Exegeting the Hymns #32 - Hallelujah for the Cross

Hallelujah for the Cross

w/m Ross King, Todd Wright

Up to the hill of Calvary
My Savior went courageously
And there He bled and died for me
Hallelujah for the cross
And on that day the world was changed
A final perfect lamb was slain
Let earth and heaven now proclaim
Hallelujah for the cross

Hallelujah for the war He fought
Love has won death has lost
Hallelujah for the souls He bought
Hallelujah for the cross

What good I've done could never save
My debt too great for deeds to pay
But God my Savior made a way
Hallelujah for the cross
A slave to sin my life was bound
But all my chains fell to the ground
When Jesus' blood came flowing down
Hallelujah for the cross

And when I breathe my final breath
I'll have no need to fear that rest
This hope will guide me into death
Hallelujah for the cross

This month we begin our focus on the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord. The two songs I have chosen to introduce to the congregation are the Getty’s “Power of the Cross” and Ross King’s “Hallelujah for the cross”. Both look at the passion of the Messiah, with this anthem being more of a refrain of praise to counterbalance the deep theological teaching of the Getty’s song I will cover next week. The first thing that struck me about this song was the engaging melody. Like all good congregational songs, this one sounds “familiar”. The melody sounds like you’ve heard it before, yet different enough that you can’t seem to place it. It is that combination the makes it easy to learn and sing for a congregation.

Up to the hill of Calvary, my Savior went courageously. There are two dangers in Christian music when it comes to the nature of Jesus Christ. The first, is to focus solely on the humanity of Christ, often leading to a downplaying of His deity. Songs can often lose the reverence and substitute an almost flippant attitude toward the second person of the Godhead. The other extreme is to see Jesus as only the omnipotent Creator God, and forget that His pain was real. His suffering was physical and emotional. As the Sovereign God, He knew how the plan would unfold when He went to the cross. He predicted several times that He would rise from the dead, but make no mistake about it, He also knew that it would be torture. He prayed that His Father would take the cup from Him if there was any other way. It took great courage to take that physical beating, and even more so, to have the wrath of the Father poured out on Him.  

And there He bled and died for me. Hallelujah for the cross. He could have called a host of angels to stop it at any time, but He took the shame and bore the fury of God’s wrath for us on that cross. And on that day the world was changed, a final perfect lamb was slain. Let earth and heaven now proclaim Hallelujah for the cross. The death and resurrection of Jesus was the pivotal time in all of history. Everything before pointed to the Messiah, and everything since points back to Him. No longer was there separation, no longer was there a veil. It was torn, and the way was made into the Holy of Holies. Jesus was the final, perfect, and complete sacrifice for all of the sins of everyone who believes, past, present, and future.

Hallelujah for the war He fought. Love has won death has lost. Hallelujah for the souls He bought. Hallelujah for the cross. Don’t be confused by this line, “The war He fought”. Too many people believe spiritual warfare is God-vs-Satan in an epic struggle for the souls of men. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is not a battle that hung in the balance, and God got the edge when Jesus rose from the dead. God is sovereign. Satan is a pawn. Satan has no power at all against God. His fall, temptation of Eve, spiritual carnage in this world, and eventual destruction are all part of God’s plan that He has allowed in His providence. However, Jesus did endure the testing, the struggle, and God’s wrath to defeat death and bring eternal life to the lost. He paid the price for our sin, restoring us to a place where we are no longer sin’s slaves, but are now servants of the Most High.

What good I've done could never save. My debt too great for deeds to pay, but God my Savior made a way. The Bible says that our righteousness is as a filthy rag. Even the “good deeds” we do are not done for God’s glory so they are worthless. Our debt of sin can never be repaid by adding more good works to our sin. The only way we can pay for our sin is having the wrath of God poured out on us for eternity in the lake of fire. Sadly, most people choose this option. However, our Savior offers to us an alternative. He can bear our sin on the cross so we won’t ever have to. A slave to sin my life was bound, but all my chains fell to the ground when Jesus' blood came flowing down. The blood of Christ was the eternal and full sacrifice for our transgressions. Our chains are broken in regard to sin, and now we are bond-slaves to the one who purchased us… and there’s no better place to be.

And when I breathe my final breath, I’ll have no need to fear that rest. This hope will guide me into death. Without the Savior, there is no hope. We theologically understand that, but has that truth permeated our hearts to the point that we look through that lens when we see the lost world around us? We have peace. They can never know peace apart from the Savior. We have hope. Their hope is a wish without a foundation. We have life. They are dead men walking. We need to rest in the joy we find in our salvation, but we also need to be living and proclaiming to the world around us that we are not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God to save. Hallelujah for the cross!

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