Rock of Ages

Rock of  ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.
-Augustus M. Toplady

Currently my kids and I are reading through Big Truths for Young Hearts by Bruce A. Ware (a book I highly recommend). Today's lesson was on the importance of Jesus' resurrection. If Jesus died for our sins, why did He have to rise from the dead? The answer was two-fold: 1) If the penalty for sin is death (Romans 3:23) and Jesus was still dead, He would still be paying for sin. But, because He is resurrected the payment for sin is finished and complete and we can be completely forgiven of our sin through Jesus. 2) The greatest power of sin is death (Genesis 3:?) and if Jesus was still dead He couldn't claim complete victory of sin and therefore be unable to free us from sin's power.

Later in the day, rocking my baby to sleep, I started humming the hymn above, Rock of Ages. I started thinking about the words in the first verse and how the fifth line spoke of this very idea of a "double cure" for sin. I now have a new understanding and appreciation for this classic hymn.

Dear Jesus, thank you for being the double cure for my sin. Thank you for forgiveness and freedom from sin. Help me daily to turn away from sin and be grateful for your sacrifice!