And Can it Be?

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

And can it be that I should gain

An interest in the Savior’s blood?

Died He for me, who caused His pain—

For me, who Him to death pursued?

Amazing love! How can it be,

That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Amazing love! How can it be,

That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

The questions posed in the first verse of the classic hymn "And Can it Be" are very piercing. The answer to them all is the same -- yes -- though it's quite difficult to understand why. In fact, humanly speaking, I can't think of a single reason why the answer should be yes. Still, it's all true, and this song gives us one of the most personal expressions of the experience of the grace of God that we are ever likely to see.

The first question of the song seems to be one of disbelief. Is it really true that I of all people have access to the blood of Jesus? As remarkable as it seems, we do. "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." Despite the fact that I have done (and can do) nothing to earn this right, Jesus Christ made Himself the propitiation for my sins, and in doing so gave me an interest in His blood.

But that doesn't tell the whole story. Despite the fact that the offer is made to so many, there is enough to go around. Though many will refuse this most generous of offers, the blood of Jesus Christ was shed for them as well -- He did enough for the entire world. As the songwriter said, "Though millions have come, there's still room for one." That will always be true.

The second question is one that is answered by our text verse. Yes, we're all sinners, and that is what necessitated the crucifixion of our Saviour, but He still died for us. Note that the Bible doesn't say that He died because of us. It wasn't necessary that He died simply because we are sinners and that there was no way for Him to avoid death. It was necessary that He died because He loved us and wanted to save us. His death was by His own choice. He died for us.

We have the answers to the first two questions, and yet, Charles Wesley asked one more question in the first verse of this beautiful hymn. Yes, we did gain an interest in the Saviour's blood, and yes, He did die for us. He told us so in His word. Even so, the depth of that love caused Mr. Wesley to exclaim his wonder and ask his God how He could pay that price. Even though we have those answers in the Bible, the extreme lengths that God's love was willing to go to makes it all incomprehensible to us. I know that God loves me, and I know that He gave His Son for me, but I'll never understand why.

One day, those of us who have experienced this incredible love and grace will be caught up to Heaven to spend eternity with the Saviour who made it all possible. And yet, as long as that eternity rolls, I don't believe we'll ever get past the wonder of it all. Throughout eternity, we will continue to praise God for this amazing love. This hymn gives us a bit of a peek into the praise of Heaven, but it still falls short of the splendor we'll behold when we finally se our Savoiur face to face. We're on the small end of something very big!