Treasuring the Death of Christ

Why the Death of Christ is a Treasure Worth Boasting About

The death of Jesus Christ is one of the greatest treasures you could ever have this side of heaven. It is something to be possessed, treasured, and valued. It was intended for you.

As Christians, there is something to brag about—one particular aspect of our lives worthy of boasting. Scripture normally condemns boasting as vain and sinful. Yet when it comes to the death of Jesus Christ, we have an opportunity to brag without sin.

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 1:30-31

When the work of Jesus Christ is the object of our boasting, it moves boasting from vice to virtue. Christ is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Boasting in Him is a reflex—a response of praise and adoration. We expel it through exclamation because we treasure what He has done.

We normally boast in our own accomplishments, excluding God's grace. But Christ's work means we brag about what He has done: “My Savior has accomplished my salvation. What do you think of that?”

Paul quotes Jeremiah 9:23-24, emphasizing not to boast in our own deeds but in knowing the Lord—having a personal relationship with Him, receiving His grace and work.

Christ became for us wisdom from God—the ability to see reality from His perspective. He is our righteousness, enabling us to please God. He is our sanctification, separating us from sin, and our redemption, correcting our sins. If you have Him, you have all these things. We boast in His activity, not our receipt of it.

Nobody brags about something worthless. We boast in victory and achievement. Those who truly know Christ are compelled to speak highly of what He has done.

Determined to Know Nothing Except Christ and Him Crucified

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

1 Corinthians 2:2

Paul's statement seems contradictory given the topics he addresses in 1 Corinthians—tongues, healing, sexual sins, marriage, baptism. How can he know nothing except Christ crucified?

The knowledge of Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the centerpiece of everything Christian. It stems from the cross: the old sinful self dies, the new self lives in sanctification, righteousness, and redemption. Everything changes—sin is eliminated.

Sexuality is determined by the cross: “You were bought with a price... glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6). Marriage reflects Christ dying for His bride. Spiritual gifts flow from the cross-empowered Holy Spirit. Every doctrine derives from the cross—what we believe about man, service, obedience.

Paul, once a Pharisee who rejected a crucified Messiah as offensive, now treasures it as the only significant thing. It is the death of our sin and the life of our souls. Derive your life from the cross—the starting place of eternal life. Walk in a manner worthy of His death.

Propitiation: Appeasing God's Wrath

Unsaved people live under God's wrath. The death of Christ propitiates it—appeases His righteous anger.

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:2

You hate all evildoers.

Psalm 5:5

God hates evil and evildoers with righteous hatred because we broke His law and hated Him. The gospel stays His hatred through Christ's sacrifice.

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Romans 5:9

Christ removes wrath and punishment, exchanging it for a loving Father's discipline. We enter a Romans 8:28 reality—all things work for good.

Justification: Declared Righteous

Justification means Christ died to purchase a not-guilty verdict from God—we are as good as Christ in His sight. The God who hated us as evildoers now esteems us as valuable as His Son. We give no reason for it; we deserved wrath eternally.

Because of the cross, God views us through Christ's righteousness. We become precious in His sight—thought of highly by the transcendent, eternal God.

The Treasures of Christ's Death in Our Lives

Treasuring Christ's death enables several things:

1. A Higher Quality of Life

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

John 10:10

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:11

Christ died to give abundant, extraordinary life—not free from suffering, but lavished with His joy amid trials. Experience relationships and circumstances remarkably, with infinite joy from a sinless God (John 15).

2. Motivation and Armor Against Sin

The thief (sin) robs joy. Arm against it with Christ's mindset.

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

1 Peter 4:1-2

Past time sufficed for sensuality, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, lawlessness. Now cease from sin—treat sinful thoughts with hostility. Prioritize God's will over passions; the cross enables it.

3. Changed Experience of Circumstances and Relationships

The cross provides holiness. The Corinthians strayed by forgetting it—misusing gifts and sexuality. Paul redirects: know nothing except Christ crucified. It changes everything for the better.