Today is Good Friday. We remember and reflect on the wrath of God poured out on Jesus for the atonement of our sins. Sunday is Easter. We will gather and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and his victory over Satan, sin, and death. In preparation for our Easter gathering, it would do your soul well to reflect on one of the songs we will sing together on Sunday. These are the thoughts of Justin Curtis:
In Christ Alone is a modern hymn written by Stuart Townend in collaboration with fellow songwriter Keith Getty in 2002. It is quite common to hear us at Coram Deo Church say that we long to be a people who know and experience the Gospel, preaching it to each other constantly. The verses of this contemporary hymn, equip us for that very calling. Lyrics addressing the themes of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are interwoven throughout the movement of this song. And not only that, numerous gospel-implications seem to pour out from verse to verse, grounding both this musical expression in scripture, and the believer in what it means to stand in Christ alone. In this modern hymn, one is able to experience theological depth presented in poetic form.
In the poetic writings of the Psalms (118:22), through the prophetic message of Isaiah (28:16), and all over the gospel narratives (Math 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17) Jesus is referred to as the cornerstone of our salvation. According to Acts 4:11-12, “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Therefore, the Gospel—the good news of salvation—is found in Christ alone.
We find in the Gospel, that God entered into human history in the form of Jesus Christ, both fully man and fully God (John 1:1) as a gift of love and righteousness. He was born of a virgin and lived a life without sin, although he was tempted in the same way that we are today. Jesus went to the cross and became the perfect scapegoat. The wrath of God was satisfied in this substitution as Jesus willingly took upon himself, every sin of the past, the present, and the future. He died in our place, for our sins, paying our debt to God, and purchasing our salvation with his own precious blood (Romans 5:1-11). Jesus’ dead body was laid in a tomb and buried for three days. On the third day, Jesus rose, bursting forth in victory over Satan, sin, and death. He now sits on His throne at the right hand of the Father, ruling and reigning over all nations, all cultures, and all of creation. This is the good news of the Gospel. This is where our hope lies: In Christ alone, our hope is found.
Knowing the truth about God and who we are in Him is central to our lives as believers. For those who hope in Christ alone, it is essential to see how the good news of Jesus comes to bear on our real lives. As we look at the words of this modern hymn, the truths and beauty of the Gospel renew our minds and transform our hearts.
“Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me”
Galatians 3:13 informs us that, ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” Our inability to please God by walking in obedience because of the curse of sin was overthrown on the cross. Our savior became a curse for us, so we could be freed and walk in newness of life.
“For I am His and He is mine”
Romans 8:14-16 fleshes this out by saying, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Those who trust in Christ alone, should not walk in fear, but rather be comforted by the fact that they are adopted into God’s family and loved as His children. We are His children, and He is our Father!
“No guilt in life, no fear in death”
Those who are overwhelmed by a deep sense of guilt and shame can find revolutionary news in the Gospel. Romans 8:1 shouts to us that because Christ willingly took our place and was punished for our sin, out of His grace and mercy, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” To be in Christ alone, is to be one who is living free from guilt and trusting in the finished work of the cross.
“No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand”
Those who are trsuting in Christ alone and have experienced the transformational power of the Gospel can be assured that nothing could ever separate them from the grace of God found in Jesus Christ. This is clearly shown forth in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of god in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This gospel implication brings about a confidence that can be found in Christ alone.
Reflecting back on his work, Stuart Townend noted, “The lyric [of this song] excites me because it places our hope, our assurance, our eternal destiny in the right place – on the solid foundation of Christ. I know in my own life I need reminding continually not to live by my feelings or my circumstances, but by the unchanging truth of the Gospel.” In Christ Alone is well suited for Coram Deo’s worship culture because it is Gospel-Centered and good for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry and for the building up of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12).
May we be a people whose hope is found…In Christ Alone!
