Last week we started a new series called “The Gospel in Hymns” where we started diving into the scripture that is behind the hymns and studying the gospel through it.

In the second episode from the Gospel in Hymns Series, we are looking at one of the most powerful and beloved hymns from the 19th century:

 ‘Jesus paid it all’ was written by Elvina Hall in 1865.

This is a hymn that talks about our weakness, His sacrifice, and what it does for us.  

“Jesus Paid It All.  

All to him I owe”

“Jesus paid it all” for us represents the fact that He absorbed the wrath of God.  And one of the greatest truths about the Gospel is understanding that Christ was the propitiation for our sin. 

What does that mean exactly?

 Jesus is our sponge for the wrath of God. So any wrath or any recompense that is poured out towards us in payment for our sin, Christ comes between us and that judgment from God. And He absorbs it. And that's what the word propitiation means: It is Christ absorbing all. 

The wrath of God on our behalf.  

Jesus has paid it all, providing the sacrifice that was needed, He has done it on the cross.

And because he has done it, we are set free from our sin and from God's wrath and become white as snow.

“We are children of weakness, and yet we can find in Him our all in all, everything we need in Him because of that sacrifice that He's made on the cross.”

When you really receive the love of Christ, it does change our behavior. We can challenge each other to remember the earthly sacrifices that are made for us out of love. 

For this week, so close to Easter, we challenge you to:

Be thankful, be grateful, be mindful of sacrifices made, but even more than that: you have a God who loved you enough that he sent his son to die for you while you were still a sinner.

And so you can trust that God, and you can still rest in him and you can rest in the promises of the cross. 

Accept that gift, that great exchange, that gift of propitiation. All of that absorbed all of your sin.