Because the Sinless Savior Died...

There is no more important thing to God than God’s glory; and there is no better display of God’s glory than the display of God’s glorious grace; and there is no better display of God’s glorious grace than the display of the gospel; and there is no better display of the gospel than the cross of Christ. If I am to live for God’s glory I must live next to the cross. If my passion for God is to line up with God’s passion for God then I must dwell by where His passion was manifested in this universe unlike any other point in history ever: I must dwell by the cross. If my mission for God is to line up with God’s mission for God, then I must labor in light of that most glorious manifestation of His mission for making much of Himself: I must labor in light of the cross. If I am to live admiring anything, if I am to live motivated by anything, if I am to live passionate about anything, if I am to live reflecting upon anything, if I am to live rejoicing in anything, if I am to boast in anything, if I am to live because of and for anything, let it be Christ and him crucified. Let it be the cross. If I am to live the gospel-centered life, I need to live the cross-centered life. I must get near enough to that blazing fire at which the flame of my love is kindled. I must get near the cross. As Spurgeon said, I must “abide hard by the cross and search the mysteries of his wounds.” This is where getting on board with God’s mission for Himself through the gospel of His Son begins. It begins with riveting my attention on One hanging on a tree. It begins with expending my energies admiring, exploring, expositing, and extolling Jesus Christ. It begins with surveying the wondrous cross on which the King of Glory died. It begins with because the sinless Savior died…

And it always comes back to because the sinless Savior died... It must come back to the cross. It must retain its central place- primary, of first importance. It cannot be displaced to the peripheral. It cannot be shifted even in the slightest degree. It cannot be moved even in the least by any other insights that come to take on far too much attention. We simply cannot take our gaze off it, nor let our eyes ever drift away from it. We cannot move away from it. We cannot move on from it. We can only ever strive to move nearer, to search closer, to inquire further. It is that blazing fire at which the flame of our love is kindled. We must draw near to that fire ever and always. We must stay close. Otherwise we will become cold- our affections cooled, our passion diminished, our hearts complacent, our focus distorted, and our Christianity nominal. We must, not simply because of it, but because of Him who hung on it. In our place condemned he stood. It was because of our transgressions Christ was wounded, for our iniquities he was crushed. It was because of our sin that he was so marred beyond human semblance. Why is the cross that central element of the gospel that cannot be forfeited even in the smallest degree? Because when we behold the disfigurement of the Son of God, when we find ourselves appalled by his marred appearance, when we see his languid eyes meet ours, we need to reckon afresh that it is upon ourselves we gaze, for he stood in our place.

It is this news, this good news, this amazing news, the news of salvation, the news of Christ and him crucified that fans into flame radical sacrificial, sold-out, supremely satisfied, crazy love for God. And it is with this that God is most glorified. Because it is with this that we are most satisfied in Him. Because when we sit next to the holy flame of God’s grace on the cross, we see God’s unfathomable love for us and are set ablaze by it. It is as this grips us, as this burns within us, we become holy torches. That everything we touch, everything we do, and every person we interact with may also be lit by our fire. And then they burn. And the fire spreads. And as it does that great glacier, this cold world itself begins to melt.