In Christ Alone
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
ÂTil on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand 'til
He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand
This is my favorite Hymn. It captures the glory and power of Christ. I want to walk through some of the lyrics and what He has done in my life as of late.
He really is solid ground, through fiercest drought and storm. I have gone through months of severe storms but He has been my solid ground, He has put my feet on firm places...His truth, His will, His way, His word, His Son, His grace and His power to change me, to lift me from the mire, and to hold me close.
Just as He calmed the raging sea He has calms my striving; my fears have been stilled through the peace He gives. I am finally resting in Him, through His grace alone. How are you currently striving? Are you trying to please others? " For am I now seeking approval of man or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." (Gal. 1:10). Are you attempting to earn His love and grace? Or are you simply resting in the sovereignty of God? We often make things complex when the God of all is fully in control. No matter what you are going through, turn into Him...for what man or the enemy means for evil, God intends to use for good! As Piper says, "we rejoice BECAUSE of our sufferings, not IN SPITE of them... because we know what they produce... endurance, faith, character...I am so glad we don't just have a God who defeats the enemy, but turns the enemy into a servant of Gods sovereignty and perfection"
Let us STAND upon Him. What does this mean? To be rooted, built upon, established and ingrained in Who He is and Who you are in and through Him. May we be saturated in His word, His presence, His Holy magnificence.
"In the death of Christ, I live." Do I grasp this? Not really. But there are moments the He does give me a glipse of the power, of the true gift, of the SAVING grace that I have life in. No matter what we are going through, we can REJOICE that we live through Christ's death.
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me. AMEN! How amazing is that? I am no longer in bondage, in the cage of sin. But oh beloved, how often do we believe the schemes of man and the enemy, that we know nothing but the bars of a prison cell in sin's curse. He has unlocked the door beloved! Walk out and be free in Christ. It is for FREEDOM that Christ has set us FREE, so do not again LET yourself be captive. (Galatians 5:1).
I have a prayer request for any brothers and sisters who do read this...please pray that I would have no "guilt in life." As God had taken me through healing, satan is attempting to crush my spirit with condemnation that I would forget that I am daily NEW in Christ. Also, perhaps "fear in death", is talking not only about bodily death but also the dying of our flesh. May we be courageous enough to pray that our pride and flesh would cease to go on living, but only that of which is Christ Jesus will grow. May we be pruned by the Faithful Gardener, our God, (John 15).
I ask beloved, what part of this hymn challenges you most and penetrates you? I ask that we would all learn to meditate upon His words day and night.
I must decrease, so He may Increase,
Kate
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
ÂTil on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand 'til
He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand
This is my favorite Hymn. It captures the glory and power of Christ. I want to walk through some of the lyrics and what He has done in my life as of late.
He really is solid ground, through fiercest drought and storm. I have gone through months of severe storms but He has been my solid ground, He has put my feet on firm places...His truth, His will, His way, His word, His Son, His grace and His power to change me, to lift me from the mire, and to hold me close.
Just as He calmed the raging sea He has calms my striving; my fears have been stilled through the peace He gives. I am finally resting in Him, through His grace alone. How are you currently striving? Are you trying to please others? " For am I now seeking approval of man or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." (Gal. 1:10). Are you attempting to earn His love and grace? Or are you simply resting in the sovereignty of God? We often make things complex when the God of all is fully in control. No matter what you are going through, turn into Him...for what man or the enemy means for evil, God intends to use for good! As Piper says, "we rejoice BECAUSE of our sufferings, not IN SPITE of them... because we know what they produce... endurance, faith, character...I am so glad we don't just have a God who defeats the enemy, but turns the enemy into a servant of Gods sovereignty and perfection"
Let us STAND upon Him. What does this mean? To be rooted, built upon, established and ingrained in Who He is and Who you are in and through Him. May we be saturated in His word, His presence, His Holy magnificence.
"In the death of Christ, I live." Do I grasp this? Not really. But there are moments the He does give me a glipse of the power, of the true gift, of the SAVING grace that I have life in. No matter what we are going through, we can REJOICE that we live through Christ's death.
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me. AMEN! How amazing is that? I am no longer in bondage, in the cage of sin. But oh beloved, how often do we believe the schemes of man and the enemy, that we know nothing but the bars of a prison cell in sin's curse. He has unlocked the door beloved! Walk out and be free in Christ. It is for FREEDOM that Christ has set us FREE, so do not again LET yourself be captive. (Galatians 5:1).
I have a prayer request for any brothers and sisters who do read this...please pray that I would have no "guilt in life." As God had taken me through healing, satan is attempting to crush my spirit with condemnation that I would forget that I am daily NEW in Christ. Also, perhaps "fear in death", is talking not only about bodily death but also the dying of our flesh. May we be courageous enough to pray that our pride and flesh would cease to go on living, but only that of which is Christ Jesus will grow. May we be pruned by the Faithful Gardener, our God, (John 15).
I ask beloved, what part of this hymn challenges you most and penetrates you? I ask that we would all learn to meditate upon His words day and night.
I must decrease, so He may Increase,
Kate
posted by Kate at 10:41 AM
2 Comments:
What a great hymn!! The truth that can be found in hymns is just amazing isnt it? I am so happy you can stand on the truth of the hymns and the Bible. Keep striving for dying to yourself Kate. Christ will live in you. Remember that "all God asks he provides". (thats Derek Webb by the way) God is so good, granting us with freedom, liberty, and the ability to now know Him. What a privilage and oppurtunity to be chosen, persued and taken by the creator of the Universe. I cannot help but thank Him for what he has done. Keep fighting to see God and get through the heartache and pain Kate. You can do it, because Jesus wills it.
I often sing this song and sadly enough I must admit that frequently these words seem to escape me, for the true meaning does not impale my heart as it should. But oh the wonder of this song, oh the burden of truth and righteousness with which it was written. As I sat here reading the lyrics one line in particular seemed to resonate in my mind and it was the echo of truth through the ages penetrating my spirit, “And as he stands in victory,” oh the blessedness of such a bold proclamation! And my soul began to cry out, “Yes! That’s right, Christ is victorious!” And it is there that the Christian draws all hope, it is there that the Christian draws all confidence, and it is there that the Christian draws for himself the meaning of life.
We have hope in this, that Christ has already claimed victory and His victory has been imputed to His elect. “The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to keep still,” (Exodus 14:14). What a blessed assurance for we know that in this world there shall be strife but our hope is placed in what was done on Calvary. For what was done is twofold, we know that Christ conquered the dominion of man and the dominion of the spiritual world.
It is said that through the death of Christ, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it,” (Colossians 2:15). The very men that sentenced Christ to die, he conquered! Oh they tried to silence him, they tried to turn him over, they sought to crush him, but all the vices of wicked man could not withstand the power and glory of the resurrected Lord! And now we hold to this hope and we fear not the persecution of man, for Christ triumphed, he disarmed them, that we may say with our Blessed Saviour, “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known,” (Matthew 10:36). And though we see the wicked prosper we have hope with the Psalmist, “Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin…They are like a dream when one awakes; on awaking you despise their phantoms,” (Psalm 73:18; 20).
Yea, Christ hath triumphed over sinful man but he has also overthrown the great evils of the spiritual world. For we affirm with the Holy Scriptures that, “Our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places,” (Ephesians 6:12). In Dante’s Divine Comedy as Virgil and Dante make their way through Hell and Purgatory they come to a gate protected by the rebellious angels who were cast from the presence of God. These demons refuse to open this gate, and neither Virgil nor Dante can proclaim any authority to them. Dante looses heart for it was told to him that his journey to the center of Hell was the divine will of God and it now seems impossible. His guide, Virgil, comforts him with these words which when looked at carefully utter an unmistakable truth:
“And to me he said: ‘You need not be cast down
By my vexation, for whatever plot
These fiends may lay against us, we will go on.
This insolence of theirs is nothing new:
They showed it once at a less secret gate
That still stands open for all that they could do—
The same gate where you read the dead inscription;
And through it at this moment a Great One comes.
Already he has passed it and moves down
Ledge by dark ledge. He is one, who needs no guide,
And at his touch all gates must spring aside.’”
Christ is the “Great One” and he hath overthrown the spiritual forces of this world, none can resist Him. We know that Christ has conquered these spirits, that he bids them where they shall go and what they shall do, (Matthew 8:28-33). Christ was the fulfillment of the prophecy in Genesis, when God declares that he shall set enmity before the Seed of Satan and the Seed of Woman, and surely “He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel,” (Genesis 3:15). Christ has dealt the mortal blow to Satan and Satan shall perish! And for us, Christ is our weapon in this spiritual battle, and by Christ we conquer all these things, (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Oh the sweet victory in Jesus, our reason for hope!
And not only hope but our confidence. “Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body most put on immortality. When this perishable body put on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Corinthians 15:51-55). Let us all place our confidence in this, that death has no matter in the Christian life, we shall not fear that which weighs so heavily over the hearts of men, for Christ is our victory, and Christ has overthrown the power of even death! And if we are one with him we hold unto the guarantee that on that Day Christ shall come with a mighty sound, the Lamb shall descend Mount Zion with his 144,000 elect, and he shall claim victory forever! Oh the sweet victory in Jesus, our reason for confidence!
And so through Christ’s victory we can now taste the very meaning of life. For the chief end of this life is not that one be happy, nor that one find contentment, no rather the end of all things is the glory of God. That is what it all comes back to, that is the reason for the existence of this universe, that God’s glory be displayed in the goodness of his grace! The victory of Christ is our hope and our confidence, and because of this we shall all turn to the Lamb and give him the glory that is due to his name. For he was slaughtered, he was hung upon the cross, scorning it’s shame, that the wrath of God might be satisfied fully in him, and being resurrected from the dead, which we hold to by faith, he alone has claimed victory, he alone is deserving of the praise. Oh the sweet victory of Jesus, our reason for life!
Because he has claimed this victory we may with one voice cry that he is indeed our light, our strength, our song. That the resurrected Lord is a cornerstone firm through the greatest trials and temptations, because he was victorious! Because of his victory the curse of sin has been lifted from his chosen, that we may find this to be true, no guilt in life nor a fear in death and because he has claimed victory over man and sin nothing shall ever pluck us from his hand. And so we eagerly await, when once again he shall burst forth in glorious day! When he shall call his elect home and end forever the strife of this world.
Let us keep these things in mind as we sing a song such as this, a song so rooted in truth and established in the Holy Writ. Thanks be to Christ who has won for us victory over all things!~Reformed Tulip
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