love of Christ – Song Dive

The next song for my Blog is a contemporary song released in April 2015. It was written by Barry Graul, Bart Millard, Ben Glover, David Garcia, Michael Scheuchzer, Nathan Cochran, Robby Shaffer, and Solomon Olds. A link to MercyMe performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

Flawless

There’s got to be more
Than going back and forth
From doing right to doing wrong
‘Cause we were taught that’s who we are
Come on get in line right behind me
You along with everybody
Thinking there’s worth in what you do

Then like a hero who takes the stage when
We’re on the edge of our seats saying it’s too late
Well let me introduce you to amazing grace

No matter the bumps
No matter the bruises
No matter the scars
Still the truth is
The cross has made
The cross has made you flawless
No matter the hurt
Or how deep the wound is
No matter the pain
Still the truth is
The cross has made
The cross has made you flawless

Could it possibly be
That we simply can’t believe
That this unconditional
Kind of love would be enough
To take a filthy wretch like this
And wrap him up in righteousness
But that’s exactly what He did

No matter the bumps
No matter the bruises
No matter the scars
Still the truth is
The cross has made
The cross has made you flawless
No matter the hurt
Or how deep the wound is
No matter the pain
Still the truth is
The cross has made
The cross has made you flawless

Take a breath smile and say
Right here right now I’m ok because
The cross was enough

Then like a hero who takes the stage when
We’re on the edge of our seats saying it’s too late
Well let me introduce you to grace grace
God’s grace

He made you flawless
He made you flawless

No matter the bumps
No matter the bruises
No matter the scars
Still the truth is
The cross has made
The cross has made you flawless

You ever feel as if you are the proverbial hamster on the wheel? Maybe you have had a hamster or a mouse in a cage with a wheel and they can seemingly run on these wheels for hours. Obviously, they are getting some good exercise, but once they get off the wheel; they are right back at the place they started and are probably exhausted. If you think about it, this does bear some resemblance to our lives. Some times in our life, we seem to making great progress in a lot of areas and other times we feel as if we are going backwards. I think this also applies to what we accomplish as Christians, sometimes we are on fire for the Lord and feel so close to him; but other times we are not so committed and seem to distance ourselves from him. We just keep going back and forth and people tell us that is just the normal nature of life and that we just need to get used to it. In other words, we are just like everyone else riding the human version of the hamster wheel and we sort of get used to it. We realize along the way that life has got to be more than this and that we are becoming more immersed in the sinful world instead of being transformed from this world. We also come to the realization that we need help to get off the wheel of sin and on the right path.

At some point, from out of nowhere, someone comes forward and helps set us on the right track again. The writer calls this the hero who comes to our rescue after we have given up hope and accepted our lot in life. For all of us, this hero can only be Jesus since he is the only one who can give us amazing grace. Grace is when God gives us what we don’t deserve and we certainly don’t deserve his love and his forgiveness; but he gives both to us freely. He is only one who can save us from the hamster wheel of sin and hopelessness and assure us that we have an eternity of heavenly peace ahead of us.

It doesn’t matter to him how or why we got our physical and emotional scars, bumps, heartaches, and bruises in life; all he asks us to do is accept his son as our personal savior and all of our sins of the past, present, and future are forgiven. When Jesus died on the cross, our sins went away. We became flawless forever. Take a few minutes and just dwell on that thought, we are completely freed from the bondage of sin. It doesn’t mean we won’t have any more pain or heartache; but it does mean these will all go away and not go with us to our heavenly home. In Hebrews 10:11-14 is the promise that all of our sins are taken away forever. ¹¹All Jewish religious leaders stand every day killing animals and giving gifts on the altar. They give the same gifts over and over again. These gifts cannot take away sins. ¹²But Christ gave Himself once for sins and that is good forever. After that He sat down at the right side of God. ¹³He is waiting there for God to make of those who have hated Him a place to rest His feet. ¹⁴And by one gift He has made perfect forever all those who are being set apart for God-like living.

The difficult part to digest is the fact that no matter how bad we have been or what sins we have committed, the unconditional love of Christ allows him to forgive and forget all of our sins. Maybe we as humans rank sins and believe some people are worse than others and from our human perspective this is probably true, but in God’s eyes, a sin is a sin. God is willing to forgive us of all sins, no matter how bad they are. He sent Jesus as the atonement for all of our sins and this atonement is for all of us; all we have to do is accept Christ as our Lord and savior. Keep in mind that he doesn’t rank sins, he only sees us as his creations who are imperfect in an imperfect world. As we accept Christ, we are wrapped in his arm of righteousness for eternity. We probably all ask the question, how can Jesus love me after everything I did; but as the writer states; we can just take a deep breath, smile, and say thank you with all of our heart because the cross was enough.

It is awesome that God sees us as his children and gives each of us his unconditional love. Isn’t that what being a father is all about?

Click Here to See MercyMe Performing Flawless

The song this first series of Blogs will analyze is a song written by Mike Payne and Ronnie Hinson in 1983. A link to the song as sung by the Florida Boys is at the bottom of this entry.

When He was on the Cross

I’m not on an ego trip
I’m nothing on my own
I made mistakes and often slip
Just common flesh and bones
But I’ll prove someday just why I say
I’m of a special kind
For when he was on the cross
I was on his mind.
A look of love was on his face
Thorns were on his head
The blood was on his scarlet robe
And stained a crimson red
Though his eyes were on the crowd that day
He looked ahead in time
For when he was on the cross
I was on his mind.
He knew me, yet he loved me
He whose glory makes the heavens shine
So unworthy of such mercy
Yet when he was on the cross
I was on his mind.
Yet when he was on the cross
I was on his mind.

We often read and hear about Christ on the cross, how he suffered, how he reached out to the criminals beside him, and how he died on that cross. All of this is true and I know there is more to the story, but I wanted to review some of other surrounding aspects of this event as written in this song.

I’m not on an ego trip, I’m nothing on my own

Wow, think about the culture of today; it often seems as if we live in an “all about me” and “right now” world. So many people live in the moment, want to know “what’s in it for me”, and forget the big picture and how others are part of everything they do. Many articles are published today about people who don’t want to earn their way in a career, they don’t want to do their time, they want to start at the top. Many people are focused on starting with the big house and the new car since that is what many of their friends have or strive to have as quickly as possible. The faith of so many people is in themselves and that they alone are in control of their destiny.

There seems to be way too much focus on “what I did and what I have” as opposed to who helped get them there and how they would have failed without those who supported them. The songwriter states that he/she is not striving for the spotlight, to promote themselves as the best, or to promote an “all about me world”. He/she knows they are nothing without help from others. These people surely want to be successful in all parts of their life, but they are not seeking press and platitudes since they know the journey from who they are to who they will become is not solely in their hands. We all need help to get to the end of our life’s journey. There is nothing wrong with success, the issue is any self pride or ego associated with that success, and the lack of acknowledging that you could not have done it alone.

I made mistakes, often slip, just common flesh and bones.

These are the humble people who admit their mistakes and weaknesses; they know they are just human beings and were never meant to be perfect. It is more important to acknowledge who we really are than it is to pretend we are someone we are not. We need to realize we don’t know all of the answers; we probably don’t even know all of the questions. We must pick ourselves up after every failure and start marching forward again along with those who are there to be part of our journey. Every failure and every stumble brings new knowledge and perhaps more support as our journey continues.

When He Was on the Cross Sung by the Florida Boys

Tag: love of Christ

Flawless

When He Was on the Cross – Entry #1 of 7