There Is A Green Hill Far Away, part 5
Verse 4. This is the last verse of the beautiful hymn, “There Is A Green Hill Far Away,” by Mrs. Alexander. What sweet words it speaks to the soul.
There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate
Of heaven and let us in.
Chorus:
O dearly, dearly has He loved,
And we must love Him too,
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.
There was no other good enough To pay the price of sin. I Samuel 2:2 says, “There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.” And Jesus Himself said, “There is none good but one, that is, God.”
Only Jesus could pay the ransom for our sins. He “gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (I Timothy 2:6) We know that only Jesus was good enough to pay the price for our sin and ransom us from the clutches of the Devil.
No amount of riches or good works can pay for a man’s soul. Psalm 49:6-9 says, “They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.”
But the Psalmist had confidence that “God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.” And we know that God came down to earth in the person of His Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity.” (See Titus 2:13,14)
He only could unlock the gate Of heaven and let us in. Peter is not in charge of the gate of Heaven. Jesus is in charge of the gate of Heaven. Jesus said, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved… I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly… I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep… My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.” (See John 10:9-11 and 27-31)
Jesus is now in Heaven preparing a place for all those who trust in Him. And He has promised, “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also… I am the way, the truth, and the life.” There is no other way, for Jesus said, “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (See John 14:3 and 6)
Thank You, Jesus, that You were good enough to pay the price for my sin. Thank You Jesus that You have unlocked the gate of Heaven for me. You are coming again one day to receive me unto Yourself that I might live with You forever. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Do you know Jesus today? Is He your Saviour? If not, why not trust Him right now. He is the only way to Heaven.
May God give you all a wonderful week. Keep looking up.
SQ
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There Is A Green Hill Far Away, part 4
Now for a look at the second half of verse 3 of this wonderful hymn, “There is a Green Hill Far Away,” by Mrs. Alexander.
Here again are the words to verse 3:
He died that we might be forgiven,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to heaven,
Saved by His precious blood.
Chorus:
O dearly, dearly has He loved,
And we must love Him too,
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.
Last time we looked at the first half of this verse, considering the wonderful message of the death and shed blood of Christ for our sins. Oh, how He loved us! He purchased us with His blood, justified us, and covered us with His righteousness. “He died to make us good.” That is, His precious blood cleansed away all our sin, and our filthy garments of flesh are replaced by His pure garment of righteousness. Now, when God the Father looks upon us, He no longer sees any sin, anything bad. He only sees that which is good because the goodness of Jesus has been bestowed upon us through His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. Thank You, Father. How sweet and wonderful is that message.
But as wonderful as this is, there is more to the story. Jesus did not just die that we might be forgiven. He did not just die that we might have our sins washed away and be clothed upon with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He also died “That we might go at last to heaven, Saved by His precious blood.” God created man to glorify Him. He also created man to fellowship with Him. In the very beginning, He would come to Adam and Eve in the cool of the day to talk with them. God loves to have fellowship with man. (See Genesis 3:8)
But Adam and Eve sinned. And this sin passed death and a sin nature down to every person born on this earth. Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
No doubt Satan was overjoyed at this, thinking that he had won a victory in his battle against God. But God is not mocked. God is still in control. From the foundation of the world, before man was even created, God had already made a plan to redeem man’s soul from sin. (See I Peter 1:18-21) God did not want man to sin, but God knew that man would sin. This sin would cause separation between God and man. Man would no longer be able to have fellowship with God. Isaiah 59:1,2 says, “Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
But we see in John 3:16,17 that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” In Acts 16:31, the Bible gives this promise, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
And for all those who are saved, Jesus has this wonderful promise, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:1-3)
And, perhaps you might think, “What if I am not alive when Jesus comes again? What if I die before He comes to receive me unto Himself? What then?” There is no cause to fear for the Scriptures say, “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” (II Corinthians 5:6-8) This is so comforting. As soon as we, as Christians, are absent from the body, we are immediately present with the Lord. Later, when Jesus comes for the rest of His saints, we will be raised bodily and caught up with the living saints to meet the Lord in the air.
The apostle Paul sums this up in this very exciting passage in I Thessalonians 4:13-18, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
O dearly, dearly has He loved,
And we must love Him too,
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.
This is the thanks that we can bring to a dear Saviour who died “That we might go at last to heaven, Saved by His precious blood.”
SQ
To hear a beautiful rendition of the song “God So Loved the World,” based on John 3:15-18, click on this link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZblYJYGus1A&feature=related
The effect is a little bit spoiled by people clapping at the end. But the beauty and seriousness of this rendition of this song increases the thoughtfulness and joy of the message that Jesus died to forgive us, to take away our sins, and to save us. May God bless you and give you a wonderful weekend.
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There is a Green Hill Far Away, part 3
Well, here we are on verse 3 of “There Is a Green Hill Far Away.” There is much to think on in this verse, so there will only be time to study the first half of it this week. Thank God for all these beautiful, old hymns, written by men and women who loved the Lord and desired to share the teachings of His word with others. The words of these songs have echoed down through the years and continue to sink deep into the hearts of people today. These men and women, most of whom are now in glory, still speak, having left behind them a good testimony of the grace of God.
Here are the words to verse 3:
He died that we might be forgiven,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to heaven,
Saved by His precious blood.
Chorus:
O dearly, dearly has He loved,
And we must love Him too,
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.
He died that we might be forgiven, He died to make us good. Perhaps you remember the story of the man who came running to Jesus “and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” And Jesus responded, “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” (See Mark 10:17,18) And Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, “...there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Truly, “there is none righteous, no not one.” (See Romans 3:10)
No doubt Mrs. Alexander understood this. But this verse of this song seems not so much to be talking about our practical condition here on earth as it is our position before God. Those of us who are saved, who have trusted in the shed blood of Jesus Christ to take away our sins, stand without condemnation before God. When God looks upon us, He cannot see our sin. Why? Because “of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” (See I Corinthians 1:30)
We have no wisdom of our own, but Jesus Christ is made our wisdom. We have no righteousness of our own, but we are clothed upon with Jesus’ righteousness. We have no sanctification of our own. We are not pure and holy by our own efforts. We cannot please God in the flesh. But Christ Jesus is made our sanctification for us. And we cannot redeem ourselves. There is no deliverance or ransom from sin in any of our works or prayers. But Jesus Christ is become our sanctification before God.
Jesus has taken away all our sins and made us pure and holy and righteous. Now we can walk before God in fear and do good all our lives because we have Jesus’ righteousness upon us. When we live for God, He can look down on us and say joyfully, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.” (Psalm 37:23)
This does not mean we will never sin. No, for verse 24 says, “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.” But “if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” And “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 2:1b; 1:9)
Jesus died to make us good. But this goodness is not our own. It is His goodness. All the glory belongs to Him. And we can say with the Apostle Paul that one day we will stand before God “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” (Philippians 3:9)
Thank You, God, for giving us this righteousness through Your Son Jesus Christ. Help us not to glory in our flesh as if we have obtained it by our own efforts. But let us glory in the Lord. You are good, and the goodness of Jesus Christ is our robe of righteousness which covers us and allows us to stand before you holy and pure and good.
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There is a Green Hill Far Away, part 2
On to verse two of “There Is a Green Hill Far Away,” written by Mrs. Alexander. Here are the words to verse 2.
We may not know, we cannot tell
What pains He had to bear,
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.
Chorus:
O dearly, dearly has He loved,
And we must love Him too,
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.
We may not know, we cannot tell What pains He had to bear. Isaiah 52:14 says, “As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.” Jesus suffered terribly for our sin. He was buffeted; his beard was plucked out; He was beaten. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him… the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted… He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.”
What physical anguish Jesus suffered! Yet, His anguish was not only physical. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him… the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all… for the transgression of my people was he stricken.” Jesus “bare our sins in his own body on the tree.” (I Peter 2:24) And because God is very pure and cannot look upon sin, God the Father turned His eyes away from Jesus while Jesus was dying on the tree for our sins. For several hours, Jesus did not have the sweet communion with His Father that He had had for all eternity. And He cried out in anguish of spirit, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel… But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him… be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.”
Mrs. Alexander goes on to write, “But we believe it was for us He hung and suffered there.” Consider these words from Scripture, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But 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. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all… for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”
How much He has done for us. We rejected Him. We looked upon His sufferings and thought, “Surely, God is punishing Him. He is getting what He deserves.” But He was not. He was getting what we deserve. He bore our sins; He was bruised for our iniquities. He was punished to secure our peace. With His stripes we were healed. He poured out His soul unto death for us as an offering for our sin. He made intercession for us so that we might be justified. Jesus “died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” (II Corinthians 5:15b)
O dearly, dearly has He loved,
And we must love Him too,
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.
Oh, won’t you thank Jesus today for what He has done for you? And if you have never trusted Jesus as Saviour, won’t you trust Him today? Look what He has done for your soul.
Have a wonderful week in Jesus.
SQ
(Most verse quoted in this study were from Isaiah 52 and 53 and Psalm 22)
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Ever-changing Sky Blog
Name: Suzy Quzy
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters... And God called the firmament Heaven. (Genesis 1:6,8a)
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