설교제목 : 예수님의 십자가는 나의 자랑입니다 (The Cross of Jesus Is My Boast)

Sunday Worship Service Sermon (4-13-2025)

The Cross of Jesus is My Boast

(Galatians 6:14)

1.   

Today is Palm Sunday, or Passion Sunday, a day to remember and give thanks for the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross. On this special day, following last week, I am going to again share with you the word about The Cross of Jesus.

Crucifixion was the primary method of execution for heinous criminals in Rome in the first century. Crucifixion was a very violent and shameful death. It was so shameful that no one wanted to talk about it.

When we think of the cross, who comes to our mind first? Who is it? Yes, Jesus, who came to the world in human form for our salvation, suffered a cruel death on this very cross.

2.   

However, in today’s text, Paul boldly confesses to the Galatians that he boasts more than anything else about the cross of Jesus, who was killed on the cross, which people at the time considered the most shameful death and were too ashamed to even talk about. Let’s look at verse 14: “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The healthy psychology of boasting is that when I am happy because of something (or someone), I boast. It is that when I have benefited greatly because of something (somebody), I boast. And it is that when I tell others about the beautiful things someone has done, I boast.

However, Paul confessed that he boasts more than anything else about the cross of Jesus, who was killed on the cross, which people at the time considered the most shameful death and were too ashamed to even talk about.

In fact, Paul once hated Jesus and His cross and persecuted the church. But now, Jesus and the cross of Jesus became the center of his life. Jesus and the cross of Jesus became his pride. Jesus and the cross of Jesus became his everything. Jesus and the cross of Jesus became the happiness and hope of his life. For Paul, Jesus and the cross of Jesus changed everything. Jesus and the cross of Jesus gave Paul a new perspective and way of life. Jesus and the cross of Jesus led him to no longer live for himself but for Jesus. Jesus and the cross of Jesus gave him a new motivation and strength to live righteously. So, Paul said that everything (=I am what I am) is explained to him in terms of Jesus and the cross of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:10). For Paul, the cross of Jesus was not a shameful cross. For him, the cross of Jesus was a glorious cross. For Paul, there was only one thing to boast about in this world, and that was not in the world, but only in Christ and especially in the cross of Christ. Christ was everything to Paul. The cross of Jesus was everything to Paul.

Do you have the same confession of faith in your heart? - “The cross of Jesus is my only boast.” “I love Jesus and His cross.” Are Jesus and His cross your everything, your happiness, your hope, and your gratitude?

I wonder: Why was the cross of Jesus Paul’s greatest boast? Why did Paul say that the cross of Jesus was his greatest boast?

Apart from righteous Christ’s death on the cross, we deserve nothing but condemnation from God. Because if Christ had not died on the cross for us, we would have nothing but condemnation from God (=we would have perished, we would have received the terrible judgment of God). Because if our sins, which were bloody and crimson red, had not been paid for through the cross of Jesus, we would receive nothing but condemnation and death from God. Without Jesus and the cross of Jesus, there is no hope for sinful human beings.

However, as a result of the atoning death of Jesus on the cross, all the good things we have received ultimately flow from the cross of Jesus. (God has made it possible for sinful mankind to receive forgiveness of sins through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. He has made us righteous so that no one would perish but would gain eternal life. God has made us, who were once enemies of God because of sin, children of God. God has made it possible for us to live in the grace of God. God has made heaven our inheritance.) The cross of Christ is where we see the pinnacle of God’s grace. The cross of Christ is where Jesus took our sins upon Himself and made it possible for us to be reconciled to God. And the cross of Christ is where we can receive all these good things (=the most necessary things for all humans) from God. God of love has made it possible for us to receive all these good things through the cross of Jesus that we could never obtain through human wisdom and effort.

Dear friends, look back at all the good things we have in our lives. All the good things we enjoy in our lives are because of the cross of Jesus. Everything good in our lives is ultimately possible because Christ paid the price for our sins. For the saved saints, all good things have been obtained through the cross of Christ. Without the death of Christ on the cross, sinners would have nothing but judgment. Apart from the cross of Christ, there would only be condemnation and death. Everything we enjoy in Christ, that is, everything we enjoy as believers in Christ, is due to the death of Christ on the cross. The cross is the place where Christ took our sins upon Himself and made it possible for us to experience and know and enjoy the goodness, the blessing of God. That is why Paul boasted about Jesus and the cross of Jesus.

One of the reasons why we are not Christ-centered and cannot be moved, thankful, and boast of the grace and love of Jesus on the cross is because we have not yet realized that all the good things God has given to His saved children are because of Christ's death on the cross.

We take for granted our life and breath, our family, our health, our friends, our church, our peace, our salvation, our eternal life, and all the good things we have. We think they are ours by right. But the fact is that they are not ours by right. Everything we have is because of Jesus and the cross of Jesus. However, Paul realized that all the good things he enjoyed were because of Jesus and the cross of Jesus. He realized that Jesus and the cross of Jesus were the most necessary things for his salvation. That is why he confessed that Jesus and the cross of Jesus were his only boast.

3.   

Dear friends, do you realize why Jesus bore the cross for you? Do you realize why Paul said that he was most boast of the cross of Jesus? Do you realize that the cross of Jesus shows us the amazing power and wisdom and love of God that saves us?

Today, on Palm Sunday, Passion Sunday, I hope that we all realize that the cross of Jesus shows us the power and wisdom and love of God that saved us. So, I hope that we can boast, be thankful, praise, and joyfully share with everyone the cross of Jesus who saved us.

Now, I will end my sermon by telling you the story of a person who realized that Jesus and the cross of Jesus are the power and wisdom of God that saved him and lived in gratitude for this grace.

A 19-year-old young man who had just graduated from college was traveling around Germany to broaden his horizons and prepare for social life. One day, the young man visited an art gallery in Düsseldorf. There, he saw a painting titled “Christ on the Cross” by Stenberg, a famous 19th-century German artist. When he saw the painting, he experienced a strange emotion surge through his heart. So, he looked at the painting titled “Christ on the Cross” for a long time. Then he saw the words written under the painting. “All this I did for you. What are you doing for me?”

At that moment, the young man came to his senses. And he asked himself: “I, who was saved by the suffering of the Lord on the cross, what have I done for the Lord up until now? The Lord gave His life for me, but what have I done for the Lord? When I go to heaven and meet Jesus next, what will I have to offer to the Lord?”

This young man knelt down under the painting and sincerely confessed to God: “God, I have lived until now without knowing this love of yours. But now I realize it. I will live the rest of my life only for you.”

Under this picture drawn by Stenberg, the young man who made this promise to God that day began to believe in Jesus diligently. He diligently read and studied the Bible. And the more he read and studied the Bible, the more he realized the deeper truth. Then, following the truth he realized, he resolved, ‘I must somehow repay the Lord’s love, the love of the cross,’ and he used his wealth to help the poor. However, he felt that what he did was too little compared to the love and grace of the cross that Jesus had saved him, so he decided, ‘I will live my young life for the Lord,’ and he began to preach the gospel.

At that time, Europe was at war. He began to preach the gospel to refugees. As a result, many people heard the gospel he preached and believed in Jesus. This person was Zinzendorf, who started the Moravian Church. The Moravian Church was founded on Zinzendorf’s cross-centered faith and became a denomination that evangelized more than any other denomination in the world in the 19th century.

Today is Palm Sunday, Passion Sunday. We are now worshiping and remembering Jesus who carried the cross for our salvation and giving thanks. Jesus on the cross says the same thing to us this morning: “I shed blood and died for you, but what do you do for me?” I hope that Passion Sunday will be a day when saints like Paul and Zinzendorf are raised up. Amen!!