The Glory Hidden in the Cross

By Dylan Verdun Sullivan

As I get some study in before work at woolworths I find myself sitting in a quiet moment.
Not rushed.
Not distracted.
Just present.
I’ve got the commentary of the Gospel of John by playing by R.C Sproul  and as I listen on Spotify something begins to settle deeper in me.
Not as a new idea.
But as a reminder.
A necessary reminder.
I can’t help but be drawn back to the glory of the cross.
And I needed that today.
A Truth That Grounds Me
There are days where my thoughts feel scattered.
Where emotions move quickly.
Where my mind runs ahead of itself.
And in those moments, I need something that doesn’t move.
Something that doesn’t shift based on how I feel.
Something that remains.
And this morning, that something is the cross.
What the Cross Was
Historically, the cross was not a symbol of hope.
It was not something people looked at with reverence.
It was a tool of execution.
A method designed for death.
But not just death—public, humiliating, degrading death.
It was meant to strip a person of dignity.
To expose them.
To shame them.
To make an example out of them.
There was nothing noble about it.
Nothing beautiful.
Nothing inspiring.
It was brutal.
The Weight of That Reality
When I really sit with that, it changes how I see everything.
Because the cross was not softened.
It was not symbolic at the time.
It was real.
Painful.
Violent.
Final.
And yet that is exactly what God chose.
As I Reflect on My Sin and Shame
As I sit here this morning, I can’t help but reflect on my own sin and shame.
The things I’ve done.
The thoughts I’ve carried.
The moments I wish I could go back and undo.
There’s a weight to that when you’re honest.
A real awareness of where you’ve fallen short.
And if I stay there too long—if I let my thoughts circle around it—I can feel it begin to press in.
To accuse.
To remind.
To pull me back into old ways of thinking.
But then I look at the cross.
And everything shifts.
What God Did With It
This is what stops me.
This is what pulls me out of myself and anchors me in something greater.
What was used historically for death and shame…
God used to display His glory in Jesus Christ.
Not by removing the cross.
Not by avoiding it.
But by stepping into it.
The Reversal
There is something profound about that.
Because God didn’t take something already beautiful and make it meaningful.
He took something that represented the worst of humanity…
And transformed its meaning completely.
The cross went from being a symbol of shame…
To the place where glory was revealed.
And somehow, that includes my story too.
Glory That Doesn’t Look Like Glory
That’s what challenges me.
Because when I think of glory, I don’t naturally think of suffering.
I don’t think of weakness.
I don’t think of something as brutal as crucifixion.
But that’s exactly where it was revealed.
Not in comfort.
Not in power as we define it.
But in surrender.
In sacrifice.
In something that, on the surface, looked like defeat.
Why I Needed This Today
I think the reason this has hit me so deeply this morning is because of where I’ve been internally.
The tension.
The emotions.
The awareness of my own struggles.
I find myself wrestling with sin that I need to put to death in me
And in the middle of that, it’s easy to lose sight of what actually matters.
To become focused on myself.
My progress.
My shortcomings.
My inconsistencies.
But the cross pulls me out of that.
It shifts my focus.
It Was Never About My Strength
The cross reminds me of something I can’t afford to forget.
This was never about my strength.
It was never about me getting everything right.
It was never about reaching a point where I no longer struggle.
Because if that were the requirement…
There would be no need for the cross.
The Glory of What Was Done
The glory of the cross is not in the suffering alone.
It’s in what was accomplished through it.
That something so broken
So violent
So filled with shame
Could become the place where redemption was made possible.
Where sin and shame no longer have the final word.
A Personal Reflection
As I sit here, listening, thinking, reflecting
I feel something shift in me.
Not emotionally overwhelming.
But grounding.
Steady.
Because it brings me back to something simple.
Something true.
That even as I reflect on my sin and shame…
I am not left there.
I am not defined by it.
I am not held in it.
Because the cross stands between who I was… and who I am becoming.
The Cross Doesn’t Change
My emotions change.
My thoughts shift.
My experiences move up and down.
But the cross doesn’t.
It stands.
Fixed.
Unchanging.
A reminder that what was accomplished there is not dependent on me.
The Weight and the Beauty
There’s a weight to it.
But there’s also beauty.
Not because the cross itself was beautiful…
But because of what God did through it.
He took the lowest point
And made it the turning point.
Bringing It Back to Today
As I get ready to move into the rest of my day—to go to work, to step back into the normal rhythm of life—I carry this with me.
Not as something distant.
But as something present.
That even in my struggle
Even in my tension…
Even in my imperfection
The cross remains.
Closing Reflection
This morning wasn’t about learning something new.
It was about being reminded.
Reminded that what was meant for death and shame
God used to reveal His glory in Jesus Christ.
And as I reflect on my sin and shame, I don’t stay there.
Because the cross speaks something louder.
Something final.
Something unshakable.
And as simple as that sounds
It changes everything.
Because it means that even in the places that feel broken
Even in the areas of my heart and life that feel unresolved
There is still something greater at work.
And that’s where I rest today.
Not in myself.
But in the reality of the cross.

About the Author

Dylan Verdun Sullivan is the founder of Refined by Fire Press and an Australian author indexed in the National Library. As a Level 7 Local Guide with over 1.2M views on Google Maps, he documents the intersection of faith, recovery, and the "light in the mundane."

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