What was there about Him, that made Him the central figure of the human race, and the person whose birth date has become the dividing mark for all time? What did He leave for us to use, in an age like this, to help people like you and me? Does the legacy of Jesus have a word for us, in our troubled times when evil clings so closely, and sin is now an acceptable way of life for most people. Today we justify everything we do--by calling it social or psychological maladjustments.

I believe Jesus left the Cross for us, which shames the worst in us, but also challenges the best in us. The Apostle Paul wrote the following words which echo down the corridors of time, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." For the Christian those words remain as fresh, instructive and illuminating, as when the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write those words over 1900 years ago.

The Apostle Paul, could have been glorified in many things. He had been educated at the feet of the greatest biblical scholar of that day. But he did not. He could have gloried in his membership in the religious establishment of his day, the Pharisees, but he didn't. He could have gloried in his mastery of languages, for he spoke Greek, Latin and Aramaic. But he didn't. He chose to glory in, of all things, the Cross! The Cross, which was the symbol of suffering and shame in the Roman Empire. I believe in the Cross, Paul saw the paradox of man's guilt, but he also saw the manifestation of God's love.