The Power of the Cross

When have you noticed the power of the cross — Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension — shifting your perspective and impacting your spiritual journey most?

Sometimes, we may believe that growing as a Christian means sinning less. While that is a noble goal, it also can cause despair when we fail or pride when we succeed. Instead, the Bible tells us that growing as a Christian means growing in our knowledge of the holiness of God, our knowledge of the seriousness of our sin, and our understanding of the power of the cross that bridges the gap between God’s holiness and our sin.

As we begin to see the enormity of His forgiveness, we learn to boast in the cross and grow in holiness out of thankfulness. Notice how this resource shows your perspective of the cross changing as you deepen your understanding of God’s holiness and the extent of your sin.

Power of the Cross: Before Conversion

Before we begin a relationship with God, we have a very limited understanding of the holiness of God or of the depth of our sin.

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV).

Power of the Cross: At Conversion

As we begin a relationship with God, we are thankful Jesus “died for our sins,” but we may not really appreciate the enormous price He paid to do so.

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV).

Power of the Cross: Boasting in the Cross

As we grow to know God more, we begin to understand the greatness of God’s holiness and the depth of our sin. The enormity of His forgiveness grips us and we learn to boast in the cross.

“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” Galatians 6:14 (NIV).