Desiring God

Our future is secure and God will provide every good thing we need (Romans 8:28-32). Death has become a doorway rather than a destination (1 Corinthians 15:54-55). As Stuart Townend and Keith Getty put it so powerfully, "No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me; from life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. And these things are true because "on the cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied. In light of these and other realities, singing about the cross should ultimately fill us with inexpressible joy. 3. We can sing about the cross in ways that magnify us more than God. Worship sometimes turns in on itself. That happens when the cross is interpreted merely as a sacrificial example for us to follow, God showing us how valuable we are, or an expression of God's love devoid of any mention of wrath or judgment. Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his Son (John 3:16), but that love is the overflow of the love shared between the Father and Son. Jesus died so we might be delivered from God's wrath through his all-sufficient sacrifice (1 Thessalonians 1:10; Romans 3:25). While Jesus certainly had those he redeemed in his view and heart when he died (John 17:24), his ultimate passion was to glorify his Father (John 17:1-2). And he died for us that we might share that passion. 4. We can sing about the cross to check it off our "gospel-centered" list. Sadly, it's possible to sing well-written, theologically precise songs about Christ's substitutionary atonement and love our orthodox doctrine of the cross more than the Savior who hung on it. One of the greatest temptations for those familiar with the cross is to become increasingly unmoved by it. To think there must be something more amazing we can be giving our attention to. But as theologian David Prior said, "We never move on from the cross, only to a more profound understanding of the cross. There is nothing more profound to consider than the Son of God giving his life as a ransom to redeem us. Labor to Be Affected