There are two Hymns that have titles that are similar. One by Elisha Hoffman (1839-1929) is called “What A Wonderful Savior,” written in 1891. The other by Frances (Fanny) Crosby (1820-1915) is called “A Wonderful Savior,” also known as “He Hideth My Soul,” written in 1890. Hoffman was a minister and wrote over 2,000 Hymns, one favorite being “Leaning on The Everlasting Arms.” Crosby wrote over 8,000 poems, many of which were put to music as Christian Hymns, such as “Blessed Assurance,” “I Am Thine, O Lord,” and many more. (any emphasis mine)
Irregardless of who wrote the most and best Hymns, Our Jesus is absolutely a Wonderful Savior. From the beginning, He came willingly of His own will to suffer and die a horrible death so you and I could have a pathway to the Father (John 10:18). At any time, He could’ve changed His mind and decided that we weren’t worthy of His precious blood, and we would have been lost forever. No one is righteous enough to be worthy of God’s forgiveness. Romans 3:10-12; “as it is written, none is righteous; no not one; No one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
Our Creator, the Lord God Jehovah, is pure and just, completely worthy of all praise and glory, and is perfect in every way. He cannot lie, as given in Titus 1:2 and Hebrews 6:18, and He can only accept perfection in return. Because humans are imperfect, and we have an inborn sin nature due to the original sin in Genesis 3, we can never attain Salvation and eternal life with the Father on our own.
Therefore, He sent a very precious part of Himself to provide for us a true pathway to forgiveness. In 1 John 2:2, we read, “He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” Propitiation is the act of gaining or regaining the favor of goodwill of someone (Miriam Webster). Going to 1 John 4:8-10, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is Love. In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son [John 3:16-18; Romans 5:8] into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is Love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us; and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
God does not have to prove anything to us, yet because He is pure love, His word is absolute. Therefore, anyone who receives and accepts the gift that Jesus “bought” for us through His shed blood at Calvary, God will forgive all their sins. Psalm 103:11-12; “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear (respect) Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.”
Two points here: For anyone to believe they can buy or earn their Salvation, it is a gross insult to the Savior. He paid for our pardon, and He would like us to receive His “gift” without reservation. Second, all who do not accept Jesus as their Savior will have to answer for all their own sins that they will have ever committed during their lifetime on this earth. Large or small, God hates all sin. As stated earlier, the only satisfaction (propitiation) for our sins is through the shed blood of God’s Son, Jesus the Christ.
At the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15), there will be a very long line waiting for punishment to be assigned. All who turned against God pre-Calvary, and all who refused to accept Jesus from Calvary to the end of the Millennium will be in that line. There is no pardon for all who are in this judgment.
One of the biggest mistakes many will make is to believe Satan’s lie that they are good and don’t need Jesus to get into Heaven. It’s sad and unfortunate as to the number of people who will be in Hell forever because of that rejection. There will be many more on that broad path that leads to destruction than those who will be on the straight and narrow that leads to eternal life, as given in Matthew 7:13-14.
God is not surprised by this, but all who do come to Jesus will have the Holy Spirit dwell in us (1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19; Ezekiel 36:27; 2 Timothy 1:14; John 16:13).
God will force no one to accept His Son but will accept all who truly do. When we do slip and sin after we have Jesus as our Savior, we know we have to confess and ask forgiveness (1 John 1:8-10). God is faithful and just to forgive us because He knows we will never be perfect in these human bodies. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ in them, they do not belong to Him (Romans 8:9).
Being forgiven does not release us from possible consequences caused by our sin. We are still subject to discipline, but it will be administered by the Father in a loving, corrective manner rather than punishment (Hebrews 12:5-11).
Once we will have been caught up to meet Jesus in the air, we will receive new, imperishable, forever bodies. Also, our mindset will be such that we will not be subject to sin ever again.
The messages being given by a number of “evangelical” churches today are designed to entertain, not to call attention to sin. They are about as unbiblical as they can get. Jesus told us to go into the world and preach the Gospel (good news). All who believe and have faith that Jesus came to this earth to be our perfect sacrifice; that He died on that cross; He was raised the third day to conquer sin and death; He ascended back to Heaven and is at the right hand of the Father; and He will come again to call His flock (all true believers) up to meet Him in the air to avoid the coming wrath, is what the Gospel is all about (Romans 10:9-13; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).
No matter what the false prophets who are inspired by Satan will tell you, Jesus is the only pathway to the Father and thus to eternal life in Heaven (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 8:1). Satan’s main goal is to draw as many souls away from Jesus as possible. Sadly, there’s a significant number of people in this world that are totally influenced by his seducing lies.
Jesus wants a relationship with us that is pure and holy. No other so-called god is represented as loving their followers. Jesus is “A Wonderful Savior,” as told in Ms. Crosby’s Hymn.
(1) “A Wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, a wonderful Savior to me. He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, where rivers of pleasure I see.
(ref) He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand.
(2) A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord; He taketh my burden away. He holdeth me up, and I shall not be moved; He giveth me strength as my day.
(3) With numberless blessings each moment He crowns, and filled with His fullness divine. I sing in my rapture, ‘O Glory to God,’ for such a redeemer as mine.
(4) When clothed in His brightness, transported I rise, to meet Him in clouds of the sky. His perfect Salvation, His wonderful love, I’ll shout with the millions on high.”
Having the protection of the Creator of the universe is absolutely wonderful. We may have trials and tribulations on this earth, but that only represents a small fraction of eternity in Heaven. Verse 4 of the song tells of rising to meet Him in the clouds. That day is drawing ever so close. Everything that had to be done prior to the Rapture has been completed.
When He calls, be sure you will be one to rise up and not be left behind to face the tribulation. He’s waiting for your call but won’t wait for long. Right now would be a perfect time to call out to Him.
All praise, glory and honor to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!