I love Thy cross, Your justice paid to reconcile the lost
To kill our sin that’s killing us, You gave Your life the cost
Take heed, disciple, bear thy cross, it marks His way to Heav’n
And by it draw all souls to Christ to see their sins forgiv’n

The first verse is about justification—the jewel in the crown of Reformation Theology. It is at the very heart of the gospel itself and the most notable and essential work of Christ on the cross—the payment for our sins and the making us right before God by grace through faith. Any song about the cross would be replete without this glorious world-turned-upside-down significance of this singular historical moment. “He Himself bore our sin, in His body on the tree that we, having been dead to sin, might live to righteousness.” Romans 3 is a wonderful part of Paul’s theological treatise on how this works: from our sinful estate to God’s free gift of salvation in Christ Jesus. The verses I will highlight here are verses 23-25, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation (or valuable sacrifice) in His blood through faith.” This means that there needed to be a sacrifice made to pay for the sin causing us to fall short of His glory, and Jesus willingly offered Himself as that sacrifice for all who have faith in Him.

He had to take our sin into His body to become sin for us, so that the sin which kills us (Romans 6:23) may be put to death. And no one could pay that cost or can pay that cost except the one through whom, for whom, and to whom are all things: Jesus Christ, God incarnate. What a wondrous and glorious mystery!

The implications for a Christian for why they must carry their cross are these: Jesus left His people here on earth to carry their cross and follow in His footsteps so that:

1. People could see Jesus’ work in a fresh and living way in His people, in whom Christ is formed.
2. People can see that true freedom and release are not the absence of suffering, but fully entrusting oneself to the One who makes a dry-land pathway through the river of death.
3. It is in dying daily that we are daily reborn to eternal life until He comes again.

There is little in this world more distasteful than a “Christian” who is unloving or selfish. If only we could learn to lay down our lives in love for others the way Jesus did on that cross for us. Christ indeed showed us the humble way of total surrender to the judgment of the Father, not for His own sins, but for the sins even of His enemies. This Love is the only love that breaks the power of sin and death to blind people from recognizing the God in whose image they were made. A Christian, by the Holy Spirit’s power, can love like this, and by his or her love draw people to experience the transforming love of Christ. Perhaps as more Christians do this, the less deconstructionism, church-hurt, and hypocrisy we will hear about, and the more baffling, unexplainable grace will draw souls to Christ so they might see their sins forgiven in Him.

Reflection Questions:

• Tell the testimony of how the gospel has changed your life. Then check: did it include your sinfulness, Christ’s sacrifice, and your acceptance of Christ as your Lord?
• How have you encountered Jesus in the world? Through whom have you experienced His love?
• How might your relationships with others be impacted if you lived sacrificially for them, instead of for your own sake?