By the
prophets, God foretold of the sending of His Son who would give His life
to set the captive free. Stepping down from His throne and the glory He
had known, Jesus came to give His life for you and me.
Though
He knew well the cost, He was prepared to suffer loss and give Himself
as ransom for us all. Into our hopeless world He came, endured the suffering
and the shame, every moment staying faithful to the call.
Yet the
One who spoke of love was rejected and despised; He knew all too well the
sinful heart of men. Those with eyes refused to see,
Those
with ears refused to hear, as they sought a way to bring Him to an end.
By a friend He was betrayed. By soldiers, led away. Yet for this very hour
He had come. They did not take, He freely gave. For those He came to save,
the road
to the cross He walked alone.
He could
have called a million angels to His side, or stepped down from the cross
and walked away. Yet His love held Him there, through the pain and despair,
to free us from the debt we could not pay.
In His
suffering and pain He took the guilt and the shame as He hung between the
heavens and the ground. Every nail, every thorn, every stare, every scorn
pierced the One who so freely laid it down. With His face to the sky,
"It is
finished!"
was His
cry, the words that broke the gates of hell. When His final words were
said, breathed His last, bowed His head, darkness o'er the land so quickly
fell.
Yet death
and darkness could not stand against His power: He rose, victorious o'er
the grave. In His light we now may live, By the grace He came to give all
who call upon His name are surely saved.
All who
call upon His name are surely saved!