I seem to have settled into a pattern of writing about whatever song is currently on my heart, and this week I have been listening to a particular song, multiple times every day, it is summing up my Lent this year and speaking volumes into my heart. The song is "Hallelujah! What a Saviour", a classic hymn, performed by the wonderfully raw, Ascend The Hill. If you love this song, I really encourage you to give their version a listen. The song describes and breaks down the wonder of what happened at Easter.
One particular line stands out to me every listening:
"Guilty, vile and helpless we,
Spotless lamb of God was he"
This line just seems to describe so well, firstly our depravity and fallen-ness. "Vile" is not a word that often appears in beautiful songs, but here it is just perfect. While no one likes to think of themselves as vile, as sinners, to be aware of how we stand in comparison to the perfectness of God, how vile we are next to the spotless lamb that is Christ is so important. Finally the line recognises we are helpless, because it is only those who know they are helpless who need the Saviour, and Hallelujah, what a Saviour we have, spotless lamb of God was he. As a lamb Christ was a sacrifice, but being a lamb of God he is an eternal sacrifice, unlike the regular sacrificial lamb, Christ is the everlasting sacrifice, the lamb of God.
The following line shows and re-echoes this perfectly:
"Full atonement can it be?"
Full atonement, for everything we will ever do ever..., I think sometimes we are so used to the new covenant and the salvation we have we can miss the contrast and the mind-blowing-ness that is the sacrifice of God, one atonement for all and for ever, is it any wonder the line the songwriter comes back to is Hallelujah, what a Saviour!
This song just gets it, it gets the cross, it gets the resurrection, in the next verse and in the final verse it gets what it at all means:
"When he comes, our glorious king,
All his ransomed home to bring,
Then anew his song we'll sing,
Hallelujah, what a saviour!"
No comments:
Post a Comment