Such is the glory of Christ

The spiritual beauty of Christ is Christ-in-action—

Christ loving,

and Christ touching lepers,

and Christ blessing children,

and healing the crippled,

and raising the dead,

and commanding demons,

and teaching with unrivaled authority,

and silencing the skeptics,

and rebuking his disciples,

and predicting the details of his death,

and setting his face like flint toward Jerusalem,

and weeping over the city,

and silent before his accusers,

and meekly sovereign over Pilate,

and crucified, and praying for his enemies,

and forgiving a thief,

and caring for his mother while in agony,

and giving up his spirit in death,

and rising from the dead—

“No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again” (John 10:18).

Such is the glory of Christ.

(Piper, John. God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008. Print. 66. line breaks mine)