Christ and Him Crucified: Another Excerpt 3

The glory of God is the purpose of all creation for both creatures and things. As it pertains to mankind, the first catechistical point of the Westminster Shorter Catechism and Charles Spurgeon’s A Puritan Catechism correctly asserts: “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.”[i]

Though God receives glory in all things whatsoever He brings to pass, He receives special and particular glory from the preaching of Christ crucified. Why is that? For this reason: He receives ultimate and unrivaled glory through the actual work of Jesus Christ in His crucifixion.

GLORY OF THE CROSS

The glory of the cross is an eternal glory, an effectual glory, and an exclusive glory. Let’s briefly review these three major aspects of God’s glory by the crucifixion of His only Son.

The Eternal Glory of the Cross

The cross of Jesus Christ is exalted to glorify God by its eternal truth. Jesus Christ is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Peter tells us this:

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 1 Peter 1:19-20

Before the foundation of the world, before ever an angel winged above the throne of glory, before Jehovah said, “Light be,” and therefore, most certainly before ever He declared, “Let us make man in our image,” the Triune God eternally ordained the death and resurrection of the eternal Son. In timeless eternity, the holy conference between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit determined by the perfect counsel of His own will that the most glorious display of God’s love, joy, peace, mercy, grace, wrath, justice, goodness, and faithfulness would take place before heaven and upon earth.

The Effectual Glory of the Cross

The cross of Jesus Christ is exalted to glorify God by its effectual power. Because the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was an eternal decree it is sufficient in power to save the chief of sinners among the most vile of men. It is written,

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21

The given name of God’s Anointed is Jesus, meaning “shall save” because “he shall save his people from their sins.” His name was not “might save;” but instead, “shall save” because of His sufficiency in Himself to save. Christ’s perfect life alone was sufficient to satisfy every requirement for eternal restitution, needing the assistance of no other man, neither any other creature. His shed blood is sufficient for the remission of sins. The wrath He suffered for sins He did not commit secured redemption for every soul who believes. Christ’s atoning death was sufficient to give life to all those who trust in Him alone for that life.

The Exclusive Glory of the Cross

The cross of Jesus Christ is exalted to glorify God by its exclusive grace. Christ’s atoning and substitutionary sacrifice on that tree of wood is unrivaled. Nothing done through the combined efforts of all creation can match its infinite value or compete with its eternal distinction. Jesus said this of His own sacrificial death:

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. John 12:32, 33

If men would be drawn to Him by His crucifixion, then no man would assist or could assist in the eternal work of redemption. Although sinful men executed Christ in their hatred of Christ, their actions only exhibited the shame of mankind’s sin and culpability before a holy and just God― our actions in crucifying Christ only necessitated His work of redemption; our actions did not aid, assist or participate in Christ’s redemptive work. Therefore, in its exclusive glory and by its distinctive work, no man could add to its value or subtract from its reality.

The work of Christ’s atoning death is objective in its declaration, sufficient in its application, and unique in its execution. In this way God alone is glorified.

This excerpt is taken from Christ and Him Crucified, ch.V, pgs.41-44.

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Written by: Jon J. Cardwell on January 18, 2012.