Why The Imputation of Christ Still Matters

Clarkson

Forget about the comments on her “long, frilly red dress” (MSN Music) or “another ugly red dress” by glitteratigossip.com. Donna Reynolds of FoxesOnIdol.com comments about first American Idol Kelly Clarkson who “gave a truly heart-wrenching performance of 'Because of You': 'She nearly broke, but managed to keep it together just enough to convey the passion that makes this song so powerful.'" I searched some of the Grammy 2006 blogs. It is unanimous. The Clarkson song was “heart-wrenching.” MSN Music says about the song as making “grown men cry” and added “Pass the tissue!” If you would have the time to look into the lyrics of thesong(http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/kellyclarkson/becauseofyou.html),you will not be surprised why this song is very passionate.

The song is loaded with powerful emotions of shame and bitterness. Your initial reaction would be to think that the song communicates a person blaming her parent. To translate the title in Tagalog, it would be “Dahil sa mga Kagagawan Mo.” But CBAP receptionist Rachelle Castillo told me that there was more to this song than just blaming. I read the lyrics again while playing the song, and I realized she was right. Wikipedia.com posts,“The song ["Because of You"] is one of Clarkson's most personal as she originally wrote the lyrics when she was only sixteen years old to deal with her emotional pain at the time. Clarkson has stated that although she has grown to overcome her pain through God, she can still relate to the pain of "Because of You".

This song has proved to be a world-wide hit. It continues, "Years later when she met Ben Moody and David Hodges(co-writers), Clarkson asked if they could write songs with her. She asked them to help her polish "Because of You" for the Breakaway album, but said that she would understand if they disliked the song and wanted to write a new song with her. Instead, both Moody and Hodges were impressed with the song, and along with Clarkson, they polished it into its final form. In this emotional autobiographical anthem, Clarkson laments her troubled family life as she sings: Because of you, I never stray too far from the sidewalk, because of you, I learn to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt. Because of you, I find it hard to trust, not only me, but everyone around me, because of you I am afraid. Because of you.

The Bible records some of the deepest thoughts and feelings of anguish, despair, hopelessness – almost always in vivid descriptions like

Psalm 88:15 From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death; I have suffered your terrors and am in despair.

Psalm 116:3 The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.

Jesus Christ identifies with this feeling. The Bible even says that he was “exhausted with sorrow” (Luke22:45)! Imagine that!Clarkson’s “Because of You” reminds us that there are ugly parts of our lives resulting from abuses and mistakes of others. And we need not deny them. Almost all of them are acts of other people that we didn’t actually want to be done to us. On a more biblical sense, the sin of Adam was something we never really did for ourselves (nor did we ever want) yet the Bible says “in Adam all die” (1Cor. 15:22) including us today. Romans 5:14 even seems to say that even before we broke a single command, the condition of sinfulness was already handed down to us. In effect, we have been exposed to punishment for something that we really didn’t do –the whole point of Clarkson’s “Because of You.”

Yet in this condition of helplessness, Christ comes to our rescue. In the same way that it was not our sin that led to our condemnation, it will also be not our righteousness that would save us:  the Righteousness of Christ. “For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians15:22).

It’s good to understand reality, especially if it is naggingly harsh – but it is better to understand that Jesus is the way out of the harsh realities of life.If you’re in a difficult situation right now, believe it or not, it is not the end of the world. Remember that your life is “destined for glory” (1 Cor. 2:7) and is a life of “ever-increasing glory” (2 Cor. 3:18) and not “perishing” (1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Cor. 4:3; 2 Thess.2:10). It is not going down but on its way up.   May the Good Lord continue to nourish your faith with His unfailing promises!