Advent: December 5, 2024

Galatians 6:14 (ESV) But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

The Advent of Jesus was a mission. Jesus came to glorify the Father by being the sacrifice for the sins of the world. God, the Father, would put Jesus, the Son, to death to make atonement for sin. Isaiah 53 gives us an explicit prophetic explanation of this redemptive work.

Isaiah 53:3-7, 10 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—everyone—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth… Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

The cross of Jesus is of infinite worth. Isaiah’s words are holy ground. Don’t rush past them. Don’t trample on them. Metaphorically take your shoes off and walk lightly on what God says here through Isaiah the prophet.

Jesus came to die at the hands of the Father who used a Roman cross to accomplish his plan so that sinners could be reconciled back to the Father. This is how much God loves. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. Wow!

So, Paul says to “boast” in the redemptive work of the cross.

The cross is not merely a T-shaped execution device of the Roman government people wear on a chain or have tattooed on their body. The cross is not a good luck charm. The cross embodies the eternal plan of God to redeem sinners. Again, this is holy ground.

Boast only in the cross.

So, why then would the divinely inspired author of Galatians 6:14 give us 2 Thessalonians 1:4 where we learn that he boasts in the church? He said to boast only in the cross. Is he being inconsistent or is there something glorious to see?

There is something glorious here to see. Here’s why we can boast in good things like the church as Paul does in 2 Thessalonians 1:4. The Cross is so amazing and effectual, that everything worthy, everything good for us, everything worthy of taking joy in, everything that is terrible that the Lord turns for good in Romans 8:28 and Genesis 50:20 fashion, was purchased for us to enjoy and boast in at the Cross.

All good things worthy of praise were secured for me and you at the Cross.

So, as we boast in the good things God gives us, we are boasting in the Cross that purchased those good things for us. Through the good things and the terrible dark things redeemed for good we are taken to the Cross that makes them available to enjoy. So, when you enjoy something good or experience the power of God to turn terrible for good, make sure to boast in the cross that purchased that good.

Jesus’ Advent was to die and rise to save sinners and to give us good gifts worth boasting in from God. Oh, how he loves!

Advent. Boast in the Cross and all the good Jesus purchased for us there.