[Eric Johnson is our guest blogger for December. Eric is the Director of the Society for Christian Psychology and professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. This is his second post].

I know it’s Christmas time, but I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the therapeutic benefits of the cross (for a chapter of a book I’m working on with Phil Monroe), so for this week’s blog I’d like to consider how the cross glorifies God and how appreciating that benefits our souls. (I might add that Christ’s work on the cross began with his incarnation, and Christmas, that is, the gift of Christ, ended in the crucifixion). The first thing to notice is that God gets glory by taking away in the cross that which robs him of glory, that is, the shame and guilt of people’s sin. Sin is essentially “anti‑glory,” like a black hole to glory, and its capacity to negate glory was destroyed in the cross. Consequently Christ’s death allows God’s glory to be manifested in ways it would not have otherwise, turning bad people (lives, minds, hearts, and relationships) into good vehicles of glory. We now really can act in ways that glorify God-knowing this makes our lives meaningful and brings healing to our souls.

But more importantly, the cross itself profoundly demonstrated God’s glory, more so than anything God ever did with reference to this creation. Christians know the story, but let’s consider it here as a revelation of glory. The infinitely pure triune God, who could justly condemn his image‑bearers (those made to be like him, who have revolted hatefully against him), himself overcame our resistance to his glory. In love God the Father sent his Son to die for us; in love God the Son obeyed and left heaven, laying aside his infinite perfections and glorified existence to become a human being. Christ became subject to all that human creatures experience (e.g. pain [physical and mental], sorrow, rejection, and misunderstanding), but also to much, much worse: his very own creatures, even his specially chosen people, rejected him and mocked him and put him to death. Those to whom he was giving life took his own life. All this in order to give sinners forgiveness and holiness and love, for pieces of dust (in comparison with him), for rebels who have lived secretly despising him. He pursued us to give us the infinite gift of himself!

Think for a moment about some of the most popular movies in recent decades (e.g. the Titanic, the Matrix, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Schindler’s List). All of them have some element of self‑sacrifice as a main feature of their plot. We humans are touched deeply when someone transcends his or her own self‑interest for the sake of another. It is a beautiful thing, and we were built to see such beauty and admire it. And nowhere in all the creation is there any example of self‑sacrifice that can even come close to matching the supreme, infinitely beautiful gift of Jesus, the Son of God (and his sacrifice is matched by the sacrifice of his loving Father’s surrender of him for our benefit). God’s beauty is supremely on display at the cross. 

It is good for our souls to admire the beauty of God revealed in the cross. To regularly step back and meditate on Christ’s tremendous deed of love is good for our souls. “One thing I have asked from the Lord…: to behold the beauty of the Lord.” (Ps. 27:4a,c)  It is good to think about good; it ennobles our character when we reflect on the nobility of others. But this is extraordinary nobility. Christ’s death is supremely beautiful; because of the combination of his infinite greatness and the corresponding immensity of his humility and self-giving, the beauty of the cross is truly inexhaustible. And our souls, when anointed by the Holy Spirit, benefit from such admiration. Many people spend weeks of vacation driving thousands of miles to see beautiful mountains and canyons and animals. We enjoy it; and it feels good! But the beauty of the God of the gospel is beyond compare. For our best recreation, for the re‑creation of our souls, we need regularly to take “meditation vacations” to the cross, in order to forget for a while about our busy life and our problems and our sins, and get lost-get caught up-in the glory of our beautiful friend who laid down his life for us (Jo. 15:13). In heaven we will admire and worship forever the lamb that was slain (Rev 5:6,12), and there we will be filled with overflowing joy and gratitude-so now there is no purer blessing to our souls down here than to soak up some of that bittersweet bread of life, which heals and strengthens us and enables us to be more like Christ with others.