None Left To Drink

We just hosted a worship conference here last week called Journey to the Heart of Worship. The folks at Integrity Music put the conference on and did an amazing job. Seeing so many people (myself included) being taught, challenged, convicted and inspired inside the walls of our building was an amazing experience.

In one session, Pastor Bob Kauflin from Baltimore, MD reminded us all of the importance of writing and singing songs about Christ's finished work on the cross. Singing about the existence of the cross is fine, but to actually verbalize it's significance on so many levels is a powerful doctrinal statement that will transform our praise.

Hebrews 10 tells us that on the cross Jesus drank every last drop from the cup of God's wrath. There is none left to drink. The completeness of Jesus' sacrifice and satisfaction of God's wrath is overwhelming. Scholars call this propitiation. When is the last time you can remember singing about propitiation?

Here is the second stanza from the hymn Before The Throne of God Above written by Charitie Lees Bancroft that brings poetic power to the concept of propitiation:



When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

To sing these words brings the gravity and reality of God's infinite Justice and infinite Mercy crashing down on my consciousness. I am ruined. I am broken of my own pride and self-reliance. I did not climb Calvary's hill. Jesus did. I am no longer preoccupied with trivial earthly forms like musical style. It is then that I begin to worship my Lord for who He is and what He has done.

Today, I would like to encourage you all to read Hebrews 10 and then go to the iTunes Store or wherever and find a recording of 'Before The Throne of God Above'. Listen to it intently while you are alone and prepare to be ruined by God's love for you.

Blessings,
Aaron