Astounding Grace

A magnificent poem for the Christmas season....     

Astounding grace, that God the Son 

should choose to leave his Father’s glory 

and refuse to clutch his dignity

exploit his right

make himself a no one in our sight

The word made flesh

the Son of God

the timeless God clothed in a mortal span

now born a baby in a cattle shed

transcendent God who suffered and bled

Astounding grace that Christ should suffer death 

and know first-hand

the grave’s cold clammy breath 

that he the Prince of Life, creation’s Lord

should take the curse which we could not afford

He died our death, buried all our sin

He tore the veil, we boldly enter in

He saw our bitter hates, our dreadful lust

He bore our guilt and then declared us just

Astounding grace that I who could not hear God’s warning judgements 

now should come to fear impending death 

the certainty of hell 

yet find in Christ my fears completely quelled

Once I was blind 

in shoreless wastes I drowned

but now I see the lost sheep has been found 

my guilts forgiven I gaze upon his face 

exalting Christ 

and His astounding grace

Amen.

D.A. Carson read this poem at the end of his excellent sermon “Sin and the Fall”   on Genesis 3.  I wish I had proper punctuation down for this poem but I just recorded it as I listened to his recorded sermon....  thank you for grammar grace.