Sunday, April 13, 2008

Healing Stripes

Healing Stripes
by Thomas Doolittle

We should admire the wisdom and the grace of God that by the stripes inflicted upon Christ the wounds that sin had made in our souls should be healed. The wisdom of God is wonderful in this, to find out such a way, that the scourging of His Son should be the cure of our souls, and His wounding our healing.

And the grace of God is in this to be admired, that when He might have laid the strokes of His revenging justice upon us, He would accept the scourging of his Son for the punishment of our sins, that we might not be scourged forever. We deserved to be broken into pieces with His iron rod, and to be beaten with the rod of His wrath, but we are saved and delivered by the stripes that were laid upon His Son.

Our wounds were killing wounds, but the wounds of Christ are healing wounds. Oh what a surgeon is the Son of God that makes a balsam of His sores, to heal and cure ours! What manner of physician is this, that by His own blood fetched from his body, by cruel stripes and blows, makes a potion for diseased sinners, and thereby cures all their maladies!

Oh think of this till you do admire the wisdom and grace of God.

---Thomas Doolittle, Day by Day with the English Puritans, Randall Pederson, ed. (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004), p 108

"...O to grace how great a debtor...

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Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Gospel Rhymes

I do not like rap music. I never have and likely never will.

I once did not like the gospel. In fact, I was once an enemy of the cross and would still be to this day had not the the Holy Spirit accomplished his regenerating work to the glory of God.

I still do not like rap music, but I do like the gospel. And when the day dawns that the gospel can be communicated through a medium in which it might reach an entire generation, I am obligated to be willing to change my preferences. The day has dawned, and there is a rising generation of Christian, hip-hop artists who are using their talents to the glory of God to further his name throughout the nations. Lamp Mode is one of those artists and this video below reflects some of the most truth-filled lyrics that I have heard centered on the tri-unity of the Godhead.

Lamp Mode's mission statement says that they are intent on "highlighting the Character of God, while presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ and a biblical world view through hiphop culture." I believe that they have accomplished this purpose. At the recent Legacy Conference in Chicago, Paul Washer who was one of the speakers for the conference said "I came here thinking I would hear hip-hop. I heard preaching. I heard preaching."

I still do not like rap music, but I do like the gospel. And this is not rap music; this is true, biblical preaching of the gospel of the triune God.



Chorus
Glory to the Father
Glory to the Son
Glory to the Spirit
Three and yet One
One in your essence
Three in your persons
The same in your nature
Distinct in your working
Oh my soul- behold the wonder of the Trinity
Blessed be the Trinity, Oh, what a mystery!
I’ll stand amazed for the rest of my days
Pouring out my heart in Triune praise
Download Full Lyrics with Scripture References and Devotional Here

HT:Christ, My Righteousness

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