The Ballad of the Cross
By Elton Smith and Larry Holder

(Verse 1)
By the prophets, God foretold
of the sending of His Son
Who would give His life
to set the captive free.
Stepping down from His throne
and the glory He had known,
Jesus came to give His life for you and me.
Though He knew well the cost,
He was prepared to suffer loss
and give Himself as ransom for us all.
Into our hopeless world He came,
Endured the suffering and the shame,
Every moment staying faithful to the call.

(Verse 2)
Yet the One who spoke of love
was rejected and despised;
He knew all too well the sinful heart of men.
Those with eyes refused to see;
Those with ears refused to hear,
as they sought a way to bring Him to an end.
By a friend He was betrayed,
By soldiers, led away,
Yet for this very hour He had come.
They did not take - He freely gave;
For those He came to save,
the road to the cross He walked alone.

(Bridge 1)
He could have called a million angels to His side,
Or stepped down from the cross and walked away.
Yet His love held Him there,
Through the pain and despair,
To free us from the debt we could not pay.

(Verse 3)
In His suffering and pain
Took the guilt and the shame
As He hung between the heavens and the ground.
Every nail, every thorn,
Every stare, every scorn
pierced the One who so freely laid it down.
With His face to the sky,
"It is finished!" was His cry
The words that broke the gates of hell.
When His final words were said,
Breathed His last, bowed His head,
Darkness o'er the land so quickly fell.

(Bridge 2)
Yet death and darkness could not stand against His power:
He rose, victorious o'er the grave.
In His light we now may live,
By the grace He came to give
All who call upon His name are surely saved!
All who call upon His name are surely saved!