“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 the world.” (Gal. 6:14 KJV)
To recognize a temptation is to be fortified against it, but to say, “God forbid that I should brag” is to have victory over it. When the thing we brag about is compared to Calvary, our bragging loses its value. Remember the effects of Calvary! Yes, Jesus became our sacrifice there. Yes, Jesus purchased our salvation there. Yes, Jesus defeated death, hell, and the grave there. BUT, how did our Lord’s Calvary experience affect you and me? How does it affect our everyday lives?
Calvary didn’t just crucify Christ. It also crucified the world and me. Jesus on the Cross took the world out of me and me out of the world. His sacrifice destroyed the world’s influence and power upon me. His sacrifice delivered me from the bondage of the world. His work at Calvary ignited the transformation that continues to conform me into the likeness of God’s son (Rom. 8:29).
Calvary is so much more than many Christians have considered. “Don’t you know that we who were immersed into Christ were immersed into his death?” (Rom. 6:3) His death immersed Christ into me and me into Christ. While that ‘Christ into me into Christ’ immersion was taking place, something else was simultaneously occurring. I was being cleansed from the world and the world from me. Of course, this is a spiritual cleansing but a definite separation.
Calvary . . . the biblical event so powerful it will turn this 21st century, post-modern society upside down. Many weaken the power of the Cross by making excuses for their lifestyles and actions. Yet, let us consider: either the Cross did what the New Testament writers claimed or it didn’t. Either the Cross has power to deliver us or it doesn’t. Either we believe in Christ’s sacrifice or we don’t.
Either we brag about the Cross and its power or we find something else to brag about. What are you bragging about?
Dear Father, thank you for the power of your sacrifice on the Cross. Immerse us with the glory of the Cross and may we never brag in any other. This I pray in the name of Jesus. AMEN
Today brag about the power of Calvary,