Blessed Redeemer - Do We Have the Correct Picture?

How well I remember the old Hymn -

"Blessed Redeemer! Precious Redeemer!

Seems now I see Him on Calvary's Tree,

wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading,

blind and unheeding, dying for me!"

That is a great place to begin our relationship with the Redeemer of mankind, but we dare not stop there! He is not in that piteous, lonely, rejected, suffering place any longer! He went there on our behalf, thank God! But that is far from the last we hear of Him! And we need to get that picture of His position firmly out of our minds! It is a religious smoke and lights game, which keeps us grateful, but enslaved! If He ONLY died for us – that would have accomplished perhaps, as it did for the thief next to Him which acknowledged His Lordship, an entry into the heavenly realm! But there would be no possibility of any victory here, with the LORD of Glory out of the way!

This morning as the song rolled through my spirit as I was showering and singing in tongues, as I often do, another version began to overwhelm it – which said -

“Blessed Redeemer! Precious Redeemer! Seems now I see Him at His Father's Right Hand! No longer bleeding, begging or pleading! Ready to lead all at His command!”

He has come in power to defeat the foes! He has come in power to cure our woes! He has come in power to equip His Saints! We must be careful, of what pictures we paint!

Lest we attribute weakness to Him, and miss His strength for ourselves! Lest we botch our assignment because of bad press and unreliable intelligence. Lest we fall short of the heavenly calling, because we considered Him to have fallen short of it! We must adjust our vision of Him! The Word says, when He comes, we will see Him as He is!

However, I think we have missed the fact that this is because those to whom He is due to return, will have been seeing Him all along, and have become His loyal followers, disciples and committed special ops crew!

We must exalt Him as LORD of All, We must show up to answer His call! We must stand ready at His command! Having done all, then, now we just stand!

Shalom Chavarim! Happy Sonday!