wondrous love

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!

"We must, therefore, hold fast to the biblical revelation of the living God who hates evil, is disgusted and angered by it, and refuses ever to come to terms with it. In consequence, we may be sure that when he searched in his mercy for some way to forgive, cleanse, and accept evil-doers, it was not along the road of moral compromise."

When I was sinking down,
Sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down,
Sinking down,
When I was sinking down
Beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown
For my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown
For my soul.

"It had to be a way that was equally expressive of his love and of his wrath. As Brunner put it, 'where the idea of the wrath of God is ignored, there also will there be no understanding of the central conception of the Gospel: the uniqueness of the revelation in the Mediator.' Similarly, 'only he who knows the greatness of wrath will be mastered by the greatness of mercy.'"

To God and to the Lamb
I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb
I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb,
Who is the great I AM,
While millions join the theme,
I will sing, I will sing,
While millions join the theme,
I will sing.

"If we bring God down to our level and raise ourselves to his, then of course we see no need for a radical salvation, let alone for a radical atonement to secure it. When, on the other hand, we have glimpsed the blinding glory of the holiness of God and have been so convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit that we tremble before God and acknowledge what we are, namely 'hell-deserving sinners,' then and only then does the necessity of the cross appear so obvious that we are astonished we never saw it before." (John R. W. Stott, The Cross of Christ, 20th Anniversary Edition, p. 110-111)

And when from death I’m free,
I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free,
I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free
I’ll sing His love for me,
And through eternity
I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And through eternity
I’ll sing on.

That is what is on this hell-deserving sinner's heart. I want to glory in the cross, make my only boast in Christ and Him crucified. Jesus, keep me near the cross!

For a particularly stirring rendition of "Wondrous Love," preview Re:Sound's Rain City Hymnal--it has greatly blessed me this last week.