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UT he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
Amazing Love! Yes, indeed, it is beyond our mortal comprehension to understand that amazing love of God that would cause Him to send forth His only Begotten Son to redeem us of our sin. This hymn was written by Charles Wesley in 1738. Wesley went on mission to Georgia (USA) upon graduation from Oxford. They were yet to know the Lord. Returning home after having failed miserably as missionaries, both brothers began attending meetings of the Moravian brotherhood under Peter Boehler. Both came to know Christ in a warm and personal way. Charles wrote that he began a hymn that very day inspired by his conversion on the very day, 23 May 1738. The musical score is the composition of Thomas Campbell.
And Can it Be
And can it be that I should gain
An int'rest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me?
Refrain:
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me!
'Tis mystery all! Th'Immortal dies!
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine!
'Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
Refrain
He left His Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam's helpless race;
'Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.
Refrain
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quick'ning ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth and followed Thee.
Refrain
No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th'eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Refrain
Amen.
1 And can it be that I should gain An int'rest in the Savior's blood? Died He for me, who caused His pain? For me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! how can it be That Thou, my God, should die for me? One reason for reluctance to believe the mercies and love of God is in the absolute amazement of it. How could the One so Mighty in Power and Majesty love such a low creature as me? But God loves all that He has created, and mankind is at the zenith of that love He bears. Yes, it truly was our sin – yours and mine and a multitude of others – that caused Christ to die for us. He did not have to do so, but did out of an unfathomable love for us. We were as much the oppressor that nailed Him to the cross as the Roman guards.
2 'Tis mystery all! Th'Immortal dies! Who can explore His strange design? In vain the firstborn seraph tries To sound the depths of love divine! 'Tis mercy all! let earth adore, Let angel minds inquire no more. T he mystery of the crucifixion is so great as even to escape the understanding of the angels of Heaven. The depths of love in Christ cannot be sounded out for they are bottomless and infinite.
3 He left His Father's throne above, So free, so infinite His grace; Emptied Himself of all but love, And bled for Adam's helpless race; 'Tis mercy all, immense and free; For, O my God, it found out me. He left the Ivory mantled mansions of His Father to descend to the lowest of human life – a poor baby in a manger with no room for Him in the inn. On the cross, our Lord gave it all – except love. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
4 Long my imprisoned spirit lay Fast bound in sin and nature's night; Thine eye diffused a quick'ning ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; My chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth and followed Thee. The moment a child is born, that child begins to die. The advancing sword of death immediately begins to operate in his being. He is dead already without the quickening of the Holy Spirit to call him forth. (see Ephesians 2). Our wills, as Luther proclaims, is “in bondage to sin” so that there is nothing the slave can do to free himself. As we were as good as dead (just like Lazarus) we could not even lift a finger or blink an eye until the Holy Spirit called our name and we emerged from our stone-cold tombs. It was all of grace and none of personal merit. And so, being made truly alive, we followed the Master in the Way of truth and love.
5 No condemnation now I dread; Jesus, and all in Him is mine! Alive in Him, my living Head, And clothed in righteousness divine, Bold I approach th'eternal throne, And claim the crown, through Christ my own. Have you realized the full meaning of your salvation – that those old sins of your worldly walk are completely erased? Our Lord Jesus Christ will not lose a single soul that the Father has placed into His hand. He is able to save to the uttermost. We share a wonderful heritage in the Lord. If we abide in Christ, and He in us, we are made One with the Son, with the Father, and with the Holy Ghost for our Lord is One with the Father. 18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:18-23)
The Refrain is a more recent addition and simply summarizes the whole spirit of the hymn:
Refrain
Amazing love! how can it be That Thou, my God, should die for me! Amen. No proper hymn can end with less than the Amen to its great beauty and meaning. The REFRAIN repeats the immortal question from the hymn’s beginning and, mysteriously, the very answer is suggested by the question. “How can it be? That Thou, my God, should die for me?” The mystery dissolves once we understand our mortality and His Immortality. Our ways are not His ways, and our thoughts are not His thoughts. Only Almighty God could have died as a redemption for our sins; and an Almighty God could only have the vast reservoir of Love to do so! AMEN!
