Have you ever had that moment? The one where you are doing something normal or mundane and then with a thought or a song you have the clearest image in your head of Jesus and how Glorious He is and how much He loves you? I had one of those thoughts last week and it has stuck with me for over a week…..and I love it! Last week I was on a train to Yokohama and was listening to the song “We the redeemed”. I love the first verse of this song! Here is how it goes:
There is nothing like Your love No exchange for all You gave To be welcomed into life So I can know the love that saves
Now forever to belong To walk with You for all my days Theres no greater love than this You are the Author and the Way
What a doctrinally power packed verse! Everything from justification by faith alone to an eternity with Jesus and John 3:16 all in one verse! Let me run through my thoughts quickly on each of these lines.
There is nothing like Your love, No exchange for all You gave: Here we have the idea that we can’t do anything to earn God’s love, no amount of works or generosity or obeying the law can create for us a right standing with God, it is all mercy, from the very fact that God sent his Son, to the fact that He also chose you and me! It begins in mercy and lives in mercy, and because it is all mercy we never have to fear that we will one day fall out of favor with God, for we serve an unchanging God!
To be welcomed into life, So I can know the love that saves: How about the book of Romans in one line right here. If we are welcomed into life, it means before this welcoming we must have been dead right? And why did God welcome us into life? Too share His love. The greatest gift in the universe is given to us free of charge; does it get better than that? I love when the right words are used for describing God. He is not aking, he is THE King, his love isn’t any old love it’s THE love that saves. I love my wife with all my heart, but my love for her can never save her, but our King showed His love in this, that He sent His Son into the world that we might live through Him!
Now forever to belong, To walk with You for all my days: I think this is my favorite line in the whole song, because with it comes memories I am very fond of, especially the second part. But first to belong, I am going to take a page out of some old school theologians here when I say: Oh Christian what a delight it is to belong! To be counted as Gods, to know that whatever the cost in this life we have a fulfillment of a thousand upon a thousand promises in the next! Taste and see with the Psalmist, that the Lord is good!
The second part of this is special to me because of the memories I have with my wife. We love to walk; we take our puppy with us and usually will walk 3 miles or more in the rain or the sun. So when I hear this line I have a hundred memories of these walks flood my mind, and then to add to this the idea of walking with my savior, the one who knows me more than Anna or my friends or even I know myself! It brings tears to my eyes as I think about walking into eternity with my Savior. Finally when these two are looked at together it creates a storybook ending that only God could come up with. To simply get into heaven as some people wish to do will never be enough! What a difference in thinking to stand at the judgment and know that Jesus died for me! I don’t have words to describe the joy in that statement, that the King of Kings chose me, chose you! Christian rejoice, I will say it again rejoice! Think of it, to walk with Jesus for eternity, Heaven would not be Heaven without this kind of love!
There's no greater love than this You are the Author and the Way: Finally the praise of a God who has no equal, who with all his power works for those He chose and called according to His purpose! How can we but trust implicitly an author who knows all, sees all and with every ounce of his omnipotent power is working to bless those who He has chosen! If this seems too wonderful for you, it is. Nothing on earth compares and only through His work can we see this beautiful picture that He is painting in our lives.
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