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
And Can It Be, That I Should Gain? 1738
By: Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Listen to this modern version of this hymn as you prepare to ponder the lyrics. Please make certain to enjoy the video below.
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Please enjoy this video and the transcript below.
Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.
As we continue our journey through this hymn which encourages us to be amazed at God’s love for us prepare to respond and give Him praise. Let’s tune our hearts.
Leaving the Throne Room
It is practically impossible for us to imagine what eternity at the Father’s throne must have been like. When we think of Jesus our first thoughts are usually of His earthly ministry or His sacrifice on the cross, but those years, and those moments, where but a very short part of His eternal existence. Trying to conceive of some comparison of time, eternity versus earthly ministry, helps us begin to ponder how incomprehensibly different was the atmosphere of those two realities.
We state that He left His Father’s throne with little sense of what that wold have required of Jesus. What He was leaving behind, and what He was accepting. The infinite for the finite. Powerful King to powerless infant.
He left His Father’s throne above
So free so infinite His grace
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV
Free and infinite grace. That is an apt description for what Jesus did when He left His Father’s throne above. He came down to make a path for us to go up. If He had not done so, there would have been no way for us to receive grace. Thank You Jesus for coming down.
Jesus came down to save us. He condescended from His place near His Father’s throne to become one of us so that He could offer His perfect life on our behalf. What must that have been like for the Son to part from the Father for the first time in eternity? Ponder this.
RESONATE!
Take a few moments and consider His coming down. Try to imagine what He left behind. Make this your simple prayer “Spirit, help me appreciate Jesus coming down to us.”
To Wear A Crown of Thorns
Not only did He leave behind the glory of the Father’s throne, but we began a humble life that would end on a cruel cross. He traded the throne for thorns. From wonder to pain. From praises to insults. If leaving glory were not enough, He became a servant and then offered His life for the ones jeering Him.
He left everything behind but for one thing. Love. And love was all He needed to willingly lay down His life, having already laid down His glory.
Emptied Himself of all but love
And bled for Adam’s helpless race
But made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:7-8 ESV
Though He was King, He became a servant. Though He was full of all things, He emptied Himself except for love. He did this so that He could become the only sacrifice that could redeem Adam’s helpless race. He bled for us who caused His pain. What a Savior!
He poured out everything that was rightfully His, except for love. Power, glory, majesty and dominion He left behind holding only onto love. He gave up so much He deserved to take on so much He did not deserve. We were helpless, lost in sin, and He shed His blood for us.
RESONATE
Take a few moments and consider the cross as He extravagant expression of love. The Eternal King shedding His blood to ransom us. Pray a simple prayer like this one, “Jesus, thank You for Your inestimable sacrifice.”
Jesus, thank You for shedding Your blood. I can hardly take it in, all You left behind so you could make us Yours. Hallelujah! In Jesus’ name.
Awe-filled Tuning!
Keep coming back, and we will work to help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence. We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.
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Video 43.3 Transcript
Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.
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
Jesus came down to save us. He condescended from His place near His Father’s throne to become one of us so that He could offer His perfect life on our behalf. What must that have been like for the Son to part from the Father for the first time in eternity? Ponder this.
Spirit, help me appreciate Jesus coming down to us.
He poured out everything that was rightfully His, except for love. Power, glory, majesty and dominion He left behind holding only onto love. He gave up so much He deserved to take on so much He did not deserve. We were helpless, lost in sin, and He shed His blood for us.
Jesus, thank You for Your inestimable sacrifice.
What He did is simply and completely mercy. He did not give us what we deserved but instead took that on Himself. He did that so that we could receive instead what we did not deserve. His gift of mercy to us is immense and free, but it cost Him everything to give it.
Father, thank You for Your mercy.
Mercy is available to all who believe. That includes you. Is that astonishing to you, that God’s mercy found you? It should be. You were lost in sin, helpless and hopeless, yet God made a way for you to be found. Good thing He did because you did not even know you were lost.
God, thank You for finding me in Your mercy.
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.
‘Tis mercy all immense and free
For O my God it found out me
Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, Be Resonant.
The post From Throne to Thorns appeared first on Resonant 7.
Image Attributions
The Father’s Throne – https://www.cwgministries.org/blogs/leading-worshipers-throne-room
Bled for Adam’s Helpless Race – http://thetruth-blog.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-did-jesus-die.html
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