“In His temple doth everyone speak of His glory." Pslam 29.9

"I will speak of the glorious honour of Thy majesty, and of Thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of Thy terrible acts: and I will declare Thy greatness." Psalm 145:5,6

As I’ve been reminded recently, it is not only possible but often the case that “Christians" can teach or preach from the Scriptures without extolling the most magnificent of God’s works, the cross of Christ.

Is there a more “terrible act" of God than the crucifixion of his Son? This is a very necessary question since Scripture itself, that from which Christians take their authority, says that the cross of Christ was not a mere murderous act of men, but the most integral part of God’s plan for the reconciliation of humanity. All theology and it’s interpretation takes the cross for it’s benchmark of meaning. As I’ve written before, the cross is not a theology, but theology itself.

And there is “might", a great power of God, in this “terrible act". Jesus said that if he was lifted up, as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, he would draw all men to himself. In the terrible work of Christ is healing for our work of sin against God, for at the cross he was “made to be sin for us". There is power in the work of Christ to relieve our shame, strengthen our weakness, educate our ignorance, and give hope for our despair.

Is this the living testimony of my heart? Is this the truth of the heart that my mouth gives a voice? Whose glory do I speak of, mine or his? And when I speak of his, am I drawn continually to speak of his terrible act, that most terrible of acts that has secured for me immeasurable grace and power over my self?

Update on Thursday, June 4, 2009 by

If your interested in a definitive Seventh-day Adventist statement regarding the appropriateness of uplifting the cross in every sermon or Bible study, this may interest you.

Never should a sermon be preached, or Bible instruction in any line be given, without pointing the hearers to “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29. Every true doctrine makes Christ the center, every precept receives force from His words.—Ellen White, Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 54

This does not mean we bash people over the head, attacking them in a confrontational way. Note the context. It is when the social contract has been made that we are entering Christian teaching, as with sermons and Bible instruction, that the cross is to be made front and centre.

“Hanging upon the cross Christ was the gospel… . This is our message, our argument, our doctrine, our warning to the impenitent, our encouragement for the sorrowing, the hope for every believer. If we can awaken an interest in men’s minds that will cause them to fix their eyes on Christ, we may step aside, and ask them only to continue to fix their eyes upon the Lamb of God.“— Ellen White, Manuscript 49, 1898

As you explore the theology of the cross, of the principle of divine influence attending it’s proclamation, this statement takes on a transcendent quality.

For me, the simple fact has been clear for some time that it is Christless presentations that rob us of the Holy Spirit’s power. Preaching Christ crucified will do what marketing methods cannot. It will move forward with the creative energy of divinity, for Christ has pledged his own life as guarantee of it’s success.