You’re supposed to be dead. But you don’t have to be dead because of Jesus Christ. (Robyn Tse)
First, allow me to apologize if what you’re about to read
is a pretty lengthy post. But I’ve thought long and hard about what I’m about
to share in the next few paragraphs. And in that long time, a lot of thoughts
have also crossed my mind. What if I’m over-analyzing? What if what I’m
conveying is wrong? Least to say, what I’m about to share here has been
something that’s been in my heart for quite some time now. And the quote above
from this week’s Gospel presentation ultimately prompted me to share it. Stick
with me on this one, I’m sure it’ll be worth the few minutes of your
procrastination. (But after this, please do your work.)
Allow me to put it into perspective first, though: about a
year ago I’ve grown this obsession into what someone once labelled as ‘next
level Christian rock’. You know, songs from the post-hardcore to the metalcore
genres with a Christian message on them. Throughout the year, I’ve come across
awesome acts that feature great men (and sometimes women) of God who have been
able to take such a genre of music typically associated with negative things
and have transformed it into a very unique yet great ministry platform.
For starters, one of the acts I’ve really come to love
would be the post-hardcore band Wolves At The Gate. Some on YouTube have
actually defined their sound as Worshipcore
because of how they have crafted such a heavy sound to be perfectly paired with
lyrics that you would usually find in a contemporary worship song you’d
corporately sing in a church setting. And yes, sometimes I actually find myself
in a moment of worship while I reflect on the lyrics either being sung or yes,
screamed.
What you’re about to read is a personal interpretation of
Wolves At The Gate’s “Dead Man”. Looking from a biblical perspective, the song
in its entirety depicts one of Jesus’ parables, namely the Parable of the Prodigal Son. (Luke 15:11-32) But if you look at it verse by verse, it somehow also
mirrors the Gospel in a way or two. You can listen to the song in its entirety
by clicking to the lyric video posted below. Meanwhile, why don’t we go deeper
into what they sing and scream.
And I was once a
dead man
A stranger with no home
I stood opposed to
God Himself
And yet, He
pardoned me
With all my heart
and the fiercest will
Desired not but to
thieve and kill
I hadn’t a thought
of peace, but war
Surrender was not
what I’d endure
I was a murderer
Filled with lies
and deceit
Faced with my list
of crimes
That I would always
repeat
We’ve all heard of this reality: that we were created for
a loving relationship with God the Father and that we were meant to have a
great and meaningful life to be spent with Him. (John 3:16, John 10:10) Yes
indeed, that was the Father’s initial intentions when He made Adam and Eve in
that beautiful garden. But long story short, currently we are separated away
from our Creator because of our sin. (Romans 3:23) And as the first few seconds
of the song conveys, we are dead men who stood opposed to God Himself. And when
we say death here, we’re not talking about the time we depart this earth. We’re
talking about the condition of our hearts. Needless to say, we’re bound
somewhere not pretty should we continue our lifestyle of lies and deceit.
(Revelation 21:8)
Deliver me, wake me
up from this damning sleep
I’m surrendering,
pull me out from this wickedness
In this thieving
heart of stone
I realized all
these sins I could not atone
I can’t help but to put an emphasis on “I realized all
these sins could not atone” when I look at this verse. Indeed, we cannot and
absolutely will not be able to save ourselves. We can’t pay for the penalty of
our sin. Sure, we can be nice, do some charity work, follow a religion and all;
but at the end of the day, those won’t be able to reconcile us to a perfect and
holy God who sees sin – no matter how big or small it is – as sin. And with how
holy He is, He cannot tolerate even the smallest bit of it. At all. (Romans 3:10-12, Galatians 2:16)
So just at the
right time
When we were dead
in our sins
You took this heart
of mine
And gave me life
again
So far apart and a
debt to fulfill
This purchase
bought on redemption’s hill
And ailing disease
I couldn’t cure
Oh, this grace how
rich and pure
I think those two verses summed it up perfectly. Jesus
Christ, when we were even yet sinners, paid the penalty of our sins by dying on
the cross. (1 Corinthians 15:3-6) Truth be told, that should have been us in
there. That should have been us facing the wrath of God. That should have been
us left to pay for our sins. We did the sinning but it was Jesus who died in
our place for our sins.
Abide in me, my
God! I am found in You
Pardon me, my God!
You know my deepest thoughts
Deliver me from
sin! I am made anew
I’m surrendering
this heart for which Your blood it bought
“For which Your blood it bought”. It is done. Paid for.
It is finished. Love, forgiveness, grace, mercy is us for the taking. We cannot
pay for it. We don’t need to. All that had to be done for us to have our
relationship with God the Father reconciled has been done and we can finally
live a life in which He transforms us inside out. Just one thing, though: we
need to receive this gift from God. (John 1:12, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8 & 9)
The mob they yelled
and screamed for justice
That wrath was
ours, we are to blame
You made a
spectacle of rulers, denying You of a king’s fame
Having crushed the
written cannon that wrote of all our guilt and shame
Displayed upon the
tree it was nailed: the saving power of Your name
For I was once a
dead man
A stranger with no
home
You saw this wretch
and You gave him life
Forever I’ll praise
You
Allow me to say it again: we deserved the death Jesus
died for us sinners. That wrath He experienced when the Father looked away from
Him momentarily when He took all our sin; that shame he had to bear being
crucified; the torture of those nails, the crown of thorns. And yet now that we
believe that He indeed shed His blood for our freedom, what better response we
could have but to offer our very own lives as a living sacrifice. (Romans 12:1)
It is not enough that we believe; we should desire to have our lives transformed
into His image, ultimately reflecting others to the one and only King. We’re
not just meant to receive this amazing grace, but also to tell others about it. (Matthew 28:16-20) This process of living a life after His heart doesn’t happen overnight, yet we
should desire it every day of our lives to be aligned to the image of our
Redeemer, our Saviour, and our friend.
Allow me to end this by posting the music video the band
produced for the said song. This video is a totally different story (it sent me
to tears a couple times, mind you), yet is as powerful as the song in itself.
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