#159 THE WORK OF THE CROSS 9-19-26

Everything changes at the cross. Sin meets mercy. Guilt meets forgiveness. Death meets life. “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14). The cross is not merely something we look back upon. It is the foundation of everything we are in Christ.

THE CROSS THAT SAVES. Jesus “bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). He “was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). Our salvation is not built upon our goodness. It rests upon His sacrifice. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). The cross tells the sinner, “There is forgiveness.” It tells the broken heart, “There is mercy.” It tells the guilty soul, “There is a way home.”

THE GRACE THAT CHANGES. Grace does not merely pardon our past. Grace teaches us how to live differently in the present. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us” (Titus 2:11-12). Paul could say, “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10). Grace takes a sinner and begins making him new. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are not saved so we can remain what we were. We are saved so Christ can transform what we are.

THE LOVE THAT COMPELS. Once we understand what Jesus has done, love moves us to respond. Paul wrote, “For the love of Christ compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14). The cross creates gratitude, and gratitude creates service. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Real love does not sit still. It reaches, gives, serves, forgives, and sacrifices. “Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).

The cross saves.

Grace changes.

Love compels.

Look to the cross. Receive His grace. Then let His love move you into the world with the message that changed you.

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Lord, keep the cross before our eyes, Your grace within our hearts, and Your love moving through our lives. May everything we do point people toward Jesus. Amen.

BDD