" I look at the cross of Christ. There I see that sin is so black and damnable that nothing but the blood of God’s own Son can wash it away. There I see that sin has so separated me from my holy Maker that all the angels in heaven could never have made peace between us. Nothing could reconcile us short of the death of Christ. If I listened to the wretched talk of proud men, I might sometimes fancy that sin was not so very sinful. But I cannot think little of sin when I look at the cross of Christ. "

― J.C. Ryle , The Cross: Crucified with Christ, and Christ Alive in Me