Surveying The Wondrous Cross
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a wonderful old hymn about the wonderful cross.
“When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.”
The words to this beautiful, timeless hymn written by Isaac Watts in 1707 are just as fresh and powerful today as they were centuries ago. I mean, just look at that stanza. Because it’s saying, when I take a long, hard look; I mean, when I gaze, when I meditate on and contemplate what happened that day on Mount Calvary; when I consider the awful weight of my sin that impaled the Prince of heaven, Jesus, on that punishing instrument of torture, a cursed cross; I mean, when I really think about that, it makes all my comforts – my bank account, my health, my home – it makes everything I’ve gained – my college degree, prestige in the community – it makes my good reputation stink. It makes me want to dump everything I’ve gained on a compost pile. It makes all I’ve gained a smelly, stinking, rotting pile of trash.
Man, we do not often have that estimation of ourselves, do we? We do not think of our winnings in this world as trash. But if we take time to survey the wondrous cross, that’ll become our knee-jerk response. It’s why when I lie in bed at night, I will often recount out loud – well, it’s more like a whisper, but I will say out loud so I can hear myself – I’ll rehearse all the many things that happened on the cross; and I will make it personal; I’ll say “Oh, Lord Jesus, my sin did this to you; my sin so ravaged you that the Bible says you were marred beyond human likeness. My sin did that, and I’m ashamed when I cling to the very sins that nailed you to that awful tree. Yes, it is good that I feel shame – because shame shows that I realize I did something wrong. I’m not the paragon of virtue that I often try to convince myself I am. And, friend listening, neither are you. As Tim Timmons says, “When you bear the name of Jesus, you will also suffer the shame of the cross.” So, in light of this, let me share the remaining stanzas of this powerful hymn I just sang. ʼCause the remaining verses go:
“Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to Your blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
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.”
Oh, friend, this coming Sunday, you’ll have a chance to survey the cross of Christ, and I pray it’ll well within you a sense of adoration as never before. Worship God with all your heart and soul and strength. William Temple from the last century, he says, worship is that which gathers you up in adoration of the great, the greatest story of all. The story of Jesus on His wondrous cross.
© Joni and Friends
