It's been a favorite of mine and Mark's ever since he introduced it to me two summers ago. The lyrics are rich and powerful and I let them wash over me with new meaning that night.
What wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this.
What wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this.
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse.
When I was sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down.
When I was sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down.
When I was sinking down beneath God's righteous frown,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, to God and to the Lamb.
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, to God and to the Lamb.
To God and to the Lamb who is the great I am,
While millions join the theme, I will sing
While millions join the theme.
And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on, and when from death I'm free.
And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on, and when from death I'm free.
And when from death I'm free, I'll sing and grateful be,
While millions join the theme, I will sing,
While millions join the theme.
What wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this.
What wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this.
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse.
When I was sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down.
When I was sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down.
When I was sinking down beneath God's righteous frown,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, to God and to the Lamb.
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, to God and to the Lamb.
To God and to the Lamb who is the great I am,
While millions join the theme, I will sing
While millions join the theme.
And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on, and when from death I'm free.
And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on, and when from death I'm free.
And when from death I'm free, I'll sing and grateful be,
While millions join the theme, I will sing,
While millions join the theme.
I was reminded then just how wonderful and astounding God's love for us is. The fact that He was not content to leave us in the sin and death we deserve, but instead was compelled by love to bear our curse and take our shame is difficult for me to comprehend. He restored us to himself simply because he loves us.
For the past year and a half, I have been learning quite a bit about love. The time I've spent dating (and more recently, engaged) to Mark has taught me so much about what it means to humble myself and set aside my own good or gain for the good of another. Though I have a very long way to go, I continue to grow in an understanding of what it means to model a relationship that is moving toward marriage after Christ's love for the church.
John Piper says that "the wonder of marriage is woven into the wonder of the gospel of the cross of Christ." This relationship between a man and a woman is a shadow of Christ's covenant-keeping love for the church, his bride. He is committed to faithfulness and to the continual giving of grace to her. He laid down his life for her.
It is incredible and painful and beautiful to be beginning this process with Mark. We are both often immature or prideful or selfish. Growing and stretching is hard. But it is good to be reminded that the covenant-keeping love of Christ is enough; that as we continue to be sanctified and learn to better love one another, it is because He loved us first.
"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God... Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."
-Ephesians 5:1-2, 22-25
For the past year and a half, I have been learning quite a bit about love. The time I've spent dating (and more recently, engaged) to Mark has taught me so much about what it means to humble myself and set aside my own good or gain for the good of another. Though I have a very long way to go, I continue to grow in an understanding of what it means to model a relationship that is moving toward marriage after Christ's love for the church.
John Piper says that "the wonder of marriage is woven into the wonder of the gospel of the cross of Christ." This relationship between a man and a woman is a shadow of Christ's covenant-keeping love for the church, his bride. He is committed to faithfulness and to the continual giving of grace to her. He laid down his life for her.
It is incredible and painful and beautiful to be beginning this process with Mark. We are both often immature or prideful or selfish. Growing and stretching is hard. But it is good to be reminded that the covenant-keeping love of Christ is enough; that as we continue to be sanctified and learn to better love one another, it is because He loved us first.
"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God... Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."
-Ephesians 5:1-2, 22-25
