Thursday, February 28

Sins Washed Away

Zechariah 13:1 On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

Children love to play and be washed in water fountains as the photo above demonstrates. The water cleans their sweaty and dirty bodies. The great hymn below also speaks of a cleansing fountain that washes sinners clean. All human beings have sinned and fall short of God’s glory and righteous standards. The Bible teaches there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood and that the Old Testament sacrificial system of animal sacrifice does not atone for sin. The book of Hebrews explains that the Old Testament sacrificial system pointed toward the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, as the savior who could make atonement for sin.

Praise God that he so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son to redeem sinners from the curse caused by sin. There simply was no other way that God could forgive the debt incurred by human sin. The great hymn below points to this great truth and gives some of the details and reasons the blood of Jesus on the cross of Calvary saves sinners. Just as children are attracted to the water fountain above, Christians are drawn to the fountain filled with the blood of our savior Jesus Christ. What peace, joy, and comfort it is for believers to know that all of their sins have been washed away by His redeeming love.

There is a Fountain Filled with Blood
Words by: William Cowper

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s
veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Washed all my sins away, washed all my sins away;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more, be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.

E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.

Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave;
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.

Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared, unworthy though I be,
For me a blood bought free reward, a golden harp for me!
’Tis strung and tuned for endless years, and formed by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears no other name but Thine.

2 comments:

Shiloh Guy said...

Jazz,

How I love Cowper! Out of his weakness God brought the most beautiful of Christian poetry and hymnody. The story of Newton's love for his afflicted friend stirs my spirit every time I think of it.

This is a great one:

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more.

The power of the saving blood of Jesus is as powerful today as it was 2,000 years ago. It will remain powerful to save until the last of the ransomed church shall come to faith!

And for what are we saved? Holiness! Saved to sin no more!

Here is my prayer...
E'er since by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die.

May God grant that my life will be characterized by the theme of redeeming love rather than some other theme of judgmentalism or criticism.

Thanks for your work, Jazzman.

Dave

mark pierson said...

Oh, to see this one at BC blog... Please and thank you.