Our Hope: The Son's Redemption

Many of you know that I love old hymns.  As much as the new choruses draw us into a heart of worship, you just can't beat the theology of the old classics.  There are many songs that speak about our hope in Jesus--after all, that is the whole point of our faith.  But none support this idea quite like the hymn, My Hope is Built on Nothing Less:

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My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
No merit of my own I claim, But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
    On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace;
In every high and story gale My anchor holds within the veil.
    On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand.
His oath, his covenant, his blood Sustain me in the raging flood;
When all supports are washed away, He then is all my hope and stay.
    On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand.
When he shall come with trumpet sound, Oh, may I then in him be found,
Clothed in his righteousness alone, Redeemed to stand before the throne.
    On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand.

There is some much in this hymn: Christ is the foundation upon which we stand; He supports us at all times; there is nothing that we can do in our own strength or might to help sustain ourselves; Christ holds us tight through the storms of life--even when everything has gone wrong; and finally, He is our reason for standing before God which assurance of life forever.  

Redemption is a word not often used outside of 'Christianese' so I'll explain a bit what it is.  It is a legal term dealing with the idea of being purchased from slavery or debts; much like you redeem a coupon to reduce the cost of your Swiffer sweeper or Glade Plug-ins.  You exchange the value of the coupon for the product.  The logical question is what do we need to be redeemed (bought back) from?  The list starts with disobedience to God (who created us, loves us, and sustains us) and the list continues from there: worries, fear, anger, depression, jealousy, envy, bitterness, woundedness, diseases... All these things are a consequence of our failure to recognize God as our Creator, and our Master. 

God is all holy and all good which means He can't stand to be in the presence of these things (it is like trying to mix oil and water, it just won't work).  But the hope we have is in the death (ironically enough) and the resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God who has paid the price for our short-comings before God.  When God looks at those who have put their confidence in the all-sufficient death of Jesus, he sees us as holy--Jesus' value has been assigned to us.  That doesn't mean life suddenly becomes easy, but as the hymn suggests that we can endure when the going gets tough because we are drawn up into life with Christ.  

The burden is lifted from us to perform, to earn our way to God's good favour, or to be our own source of strength during the difficult times of life.  Jesus is the rock upon which we stand, the rock which will never give way.

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