Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
This is the opening stanza of what is probably the most popular English hymn in the world, Amazing Grace. It reportedly has been recorded by over 6,000 artists- from Elvis to Willie Nelson –Aretha Franklin to Whitney Huston. Unfortunately, it is likely that only a few who have recorded this song throughout the years have understood the preciousness – the infinite value of the grace and goodness of God that is being proclaimed and exalted in this song. And probably even fewer who have sung or listened to this hymn know anything of the background and life of the man who glorified God’s amazing grace in his writing of it.
It was written in 1772 by a man named John Newton – a self-described wretch of a man, whose sinful lifestyle before his conversion would likely make yours look like Mother Teresa’s in comparison.
Incorrigible as a youth, he graduated quickly to employment as a slave trader and captain of a slave ship, establishing a well-deserved reputation as a mean and foolish drunk as well as being a self-confessed blasphemer of God. Of himself Newton would write, “I was capable of any sin; I had not the least fear of God before my eyes, nor (so far as I remember) the least sensibility of conscience.”
Lost in sin, shame and self-condemnation; blinded by the world around him to the truth of God’s greatness, goodness and the glory of His grace, Newton was the glad and thankful recipient of the grace of God that brings salvation through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ – alone (Ephesians 2:8-10). He wrote the words of Amazing Grace to express his own personal wonder and amazement – his absolute astonishment that God would graciously, through faith in Jesus, forgive him of all his heinous sins and change his wicked heart, thus rescuing him from the Hell he knew he deserved and qualifying Him for Heaven, which he knew he could never deserve.
Although having a rough transition from sinner to saint, as many of us do, Newton was called to become a pastor in the Church of England, and went on to write a number of hymns over the course of His life, glorifying this Savior and ministering to God’s people, but none more glorious then the hymn Amazing Grace.
The adjective amazing describes something that is wondrous, astonishing, extraordinary, or bewildering. It is used to describe something we personally experience or hear that is far beyond what we imagine or expect. We use it to describe great feats or accomplishments by athletes and entertainers; new technology and discoveries; natural phenomenon such as an eclipse or meteor shower, the taste of a special food or drink – typically anything that brings unexpected joy, delight or wonder. A comparative word we use more commonly today is the word “Awesome”, a word that in truth, should only be used in describing God and His works.
You can learn more about John Newton’s life in a video I have posted on the music page and I will be posting a related Bible Study on the Bible page in the next couple of weeks. More also regarding the glory of God’s grace and what makes it so amazing in my next blog post – or two- or maybe three.
Grace and Peace ×