By
Shelby G. Floyd
"When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," by Issac Watts was one of the most beautiful hymns ever written. He is one of the best-known and best loved of the British hymn writers. He wrote about 600 hymns in his lifetime. Charles Wesley, who also wrote many hymns, said that he would gladly have exchanged all of his hymns for that one hymn written by Isaac Watts. Watts hymn is based upon Galatians 6:14 where the apostle Paul said, "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."
GLORYING IN THE CROSS
The cross of Christ is the center of the gospel story. Wherever the apostles and preachers went in the early days of the church, the central theme of their message was the death of Christ upon the cross of Calvary. For instance, Paul worked with the Corinthians a year and a half. Later he wrote a letter to them and said, "And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:1-2). This meant that "Christ crucified" was the burden of his message. He did not preach the Grecian philosophy or the Roman wisdom of the poets and philosophers. He said his message was Jesus Christ and him crucified.
In the first chapter of the same letter he said, "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect" (1 Corinthians 1:17). He said the cross of Christ was a stumbling block to the Jews, and the Greeks looked upon it as foolishness. He added, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).
CHRIST ANTICIPATED HIS DEATH
Jesus Christ anticipated his own death. There have been other men who have anticipated their deaths, but not each detail of how and when they would die. The Lord did. In John 3 Jesus had an interview with Nicodemus. When we talk about this interview, we usually talk about the new birth. Many probably do not realize the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus about the new birth also included the statement, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believe it in him should not periods, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believe it in him should not perish, but have everlasting life: for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:14-17). This is a part of the interview with Nicodemus.
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