"There is a Fountain Filled with Blood"
Some time ago, I was watching the Andy Griffith Show and Andy and Barney were humming a toon. Barney asked what the song was called, and Andy said, “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood.” It was a hymn that I had never heard of, and the title sounded sort of strange so I looked it up. It has become one of my favorite songs. I was listening to it this morning (Chris Rice has a simple and powerful version of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Cg_WB09_OI ) and as I listened to the words, I wanted to share a few of my thoughts with you.
The first stanza goes like this:
There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains
Do you know Christian that you have lost all your guilty stains? That the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed you?
Ephesians 1:7, “ In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace…”
We already have redemption! Our trespasses are forgiven. All because Jesus saw fit to shed His blood for us. But there’s more - Romans 5:9 says, “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”
The blood of Jesus justifies us and saves us from the righteous wrath God has for our sins. We humans like to try to justify our own existence with worldly accomplishment, we want to prove our worth. But the Gospel teaches that our existence is already justified and our worth already proven in the fact that Jesus was willing to shed His blood for us.
I want to jump down to the 4th stanza it is so powerful.
E’er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die
The theme of the Christian’s life ought to be Christ’s Redeeming love. It should be the way we live, what we talk about, and what we get preoccupied with.
If someone were to examine your life – your actions, thoughts, words, and sacrifices what would they say is the “theme” of your life?
For me it may be something silly like John Wayne or movies. It may be my hobbies like woodworking or reading. It may be something more meaningful like my family or a charitable cause I’m passionate about. For many of us it could be our career – preaching is the theme of my life. Maybe for you something else comes to mind like sports or politics.
But could Christ’s redeeming love become the theme of our lives? Can we become so sure of and enamored with the Gospel that it becomes the obvious theme of our lives?
I like the way Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 9:16, “For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”
Paul says he can’t brag about preaching the Gospel because he has to do it, he can’t hold it in. the Gospel is the theme of his life.
The last stanza of the song goes like this,
When this poor, lisping, stamm’ring tongue
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save:
Do we grasp how profound the gift of our own salvation is? Do we understand what it means to be saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ?
Oh God, may I become so overwhelmed with your glory and grace that the thing I look forward to most is singing your power to save!
Love you church!
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