Who wrote it (maybe members of the Salvation Army?)? Short answer – we don’t know. That would be the end of the story for some people, except that this musical subject for today has so many potent, positive things to communicate. The anonymous poet – or poets – said so many things that are connected to “I’ve Been Redeemed”, that one can hardly ignore what they’ve written, any more than we could belittle what the Salvation Army does. But, would it also be fair to say that the list of items linked to one’s personal redemption has not been fully described in the verses? Who could adequately tell all that a believer gains by being saved from destruction, by being redeemed from eternal captivity? One might be more credible as a witness if he/she visited us mortals after at least a glance inside heaven’s door, to have seen the face of the Redeemer. And yet, the liberation of our souls has begun already, if we can grasp what biblical writers and the composer or composers of this upbeat little song tell us. See if you get it, once you gather in all the words they give us.
Did the poet or poets of ‘I’ve Been Redeemed’ have open a bible while celebrating what comes with this assurance of which they wrote? Try on what one guy named John had to say (1 John 5:13), and it seems that the lyrics really flow from realizing that at least some of the magnitude of redemption’s gift is in its immediacy. It’s already begun! That belief’s confidence comes across best in perhaps one word of the title – ‘Been’. You and I are not waiting; we already have it. And, just listen to all of the buoyant things that come with this, according to the poets’ words. Besides being ‘redeemed’, I have contact even with the ‘Holy Ghost’…amazing! What has happened includes access to the ‘blood of the Lamb, through which my ‘sin (is) washed away’. I’ve been ‘baptized’, and since I’ve ‘been to the river’, I can now know I’m ‘saved’, ‘sanctified’. ‘Grace’ – that’s a great word, and there’s so many more. Are ‘hallellujah’, ‘He’s coming back’, being able to ‘pray’ and ‘praise’ Him any less significant? While some words or phrases might engender dread for others, when we who are redeemed consider ‘Judgement Day’ and standing before ‘His throne’, our hearts burn with longing. A probably universally happy thought is having someone ‘take me home’, right? There’s not many songs whose words convey no negative concepts, but this is appropriate for this one. It’s as if these writers wanted to think of nothing else except the brilliant light that was shining. ‘Felt so good that I stayed all day’ –these are the words of one alternate verse of the song. They provide in a nutshell what the author/s must have intrinsically gathered from their own experience. If you arrive in this redemption land, you just try to stay there. Nothing else matters compared to this.
Could the attitude of the poet/s of ‘I’ve Been Redeemed’ derive from other biblical writers, as well as John? How many were martyrs, from among those Jesus charged with spreading the word about Him? All of them (except John), seemingly. And yet, they staked their lives on this redemption, believing its reward is so unique and magnificent, and believable. They used all of the words these poets used. So, the question that us who are redeemed can pose to others is thus: what other promise have you got that offers so much, has so much written of it, has centered earth’s history and our calendars to that One person, and requires only your acceptance? These poets believed this redeeming act was accomplished fact, not a giant hoax. We’ll only know their identities someday, but you and I can believe today the words these writers already gave us. I believe words were spoken by other historical characters I’ve never met, so I can believe ‘I’ve Been Redeemed’, too. Can you?
See this link for all six verses of the song: https://hymnary.org/text/ive_been_redeemed_by_the_blood_of_anon
List of Christian martyrs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_martyrs
No comments:
Post a Comment