Because God saves me

Understanding Christian Stewardship #3 by Peter J. Blackburn

One of the well-loved hymns is "When I survey the wondrous cross." It was written by Isaac Watts and published in Hymns and Spiritual Songs in 1707.

In the last verse we sing,

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were an offering far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.

The cross has become an honoured symbol of the Christian faith. From pendants to accident sites, from churches to our present flag… the cross expresses something distinctively Christian – a trust beyond ourselves, a hope beyond this present life.

In the first century there wasn’t anything particularly "wondrous" about crosses. They weren’t constructed for beauty but for the execution of those judged by the Roman state to be criminals. They did their grisly work in the most cruel and public manner possible in order to deter others.

The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1.23-24 that "we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." He went so far as to write to the Galatians, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…" (Gal. 6.14).

Jesus, the perfect Son of God, died for us, in our place, for wrongs we have done. Believing in him we are "saved" – rescued from the consequences of sin.

In his book Basic Christianity John Stott has written, "[God's] plan is first to reconcile us to himself, and then progressively to liberate us from our self-centredness and bring us into harmony with our fellows. We owe this forgiveness and reconciliation chiefly to the death of Christ…"

Many years ago a preacher said to his congregation, "We have just been singing, 'Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.' Our offering this morning was nine shillings and four pence halfpenny. Have we really offered him our all?"

I am not my own. I have been bought with a price (1 Cor. 7.19-20). Jesus gave his all for me. Can I give less than my all to him? Because God saves me… I want all that I am and have to be available to him.