Helpless

I had a mental image of Jesus lying prostrate in the manger and hanging vertically on the cross - helpless in both instances and His own body forming a cross that way. As I thought on that I realized that His whole life was a sacrifice, from birth to death. Almighty God became totally helpless, to help us to know Him.

He lay helpless in the manger,
He hung helpless on the cross,
Our times of greatest gain
His times of greatest loss.

His life a sacrifice
In His birth and in His death,
God's love for every man
Who ever drew a breath.

For God took human form
In Bethlehem's manger rude,
And took all human sin
Upon a cross of wood.

When God became a man
He laid His glory by;
The Word who had made worlds
Became a baby's cry.

Then He was lifted up,
Impaled His hands and feet,
A bloody sacrifice
Sin's thralldom to defeat.

Helpless now no more
His succor He extends
To all who would receive
This gift - to be His friends.

Helpless now are we
For we can but believe,
Our greatest triumph now
Is simply to receive

The life of Him who came
To bless the human race,
And drink in to the full
The wonders of His grace.