We are back after a week-long break from the podcast and we have a full week ahead, Pastor

John, so let's dive into the mountain of emails that never stop flowing in, Austin,

a listener in Atlanta writes, and hello, Pastor John, when asked about the significance

of the cross, most Christians can give this Sunday school answer that Jesus died to save

us from our sin.

While this is a beautiful, true, and profound truth, it can sometimes appear simple and

one-dimensional, how would you encourage me to have an enlarged view of the cross?

How can I approach God's word and life in a way that continually broadens my understanding

and love for that pivotal moment in history?

Well, I love this question and I love it because right off my front burner, the answer to

the question happened to me in worship yesterday, but let me say something else before I say

that.

Austin is clearly right.

He's got his handle on the right way to live.

He wants to go deeper and wider in the cross of Christ, and he has ever gone before, and

he wants that to be continually happening.

So let me give three different kinds of answer to the question, how can we approach God's

word, how can we approach life so that this deepening, widening, heightening of our experience

of understanding of love for the cross happens?

Number one, linger over and meditate regularly on Galatians 6.14 or other texts like it,

goes like this, far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now that is an astonishing statement.

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