Treasuring the Death of Christ (Part 1 of 2)

Why the Death of Christ Is a Treasure Worth Bragging About

The death of Jesus Christ is one of the greatest treasures you could ever have this side of heaven. It is something to be possessed, treasured, and valued. It was intended for you.

As Christians, there is something to brag about—one particular aspect of our lives in which we can be prideful and boast. Boasting is normally condemned in Scripture as a vain and sinful activity. Yet when it comes to the death of Jesus Christ, there is an opportunity to brag about something. And as we do, Scripture does not portray this as boring or insignificant. It invokes an exclamation, a reflex response from us.

The times when boasting is sinful are when you are the direct object: "Look at me, my accomplishments, the things I have done." But boasting in Christ moves it from vice to virtue.

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 1:30-31

Christ is your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Possessing these in Him gives you reason to respond with pride in what He has done. Boasting expels itself through praise and adoration, seeing Him as a treasure.

We normally get it backwards, crediting our own strength and excluding God's grace. But when Christ is the greatest treasure, we brag about His work: "My Savior has accomplished my salvation. What do you think of that?"

Paul quotes Jeremiah 9:23-24, emphasizing: Do not boast in what you have done; boast in knowing the Lord—His grace, activity, and work. This gives opportunity to boast in who He is and what He has done.

Why boast? Because His work places you in Christ: wisdom to see reality from God's perspective; righteousness to please Him; sanctification to be separated from sin; redemption to correct your sins. You didn't earn it—boast in His activity.

Nobody brags about something insignificant or a lack. People boast about victory and achievement. Those who truly know Christ are compelled to speak highly of what He has done.

Knowing Nothing Except Christ and Him Crucified

Paul says:

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

1 Corinthians 2:2

This seems contradictory given the rest of 1 Corinthians, which covers tongues, healing, sexual sins, marriage, baptism, and more. How can Paul say this? And can any of us claim to know nothing except Christ crucified in our conversations, friendships, or families?

Paul is not contradicting himself. The knowledge of Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the centerpiece of everything Christian. It stems from the cross: the old sinful you dies; the new you lives in sanctification, righteousness, and redemption. Everything changes—sin is eliminated.

Sexuality? Christ bought you with a price; glorify God in your body. Marriage? Husbands love wives as Christ loved His bride. Spiritual gifts? Empowered by the cross for service. Whatever you do—eating, drinking—do it to God's glory as a recipient of Christ's death.

Paul, once a Pharisee who memorized the Old Testament and rejected a crucified Messiah as offensive, now treasures it above all. It is the death of our sin and the life of our souls. Everything in the New Testament derives from the cross: beliefs about man, service, obedience. Reflecting on His death compels us to walk worthy of it.

Can you say you derive your life from the cross, treasuring it as the starting place of eternal life?

Propitiation: Appeasing God's Wrath

A significant problem: Unsaved people live under God's wrath.

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:2

Propitiation appeases wrath. Without it, God is angry with righteous indignation. Scripture shows God hates evil-doers:

The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.

Psalm 5:5

God hates sinners—a righteous hatred because we broke His law and hated Him. The gospel treasures us because Christ's sacrifice stays that hatred.

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Romans 5:9

Christ removes wrath, exchanging punishment for loving discipline. You enter a Romans 8:28 reality—all things work for good.

Justification: A Not-Guilty Verdict

Justification means Christ died to purchase a "not guilty" verdict from God—as righteous as Christ Himself. This infinitely holy God, who hated you as an evil-doer, now esteems you as valuable as His Son. You gave no reason; you deserved wrath eternally.

Songs say you're worth dying for—you weren't. You were worth judgment. But the cross mediates God's view: You are precious in His sight, thought of highly by the eternal, majestic I AM.

Imagine the transcendent God thinking of you inter-trinitarianly as righteous objects of His pleasure.

A Higher Quality of Life

Treasuring Christ's death enables a higher quality of life:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

John 10:10

Christ came to give His people an abundant, lavished, extraordinary life beyond normal.

Abundant Life Through Christ's Death

He came to give his people a life that is extraordinary, above the ordinary. He came not just to give life, but abundant life. This does not mean his people will avoid suffering, never worry about their next paycheck, or wish away sicknesses through remarkable faith. In medicine, "quality of life" means improving life amid suffering, even for someone dying of cancer. Similarly, in Christianity, Christ came to people with corruptible natures needing death to shed that corruption. We suffer persecution and trials, yet through it all, we have a spiritual life that is lavished, extravagant, extraordinary, and remarkable. He came to give his people a higher quality of life.

How? As Jesus says in the next verse:

John 10:11 — "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

He came to die to give us this abundant life, this higher quality of life. Treasuring the death of Jesus Christ enables us to experience relationships and circumstances remarkably, extraordinarily, extravagantly—as if abundantly rich, but with richness from Christ's righteousness and life. As he endured suffering and hostility from sinners, there is a joyful way to experience it.

Treasuring Christ's death installs within us a joyful experience—not just any joy, but the joy of a sinless, omnipotent God. Jesus said in John 15 that he will give us his joy so that our joy may be full, infinite. Are you ready to experience infinite joy? Do you treasure Christ's death to the degree that you experience this higher quality of life?

The Death of Christ Arms Us Against Sin

Treasuring Christ's death motivates and arms us against sin. In John 10:10, opposite the shepherd is the thief, who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Outside Christ, our joy is robbed. Sin stands in the way of this higher life. How do we deal with it? Consider 1 Peter 4:1-6:

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that has passed suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

No matter your age, at conversion the Holy Spirit enabled you to say yes to Christ and no to sin. Prior time was sufficient for unbelieving pursuits: parties with drinking, drunkenness, sensual passions, lawless idolatry driven by human passions for satisfaction and joy. That time is over.

Peter gives a battle cry for warriors against sin—not hosting it with hospitality, but treating every thought with hostility, imprisoning what is not from God. Arm yourself not with physical weapons, but with Christ's way of thinking: the will of God is more valuable. Because of Christ's suffering in the flesh, this mindset enables you to cease from sin.

The Cross Changes How We Experience Circumstances and Relationships

Finally, treasuring Christ's death changes how we experience circumstances and relationships. The biggest need is holiness, which the cross provides. The Corinthians strayed into problems with spiritual gifts and sexuality because they took their eyes off the cross. Paul corrected them: remember Jesus Christ and him crucified. Treasuring Christ crucified changes everything for the better.