Dear Fellow Alumni,
There is an old hymn,?Just As I Am, that my late dad used at all his evangelistic rallies and crusades around the world. Each time I sing this hymn, my eyes are filled with tears of thanksgiving for the way God has accepted me into his family, redeemed by the blood of Christ.
Travis Cotrell, a modern song writer, added a chorus and a stanza to this hymn. As a purist, I don’t really like the old hymns to be ‘tampered’ with by modern song-writers but I love this chorus. It really lifts this song, giving it a greater depth of meaning:
I come broken to be mended
I come wounded to be healed
I come desperate to be rescued
I come empty to be filled
I come guilty to be pardoned
By the blood of Christ the Lamb
And I’m welcomed with open arms,
Praise God, Just as I am.
I was relistening to this song last week and I happened to see a comment from someone who said that he had backslidden and that this song ministered to him deeply and brought him back to Christ!
God has wonderful ways to speak to all kinds of people – those who are wounded and broken, desperate, empty and guilty. Whoever comes to Christ, in whatever state he or she be in, will never be disappointed. This new version of?Just As I Am?speaks to backslidden Christians, lukewarm Christians, dead Christians and growing disciples of Christ!
In the Book of Revelation, the living Christ moves among his Church and addresses the seven churches. In Revelation 2:1-10, Jesus addressed the Church in Ephesus. He commended them for the many good things that they had done but there was one thing he condemned them for?– I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first.?(2:4-5).
The Ephesian Christians first came to Jesus through the preaching of Paul and they severed their relationship from idolatry and embraced the resurrected Christ. The city of Ephesus was the centre of the worship of the great goddess Artemis and people from all over Asia flocked to this temple for material blessings. Several also derived their income from the sale of merchandize from this temple worship. These new believers in Christ were radically transformed and adopted as children of the living God. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesian Christians, he commended them for their faith in Christ and their love towards all the saints. (1:15). Paul continued to give thanks to God and prayed for them,?that the Father of glory, may give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance…the immeasurable greatness of his power….?(Ephesians 1:17-19).
Paul reminded them that their salvation was solely by faith in Christ and not by any good deeds that they had accomplished. Furthermore, Paul reminded them that having now been saved by Christ alone, they are?his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works….?(2:8-10). The Ephesian Christians did wonderful works that glorified God. But decades later, Jesus rebukes them for having abandoned their first love! How tragic! But Jesus commanded them to repent and do the things they did at first.
We all have come out of darkness and are enjoying God’s glorious light and blessings since we first came to saving faith in Christ. We too had dedicated our lives to serve the Lord and many of you have been faithfully serving God amidst persecution and intense suffering. In the midst of all that we are doing for Christ, we need to examine our souls periodically, to see if our service to Christ stems from an overflow of love and gratitude for his goodness, his mercies and his love for each of us. If we are getting tired of the things we are doing and are becoming frustrated and envious of others who seem to have a better life than ourselves, and we are merely working for the sake of working, we need to stop! Recalibrate! Examine our hearts and see if we are serving the Lord because we love him or we are just doing this as a laborious chore, waiting to get out of this trap. We need to go back to Jesus and remember the start of our ministry and how it was driven by our passion for Christ and the lost.
Remember Jesus?the One who redeemed you through his blood, forgave your sins and lavished on you the riches of his grace. (Ephesians 1:7-8).
Repent?and seek his forgiveness and cleansing.
Return to your first love for Jesus?and allow his healing balm to flow through you so that you will always serve him with gladness and enter his courts with praise.
Be Restored?to the joy of your salvation you once enjoyed. (Psalm 51:12).
Come to Jesus just as you are…broken, wounded, desperate, empty and guilty. Jesus will mend, heal, rescue, fill and pardon you.
Bonded in His love!
