Here Because of You

"Nobody can reach God by his own wisdom or his own morality. Only at the cross can God be known. And this is doubly offensive to men and women of culture. They resent the exclusiveness of the Christian claim, and even more the humiliation implicit in it. Christ from the cross seems to say to us, "I am here because of you. If it were not for your sin and pride, I would not be here. And if you could have saved yourself, I would not be here either.' The Christian pilgrimage begins with bowed head and bent knee; there is no way into he kingdom of God except  by the exaltation of those who have humbled themselves."

 --John Stott, Between Two Worlds (1982 A.D.)