O Love Divine, What Hast Thou Done!

O Love divine, what hast thou done!
The immortal God hath died for me!
The Father's coeternal Son
Bore all my sins upon the tree.
Th'immortal God for me hath died:
My Lord, my Love, is crucified!

Is crucified for me and you,
To bring us rebels back to God.
Believe, believe the record true,
Ye all are bought with Jesus' blood.
Pardon for all flows from his side:
My Lord, my Love, is crucified!

Behold him, all ye that pass by,
The bleeding Prince of life and peace!
Come, sinners, see your Savior die,
And say, "Was ever grief like his?"
Come, feel with me his blood applied:
My Lord, my Love, is crucified!

[Charles Wesley]

This is, for me, the most powerful passion hymn in the UM Hymnal. In it Charles describes the sacrifice of God for all of humankind in the death of Jesus. The only appropriate response to such sacrificial, self-giving love is repentance and obedience. Repentance from sin that alienates me from my loved ones, my neighbors, and God. Obedience to the teachings of Christ summarized in the commandments to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love those whom God loves (your neighbor) as God loves them. Christ's death and resurrection set me and you free from the power of sin and for the power of love.