“But may it never be that I would 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).

There are many synonyms for the word wonderful: amazing, superb, outstanding, phenomenal, fabulous, incredible, and many more. For instance, someone may go on a wonderful trip. Perhaps a guest would say to a host at a dinner party, “That was a wonderful meal”. You might even be blessed to have a wonderful wife or husband.

What about wonderful rituals? No way! Wonderful doctrines? Absolutely not! Wonderful works? You must be joking! How about this one: the wonderful cross! What?! How could a cross stained with sweat and blood be wonderful? The cross is associated with pain, torture, humiliation, execution and death.

Only God can speak in terms of a wonderful cross. Only Jesus dying on the cruel cross to pay for our sins can be described as wonderful. That’s because it is only through His sacrificial death on the cross that we have eternal life. Now that is wonderful news about a wonderful cross.

We never want to be far from the wonderful cross in our Christian living. The wonderful cross of Christ should always be on our mind. I don’t have any tattoos (permanent reminder of temporary insanity 🙂) but if I did get one it would be a cross on my wrist as a reminder of who Jesus is and what He did for me. It would be a great evangelism tool as well.

Survey the wondrous cross by reading John 19:17-30 and then listen to a wonderful song by Phillips, Craig & Dean called The Wonderful Cross. Then, go through the day, week, and rest of your life with the wonderful cross in the front of your mind.

John 19:17-30

They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, carrying His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. Now Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written: “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; rather, write that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts: a part to each soldier, and the tunic also; but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be.” This happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “They divided My garments among themselves, and they cast lots for My clothing.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.

Now beside the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. So when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, *said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.