Calvary’s anthem – A Meditation (4)

 

 

“O Lord, for ever will thy free forgiveness live that was gained on the mount of blood; in the midst of a world of pain it is a subject of praise in every place, a song on earth, an anthem in heaven, its love and virtue knowing no end.”

 

As I read the above, I recall Paul’s words, “For one will hardly die for a righteousness man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7 – 8).

 

Christ did not die for me because I was good, nor did He love me because I was good; He died for me when I was a sinner, but I was not just a sinner, I was an enemy of God. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10).

 

The love of God is beyond words. I was a sinner, a transgressor, but I was not only breaking the commandments of God, I was also an enemy of God. I was not only an individual enemy of God, but I was also joined to the realm of darkness and rebellion, I was participating in the rebellion of Satan (Psalm 2; Eph. 2:1 – 3). We must not gloss over our condition before being reconciled to God through the death of His Son, we must not fool ourselves about ourselves – this is true about who we were, it is also true about who we now are in Jesus Christ.

 

I was participating in the great family betrayal; the sons and daughters of the Living God had joined the forces of darkness through their sin and were living under the domain of Satan. When God sent His Only Begotten Son to bring us back to Himself, we killed Him, nailing Him to the Cross; unknowingly we were sacrificing the Lamb who was our true Passover. Jesus came to declare the Name of the Father to us (Heb. 2:9 – 13), and in the deep mysteries of God, even in our rebellion, we have heard His Voice. While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God – is this not beyond words?

 

We were in such a condition that there was nothing we could do to help ourselves, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6).

 

One translation has it, “when we were without strength.” I love that image, we could not lift a finger to help ourselves, we had no energy to save ourselves, we were overwhelmed by sin and evil and our wills were held captive by darkness until that Day when “He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13).

 

When we realize, in some measure for we can never (I think) see the full measure, our lost condition without Christ, when we see that we were His enemies, when we have a sense of our betrayal of God our Father, then we can begin to see the incredible love of God in Christ for us, for you and for me and for those around us. Then perhaps we can begin to sense the chasm that Christ crossed to love us, the depths of darkness into which He plunged to save us, His piercing cry on the Cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

 

O what a free forgiveness! We cannot merit it. We cannot deserve it. We cannot add to it. We cannot repay it. We can, by God’s grace, be good stewards of it; we can share it, we can live in it as God’s sons and daughters, we can sing Calvary’s Anthem, we can share this Good News with others.

 

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,

the emblem of suffering and shame;

and I love that old cross where the dearest and best

for a world of lost sinners was slain.

 

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,

till my trophies at last I lay down;

I will cling to the old rugged cross,

and exchange it some day for a crown.

 

O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,

has a wondrous attraction for me;

for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above

to bear it to dark Calvary. [Refrain]

 

In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,

a wondrous beauty I see,

for ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,

to pardon and sanctify me. [Refrain]

 

To that old rugged cross I will ever be true,

its shame and reproach gladly bear;

then he’ll call me some day to my home far away,

where his glory forever I’ll share. [Refrain] (George Bennard)