Galatians 6:14 “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.”
The cross is a precious symbol of following Jesus Christ and abandoning the world’s approval. There is no room for boasting and self-inflation for true Christians. Instead we “boast” in something the world despises and Christ’s enemies attack with hatred: the cross. Jesus’ brutal death paid my penalty, his death in exchange for my life. And then, rising bodily from the grave, Jesus conquered death forever.
“There are events that resemble one another, continued the elder, but opposites are born from that similarity. The Old Testament opens with Adam but the New Testament opens with Christ. The sweetness of the apple that Adam eats turns into the bitterness of the vinegar that Christ drinks. The tree of knowledge leads humanity to death but a cross of wood grants immortality to humanity.” – from Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin (p. 309)
Father, thank you for the cross. May its message permeate the whole world and especially areas of the Middle East, North Korea, and elsewhere that the cross is especially hated and where your children lose their lives for displaying it. May you stop the haters and killers by your love, mercy, and forgiveness. Please transform this world for your glory.