Phil 2:1-11 describes the great plan of salvation, how Jesus – in very nature God, fully God, wholly divine – took on human flesh – being made in human likeness, taking the nature of a servant, being wholly human – in order to be able to save mankind from their sins. This is a mystery which we will spend all our lives pondering, and as we approach Easter, we pause once again to contemplate the means by which He purchased that salvation, His obedience to death, even death on a cross.
The death and resurrection of Christ, those foundational truths on which the whole of Christianity builds, are not, however, the whole story, for there is even more! In 2 Cor 8:9, Paul says ‘you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.’ The first part of that verse corresponds to the Incarnation of Christ, but the end of that verse outlines a divine exchange which is beyond our wildest dreams. We get to exchange our poverty for Christ’s wealth, our filthiness for His righteousness (Is 1:18, 1 Cor 1:30, 2 Cor 5:21), our guilt and shame and condemnation for freedom and the rights of sons and heirs! (Rom 8:1-17)
The logical conclusion of this amazing exchange, freely offered to us (but which cost Christ everything), is surrender, an offering back of ourselves to God. As Rend Collective sing in ‘All That I Am’, ‘in view of Your matchless sacrifice, take every treasure, take this life.’ When we realise all that God has done for us and all He offers us in Christ, we let go of everything that used to mean so much to us (Phil 3:7-11) and find ‘In these empty hands I have it all, have it all: The pure joy of knowing You, my Lord.’
‘Take every treasure, take this life
Everything’s on the altar now:
No holding back, no holding out.
In view of Your matchless sacrifice
Take every treasure, take this life
All that I am for all that You are, my Lord
All that I have for all that You are, You’re the
Pearl beyond price, greater than life
All that I am for all that You are
Selfish ambition and my pride
I’m giving up, I’m letting die
In these empty hands I have it all, have it all
The pure joy of knowing You, my Lord
All that I am for all that You are, my Lord
All that I have for all that You are, You’re the
Pearl beyond price, greater than life
All that I am for all that You are
It’s only in surrender that I’m free
It’s only in surrender that I’m truly free
It’s only in surrender that I’m free
(All I have is Yours, my Lord)
It’s only in surrender that I’m truly free
I am free, I am free indeed
I am free, I am free indeed
All that I am for all that You are, my Lord
All that I have for all that You are, You’re the
Pearl beyond price, greater than life
All that I am for all that You are.’ (‘All That I Am’, Rend Collective)