Romans 3:19-31 Response

I love the ‘bloody’ hymns.  Those were the words that were whispered in my ear one Sunday as I rose from the wooden pew and opened the hymnal in the Vermont church where I was raised.  To the mind of a middle school boy, this was an intriguing and mysterious announcement, and equally unexpected as I realized these words had come from my own mother.  What she meant (and probably later explained) was that she loves hymns that proclaim the necessity of Christ’s sacrifice for our salvation.  Christ’s blood is a prerequisite for our freedom from sin.

On Sunday, Pastor David reminded us that our sin requires the death of Christ.  There’s no way around it.  Without Christ, we’re stuck between the requirements of the law, which we cannot keep, and the wrath of God, which we cannot escape.  But Christ Jesus has come, and he has shed his own blood, satisfying the demands of the law, appeasing the wrath of God, and buying us back, body and soul, from death brought by the fall.

I struggle with making the death and resurrection of Christ an everyday reality in my life.  To be honest, sometimes I just don’t think about it.  I spend more time worrying over my bank account or my health than wondering at the gift of Christ’s blood.  An attitude of thankfulness along with the help of the Holy Spirit can change that.  Do I take time to thank God for the blood of Christ?

This week we sang a ‘bloody’ hymn.  The first line inquires: “And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior’s blood?”  My inability to decipher the greater meaning behind the word “interest” led me to the dictionary (actually, it was a good reason to call my Dad, who knows a lot about hymns, and it led us to his dictionary). The American Heritage Dictionary defines interest as “involvement with or participation in something.”   And can it be that I should gain participation in the Savior’s blood?

Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, reminds us of how real that participation is.  He says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).  That’s participation.

Throughout the coming week, let’s make time to pause and reflect upon the necessity of Christ’s sacrifice.  And let’s respond to God in thankfulness, saying “Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!  Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb!”

~ Peter Anderson