Exegeting the Hymns #78 - At The Cross (Love Ran Red)

At the Cross (Love Ran Red)

w/m - Matt Armstrong, Ed Cash, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin

There's a place where mercy reigns and never dies
There's a place where streams of grace flow deep and wide
Where all the love I've ever found
Comes like a flood, comes flowing down

At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life
I'm in awe of You, I’m in awe of You
Where Your love ran red and my sin washed white
I owe all to You, I owe all to You, Jesus

There's a place where sin and shame are powerless
Where my heart has peace with God and forgiveness
Where all the love I've ever found
Comes like a flood, comes flowing down

Here my hope is found, here on holy ground
Here I bow down, here I bow down
Here arms open wide, here You save my life
Here I bow down, here I bow

The first time I heard this song was when Jessica had returned from the Passion Conference and shared it with us. I knew then, it would be one that we would eventually record. The message is such a wonderful blend of theology and testimony.  

There's a place where mercy reigns and never dies. There’s a place where streams of grace flow deep and wide. God’s mercy and grace are on brightest display when we look at Calvary. While we do see God’s justice and wrath poured out, we also see the Good Shepherd standing in the way of that wrath, taking it on behalf of His sheep.

Where all the love I've ever found comes like a flood, comes flowing down. While there is agapelove that comes from others, any love, any value placed on us by another person pales in comparison to the love of our Savior. At the cross is where we experience perfect love from a perfect God.

At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life. I’m in awe of You, I’m in awe of You. Where Your love ran red and my sin washed white. Here is where the song takes the turn from theology to testimony. Because of God’s mercy and grace, our right response is to surrender to Him. He washed our sins away by His shed blood and so we call Him Lord. We present our bodies as a living sacrifice based upon the mercies of God (Romans 12:1-2).

There's a place where sin and shame are powerless, where my heart has peace with God and forgiveness. I love this line because if tells me that regardless of how I “feel”, sin has no power. Shame is gone because my sin is removed as far as the east is from the west. Instead of shame and guilt and depression and sadness, I have peace because of God’s forgiveness.

Here my hope is found, here on holy ground. Here I bow down, here I bow down. Here arms open wide, here You save my life. Paul tells us, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” It all begins with the cross. Like Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress, whose burden fell off at the cross, we are set free and along our journey we should never forget that place where our eyes were opened, we bowed the knee, and God saved us… at the cross.

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