Upon a Life

This is a guest post from my husband, Brian. Brian works casual call as a nurse and does the majority of the work involved in taking care of our land and animals. In his free time, Brian enjoys planting trees, building things (like this incredible chicken coop), and singing hymns. We’ve been married for 14 years, and I’m happy to call him my husband.

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Upon a life I have not lived, upon a death I did not die,
Another’s life, another’s death, I stake my whole eternity.

Although I mentioned my love for the hymnal in my first post, I don’t think you’ll find this hymn in any hymnal, unless maybe you have the original Communion Hymns this was published in (about 150 years ago). It was written by Horatius Bonar, and the tune I’m familiar with was written by Kevin Twit and sung by Sandra McCracken.

I chose this hymn to meditate on for the concise, thought provoking way that these few words are put together to describe Christ’s atoning death for his people. The way it’s written almost shocks me into considering the weight of God’s grace in sending his son to die for me. I didn’t live a life acceptable to God, my life is full of sin. I couldn’t die for myself or anyone else. It is not what my hands have done that can save my guilty soul. Another lived a perfect life that fulfilled all the law’s demands. Another died in my stead. As Bonar puts it in another excellent hymn, “Not What My Hands Have Done” (which you can find in lots of hymnals):

Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest, and set my spirit free.

Thy love to me, O God, thy grace towards me, is what saves me from this weight of sin. I can’t boast in the things I’ve done to earn my place in heaven. I can only trust in the grace of a holy and sovereign God, who sent Jesus to wash me clean and make me acceptable in his sight. He died for my sins. And because he did, I can stand (and sing) before him for all eternity.

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But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our tresspasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:4-9

P.S. If you’re a great connoisseur of hymn books and want to try to find this one, the first line of the first verse is actually “On merits not my own I stand”. Let me know if you find it.