Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
By: Isaac Watts, 1674-1748
Listen as you read. This is a nice instrumental version.
On Tuesday we considered the first two lines of this very poetic stanza, acknowledging that even if all nature were ours to present as an offering in response to the cross it would be insufficient. Today as we examine the last two lines we will wrestle with the only appropriate response we can give to God’s amazing love for us. Let’s think about this.
Amazing Love
We were separated from God by our sin. The Father sent His Son to bridge that divide. He initiated the solution to our problem with sin by sending Christ to the cross to demonstrate His love, pay the penalty for our sin, and provide a way back to Him.
Like this image, God reaches out to us in the cross and makes the way for us to reach back to Him. We would never have been able to span the chasm between us and God were it not for the cross. The wondrous cross.
Though our last line will talk about the demand that love places on us, in order to understand the context of that demand we must consider the demand of justice. Our Holy God can have nothing to do with sin. We will each stand before Him to give an account for our lives, particularly to answer for all the things we did contrary to God’s commands. Our sin. (See Revelation 20:11-13.)
God will be justified in calling us to account for every wrong thing we have ever done, if we want to live in His glorious presence forever. His perfection demands it. Unfortunately, we have no excuse, and simply are guilty of every accusation that would be brought against us. Fortunately, Jesus changed the entire scenario.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10 ESV
Propitiation is a big theological word. It means to appease a deity, thus incurring divine favor or avoiding divine retribution. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross allowed Him to become that for us. It satisfied the laws demands allowing us to experience the favor of God and escape His retribution. It was the greatest expression of Love in history. It demands a response.
The Demand of Love
With authority Love claims the response of everything we are, but not in the normal sense of the word demand. When I think of the word demand, there is a sense that I have no choice, and while that may be true when we consider the rightness of God’s demand He always allows us to choose.
There is still the very real sense that God’s love displayed on the cross demands a response. It demands my soul, my life, my all, in that it is calling for that all-encompassing response with authority. We must continually live out this response.
Why continually? Partly because the extravagance of God’s sacrifice. Partly because of the way that line is written. Love demands. Not Love demanded, past tense. Or Love will demand, future tense. But demands, present tense. We all called to continually live out our response of offering everything we are to God.
So how are you responding? Undoubtedly, you probably made a decision at some point to offer your life in exchange for the one Jesus offered you. The issue for us arises when we fail to continue to offer our life to God. Something in our soul holds back, not sure of risking everything for Jesus. We live most moments with an awareness of Christ’s presence, but those moments when we do not our life drifts from Him. We offered our all to God in the initial transaction, but along the way have taken little bits back so that He does not have the fullness of what Love demands anymore.
Take a few moments and identify what those things might be that are keeping you from offering your soul, your life, your all to Jesus right now. Ask for His forgiveness, and then His help to keep offering everything you are.
Jesus, thank You for offering Your life so completely for us, becoming the propitiation for our sin. Your sacrifice satisfied the laws demands, and now demands a response from us. Give us the courage and continually offer our lives, our souls, our all to You, ever remaining in a state of wonder at Your work on the cross. In Jesus name. Amen.
Constant Thinking!
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Podcast 4.4 Transcript
Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
Colossians 1:16 ESV
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
Well, everything in all of creation does not belong to me, but to Christ. He is the One who made all things, and through His sacrifice on the cross is remaking all things. Praise Him for His work of creation and re-creation.
That were a present far too small;
1 Chronicles 16:29 ESV
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;
If it were all mine, giving it all to my Lord who has redeemed me from my sins would be an appropriate response, but would simply still not be enough. He is worthy, so what offering or present will You bring to worship Him?
Love so amazing, so divine,
1 John 4:10 ESV
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Propitiation means to appease a deity, thus incurring divine favor or avoiding divine retribution. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross allowed Him to become that for us. Only His life could be a worthy sacrifice, and in love He willingly laid that life down for our sins. Thank Him.
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Romans 12:1 ESV
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
In response to Christ offering His life for us, we offer everything we are. But we do not climb up on an altar to die, instead we determine to live out our worship, through holy and acceptable lives. Ask Him to help you do just that.
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, be Resonant.
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