Bearing our Blame

"And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me.... I will be a surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever" (Genesis 43:8,9). "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10).

We view a faint reflection
In the words that Judah said.
The Surety for our protection
Was Jesus in our stead.

Judah was a surety
For the youngest of his brothers.
Yet Christ for all eternity
Would bear the blame for others.

"Let me bear the blame forever!"
So Judah said that day.
Yet our Lord by His endeavor,
Has borne our blame away!

Here is love's initiation:
Before our love begins,
Christ is our Propitiation
To save us from our sins!

Lord of love, to bear our blame,
You left Your throne above,
And on that cruel cross became
Our Surety of love.

There are no words, O Lord, it seems,
To thank You as we should.
You are, beyond our grandest dreams,
Our Surety for good.

So may we give our lives to You
As living sacrifices.
There's nothing more that we can do,
And nothing less suffices.