: “Even the mere word ‘cross’ must remain far not only from the lips of the citizens of Rome, but also from their thoughts, their eyes, their ears.”2
To the Jews crucifixion was the same as hanging, and the Old Testament said that “he who is hanged is accursed of God.” (Deut. 21:23) To the Greeks the cross was nonsense. In 1 Corinthians 1:23 Paul said that the cross to the Greeks was “foolishness.”
Well, some things never change. I am afraid the church today suffers under the “curse of crossless Christianity.” In pulpits all over our country we are being told that man’s problem is a lack of self-esteem, and what he needs is encouragement.
Others say that man’s problem is ignorance, and what he needs is education. Others say that man’s problem is poverty, and what he needs is humanitarian aid. Some say that man’s problem is environment, and what he needs is equal opportunity. The Bible says man’s problem is sin, and what he needs is salvation through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to share with you three reasons why we ought to preach the cross, teach the cross, and reach people for the salvation that comes only through the cross of Jesus Christ.
I. We Are To Glory In The Person Who Died On The Cross
“But God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (v.14a) Please understand, it is not the cross that makes Christ so special, it is Christ who makes the cross so special. Dr. Harry Rimmer was a great Christian scientist who lived many years ago. He was lecturing in a college one day and he allowed the class to ask questions.
A young Jewish man said, “What did Jesus Christ do that no one else ever did?” Dr. Rimmer replied, “Son, I understand that you are a Jew. I assume that you know the early history of your people, and you know that Titus, Pilate, and the old Roman emperors crucified some thirty thousand young Jews.” The Jewish student said, “That is correct. There were some thirty thousand young Jews put to death.”
Dr. Rimmer said, “Well, I’m going to name one of those Jews and you name another. I name Jesus Christ. Now, young man, you name one of the other thirty thousand whom they crucified.” The young Jewish man said, “Well, I don’t know the name of another one.”
Do you know why he couldn’t call the name of one out of thirty thousand? Do you know why we remember one name when we can’t remember the other twenty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine? Because Jesus Christ is the only one who died for our sins, and was raised from the dead!
You see, the Lord Jesus turned the cross from a symbol of guilt into a symbol of glory. He transformed it from a beam of execution into a balm of salvation. Oh, it is not the cross that is so wonderful, it is Christ on the cross that is so amazing.
It is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, his cross speaks first of all of his sovereign authority. It is the cross of the Lord. That tells us He is our Master. He served us by dying for us, but He died for us that we might serve Him.
But this cross also speaks of his saving ability. This tells us He is our mediator. The New Testament name Jesus is the equivalent of the Old Testament name Joshua, which literally means “Jehovah is salvation.” Every person crucified in history was crucified as a sinner; only Jesus was crucified as a Savior.
But this cross also speaks of his sufficient authenticity. It is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this tells us he is our Messiah. The name Christ means “Anointed One.” Every other man ever crucified was just that—the son of a man. Jesus was crucified as the Son of God.
All of this simply means we could never know salvation of the penalty of sin, release from the power of sin, or freedom from the presence of sin, without the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no way out of hell, and no way into heaven, except through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The way of the cross leads home.
II. We Are To Glory In The Purpose Declared By The Cross
Peter said in Acts 2:23 that Jesus was “delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God.” God had some specific purposes in mind when he sent Jesus to die on that cross.
First of all, through the cross the love of God is amplified. Many times people look at the newspaper, read the magazines, listen to their television; they see earthquakes, murders, rapes, stabbings, killings, assassinations, bombings, thievery, and the like, and they say: “Where is the love of God, and where is the God of love?” Do you know why they cannot find the love of God? They are looking in the wrong place.
The cross is all you ever need to know that no matter what else happens in this world, God loves you. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
A little girl was looking up on the communion table in her church, and she saw the cross up there. This little girl who had just started to school, said, “Mommy, what is that ‘+ sign’ doing up there on the table?” Well, that little girl was right. The cross is God’s plus sign, telling you and me that God is for us, that God loves us, and loves us so much He sent His Son to die for us that we might be saved.
Someone has well said that it was at the cross that man did his worst to God, but God did his best for man.
Secondly, through the cross the law of God is satisfied. You see, the law of God says in Ezekiel 18:20, “The soul who sins shall die.” Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Now if the soul that sins has to die, and if every soul has sinned, that means every soul must die.
Therefore there are only two options: Either everyone has to die in their sins, or someone has to die for the sins of everyone. That is where the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ comes in.
When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He not only died to pay for our sins, He died to fulfill the law of God. Romans 6:23 says, “the wages of sin is death.” I owed a debt I could not pay, He paid a debt He did not owe. Now you talk about a bargain! Because of His death I have life. Because He took my sin, I can take His righteousness. Because He died for my sin, I can now die to my sin and live with Him forever all because of the cross.
Finally, through the cross the life of God is personified. Listen, ponder, and absorb this next statement. It is only through His physical death that we can receive His eternal life.
Jesus died that we might live through Him. “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” (1 John 4:9) Jesus died that we might live for Him. “and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:15) Jesus died that we might live with Him “who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” (1 Thessalonians 5:10)
If eternal life is electricity, the cross is the generator, and the Lord Jesus is the conduit through which we receive that wonderful gift.
III. We Are To Glory In The Power Demonstrated By The Cross
Just as we measure time as B.C. and A.D. we should also measure crucifixion the same way. In crucifixion B.C. it was a symbol of shame, sin, weakness, and wickedness. But in crucifixion A.D. the cross is now a symbol of greatness, glory, power, and praise.
We have three enemies as Christians: an internal foe called the flesh, an external foe called the world, and an infernal foe called the devil. But through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ we have victory over all three. Through the cross we have victory over the flesh. “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:24) That is, every day we can nail the lust of the flesh and the pride of life to the cross and live in victory.
Through the cross we have victory over the world. “But God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me.” You see, not only do we have salvation through the cross, we have sanctification through the cross. Jesus not only died that we might live happily in heaven, but also that we might live holy on earth.
Jesus died to deliver us from worldly Christianity. By the way, I don’t even like that term. That’s really a contradiction. Billy Sunday once said, “You might as well talk about a heavenly devil as to talk about a worldly Christian.”
Paul said that through the cross “the world has been crucified to me.” Now when Paul speaks of the world he does not mean the physical world in which we live, he means the social world, the intellectual world, the philosophical world, the moral world.
Have you ever stopped to think about what this world did to Jesus? It crucified Him. That is why you need to crucify the world. The best that this world can offer you is a sick shallow substitute for what Jesus can offer you.
There was an old holiness preacher named “Uncle Buddy” Robinson. He went to see New York City one time and was shown all the sights and sounds by some friends of his. He saw the night life, he saw the jet setters, he saw the party crowd. That night he got back to his hotel room, turned on the light, went over to his bed, knelt down and said, “Thank you Lord for letting me see New York City, and most of all I thank you that I didn’t see anything that I wanted!”
When Jesus spoke of his crucifixion, he said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” (John 12:31) Ever since the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, Satan has been a defeated foe sailing a sinking ship.
But notice Paul goes on to say, “I have been crucified to the world.” (v.14c) Now crucifixion is one form of death that you cannot inflict upon yourself. You can shoot yourself, drown yourself, hang yourself, stab yourself, poison yourself, but you cannot crucify yourself. Crucifixion is something that must be done to you that you must surrender to. That is why the cross is the key to it all. Because it is only in surrender that you find victory. It is only in death that you find life. It is only in faith that you find reality.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn is a great great Christian. For many years he was a prisoner in a Soviet concentration camp. He wrote a bestselling book called The Gulag Archipelago which recounted his years spent in a Soviet gulag, a gulag being a prison or a forced labor camp especially for political prisoners. For years all he had to look forward to were days of backbreaking labor and slow starvation. From sunup to sundown, seven days a week, he worked out in those hot fields.
One day he literally gave up living. He felt no purpose in continuing to fight. He felt as if his life made no ultimate difference to anyone. Laying his shovel down, he walked over to a bench and sat down. Now he knew the penalty for sitting down was death. He knew that at any moment a guard would order him to get up, and when he failed to respond, the guard would probably take his own shovel and beat him to death, for he had seen it happen many times.
As he was sitting there waiting for the death that he knew was going to come, his head down, he felt a presence over him. He thought it was the guard. Slowly he lifted his eyes, to see standing over him an old man with a wrinkled utterly expressionless face.
This man had been in this gulag many years, much longer than Solzhenitsyn. He was hunched over from the back-breaking labor and work he was forced to do. They had never communicated one word because they were not allowed to talk. This old man took a stick, and at the sand underneath Solzhenitsyn’s feet, he traced out the sign of the cross.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn said that as he stared at that sign, his entire perspective shifted. He knew that even though he was only one man against the all-powerful Soviet Empire in that moment, he also knew that the hope of all mankind was represented by that simple cross, and he knew that the cross represented the greatest power in all of the universe. He slowly got up, picked up his shovel and went back to work, from that moment on he said, under the sign of the cross.
Well Solzhenitsyn was right. When the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, many statues of Communist leaders were torn down. Outside the former headquarters of the KGB was a statue of the Founder of the KGB, Philip Dzerzhinsky. People stormed that statue and toppled the figure of Dzerzhinsky. If you go over to where the former headquarters of the KGB is today, the pedestal of that statue remains, but what is now on top of that stand is the cross of Jesus Cross.3
We are not to glory ecclesiologically in buildings, budgets, or baptisms. We are not to glory personally in prestige, privilege, or position. We are to glory eternally in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the only hope for a hurting, hateful, horrible world that is lost in sin, is that old rugged cross.
1 Charles Swindoll, Growing Deep in the Christian Life, pp. 247-248.
2 Cicero, In Defence of Rabirius
3 “KGB’s Warriors Come in from the Soviet Cold,” Washington Times, 15 November, 1992.