Amazing Love!

Isaiah 53:5 NRSV
“But he was wounded for our transgressions crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.”
 
“And can it be that I should gain an int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died he for me, who caused his pain? For me, who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”
 
That is the opening to the hymn “And Can It Be” by Charles Wesley, written in 1738. Charles Wesley was a bright child born in 1707 who became a King’s Scholar at Westminster and a strong student at Oxford. At Oxford, Charles and his brother John sought to live the Christian life so methodically that classmates dubbed them (and some of their friends) " Methodists.”
After graduation, Charles and John came to the American colony of Georgia as missionaries. As a missionary, some seen Charles as a failure. One such instance is Charles insisting that an infant must be baptized but immersing them three times.  It is told that one very angry mother fired a gun at Charles once. Charles returned to England ill and depressed.
Charles began writing hymns in May of 1738 after a meeting with Peter Boehler. After the meeting, Charles wrote, “I now found myself at peace with God, and rejoiced in hope of Loving Christ. I saw that by faith I stood” Many historians believe that the hymn stated above was Charles's first hymn. This is because of the testimony found in verse 4. This hymn is on page 263 of our church hymnals. I want to encourage you, next time you are in the sanctuary, to open the hymnal, read this beautiful hymn, and remember Jesus was pierced, crushed, wounded, and killed for the sins of Charles Wesley… and you… and me. Now that is amazing love!