Meditating on the Mystery of the Gospel
[The following is an excerpt from the Hymn Workouts book.]
The great apologist, G. K. Chesterton, once wrote, ‘The next best thing to being really inside of Christendom is to be really outside of it.’ His point was that, in the process of a culture gradually losing its Christian moorings, we often take for granted the startling and wonderful truths of the gospel. The drama of our doctrines is flattened out into a set of beliefs that no longer titillate the mind or ravish the heart. If there is anyone on the verge of being able to recite the Apostles Creed without a rush of adrenalin revving his heart, the hymns in this section are for you. They are like silver polish for a set of flatware that has lost its shine. The mind that earnestly grapples with them will discover a joyful, sparkling light dancing on old, familiar truths.
Now there are three main objectives to keep in view while studying these hymns. The first objective is to fill in important gaps of understanding and belief. A lot of Christians, for example, spend very little time reflecting on the importance of Christ’s ascension and his high priestly ministry. We have a clear sense of what Jesus was doing on earth; however, we’re not quite sure what he’s up to now that he’s in heaven. The arrangement of these hymns is intended to stretch the boundaries of thought so that unexplored pastures of the gospel are unlocked and explored.
A second objective is to find new vistas from which to observe old truths. It is one thing to visit the Grand Canyon and observe it from one of the central tourist hubs. It is something else to climb down into the Canyon and view its ridges and walls from within. The Canyon itself does not change if we view it from the top or from the bottom. However, viewing the canyon from a different angle will yield a different perspective. The beauty of the Canyon will be encountered in novel ways if we are willing to move about and change our location.
These hymns have a special power to shift the point of view from which we look at core elements of the gospel. The hymns included on the subject of the cross of Christ bear exceptional witness to this power. As many have noted, the cross is like a diamond. No single angle can reveal the full landscape of its meaning. Thus, studying multiple hymns on the cross is like standing and observing the death of Christ from a number of different perspectives. Each hymn will bring into focus a unique and awe-inspiring vista of what Christ has accomplished through his work at Calvary.
A third objective for studying these hymns is worship. These hymns are food for both the heart and the mind. Each of them was conceived by a worshipping heart, and if used for prolonged and patient prayer, they will continue to generate spiritual life among those who meditate on them. Read them as scripts for devotion. Do not just put on their thoughts; get dressed in their passions. Rehearse them again and again in the mind until their spirit becomes your spirit. Peter’s exhortation ought to be remembered as we dedicate time to reflect on these hymns: ‘Like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation – if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good’ (1 Pet. 2:2-3). I can guarantee one thing about the following hymns: they are pure spiritual milk.
Meditating on the Holiness of God
[The following is an excerpt from the Hymn Workouts book.]
In C. S. Lewis’s novel, Prince Caspian, there is a scene in which Lucy comments to Aslan, ‘You’re bigger.’ Unexpectedly, he replies, ‘That is because you are older, little one.’ The response confuses Lucy. She muses, ‘Not because you are?’ Aslan answers, ‘I am not, but every year you grow, you will find me bigger.’
God’s holiness is unchanging. However, our appreciation of His holiness ought to be changing all of the time. It is a significant sign of the Spirit at work in our hearts when suddenly God looks a little bigger, more majestic, and more praiseworthy than He did before. This growth of awe is an unmistakable sign of the Spirit at work in our hearts. It is no exaggeration to say that the life of heaven will be an ongoing experience of surprise as God, yet again, breaks through whatever ceiling of knowledge we thought could contain the wonder of His being. That said, we do not need to wait until heaven to get a foretaste of such amazement. The purpose of this first set of hymns is to whet the appetite of worship. Each hymn has an unusual ability to widen the eyes of faith, thereby enabling us to glimpse more of the inexhaustible mystery that angels never tire of beholding.
Now, three facets of divine holiness merit special attention as we move into these hymns. The first is the transcendence of God. Modern Christians routinely reduce God to ‘god’, a concept that is small, tame, and devoid of mystery. The hymns in this section are a powerful tool to demolish the idols of the mind and, in their place, resurrect a true knowledge of the holy, knowledge which is built on fearful wonder and joyful adoration.
Second, these hymns remind us that, while God’s being is infinite, His character is not amorphous. He is not a cloud which refuses to take a definite shape. The contrary is true. We can know God precisely because He has revealed Himself through specific traits like faithfulness, mercy, love, goodness, justice, and wisdom. Most of the hymns in this section focus on a key character trait, or attribute, of God. One benefit of studying these hymns will be clarity regarding two of the most important questions that anyone can ask: ‘Who is God?’ and, ‘Why should I trust Him?’
Finally, these hymns trace an often-overlooked connection between beauty and holiness. Whenever God chooses to reveal His glory, He always creates something that includes color, form, movement, life, sound, and love. This was true of the creation of our world. It was also true of the blueprint that God gave Moses for the Tabernacle. A lesson we should learn from this connection is that the perception of beauty and an encounter with holiness are analogous experiences. We can no more stand disinterested in the presence of the Holy One than we can be indifferent at the scene of an unforgettable sunset. A true apprehension of holiness always results in worship. We know that we have glimpsed the shadow of the Living God when our hearts cry out with the seraphim, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts’ (Isa. 6:3).