And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. – Ephesians 3:17b-19
“It’s all your fault.“
The words seemed to repeat over and over again in my mind. Tears flowed down my cheek at the guilt. It truly was all my fault.
This realization came when I was in a choir rehearsal. We were singing “How Deep the Father’s Love For Us”. As soon as we sang “It was my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished,” my choir director shouted above the harmonies and voices,
“It’s all your fault!”
I broke down, right there in the middle of choir.
Suddenly, those four words made me uncomfortably aware of my sin. Every single thing I had ever done against Jesus was now clamourously hammering the nails directly into His hands and feet. My hands held the hammer. Every lie, every thought of pride, every bit of anger, the doubts in my head, the harsh words I spoke, the things I had done and left undone, were all nailing Christ onto a cross of wood. “It was my sin that held Him there.”
Why?
Why would a good and perfect God allow Himself to be hung on a cross and die the most horrific and humiliating death? How can such a dirty and selfish world be worth it?
It is so easy to just stop right here–at the question–and not try to find an answer. The why becomes the only voice in your head, and it tears you apart.
Why would God do something like this for me?
Why would He die for someone so undeserving?
The why question multiplies and becomes more of a statement than a question. “Why would God” turns into “God shouldn’t have” and this is NOT what God wants.
He wants you to know the answer. That answer is. So. Beautiful.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:1-2
That is our answer. Joy.
Despite the shame and anguish brought forth by the cross, Jesus saw the joy on the other side. For the JOY of being reunited with His children, He hung on the cross. For the JOY of buying back our hearts, He wore the crown of thorns. Even though the cross is such a sober and serious matter, there is also so much JOY that comes with it.
Jesus did not have to die on the cross. He could have abandoned us in our sin and our misery. But…
He decided we were worth it.
Us, whose wretched sin nailed Him to the cross. Whose wrongdoings caused separation and death to befall the earth. We were worth it to Him.
Such is true love. True and selfless love. Love that abandons all earthly reason and logic and pursues the beloved regardless of her faults.
Church, if we make our sin seem small, then we cannot fully comprehend the cost Christ paid for our hearts and make small in our minds the love that Jesus has for us. Coming to terms with our depravity allows the Holy Spirit to reveal the magnitude of the mercy that came from the cross so many years ago.
How deep, how wide, how high is the love of Christ? It is truly immeasurable. I doubt we can ever fully comprehend the expanse of Jesus’ love. I know it constantly blows my mind.
It was our sin that held Him there. But His love for us made it worth it.
More Than Just a Song 