It is that gospel that will melt and renew hearts of stone. It is that sight of the Son of Man, lifted up on the cross, proving the love of His Father, that realigns affections. There we see the full gravity of our sin in what it cost Him. There our blithe hopes of self-righteousness die. And there we see a love in God's heart beyond our wildest fantasies. Where once we had dreaded God as an awful judge and delighted in sin, on the cross we see an entirely unexpected goodness and kindness in God. And it is that revelation that wins us. No longer do we shrink from Him, but seeing His fatherly love, we find our hearts welling up with love for Him in return. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). The sin that pleased us becomes odious. The God we flinched from becomes entrancing.
Michael Reeves Preaching: A God-Centered Vision