Make All Things New

About a month ago, I picked up this new CD by Page CXVI entitled “Hymns”. It could be described as old hymns for modern ears. The name, as it says on the website, comes from:

a reference to page 116 in our copy of The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis. It is a poignant passage where Aslan begins to sing Narnia into creation out of a black void.

It starts, ‘In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction is was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. There were no words. There was hardly even a tune. But it was, beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it.’
~ C.S. Lewis

I would recommend supporting this project and getting a copy. While I claim no musical ability or gifting, I do love music. But more than my love for music is my love for solid theology. This is why I am so blessed by hymns. A good hymn, to me is the place where the grandeur of artistic beauty (music) meets the wonder of Christ-exalting study (theology).

So while I was excited to listen to the Page CXVI album, when I first heard their arrangement of “Joy”, I was initially quite disappointed. The song has a mood that is more severe than just melancholy. In a somewhat depressing tone, the vocalist sings, “I have the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.” And I was thinking, “yeah right!” Truthfully, I just skipped over it and listen to the other six tracks again.

A few days later, I was listening to the album in my car and let the song “Joy” play all the way through. Now, I know that the track didn’t change, but my view of it did as I listened to it. The vocals aren’t depressing, they are haunting. They are a reminder of what it truly is to be a Christian in this sin-soaked world. Truly, you would have to hear the song to get a deeper understanding of its irony. I started asking myself, “What does joy sound like to a Christian?”

People experience tragedy all the time. I’m not trying to minimize this. Pain and suffering hurt, and are real. Perhaps it is from some sin committed against us or maybe it is the results of our own sinfulness. Attempting to dismiss this pain would be, in my opinion, foolish. And as a Christian, I don’t have to try to explain it away or distract myself with platitudes and lies. The pain I feel, the pain you feel, is due to sin and experiencing pain and heartache should drive us to loathe sin all the more.

Sure, lots of people might hate sin but for the believer in Christ, the story does not end there. Through the gospel of grace we can see that no matter how devastating the effect sin has had on us, it is no match for the unfathomable power of the gospel. And through this gospel our sin is atoned for, we are washed clean and Christ’s record is given to us! One of the result is that no matter how badly things are going, sin does not have the power to steal our joy. We can truly be sorrowful yet always rejoicing! That is what I was reminded of while listening to Page CXVI’s version of “Joy”. We can sing of our great joy, even when we don’t feel joyful (or sound it) because the truth is the truth whether we feel it or not! As believers, we can and should set our hope on things above and can be firmly rooted in the truths of the gospel.

So, I think joy sometimes “sounds like” being enabled to stand, and through the tears, proclaim the joy we have in our heart even though it may not look or sound like it. Perhaps joy isn’t just heard in the sound in our voice but in the weight of our words. Jesus, through his glorious gospel, infuses our sorrow with an abiding hope here and now. And even still, promises an eternity without sorrow when he returns to set things right and make all things new!

Joy, sounds a lot like the gospel.

Let’s welcome the shame of the Gospel! For the law can produce pride. While the law was intended to convict us of our sin. if we keep it at all, it can produce pride and arrogance. In my sinfulness, if I keep the law (to any small degree), I often begin to think of myself as better than others. “I didn’t lust today. Those other guys are sorry, porn-addicts.” Or, “I prayed with Jill today, I am such a good husband. Probably better than most”

That is disgusting! Even more so when you recognize that fulfilling the law would never gain me righteousness (as if I could fulfill the law!). Romans 3:20 says: “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” The law was given not so that I could fulfill it and think highly of myself, but so that I would look to the only righteous One who ever did fulfill the law.

How twisted am I that I can find a way to boast in my failure? For even keeping one portion of the law (apart from faith in Christ) would do no eternal good. Yet, I would brag about how good a law-keeper I am? How ridiculous!

You see, as a human, I naturally like the law because I naturally like to make much of myself. If I keep the rules (even in part), I can feel good about myself. The Gospel brings shame because the concept of a savior is shameful and humbling. Needing a savior says at least two things about me. First, it shows that I am broken and in need of help. Second, the need for a savior shows that I am totally incapable of rescuing myself.

So, prior to faith in Christ, my situation is as a broken sinner who needs outside help because I can’t fulfill a law that, even if I could, would never make me righteous. What a wretched situation to be in! In recognizing my need for a rescue, my need for the Savior, the Gospel of Jesus Christ shames my foolish pride showing me His great worth and my great lack. Yet it simultaneously brings great joy because Jesus’ perfect righteousness is credited to me and my sin is taken on by Him.

But as Anthony implied in his post, the Gospel isn’t just shaming at the point of conversion, the Gospel shames our pride throughout the running of the Christian race. Pride builds up because my flesh still wants recognition and esteem! “Look at me! Look at me!” And then I am reminded of the Gospel. The only Perfect One was crushed on account of my sins. I am so “great” that the Spotless Lamb of God had to be murdered to pay for my “greatness”. One glance at the cross of Calvary and I am reminded of the extreme cost of my sin. The Gospel shames me and my pride is crushed anew. I am reminded of the righteousness that I did not earn yet was freely given. But God doesn’t leave us there. While Christ became my sin and atoned for it, I was also given an alien righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). So I am thankful the Gospel brings shame and eternally grateful that it never leaves us there.

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