In Christ Alone


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In Christ Alone


    
Do you remember this hymn?  It points to the peace,
comfort, strength, hope and victory we have in our wonderful
Lord and Shepherd: Jesus Christ! 
Ponder His love, His suffering and His
unchanging message as you read the verses below.

    
But keep in mind that His timeless message is intolerable to
those who want a more flexible kind of “god”!
Those who yield to “the prince of darkness” will deny
the problem of sin and mock the reality of divine wrath.
They include so-called “Christians”
who prefer “gods” of their own making and follow
seductive voices
that promise bliss but dismiss our
Savior.

    
It’s not surprising that liberal Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
leaders
have rejected the message of this hymn. After all, its words
don’t fit today’s image of a compromising “God” who
minimizes sin yet offers unconditional
salvation.

   
What makes this hymn so offensive to the world’s distorted
“Christianity” is its message that those who mock
or deny God’s
truths will face His wrath. But while His justice
continues to offend unbelievers, His Word still reigns in
the hearts of those who love and follow Jesus.




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.




Till on
that cross as Jesus died,



The wrath
of God was satisfied;






For ev’ry
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 pow’r of Christ in me;



From
life’s first cry to final breath,



Jesus
commands my destiny.




No pow’r
of hell, no scheme of man,



Can ever
pluck me from His hand;



Till He
returns or calls me home—



Here in
the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.






     



 The following excerpts provide more information:


Presbyterians’ decision
to drop hymn stirs debate:
“The committee putting together a new Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
hymnal dropped the popular modern hymn ‘In Christ Alone’
because the song’s authors refused to change a phrase….


     
“

The original
lyrics say that ‘on that cross, as Jesus died, the wrath of
God was satisfied.’ The
Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song wanted to substitute
the words, ‘the love of God was magnified.’…Critics say the proposed
change was sparked by liberals wanting to take God’s wrath out of
the hymnal.”

     The song’s authors, Stuart
Townsend and
Nashville resident Keith Getty, objected. So
the committee voted to drop the song.”…

    
“Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School in
Birmingham, Ala. said in a phone interview he
worries that the committee dropped the song
because the idea of God’s wrath has become
unpopular. ‘I don’t see this as an isolated case,’
he said. ‘It fits into a wider pattern of
downplaying parts of Christian doctrine that
are offensive.”

   
  Here are some relevant Scriptures:

“He is the living
God and the everlasting King.  At His wrath the
earth will tremble…” Jeremiah 10:10.

”…the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress
the truth in unrighteousness…”  (Romans 1:18)

“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (Romans 5:8-9)

”Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these
things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”
(Eph 5:6)

 


Encouragement

 

 

  


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