CW 560 - Your Works, Not Mine, O Christ
One of my biggest fears is to be trapped. Not just trapped so I can’t get out. But trapped so I can’t even move. Trapped under an avalanche of snow. Trapped under a cave-in of rocks. Trapped under a pile-up of vehicles on the freeway. There is a huge weight pressing down on me. And I can’t move! Terrifying!
The law of God is like that weight. We are hopeless to move under it. God’s laws weigh us down, crushing us under the burden of all the perfection God’s demands of us. “No one will be declared righteous in [God’s] sight by works of the law, for through the law we become aware of sin … because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:20, 23).
The relief comes through Jesus Christ. He takes the unmovable weight and moves it off us through his sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection from the grave. “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Our Hymn of the Day, “Your Works, Not Mine, O Christ,” speaks of this weight that is taken from us by Jesus Christ.
Verse one: Your works, not mine, O Christ, speak gladness to this heart; they tell me all is done, they bid my fear depart. (Refrain) To whom but you, who can alone for sin atone, Lord, shall I f lee?
We die and are damned if we attempted to be saved by our good works. It is the works of Jesus Christ that only save us. His work of being born in our place. His work of living perfectly for us. His work of paying for our sins. His work of dying our death. His work of rising from the grave. These works alone atone for our sins and make us “at one” with our holy God.
Verse two: Your blood, not mine, O Christ, can heal my sinful soul; your wounds, not mine, contain the balm that makes me whole. (Refrain)
The Bible teaches that “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). God demanded blood as payment for sin. That’s why there were so many bulls, sheep, and goats sacrificed to the Lord in the Old Testament. But the Bible also teaches that “the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). All that blood shed upon the Old Testament altars pointed ahead to the blood of Jesus Christ – a lamb without blemish or defect – that only cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7).
Verse three: Your cross, not mine, O Christ, has borne the dreadful load of sins that none could bear but the incarnate God. (Refrain)
The load of our sins is a crushing weight upon us. The Bible says, “God erased the record of our debt brought against us by his legal demands. This record stood against us, but he took it away by nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14). We cannot begin to bear the dreadful load of sins. The only One who could bear this weight is the Son of God in human flesh, our incarnate Christ.
Verse four: Your death, not mine, O Christ, has paid the ransom due; ten thousand deaths like mine would have been all too few. (Refrain)
The devil trapped us. He was holding us ransom. We could try to pay that ransom price on our own ten thousand times, and nothing would work. Only the death of the Son of God is the acceptable ransom price. Jesus said of himself, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Now we are free to go. Now we are free to live.
Verse five: Your righteousness, O Christ, alone can cover me; no other righteousness can set a sinner free. (Refrain)
The Bible teaches, “All our righteous acts are like a filthy cloth” (Isaiah 64:6). Even our best attempts at righteousness are tainted by sinful motives (Romans 8:7-11), but in Christ we are clothed in his perfect righteousness. The Bible also teaches, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Indeed, as many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. (Galatians 3:26-27). Only the righteousness of Christ can clothe us. Only the righteousness of Christ can set us free. As we sing in the refrain, “To whom but you, who can alone for sin atone, Lord, shall I flee?”
The weight of sin buries us. Christ takes that weight off us and places it upon himself. That is why we can sing, “Your works, not mine, O Christ, speak gladness to this heart; they tell me all is done, they bid my fear depart.”