In the Cross of Christ, I Glory (Daily Devotional)

Greetings and welcome to Living Supernaturally. Thank you so much once again for giving us this opportunity to minister God's word and to spend a few moments in prayer. Today, we'll be talking about in the cross of Christ, I glory. Philippians chapter 1, verses 19 to 21, ‘for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.’ Paul the apostle expresses the idea that the cross of Christ, despite being an instrument of torture and death is the ultimate source of glory and hope for believers, signifying God's immense love and sacrifice for humanity and the believer's salvation through Jesus's death on the cross. In this context, glory doesn't refer to worldly pride but rather to the ultimate display of God's love and grace manifested through Jesus Christ for eternal life. After all, we proclaim that Jesus was glorified on the cross. But in the Roman world, the cross and glory are not words that they would put together. The cross was an instrument of terror, a threat to scare people into paying their taxes and to never say anything against Caesar, the Roman emperor. If you ended up on a cross, it was the most shameful end of you. Paul loved the gospel so much that he could put up with selfishly motivated preachers. Now Paul increases awe at his Christ saturated view of life by saying that even if he dies, it will somehow work out for God's glory. Paul knew that death was not the defeat to the Christians, it was merely a graduation to glory, a net gain for the Christian. Paul lived his life not to preserve or promote himself but to glorify Christ. Even so, this must have hit hard on the Philippians who saw God do so many remarkable miracles and deliverance in Paul's life among them. It would have been easy for the Philippians to associate God's glory only with being delivered from one's problems and challenges and not being put to prison and martyred. Paul knew that death was not a defeat to the Christians. Two reasons for that, his death for the cause of Christ would glorify Christ, two, to be in the immediate presence of the Lord was gain for Paul. To live is Christ and to die is gain. It is that simple, it is that profound! The remarkable truth is that our only hope is Jesus Christ and may His glory fill our lives. Let us pray, Father, we thank you for your promise that you will be glorified and you will glorify us. We pray that we will live with this attitude, with this mindset, every day of our lives that we may display your glory in everything that we say and do, we give you all the glory and honor, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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