"WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS"
[hymn by Isaac Watts, 1674 - 1748]
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
"THIS IS WHY HE CAME AND DIED - Reflections on Good Friday" - By: Chuck Colson| Breakpoint.org: April 6, 2012;
http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/19113
How does Good Friday inform our Christian worldview? Reflect with me on that.
Can it really be just three months ago we gathered with loved ones to celebrate Christmas? What joy we felt as we celebrated the birth of the baby Jesus. Emmanuel. God with us.
But today, on Good Friday, we reflect on how that beautiful babe in the manger came to fulfill a mission. A terrible and glorious mission! God invaded planet Earth. He became a human child, to live as one of us, to call us to repent, to love God with our whole heart, minds, and souls, and our neighbors as ourselves.
And today we should tremble and shudder as we remember the horrible climax of His mission. Beaten, scourged, mocked, and stabbed, Jesus mounted the cross, receiving the just punishment for your sins. For my sins. For the sins of the world.
This is why He came and died.
Yes, Easter is coming. The light is at the end of the tunnel. But that’s days away. Today, stop. Think about why He came and died.
He came because He knew that mankind was lost. He knew that we would kill our own babies in the womb by the millions. And that many would call this horrible evil good.
This is why He came and died.
He knew that hatred would drive men and women to strap bombs to themselves to kill innocent people in the name of religion.
This is why He came and died.
He knew that man would deny that God was his creator. That man would seek to remake himself in his own image, tamper with the genetic code, and treat human life as mere test-tube material.
This is why He came and died.
And He knew that His own bride, the Church, would grow cold and distant, forgetful of the faith given once for all. Comfortable with the world and its ways. Seeking relevance instead of love, pleasure instead of holiness.
This is why He came and died.
And He knew that you and I, covered with sin, could never stand before God, our all-holy Father, without His supreme sacrifice.
So today, don’t look ahead to Easter. Instead, reflect on the Passion. Examine your life. And repent! Repent of your sins, repent of your coldness of heart. Ask God to grant you the desire to serve Him, your Lord and Master, with all your strength.
And then, please, ask God for a spirit of repentance and revival to sweep down upon the Church—and upon the nations of the world. It is our only hope in these terrible, dark times.
We speak so often on BreakPoint about Christianity being not just a relationship with Jesus, but an all-encompassing worldview—a way to see and understand all reality. But the Christian worldview is brought into focus only by the cross.
Indeed, if the joy of Christmas and the glory of Easter are the light by which we see all reality, then the cross, Good Friday, is the lens through which we see it.
May God bless you on this terrible, wonderful day.
[First aired on April 2, 2010.] [bold, italics and colored emphasis mine]
FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION:But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
RESOURCES
Death on a Friday Afternoon: Meditations on the Last Words of Jesus- Richard John Neuhaus | Basic Books | January 2001
The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters- Charles Colson| Zondervan | September 2008
"The Truth about Everything: Death on a Friday Afternoon" - Charles Colson| BreakPoint.org| March 21, 2008;http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/10510
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"It Is Finished!" - Michael Brown | Mar 25, 2016; http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbrown/2016/03/25/it-is-finished-n2138980/page/full
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