Bible Ballistics: Vol. 14 No. 11 His Grace Reaches Me???
I love the old songs, and there is one that is a special message to my heart, and it resounds with truth—deep truth—written by Augustus Toplady in 1763. How could such an old song still be pertinent? Because the good news of the Gospel hasn’t changed! Never has, never will!
Rock Of Ages (Augustus Toplady 1763)
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Cleanse me from its guilt and power.
Not the labour of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Saviour, or I die!
While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgement throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
I love the third verse and the simplicity of its message:
“Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling…”
Our hope is in the sufficiency of God’s grace that is full and powerful enough to save us from sin.
“Be it known unto you all,
and to all the people of Israel,
that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
whom ye crucified,
whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand here
before you whole.
11 This is the stone
which was set at nought of you builders,
which is become
the head of the corner.
12 Neither is there salvation in any other:
for there is none other name under heaven
given among men,
whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:10-12
This precious ‘corner stone’ is Jesus and He came that we might have life—real life in and through HIM! Peter who was speaking in the account above, to answer the opposition there, also mentioned this ‘corner stone’ in his first Epistle to the scattered believers.
“Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture,
Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone,
elect,
precious:
and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded.
7 Unto you therefore which believe
he is precious:
but unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed,
the same is made the head of the corner,
8 And a stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offence,
even to them which stumble
at the word,
being disobedient:
whereunto also they were appointed.” 1 Peter 2:6-8
I am so grateful that no matter where I am, or what is going on around me (or around those that I love), I have confidence in the truth that I can always “simply to Thy cross I cling”! Jesus IS my all-in-all!
“For in him dwelleth all the fulness
of the Godhead bodily.
10 And ye are complete
in him,
which is the head of all principality
and power:” Colossians 2:9-10
And another part of the letter that Paul wrote to the Colossians, reminds us how to look to HIM in all things, because HE is the One who sustains all things. But before we look at the Colossians passage, we can see HIS power, grace and provision in Hebrews.
“God,
who at sundry times
and in divers manners
spake in time past
unto the fathers
by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken
unto us
by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir
of all things,
by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness
of his glory,
and the express image
of his person,
and upholding all things
by the word of his power,
when he had by himself
purged our sins,
sat down
on the right hand
of the Majesty on high;” Hebrews 1:1-3
Jesus is God’s final Word; and the book of the Revelation is the “unveiling” of all that God will accomplish through “His only begotten Son”! Jesus is the creator, the sustainer, the redeemer, the very One who IS/WAS the substitutionary, atoning sacrifice for our sin—yours and mine! Oh, how grateful I am for His unfailing grace—His all-sufficient grace—His supreme sovereign control—through which we can have victory in our daily lives. Oh, how grateful I am that HIS grace reached down for me, saving and delivering me from my own sin, doing HIS continual work of that grace in me—conforming you and me into the “image of His son” (Romans 8:28-29, in fact the whole chapter is an amazing word picture of all that we have in HIS amazing grace!). Now let’s take a look at Colossians 3 and see what this amazing grace looks like working through our hands, our feet, and our mouth—yes, you and I who have His Spirit within!
“Lie not one to another,
seeing that ye have put off the old man
with his deeds;
10 And have put on the new man,
which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him
that created him:
11 Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew,
circumcision
nor uncircumcision,
Barbarian,
Scythian,
bond
nor free:
but Christ is all,
and in all.
12 Put on therefore,
as the elect of God,
holy and beloved,
bowels of mercies,
kindness,
humbleness of mind,
meekness,
longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another,
and forgiving one another,
if any man have a quarrel
against any:
even as Christ forgave you,
so also do ye.
14 And above all these things
put on charity,
which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God
rule in your hearts,
to the which also ye are called
in one body;
and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly
in all wisdom;
teaching
and admonishing
one another
in psalms
and hymns
and spiritual songs,
singing with grace
in your hearts
to the Lord.
17 And whatsoever ye do
in word
or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God
and the Father by him.” Colossians 3:9-17
And all this by our Lord’s grace and power which we received.
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him,
and stablished in the faith,
as ye have been taught,
abounding therein
with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7
May we ever walk “in him”, remembering who we are, all because of whose we are; all because of His far-reaching, out-reaching grace that brings abundant life! Amen and Amen!
“The thief cometh not,
but for to steal,
and to kill,
and to destroy:
I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it
more abundantly.” John 10:10. Amen!
Bible Ballistics 