We've talked about singing hymns to the Lord before (eg here). It is a great privilege to be together with brothers and sisters to sing praises to the Lord Jesus and God our Father. Hymns in which we sing about Who He is and what He has done. Songs that express biblical truths about God and His Son and turn our thoughts, hearts, and feelings toward Him.

Holy Lamb of God, fiercely beaten

A few days ago in our Sunday meeting where we'proclaimed the death of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:26), we have sung songs about our Lord, Jesus Christ. I mention one of them here, because it made quite an impression on me at the time. It is number 179 from the collection 'Geestelijke Liederen'.

I'm not going to say too much about it. Read it, think about it and praise Him Who died for you and sacrificed Himself in your place.

Holy Lamb of God, fiercely beaten,
sorely tried in frightened battle;
You bore our punishment and plagues,
our iniquity.

Lord, You have Your precious life
poured out in death.
given to you as a sacrificial lamb
for all of us guilt and distress.

Savior nothing could hinder you
to go the way of grief.
And the ransom for God's children
you have satisfied the cross.

From the blaze of Your suffering
rose a fragrance of loveliness,
in which God could rejoice
and can rest forever.

You who came to reconcile,
suffered lonely and died on the cross,
You worship the millions
forever in the Father's house.

If you don't know the melody, you can find it here and sing along: GL179. By the way, that site contains the music and lyrics of all songs by GL (1979 edition). See also here.

Life and Salvation

If you are so busy with such a song and look up the music on the internet, I ran into another old song, which we used to sing a lot at the street and tent evangelism. It is still in the collection of Joh. the Lord (no. 72) and begins with 'Through a look at the cross there is life and salvation'

If you read the lyrics, you will see that it is really an evangelistic song. It will hardly be sung these days.

Do you want to receive eternal life and experience God's salvation? Then you must be at the cross of the Lord Jesus. Then you must repent to God and accept the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord. Then you must believe that He died for you on Calvary's cross and – as the song says – "the weight of your sin and guilt' has worn. Then you will receive eternal life.

But when I read that old text I realized that it is also necessary for your life as a Christian and that these words are so meaningful for that. For we can only live our life as believers if we go back again and again to the cross of Calvary.

Every day dwell on the cross of the Lord Jesus, on the greatness of His work and His Person, and honor and praise Him! That is not just something, but it makes us experience eternal life and God's salvation for our souls. We've talked about it before and this old song reminded me of it again.

The Cross of Jesus Christ:
this is where your Christian life begins and
it must then remain the center of it
until the end!

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