Photo by HARSH KUSHWAHA
God spoke, “I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my righteous wrath upheld me.” Isaiah 63:5
The theology (meaning study of…) of the Cross vs. The theology of Glory jumped out at me while reading again the book called The Gospel According to Job by Mike Mason which I have been reading for over five years along with The Discipline of Disturbance by Hud McWilliams, who has been my spiritual mentor for over twenty-nine years.
All of that to say it absolutely astounded me when I realized that there is no glory in the Cross. The monumental indescribable event that took place on that cross was one of absolutely NO glory yet it is exactly that event on that cross that makes Glory for you and I a legitimate option through the obedience of Jesus to die on that cross. and be given by God the Father the Sovereign rule forever. It stirred me so that I could not eat or sleep.
The spirituality of the Cross and those of us who trust in The One who died up on it is that it seeks God and ONLY God and here is the kicker, the work on the cross of Jesus would accept NO GLORY! There is no glory in sin. God himself is the significant value of the Cross!!! Jesus humbled himself only seeking God’s will and then doing it.
Glory to God is useless if humans conjure it up in themselves. We see it all around us in the Church. A mega church boasting about their numbers of attendance. The church member who judges others who cannot seem to overcome their sin issues but never repenting of their own or the supposed Christian celebrities that millions follow on social media and accept their teachings because they are popular.
The Glory belongs to Jesus and Jesus alone, who’ s very essence is God, yet on that cross he was a son, a man who had not sought ANY glory for himself only his Father’s.
“Never build your case for forgiveness on the idea that God is our Father and He will forgive us because he loves us. God forgives sin ONLY because of the death of Christ…anything that LESSENS the holiness of God through a false view of His love, contradicts the truth of God as REVEALED by Jesus Christ…” Oswald Chambers
The lesson is that the Cross is for those who will walk by simple faith seeking no glory of our own. Oh that I might grasp this Truth today and everyday for one day my Faith will be made sight and the glory will be more than eternity can hold. Not mine but His.
“The Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18
Jill Autrey Dorman 
No glory, but rather shame. It was the most demeaning, torturous form of death. And in this is the scandal of the cosmos, that in this apparent shame and defeat the Father was pleased to raise Jesus from the dead, exhaulting him above all, and simultaneously extending forgiveness to all who would rely upon this scandalous love demonstrated in the Cross. Thanks be to God.
Thank you David. As always I count on your gift of discernment and your knowledge of the Word. As a writer I sometimes get carried away. The way this started was some thinking I was doing on Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane…His total acceptance that in his obedience the Father would be lifted up as the Only True God. Blessings to you and Patsy and I am so grateful for your support for me in my passion for Jesus and writing.
Also, the whole issue of shame, which is so much more discussed becasue of people like Brene Brown etc. I find that the women I mentor when they find the root of an issue in their lives it all goes back to an inaccurate view of God himself and also their deep shame about something. They fear exposure will make them less loved by their spouse and God as well.
Shame is a powerful thing. Most institutions including the family, schools, businesses, and churches have resorted to using shame instructionally, which is very destructive. Conversely we see Jesus hanging out with the disenfranchised of his time, loving recklessly, for he knows that love is what motivates and lends courage to the weak. Would that his followers would do the same.