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. Galatians 6:14
One of the pithy sayings of the old-time evangelist Billy Sunday was ‘Everybody is stuck up about something. Some people are even proud that they’re not proud.’ I think Billy was right; we all have something that we take a little (or a lot) of glory in. For example, we can’t fault a skilled worker who appreciates his skills and the excellent work that he is able to produce. But when that appreciation lifts his nose a little higher than his peers, he has a glory problem. It’s the same with the good things that we all have, be it a high paying job, a fine car, a lovely home, an art treasure, or some high position in the community. We need to make sure that our attitude toward those things never lifts our hearts up in pride and boasting. But we do it anyway, because pride is such a huge part of our makeup. The devil exploited that when he deceived our first parents. And he has been exploiting it with every one of us ever since. So today’s text calls us to step back and see where the glory truly belongs.
Paul wanted to glory in nothing but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. What was so glorious about that cross? It was one of the most bloody and cruel forms of execution known to mankind. The torturous gory scene of someone being crucified was horrible in the extreme. And yet, Paul would glory in it. He could see that, apart from that cross, there would be nothing but judgment and eternal separation from God forever. He could appreciate that the Lord Jesus was the only One Who could go to the cross as the Lamb of God, that He willingly went at the Father’s behest, and submitted Himself to our judgment. Like all of us who are saved, Paul appreciated everything that the cross stood for, the message of John 3:16, that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Despite its ugliness to its beholders at the time, the cross is glorious in what it has done for God and for us.
God appreciates the cross. Isaiah 53:11 speaks of that appreciation when it declares ‘He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied’. Philippians 2:9 reminds us that because the Lord Jesus was obedient to the death of the cross, God has highly exalted Him and given Him a Name that is above every name. It is because of the cross that our Lord and Saviour holds the highest title and position in Heaven.
When we look at the cross, we realize that we have nothing of our own to glory in; it was our sins that put Him there. But we can – and ought to – ascribe to Him the glory that He deserves both now and forever more. Amen. – Jim MacIntosh