I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the very modern hymns.
Today’s song is O The Blood from 2010.
Blood is such a shocking word. I remember as a young child, if I fell and saw a bit of blood on my knee or whatever, it would make me feel that something awful had happened. And maybe we’re built to be shocked by the sight of blood or even at the mention of the word. Sin has terrible consequences, often leading to bloodshed. Opinions might differ on who’s responsible for current wars, but surely we all agree that sin lies at the root of it. And all sin had serious consequences because Jesus needed to go all the way to the cross and shed His blood for us to have any hope of salvation. And when we do repent and believe, we have a certain hope of salvation.
But it’s amazing that God Himself became man and went all the way to the cross.
Philippians 2:5-11
5 Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
It seems strange to me that a modern worship song would have blood in its title. I can think of numerous old hymns that speak of blood. Here are a couple of examples:
Some liberal and modernist theologians and clergy like to focus on the ethical teaching of Jesus. They sometimes seem embarrassed by talk of the cross and blood. And I sometimes wonder if modern evangelical churches focus more on earthly matters, such as community life and self help, than on the message of the cross. You might get that impression, but it’s nice to know that songwriters still align their hymns to New Testament teaching. We are asked to love one another, but the key message of the New Testament is salvation in Christ, not creating a Christian fun club 😀.
The cross is what Jesus came for, and there is much emphasis on blood in the New Testament in addition to the old. If Jesus merely taught ethics, we’d probably never have heard of Him. What changed everything was His death and resurrection. And the latter demonstrated who He was and what His death accomplished.
Here’s an example of some verses that speak of blood:
Matthew 26:28 (When Jesus established the ordinance of Communion)
28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Hebrews 9:12
He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
1 Peter 1:18-19
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
Here are some other versions of today’s hymn:
Hibernia Gospel 