This brings me to next Sunday, July 19, as we continue our series on the cross. On that day, the Lord willing, I will be addressing the subject of evil and suffering. I would especially ask for your prayers as this message comes together, for I believe the Lord will continue to nourish, encourage, and instruct us through His Word, especially at such a time as this.

This coming Lord’s day we will open the Word of the Lord together to the Epistle to the Galatians, and chapter 6 and verse 14. You will recall that this summer in our Lord’s Day messages we are looking at the subject of ‘The Church Under the Cross.’ And this week our sermon text will reveal to us another important link between the cross of our Lord and Savior and His redeemed people.

This is, indeed, a most intriguing passage of Scripture from Paul’s letter to the Christians in the first century province of Galatia. And in this letter, in which he sternly warns the Church to be alert to the grave danger of believing a distorted Gospel–one based not upon faith, but upon works– he addresses the believer’s relationship to the world. And, perhaps to our shock and amazement, in this verse Paul actually speaks of three crucifixions! You can spot them very easily:

“ But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

Here we encounter our Lord’s crucifixion, then the world’s crucifixion, and then our crucifixion.

As we prayerfully walk through this one verse, we will see how the cross of our Lord and Savior has changed everything about our lives! And this impacts us right now as we, the Bride of Christ, live and serve Him in this world.