Word-Filled Wednesday

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.
Galatians 6:14

In my slow reading through "don't waste your life" by John Piper, the following thoughts and insights he shares have had me in deep thought about the cross of Christ and how it really is the only thing I should be boasting in in this life. I thought I would share them with those of you who happen upon my blog...

"Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain." What was once foolishness to us - a crucified God - must become our wisdom and our power and our only boast in this world. ...



God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. We magnify God's worth the most when he becomes our only boast. ...



May the one thing that you cherish, the one thing that you rejoice in and exult over, be the cross of Jesus Christ. ...



Paul means something that will change every part of your life. He means that, for the Christian, all other boasting should also be a boasting in the cross. All exultation in anything else should also be a boasting in the cross. If you exult in the hope of glory, you should be exulting in the cross of Christ. If you exult in tribulation because tribulation works hope, you should be exulting in the cross of Christ. If you exult in your weakness, or in the people of God, you should be exulting in the cross of Christ.



Why is this the case? Because for redeemed sinners, every good thing - indeed every bad thing that God turns for good - was obtained for us by the cross of Christ. Apart from the death of Christ, sinners get nothing but judgment. Apart from the cross of Christ, there is only condemnation. Therefore everything that you enjoy in Christ - as a Christian, as a person who trusts Christ - is owing to the death of Christ. And all your rejoicing in all things should therefore be a rejoicing in the cross where all your blessings were purchased for you at the cost of the death of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.



One of the reasons we are not as Christ-centered and cross-saturated as we should be is that we have not realized that everything - everything good, and everything bad that God turns for the good of his redeemed children - was purchased by the death of Christ for us. We simply take life and breath and health and friends and everything for granted. We think it is ours by right. But the fact is that it is not ours by right. We are doubly undeserving of it. (all quotes taken from pages 48-52)

Wow... I think these are some great insights to spend time thinking and pondering over. I desire to have the mindset which leads me to boast in the cross of Christ. I want to see all the good in my life, and the bad that my Lord has redeemed and used for good, against the backdrop of the cross of Christ, realizing that it is only the cross that has made these things possible in my life. I want my life to be Christ-centered and cross-saturated... what about you?


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