About 2000 years ago
A man named Jesus
Was condemned by the crowd
As one guilty of a great crime
Though He was innocent
Completely without sin
He was beaten mercilessly
Till He was unrecognisable
And then cruelly crucified
As though He was a criminal

Yet Jesus had great power
Which He had demonstrated daily
He could’ve simply walked away
And no one could’ve stopped Him
He could’ve called on angel armies
To overthrow all His accusers
Build His own earthly kingdom
With His disciple followers
So why did Jesus choose
The cross on that day?

Though He was sinless
Jesus was fully human
He’d been tried and tempted
Lived under sin’s dominion
He knew the suffering
The hurts of this world
And his words and actions
Showed his desire to free us
To release us from all sin
To live as God’s children

Jesus used His great authority
And all His heavenly power
Not to take control of us
Or command us in that hour
But serve us as a scapegoat
Be our sacrificial lamb
Pay for our sin with his blood
Die our death to man and God
All the punishment we deserved
Jesus took on Him in our stead

For Jesus knew the only way
We could be freed from sin’s sway
Was for us to be re-born
Remade as true sons of God
New hearts, new spirits
Full of his love and grace
Set apart as holy ones
Living His righteousness
Joined to His Holy Spirit
With Him made One

So when Jesus was resurrected
As King over all by God appointed
He used his power and authority
To make his death and resurrection ours for free
All that He is, He has given to us
So we can live as God’s true sons
Remade, reborn in His image
Filled with His powerful spirit
Not because we’ve earned this gift
But through Jesus righteous merit

Now we who are His, can live like Him
In the power of His resurrection
Filling this world with His love, joy and peace
Bringing in healing and freedom from sin
Revealing Jesus in all that we do
Loving our enemies and forgiving them too
Raising up the poor and the broken
Regardless of religion or political persuasion
Releasing to all the freedom of God’s justice
Treating all as God sons for whom Jesus paid the price

You see Jesus is our only salvation
The only true hope for our planet and nations
For no law or rule no matter how good
Can break sin’s curse so we can live in love
Laws and regulations can make us pay
When we’ve done wrong or gone astray
But they’re powerless to heal our hearts
Or break sin’s hold on our minds
Only Jesus death and resurrection
Can give us all heavenly life everlasting