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.
Not the labors of my hands Can fill all thy life's demands. Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow, All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and thou alone.
When I draw this fleeting breath, When mine eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown And behold thee on thy throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee.
I just discovered this hymn over the last week. I love it! the last line of the first verse really speaks of some great doctrine. There is more to the Atonement of Jesus Christ than forgiveness of sin, although that is a huge gift. Sometimes talked about is the capacity it gives Him to comfort us in our trials, but less discussed, but nonetheless vital, is the power to change; to make good men better. In my teachings of the living prophets class recently, one of the students made a beautiful comment about the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. He noted that it was amazing to realize that they were just men, but they had learned to access the power of the Atonement in their lives to make them like unto the Savior.
Observe this same concept taught by King Benjamin in Mosiah 3:19, "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord..." The gospel is to make bad men good and good men better. No matter how hard we try (note second verse), we can never perfect ourselves. Besides just paying the price and making restitution for our sins, we just don't have the ability to change our hearts to be pure as they should be. That requires grace, the enabling power of God. He grants us the ability to change, to become like Him.
Plus, I just really like this song and wanted to share it.
Not the labors of my hands Can fill all thy life's demands. Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow, All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and thou alone.
When I draw this fleeting breath, When mine eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown And behold thee on thy throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee.
I just discovered this hymn over the last week. I love it! the last line of the first verse really speaks of some great doctrine. There is more to the Atonement of Jesus Christ than forgiveness of sin, although that is a huge gift. Sometimes talked about is the capacity it gives Him to comfort us in our trials, but less discussed, but nonetheless vital, is the power to change; to make good men better. In my teachings of the living prophets class recently, one of the students made a beautiful comment about the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. He noted that it was amazing to realize that they were just men, but they had learned to access the power of the Atonement in their lives to make them like unto the Savior.
Observe this same concept taught by King Benjamin in Mosiah 3:19, "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord..." The gospel is to make bad men good and good men better. No matter how hard we try (note second verse), we can never perfect ourselves. Besides just paying the price and making restitution for our sins, we just don't have the ability to change our hearts to be pure as they should be. That requires grace, the enabling power of God. He grants us the ability to change, to become like Him.
Plus, I just really like this song and wanted to share it.
posted by Chicken Dust at 2:09 PM
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