Once I lived in sin
Always making the devil win
Till I was condemned to die
I waited till the day drew nigh.
I heard a knock on sin's prison door
As I slept on the world's coldest floor
My price has been fully paid
I was free, not work as a maid.
I went out of hell's gate
And shouted, "He has change my fate"
I asked how He did it for me
He said, "read my word and see"
It's I who died on the cross
To wash away your dross
I took you out of strife.
To give you eternal life!
I 'll Never from Him depart
But the world to impact
With His wisdom and His word;
Everything He did, Everything He said
It's Jesus. It's Jesus alone!
He sits mightily on the throne!
To Him be all honour and praise
To Him our voices and hands we raise.
Mawuli Amekor
'What Jesus did' is a poem that narrates an experience of the persona whiles he was in the world of sin and how the Lord Jesus paid for his freedom and delivered him from the horrible claws of sin and wash him with the blood that the Lord himself has shared on the cross of Calvary. The persona also acknowledges the fate changing event that took place during the deliverance process and promise to dedicate himself to the preaching of his saviour's word and wisdom in order to impact the whole world.
Always making the devil win
Till I was condemned to die
I waited till the day drew nigh.
I heard a knock on sin's prison door
As I slept on the world's coldest floor
My price has been fully paid
I was free, not work as a maid.
I went out of hell's gate
And shouted, "He has change my fate"
I asked how He did it for me
He said, "read my word and see"
It's I who died on the cross
To wash away your dross
I took you out of strife.
To give you eternal life!
I 'll Never from Him depart
But the world to impact
With His wisdom and His word;
Everything He did, Everything He said
It's Jesus. It's Jesus alone!
He sits mightily on the throne!
To Him be all honour and praise
To Him our voices and hands we raise.
Mawuli Amekor
ANALYSIS
OVERVIEW
'What Jesus did' is a poem that narrates an experience of the persona whiles he was in the world of sin and how the Lord Jesus paid for his freedom and delivered him from the horrible claws of sin and wash him with the blood that the Lord himself has shared on the cross of Calvary. The persona also acknowledges the fate changing event that took place during the deliverance process and promise to dedicate himself to the preaching of his saviour's word and wisdom in order to impact the whole world.
STANZA BY STANZA ANALYSIS
Stanza I
The first stanza of the poem started with the phrase 'once I lived in sin', which suggests that the current condition of the persona is located outside sin. The use of this phrase also unravel the flashback technique deployed by the persona. The second and third line of the poem seem a bit ironical since the unexpected is what happened to the persona. 'Always making the devil win', under normal circumstances should be followed by a positive outcome like a selection for reward or recommendation or even a crown from the devil; sadly the persona's tireless effort of making His master, the devil, win only qualified him for a 'condemnation of death' for he, the persona, stated: 'Till I was condemn to die' this sharp contrast deployed by the writer as the persona's condition move quickly from a state of comfort and heroism to a state of condemnation by perhaps his former boss 'the devil' unravel the character description of his former boss; 'the devil'. The persona, however, was unable to protest or even defend himself so he waited patiently for his day of death. One will assume at this point that 'the devil' his boss will make an effort to reverse this ridiculous situation, but I guess if we were to wait for this to happen the rest of the poetry will not continue because the persona will not be alive to narrate it. This stanza generally explicate the wicked and merciless nature of 'the devil' who happens to be the master of the persona at this moment. ECOM - There is nothing good for you with the devil, do not be deceived by his special treatment and how he makes you feel important when you are being chased by sin. All these are the natural flow of events that leads to your doom; BE WARNED
Stanza II
The first line of the second stanza did well to 'place our heart at the tip of our tongue'. The persona 'heard a knock at sin's prison door'. The imagery created here prove the situation of the persona to be that of uncomfortable and suffering. However, the persona, perhaps in a long time, for once had heard a knock on sin's prison door; but the only possible visitor he can be expecting here is death, for he is the one he has been waiting for. 'At long last the time to die is here' so he might think.
Once again the second and the third stanza contrast. 'I slept on the world's coldest floor' only reveal the poverty status of the persona, so that, he cannot even afford a bed not even a warm floor but 'the world's coldest floor'. How can someone who lives like this pay his dept in full; not any debt the but kind of debt he could have been killed for? But someway, somehow the unexpected happened again - irony - 'My price has been fully paid'. He is now free from such a wicked master, surprising isn't it? 'I am free not to work as a maid'. The most horrible word the persona can use to describe his situation is 'a maid' but trust me, even maids get paid for their effort; the persona however indirectly is proclaiming his joy since he has even gone past the condition of a maid who used to be a better place to be. ECOM - Some of us at this point will argue, 'For me I don't live like a maid, I have a good and a successful life, among others.' Bu the truth is we have been blinded by this material things so we cannot see our real condition. Trust me, when the time of your condemnation is due, you will seek with tears to live like a maid but it will too far for your hands to reach. You can read the story of the prodigal son - Luke 15: 11 - 18
Once again the second and the third stanza contrast. 'I slept on the world's coldest floor' only reveal the poverty status of the persona, so that, he cannot even afford a bed not even a warm floor but 'the world's coldest floor'. How can someone who lives like this pay his dept in full; not any debt the but kind of debt he could have been killed for? But someway, somehow the unexpected happened again - irony - 'My price has been fully paid'. He is now free from such a wicked master, surprising isn't it? 'I am free not to work as a maid'. The most horrible word the persona can use to describe his situation is 'a maid' but trust me, even maids get paid for their effort; the persona however indirectly is proclaiming his joy since he has even gone past the condition of a maid who used to be a better place to be. ECOM - Some of us at this point will argue, 'For me I don't live like a maid, I have a good and a successful life, among others.' Bu the truth is we have been blinded by this material things so we cannot see our real condition. Trust me, when the time of your condemnation is due, you will seek with tears to live like a maid but it will too far for your hands to reach. You can read the story of the prodigal son - Luke 15: 11 - 18
Stanza III
In the third stanza, a new word is introduced, 'hell' which depicts a terrible and a horrible condition. 'I went out of hell's gate' which therefore means, the persona's transition from gloom to happiness. 'And shouted He has changed my fate' an anonymous personality, has been introduced here by the persona. 'He' and this He changed the fate of the persona; now we have a fair idea of the one who knocked at sin's prison door, paid the price in full and changed the fate of our persona - 'He'. The persona asked a question we all would have asked: how on earth did u do that - But this generous and anonymous He, simply said: 'Read my word and see' If the persona want to know more about how this happen, the he has a task to perform to read the words of his saviour - this imply that, though the persona has been set free, he still has something to do in order to fully comprehend the mystery concerning his salvation. ECOM - When you are in prison and one day you find out that the prison doors are widely opened, what do you have to do? keep running until you are finally safe. The same thing happens in our redemption process, once you have been save you must work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Reading the word of God to know Him more and praying daily to love and draw closer to him - Read your bible, pray everyday if you want to grow.
Stanza IV
The fourth stanza is a revelation of how the salvation of the persona took place. Perhaps, he got this information upon reading the word of the anonymous 'He' as instructed. He now realised that his saviour did not just pay his price in full, He actually died to do so, 'It's I who died on the cross' 'To wash away your dross'. The words of the 'He' actually described the former situation of the persona as 'strife'. So that, the 'He', by His death, took away all this suffering from sin, the devil and broke the persona's prison door to deliver him. After gaining this knowledge the Persona now realised he owe all to the gentle 'He'. ECOM - When you realised that you have been set free from a particular unpleasant situation because someone choose to die for you to gain your freedom, how will you feel? Apparently, most of us actually don't really appreciate the work done on the cross of Calvary. The more we fellowship with the Lord, the more we will gain the revelation of what he did and the more we will love him. THE LORD DESERVES TO BE LOVED
Stanza V
'Never from Him to depart' Now upon gaining the knowledge, the persona started making promises, perhaps out of love to his saviour. Men give a lot of promises when they fall in love; the persona's case is not different. So he started :
'Never from Him to depart
But the world to impact
With His wisdom and His word;
Everything He did, Everything He said'
We have to bear in mind that, all this were not required of the persona in the poem, he just started without any force or pressure. Well some may argue that whiles reading the word he was told to read, he realised this. But that was not what he was told to look for. But someway, somehow he decided to give his full life and service to his saviour. ECOM - As said earlier, if we gain the full knowledge of what the Lord has done for us, we cannot help it but love and adore Him. unfortunately, this has become a mere historical event and for some of us a religious one. You need the word of God and His spirit of interpretation in order to unlock the mystery behind this event. I have some articles on this, they are currently on this blog, may be they can help you under stand the more, but most importantly, pray to God for a full revelation that will suit you.
'Never from Him to depart
But the world to impact
With His wisdom and His word;
Everything He did, Everything He said'
We have to bear in mind that, all this were not required of the persona in the poem, he just started without any force or pressure. Well some may argue that whiles reading the word he was told to read, he realised this. But that was not what he was told to look for. But someway, somehow he decided to give his full life and service to his saviour. ECOM - As said earlier, if we gain the full knowledge of what the Lord has done for us, we cannot help it but love and adore Him. unfortunately, this has become a mere historical event and for some of us a religious one. You need the word of God and His spirit of interpretation in order to unlock the mystery behind this event. I have some articles on this, they are currently on this blog, may be they can help you under stand the more, but most importantly, pray to God for a full revelation that will suit you.
Stanza VI
The last stanza begins with a declarative sentence, 'It is Jesus.' Which is a rather bizarre statement Who is Jesus? Is a rational question to be asked here. But the persona made a more queer statement, 'It is Jesus alone.' Instead of him telling us who this Jesus is, he is rather busy praising and glorifying this Jesus. This shows the obsession, an unmeasurable desire and joy about the Personality Jesus. The Persona, eventually never told us who is the anonymous 'He' and Who the personality Jesus is. We are however left in suspense to decipher these two mysteries. This technique of suspenseful ending is however used by the persona to lure readers into searching for the answer which will lead them to his position of joy and Happiness. ECOM - We all know that the 'He' in the poem is the Lord Jesus Christ. But the writer of the poem did not pinpoint that fact. Go search for who Jesus is. (Really? I do know who Jesus is. DO YOU?) If you know who Jesus is why are you sad over little situations? (The writer became happy and praised Jesus when he found Him) When you truly find Jesus, you will not struggle to live for Him, your joy will be completed, material things becomes a after-secondary matter, your life will not be based on what people say but what Jesus says. If you truly find Jesus, you will always continue to look for him daily in word and in prayer because you thirst for His love will become insatiable. LOOK FOR JESUS NOW!
Conclusion
The writer used a lot of poetic and dramatic devices like, flashback, enjambment, suspense, situational irony, poetic justice, etc. to unravel how He was ruled by sin and how salvation came through the Lord Jesus the Christ. The whole poem is divided into three part, Part one begins from stanza one and end at stanza two, where the writer narrates his experience under the reign of sin. This part of the narration is to bring to bare how the devil can destroy you if you live under sin without Jesus. You will be in total darkness and bondage and your life will be a mess. From the poem it is vivid that, one may not know how wretched he is in the world of sin and without Jesus until He is condemned to die as the persona suffered. You will be enjoying all you can (making the devil win) and the heroic feelings will flow through your veins but when your time of condemnation comes, you will realise it's all vanity.
The second part present Jesus as a saviour and a powerful personality that can deliver you from the bondage of sin no matter how tough the prison doors are, just a knock from him will set you free. This part also postulates the love of God through Jesus Christ his son. The writer's main concern here is to tell the world Jesus died for them and there is no need to serve sin anymore. His love has conquered sin and just by reading his word, his spirit makes you strong by the day to proclaim and serve the Lord with gladness not with pain and hurt.
The last part of the poem exhibit the overflow of joy on the part of the persona. This joy emanates from the love he realised Jesus Christ has demonstrated towards him; in that while he, the writer, was still a sinner Christ died for him and set him free. He also reveal to the readers what it is like to have fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, the joy involved in setting Jesus on the throne of your heart and making it a responsibility to serve, honour and adore him for the rest of your life. By the use of suspense, the writer creates a thirst for the Lord Jesus in the readers. This technique is to make the readers understand the fact that, Jesus Christ is indefinitely unattainable hence we should always be in the suspense of his personality by seeking him everyday.
God bless you for reading this analysis. please if you are touched or transformed by this tremendous analysis please don't forget to share. To share is to care. You can also recommend any article on this blog to anyone or any email address by just entering the email address into the box above - subscribe. or just put it in the comment box.
Want to support us click here
ECOM! We are Family; We are One
1 comment:
Thank U Br. Mawuli for this wonderful poem
Post a Comment