You probably know by heart the line in Isaac Watts’ hymn, “Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God.” This prayer was no doubt inspired by the Apostle Paul’s words in Galatians 6:14. “May it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Have you ever wondered how the cross—that awful instrument of death—could be the basis of our boasting?

In John Piper’s excellent book Fifty Reasons Why Christ Came to Die, reason number 33 is: To make His cross the ground of all our boasting.

As sinners, each of us is due the penalty of death for our sins. But Christ’s death on the cross freed us from that judgment. And that’s not all! By means of the cross, Christ ushered us into incredible blessing. Do you realize that every single good thing we have received was obtained for us by the cross of Christ? That each and every blessing we enjoy is as a result of His death? That because of the cross God even turns bad things into good for us?

Yes, says Piper, “everything that we enjoy, as people who trust Christ, is owing to his death. His suffering absorbed all the judgment that guilty sinners deserved and purchased all the good that forgiven sinners enjoy.” And that is why we actually revel in, celebrate, and even boast in the cross of Christ! That is why we wear crosses as jewelry and mark our gravestones with crosses. The cross of Christ has become the gateway for us to all that is good! Isn’t that just amazing?