They might as well have called it ‘Gospel’, or ‘Salvation Basics’. But it seems as though Hannah Hobbs, Michael Fatkin, and Taya Gaukrodger had something more personal in mind when they wrote a song and pronounced themselves “Clean” in 2018. The three of them were part of the Hillsong Church and one of its groups, Hillsong United, in Sydney, Australia (see its convention center shown here) when they spelled out what being washed and purified meant to them. One has to realize first what being really dirty, and not with just a little dusty film on oneself, but actually being filthy and stinking up a place, to come to a point at which you could fully appreciate the opposite. Until you get that in focus, you and I cannot grasp the depth of what a pure sacrifice accomplishes, one with which Jews in the First Century were certainly baffled, and one with which many even today are averse to accepting. It’s called the human condition, which God is able to miraculously transform, if we humans let Him.
Hannah, Michael, and Taya have not shared what sparked their desire to sing about being cleansed (at least according to what bloggers like this one can discover via the Internet…someone lend me a hand if you know something I don’t, which I would welcome!). And yet, their lyrics provide us with enough to make an educated guess, one that is undoubtedly universal for the living, and has been since He made the first one of us. We all make mistakes, and He’s the holy God. Those two basic facts are the beginning, but not the end. These three Australian songwriters obviously began with those two essentials, and launched from this foundation into what allows God to make the squalid clean. They might have been aware of seekers in their midst, or perhaps were actually thinking of themselves when they wrote that ‘shame (could) retreat’ and that this could happen through accepting the ‘covenant’ that God established to make people ‘whole’ (v.1). How? How does this actually take place, one might ask. Hannah, Michael, and Taya wasted no time getting right to the point – it’s through some ‘precious blood’ – the first two words they penned. Jewish people would understand the point – sacrifice to atone for sin was always a concept that His chosen people accepted ever since their rescue from Egypt and His covenantal relationship (based on the law He gave to Moses) with them began in a desert. So, they became well-acquainted with the need for shed blood and did not really ask God why. The animal was to be one of the worshipping individual’s best, but would he/she actually think of that animal’s blood as precious, the way Hannah, Michael, and Taya characterized it in their song’s first line? This animal was actually Jesus, and commonly called the Lamb of God among Christians, another point that would be a point of disorientation for Hebrews who’d been in covenant with God. But, understanding that God was too holy and pure to even look at was something the Jews understood, and it’s also something that we who are not Jewish today still understand, if we get in touch with our circumstances and acknowledge how far from God that separates us. That confession is what these three songwriters embraced, apparently, and invited us who would listen to also accept.
That acceptance of ourselves, and then the agreement to let Him work on each of us, is where the believer arrives at the ‘forgiveness’ (v.1) which Hannah, Michael, and Taya have written. All the other things that follow in their song flow from that transaction between the forgiven and the God who makes it potent. Their words about being ‘pure…(like) snow’ (v.1), the ability to ‘lift my head’ and be ‘free’ (chorus), to find the ‘joy of holiness’ in His very ‘presence’ (v.2), are part of their message. There’s now a path for you and me to heaven and a part in the rejuvenation of creation that’s He’s planned – it’s been opened by what He’s done. It’s not a complicated message, if you begin with knowing and admitting to yourself that you don’t have a better offer, and seeing Him as the pivot point, the way of getting you out of your mess – whatever that is. Wanna get clean and start over?
Watch/listen to an original Hillsong version here: Bing Videos
Read about the church where the song was developed here: Hillsong Church - Wikipedia
Information on the image is here: File:Hillsong Convention Centre.jpg - Wikimedia Commons…This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Tatie2189. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: Tatie2189 grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law. …found inside this document: Hillsong Church - Wikipedia
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