I have noted that good worship songs, hymns, praises etc, are those which affirm a doctrinal truth, and embed it into your heart through repetition. Psalm 136 is such a song. We look at the 136 psalm and are reminded 26 times that God is a God of mercy – everlasting mercy! For His lovingkindness is everlasting!
Other ways in which songs build us up is that they inventory our soul, our lives, and our character. Are we right with God? Do we know his peace? Are we walking in purity? Good songs convict – Like faithful watchmen they protect us.
One such song is the hymn written in the 1860s. Are you washed in the blood? Every line invites you to take inventory of the soul. Every inquiry demands that you come to grips in answering the most important question you will answer on this earthly journey: “Are you washed?”
To do that, to answer satisfactorily you need to understand a bit about the holiness of God. Sin. Eternity. And the need for redemption from an external agency… something, someone other than yourself.
For all have sinned…
There are consequences…
We are not as we were created to be…
Yet, like the ram to Abraham God has sent the means to remedy those consequences.
Our only hope is to embrace the work of Christ.
We affirm these actions each time we gather for the Lord’s Supper. We affirm our choice to receive the measure of grace afforded us in Christ.
Perhaps, even likely, there is no greater question that needs to be answered than that asked by Elisha Hoffmann in the hymn, Are You Washed in the Blood?
Written in 1878, it demands reflection, and a response to the amazing work of Jesus the Christ which makes possible a restored relationship with God. The first three verses and the chorus are relentless interrogatives of the person’s position in Christ. Have they, or have they not relied upon the atonement of Christ as their greatest identity?
For all those who could not respond in the affirmative, verse four, makes the appeal to do so, to don the garments which have been bleached white by the crimson blood of the Lamb of God.
The entire song bleeds with the imagery of sacrifice, the sacrifice of the one and only which could offset the consequences of sin in the Garden – from the original announcement of a redeemer in Genesis 3:15, to the foreshadowing of the Lamb of God in Isaiah 52:13-53:12, to the blood that flowed on Calvary. In fact, from before the foundations of the world, this had been the means by which God would build the Bridge of Redemption.
I invite you to ask yourself these questions right now.
Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Chorus
Are you washed in the blood,
In the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless Are they white as snow
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you walking daily by the Savior’s side?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright?
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;
There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,
O be washed in the blood of the Lamb!
As we find ourselves approaching the gates of Heaven, proper attire is in order. The redeemed need not fear that day, as we gratefully confess that we wear the right clothes, that we are washed in the blood of the Lamb!
A Special Note:
Hello, I want to thank you for your interest and support of TheShepherdsPen. In light of today’s political climate, and unstable social media, I would ask you to consider subscribing (click here to go to the subscribing page) to the TheShepherdsPen.Com to insure we don’t lose touch. In doing so, normally, you could expect two emails a week from me, one on Saturday, and an “Echo” on Wednesday. I know you have all kinds of things flooding your email boxes, and your time is valuable, so I do thank you for walking a portion of the journey together.
Thanks, Kelly
