"What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!"
This wonderful hymn was brought to my attention once again this morning and it has been in my head all day. What wondrous love is this, o my soul, that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul? What caused the Creator of all things, God Almighty, the most powerful being in existence, the Righteous One, to bear the curse of mankind and sin for my soul? This question is foolish to many, for they ask, "what curse?" Thousands, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions live each day with no acknowledgment of a curse, no understanding of sin. It lies right before them in the news if not before their own eyes in their own life; another scandal of infidelity, another murder, another family haunted by abuse, another story of corporate greed, etc. There is no denial that things are not as people think they should be; injustice exists, pain exists, death taunts us.
Why then, do we deny that perhaps we are the problem? Why are criminals only such because of "mental incapacity?" We have all violated the Law of God, therefore, we are all criminals; each one stands guilty before the Righteous Judge. There is no "not guilty" plea successfully defended; each man or woman has their own sin before themselves and before God. What then is the verdict? We are guilty, we are to be sentenced according to a guilty verdict. But wait, there is someone else who takes upon himself our crimes. Who is this one who comes before the judge and pleads to take our punishment upon himself? It is the judge himself. The very one who stands before us, able to rightly judge and sentence us, has taken it upon himself to come and die that our punishment may be taken upon himself. What love is this? That the Righteous One should bear our curse?
Romans 5:6-8
"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person-though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-but God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
What wondrous love is this? That I, guilty of sin and deserving of death, receive the blessings of life through the death of Christ. Oh God, forgive us of our arrogance and our ability to forget what price has been paid for our own law breaking. We are so eager to condemn our fellow men when they transgress human law, but in our own criminal behavior that violates ultimate, righteous law we are quick to declare innocence and cry for mercy. Thank you Lord for taking our punishment, something you had no business experiencing, yet did so willingly. We are blind to your love, even as it sits before us. You Lord are clearly for us, what shall stand before us? "Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?" "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Lord, may we know that we have been bought with the blood of Christ Jesus, and in this, take strength to endure and conquer whatever we may face in this short life. Be gracious to us Lord, as you have faithfully done for so long; we bless your name for who you are and for what you have done in Jesus Christ, our Ambassador, and in who's name we live and find our identity. Amen.
