An Easter favorite of many people is When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. Isaac Watts wrote these wonderful lyrics. Probably the best-known tune is the beautiful Hamburg (Lowell Mason). Another stirring tune to which these lyrics are sung is a traditional English tune, O Waly, Waly.
This hymn is based on Galatians 6:14, But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world.
The lyrics remind us that through the cross of Christ, we are consecrated, set apart for Christ. We know the details of His crucifixion from the Bible where we read all the accounts of Jesus’ arrest, trial, beating, crucifixion, and actual death on the cross.
As we survey (contemplate) the cross upon which Jesus died, we gain a deeper understanding of the depth of love that sent Him to the cross to take our sins upon Himself, to experience the wrath of God that we deserved, and to die in our place.
Stanza 1
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
The more we understand the depth of love and sacrifice the cross represents, the more grateful we become. This understanding leads us to say, along with the Apostle Paul, everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ (Philippians 3:7).
Stanza 2
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
Since Christ did all that was needed for us to have salvation, we must give up the vain things we desire and give ourselves to Christ as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1).
Stanza 3
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
The description of the blood as sorrow (suffering) and love mingling and flowing down is a stunning picture. Jesus’ suffering and death convey the limitless love of God that undergirds our salvation.
Stanza 4
His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.
This verse was in Watt’s original lyrics, yet it is often omitted in hymnals. What an awful picture these lyrics paint. The crimson blood of Jesus covered Him like a robe as He hung on the cross. In response to His sacrifice, we must put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5).
Stanza 5
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Since we now have a better understanding of the depth of God’s love expressed through the crucifixion of His Son, we realize that it is only by His grace that we have been saved (Ephesians 2:4-5). We recognize that even if we owned everything in nature it would not be enough to repay Christ for the gift of our salvation. The only thing we can give Him in response to His amazing and divine love, is everything—our souls, our lives, our all.
Stanza 6[1]
To Christ, who won for sinners grace
By bitter grief and anguish sore,
Be praise from all the ransomed race
Forever and forevermore.
This verse was not written by Watts, but appeared in numerous hymn compilations published between 1857 and 1875. Here we are recognizing that the finished work of Christ on the cross demands all Christ-followers to praise Him forever and forever.
[Excerpted from EASTER: Meditations for Addicts by Mark E. Shaw and Shirley Crowder.]
[1] This stanza was not written by Isaac Watts. It appeared in several hymn compilations that were published between 1857 and 1875 but has not been included in most hymnals. See https://bit.ly/WhenISurvey_v6
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