Church Music: My Jesus Fair

Also on my list of favorite doctrinal church music is the hymn "My Jesus Fair."  I haven't found any information on the story behind its writing, but it's message is great.  Some friends introduced it to me at CYIA several years ago, and it has become a avorite.  Since it might be unfamiliar, I've included a recording at the bottom of the page.  It's a bit "choral," but will an idea of the melody.

 My Jesus, fair, was pierced by thorns,
By thorns grown from the fall.
Thus He who gave the curse was torn
To end that curse for all.

My Jesus, meek, was scorned by men,
By men in blasphemy.
“Father, forgive their senseless sin!”
He prayed, for them, for me.

Chorus:
O love divine, O matchless grace-
That God should die for men!
With joyful grief I lift my praise,
Abhorring all my sin,
Adoring only Him.

My Jesus, kind, was torn by nails,
By nails of cruel men.
And to His cross, as grace prevailed,
God pinned my wretched sin.

My Jesus, pure, was crushed by God,
By God, in judgment just.
The Father grieved, yet turned His rod
On Christ, made sin for us.

My Jesus, strong, shall come to reign,
To reign in majesty.
The Lamb arose, and death is slain.
Lord, come in victory!

Chorus:
O love divine, O matchless grace-
That God should die for men!
With joyful grief I lift my praise,
Abhorring all my sin,
Adoring only Him.

Church Music: "And Can It Be?"

Doctrinal church music expressing proper response to the character of God has been a subject of many thoughts since reading a surprisingly good book on church music which will probably be the subject of a post later in the summer.  Recently, several friends brought to mind some favorite hymns which I wanted to pass on to you.  Most of these hymns are older, but don't think that the only good church music was written prior to 1960...maybe another time I'll look at some great church music composed recently:)

Charles Wesley wrote And Can It Be two days after his conversion in May, 1738.  It was published that same year in his brother John's hymnal.  Originally, the words were set to a melody called "Crucifixion" which was much slower than the melody we sing in church today.  It was not until the mid-1800s that it was set to the melody we know, "Sagina."  The melody's strength and energy parallel the text's marvel over God's sacrifice for sin on the cross applied to the believer.  The text moves from the speaker's wonder at his salvation, to his description of Christ's work, his personal experience of salvation, and the freedom he has to approach the Father because of Christ's work.  May your mind be informed again of the greatness of Christ's forgiveness, and may your affections be awakened to rejoice in the sufficiency of His forgiveness for everything you need. 

And can it be that I should gain
An int'rest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

'Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies!
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love Divine!
'Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
'Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love*,
And bled for Adam's helpless race:
'Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.
'Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness Divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." - Philippians 2:5-8

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:16

____________________

* Since one of the purposes of church music is to teach Christian doctrine, it should be noted that Christ did not empty Himself of His Deity as the song stages.  His incarnation added humanity to His Deity, rather than subtracting His Deity to make Him human.  Some congregations substitute the words "Humbled Himself and came in love."

The Cross in Redemptive History

For the last several days, I've been thinking about how Christ and His cross are the fulfillment of so many Old Testament promises.  In my mind, I've always divided redemptive history into two categories: now (creation to the end of this physical world) and eternity.  However, although I still see two categories, the two categories now are the time of God giving promises and the time of God fulfilling promises.

From creation (Genesis 3:15) until the end of the Old Testament, God is continually giving promises.  Some of these promises were given to a nation whom God corporately elected and with whom he had a covenant relationship that was not necessarily salvific.  Others of these promises were given to His redeemed people whom He bound Himself to by covenant.  With the birth of the Messiah, the Branch, the King, the Shepherd, the Anointed One, Jesus Christ, these promises began to be fulfilled.  Jesus Christ's coming inaugurated the fulfillment of all of the promises of the Old Testament.  We may not see their fulfillment or the results of their fulfillment immediately, but their fulfillment was begun.  The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians in II Corinthians 1:18-20:

But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No.  For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us...was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes.  For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

The fulfillment of God's promises continues from the coming of Christ through eternity, for in the Eternal State we will still be experiencing and rejoicing in the fulfilled promises of our faithful, covenant-keeping God.

Thinking about redemptive history in these two categories has highlighted the centrality of Christ and the cross in my mind.  It is Christ and His cross to which God's promises point, and it is Christ and His cross which fulfill these promises.  Words like Christological and Christo-centric are making sense in a different dimension because I am seeing that Christ and the cross really are the focus-point of all redemptive history.  This is not to minimize themes such as the glory of God, for there is more in God's plan than just redemption, but the section of history that we as humans can best understand is the redemptive part, and Christ and the cross are turning point of redemption.  Whether it is the redemption of individual people or the redemption of the heavens and earth, redemption and fulfilled promises are only possible because of Christ and His cross.

The Valley of Vision nicely summed up centrality of the cross in daily life in the prayer "The Grace of the Cross":

I thank Thee from the depths of my being for Thy wonderous grace and love in bearing my sin in Thine own body on the tree.  

May Thy cross be to me as the tree that sweetens my bitter Marahs, as the rod that blossoms with life and beauty, as the brazen serpent that calls forth the look of faith.

By Thy cross crucify my every sin; use it to increase my intimacy with Thyself;

Make it the ground of all my comfort, the liveliness of all my duties, the sum of all thy gospel promises, the comfort of all my afflictions, the vigour of my love, thankfulness, graces, and the very essence of my religion;

And by it give me that rest without rest, the rest of ceaseless praise.

(Not) Understanding Theology

Do you remember times when you studied a Biblical passage and didn’t understand it?  Struggling to know what a passage means until you have a headache (usually above the right eye…).  Flipping through your Bible (or clicking through a computer program) to find cross-references that might clarify the passage.  And then, suddenly, it clicks.  Eureka!  Aha!  (Or whatever exclamation you use to designate a moment of discovery.)  Don’t you love those moments?

Over Easter this year, I noticed a verse from John that described an Aha! moment the disciples had:

“His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him” (John 12:16).

Jesus was riding into Jerusalem on a donkey in the Triumphal Entry.  The crowds were waving palm branches and calling out, “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ The King of Israel!”  Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 that said, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”  The disciples were seeing these things, and John notes that they didn’t understand what was happening until after Christ was glorified. 

Can you imagine what their Aha! moment must have been like?  Can you imagine witnessing Christ’s teaching and works, not understanding why Christ died (wasn’t He going to set up a physical kingdom and bring in a Jewish golden age?), and then have Christ’s work click in your mind?  Suddenly, Christ’s mission on earth makes sense!

Of course, I don’t understand everything Christ did in His earthly ministry.  His fulfillment of prophecy, His future role, and how all these things fit together theologically doesn’t make sense in my finite mind.  Trying to explain the infinite God and His plan into a finite theology to be understood by me is a hopeless task.  God is not obligated to explain Himself or His plan to me.  So, ultimately, my responsibility is to study very hard to understand what He has revealed about His plan, obey what I am commanded, and trust that in God’s mind His plan is consistent.

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Holy Week, Pt. 1

Maundy Thursday commemorates the example of servanthood Jesus demonstrated by washing His disciples feet. As the first of the Holy Week celebrations, it reminds us of the purpose of Christ’s coming into the world:

“For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

Here is the account, devotionally paraphrased by Phillips:

Jesus, with the full knowledge that the Father had put everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from the supper-table, took off his outer clothes, picked up a towel and fastened it round his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel around his waist. So he came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" "You do not realise now what I am doing," replied Jesus, "but later on you will understand." Then Peter said to him, "You must never wash my feet!" "Unless you let me wash you, Peter," replied Jesus, "you cannot be my true partner." "Then Lord," returned Simon Peter, "please—not just my feet but my hands and my face as well!" "The man who has bathed," returned Jesus, "only needs to wash his feet to be clean all over. And you are clean—though not all of you." (For Jesus knew his betrayer and that is why he said, "though not all of you".) When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his clothes, he sat down again and spoke to them, "Do you realise what I have just done to you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘Lord’ and you are quite right, for I am your teacher and your Lord. But if I, your teacher and Lord, have washed your feet, you must be ready to wash one another’s feet. I have given you this as an example so that you may do as I have done. Believe me, the servant is not greater than his master and the messenger is not greater than the man who sent him. Once you have realised these things, you will find your happiness in doing them.

-John 13:3-17

Bonhoeffer on the Incarnation

"The Incarnate One is the glorified God. 'The Word was made flesh and we beheld his glory.' God glorifies himself in man. This is the ultimate mystery of the Trinity. The humanity is taken up into the Trinity; not since eternity, but 'from now to all eternity.' The glorification of God in the flesh is now at the same time the glorification of man, who is to have life with the trinitarian God for eternity. So it is incorrect to see the incarnation of God as the judgment of God on man. God remains the Incarnate One even at the last judgment. The incarnation is the message of the glorification of God who sees his honor in being man. It must be observed that the incarnation is primarily a real revelation of the creator in the creature, and not a veiled revelation. Jesus Christ is the unveiled image of God."

- Christ the Center