Rock of Ages Part 2

Nothing in my hand I bring,

simply to the cross I cling;

naked, come to thee for dress;

helpless, look to thee for grace;

foul, I to the fountain fly;

wash me, Savior, or I die.

Nothing in my hand I bring reminded me of something I was taught while at college. I was taught the concept of “receipting” and no I’m not making it up. Apparently if you want God to heal you or bless you or give you more money you need to do good things like tithe, pray, read your Bible, help the old lady across the street, etc. After you do a good deed you need to write it down. Then when you pray you can show God your “receipt” and tell Him He has to bless you since you did good things. In case you didn’t catch that it’s called salvation through works and probably more resembles the idea of karma than anything Christianity teaches. But what makes Christianity so beautiful is grace. Jesus didn’t heal people because they deserved it! Jesus healed people because he had mercy on them and because they had the faith to receive it. Jesus didn’t die on the cross because we deserved it! There is nothing in my hand I bring but simply to the cross I cling! It would be like if someone brought filthy rags to pay for gold! I don’t come to God with anything in my hand or with any need to remind God of my righteousness. I come clinging to the cross. I come hidden with God in Christ.

Naked come to thee for dress will always make me think of the letter to the church in Laodicea from Revelation 3. “You say, 'I am rich and well off; I have all I need.' But you do not know how miserable and pitiful you are! You are poor, naked, and blind.” God is saying to all people regardless of your material wealth you can still be poor, naked, and blind spiritually. “I advise you, then, to buy gold from me, pure gold, in order to be rich. Buy also white clothing to dress yourself and cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy also some ointment to put on your eyes, so that you may see.” Only God can provide the solution to these spiritual problems.

Helpless look to thee for grace makes me think of Romans 7. Paul says “For even though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it.” We must all recognize how hopelessly lost we are without God, the sacrifice of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit. The church has taught us to be people of discipline. We are told to use will power and discipline to prevent ourselves from sinning. We will do better, but we will never succeed. The only hope we have is that the Holy Spirit will transform our hearts so we can desire the right things. By ourselves we are helpless but with the grace of God nothing is impossible.

Foul… how often have you thought of yourself as foul? You know people say when you’re drunk you’re always the last person to realize it. I don’t know how many conversations I’ve had with intoxicated people who swore they were sober. There are so many people Christian and non Christian who swear they’re righteous but none are righteous no not one. We need a wake up call to see ourselves as we are- foul. And only after we see just how disgusting we actually are we will “fly” or go without hesitation as quickly as possible to the fountain of God. When we see our sin as disgusting we will run from it and allow Christ to save us from it. My favorite line of the song is “Wash me Savior or I die.” We far too often think “I’m a good person.” “God’s lucky to have me.” But the truth is no matter how evil or how good you consider yourself unless you’re washed in the blood of the lamb you will die spiritually in hell the second death. And consequently if we have seen how fowl we actually are we will no longer be able to judge the horrible sinners out there. We would accept what the Bible teaches us in Romans 2 that we are just as bad as those we are judging with disgust. If we could only be people who recognize apart from Christ we are foul we could lose our reputation as judgmental people and be seen as people of love as Christ foresaw.

While I draw this fleeting breath,

when mine eyes shall close in death,

when I soar to worlds unknown,

see thee on thy judgment throne,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

let me hide myself in thee.

The Bible is clear that all people will be judged after death. Again we see the same theme of this hymn. On that judgment day I do not come with my own list of good deeds. I do not come saying “you can’t accuse me devil because Jesus forgave me.” On that day I’ll have nothing to say and nothing to offer God. All I will be able to do is look to Jesus and ask if I can hide myself in him. Only by the grace of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ my Lord will I be saved from sin and hell.