“The cross was a pulpit in which Christ preached His love to the world." (Augustine)
On writing the hymn “The Power of the Cross” we wanted to achieve several
things:
1. An opportunity to remember his sufferings:
This hymn takes us on the story from Gethsemane to the Cross and affords us time to really consider Christ’s sufferings. In communion we remember His sufferings.
Why? So many of the ancient traditions of the church allowed us time to meditate on the cross – through silence, repentance and pardon in liturgy, laments.
What about us today – do we forget to really remember? In remembering his sufferings we contemplate just what it took to accomplish our salvation.
We see the God of the universe in whom all things are held together prepared to wear human frailty and be ‘pierced for our transgressions’. It also has implications for how we live today – those who follow Christ will know suffering as our bodies and souls clash with the sin of the world and the sin of our hearts. But we also know the promise of life as we fix our eyes on the author of our faith and boldly walk the path He calls us to walk, reaching out to those who also suffer. A path He Himself has walked victoriously.
2. A hymn teaching what Christ’s sufferings achieve on the cross:
How can God pardon sinners without encouraging sin? How can He simultaneously show justice in punishment, but mercy in pardoning? How can He turn His enemies into friends and bind them to Him in eternal love? How can He admit men and women into heaven without spoiling its holiness? The answer is the same in every case - The Cross. "When we talk of the Father's plan and the Son's sacrifice, we should not think of the Father laying on the Son an ordeal He was unwilling to bear, nor of the Son extracting from the Father a salvation He was unwilling to bestow. It is true that the Father gave the Son. It is equally true that the Son gave Himself. We mustn't speak of God punishing Jesus or of Jesus persuading God the Father.
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We must never make Christ the object of God's punishment or God the object of Christ's persuasion. For both Father and Son are subjects, not objects - taking the initiative together to save sinners." - John Stott
3. A hymn which explains what Christ’s sufferings on the cross mean for us every day as we live:
All of it. Every thought, deed, word, the very disposition of my sinful heart is forgiven completely through the cross and resurrection. Not through my own effort, not through any strength in me, not through any man-made plan but wholly through the power of the cross:
‘O to see my name written in the wounds
For through your suffering I am free
Death is crushed to death, Life is mine to live Won through your selfless love
This the power of the cross
Son of God slain for us
What a love what a cost
We stand forgiven at the cross’
1 Corinthians 1:18 "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
May each of us bring the message of the cross to the lives of those around us this Easter…
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