Today, I’d like to take a look at the second hymn we sang during this past Sunday service. If you’re following from the Lutheran Service Book, it is hymn 842.
Congregational Singing
*Note: It is not easy to find good videos/audio of these hymns being sung by a congregation. I was very happy to have found this one. If your Church records the congregation singing these hymns, please send me a link via Contact Us.
Studio Singing
I just realized I managed to find 2 videos with piano accompaniment rather than organ. 🙂
1 Son of God, eternal Saviour,
source of life and truth and grace,
Son of Man, whose birth incarnate
hallows all our human race,
thou, our Head, who, throned in glory,
for thine own dost ever plead,
fill us with thy love and pity;
heal our wrongs, and help our need.
2 As thou, Lord, hast lived for others,
so may we for others live;
freely have thy gifts been granted,
freely may thy servants give:
thine the gold and thine the silver,
thine the wealth of land and sea,
we but stewards of thy bounty,
held in solemn trust for thee.
3 Come, O Christ, and reign among us,
King of love, and Prince of peace;
hush the storm of strife and passion,
bid its cruel discords cease;
by thy patient years of toiling,
by thy silent hours of pain,
quench our fevered thirst of pleasure,
shame our selfish greed of gain.
4 Son of God, eternal Saviour,
source of life and truth and grace,
Son of Man, whose birth incarnate
hallows all our human race,
thou who prayedst, thou who willest,
that thy people should be one,
grant, O grant our hope’s fruition:
here on earth thy will be done.
Discussion
When you find a song that so clearly declares the Person and Work of Christ, it’s hard to keep the emotions in check. It’s also hard for me to find ways of expanding upon what is so clearly written. So, I’ll just comment a bit and share a link to a radio program where we can listen to some Pastors discuss the song.
The opening of the song feels a lot like we’re reciting one of the Creeds (Nicene, Athanasian, or Apostle’s). We are making a very clear proclamation of Christ’s Deity, Eternal Personhood, the incarnation, the very source of Life, Truth, and Grace. Amazing. This is our confession of Christ and it is also a rebuke to those who deny Christ or create their own versions. I love how it closes out in the present tense, acknowledging that we still wrong and we still need and we look to Christ to heal our sin and help us in our needs.
In this verse, we see our righteousness before God clearly presented as a free gift from God, nothing we have earned in any way, and we also pray that we might serve our neighbors as an outflow of that free gift. We pray that He might help us be good stewards of God’s bountiful grace.
In this verse, I see the Preached Word, Law and Gospel. When we gather around the Word of God, Christ is among us. The Law convicting us of our sin, shaming our greed, mortifying the flesh, and the Gospel giving us life, quenching our passions.
This last verse returns to the confession of the Person and work of Christ as he continues to serve us, and will Return on the Last Day. The closing line reminds me of part of the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”.
If you’d like to listen to some more in-depth discussion of this hymn, give a listen to KFUO Radio’s discussion here.
Thank you for reading. If you like this feature, please let me know. It’s sometimes difficult to find good, clear recordings of the lyrics being sung so I’m not sure if I can keep it going on a regular basis, but I will do my best. I think this feature will serve as a good counter-balance to the DiM work on the chart-toppers in CCM.
Jude 24-25 (ESV) Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
January 31, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Giants Fall” by Francesca Battistelli which currently sits at #18 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.
Today’s song falls into the error of trying to offer victory in this life and presumed promises of the Gospel without preaching the Law or the Gospel. It relies completely on the listener already having sound theology and blindly encourages the listener to do whatever it is the listener wants to do because God is with them. Well, He may not be. This song is disapproved because of its recklessness and narcisgetical treatment of 1 Samuel 16.
Everyone’s telling you To let go of what you’re holding to
It’s too late, too far
You’re too small, it’s too hard
Throwing water on that spark
Living deep inside your heart
With oceans of reasons
The things you’re not seeing
But oh, maybe they don’t Know what you know
That you’re not alone
(chorus)
Don’t you be afraid Of giants in your way
With God you know that anything’s possible
So step into the fight
He’s right there by your side
The stones inside your hand might be small
But watch the giants fall
We could really live like this
Can’t you imagine it
So bold, so brave With childlike faith
Miracles could happen
Mountains would start moving
So whatever you may face
(chorus)
Don’t you be afraid Of giants in your way
With God you know that anything’s possible
So step into the fight
He’s right there by your side
The stones inside your hand might be small
But watch the giants fall
Ask and believe
You’re gonna see
The hand of God in every little thing
(chorus)
Don’t you be afraid Of giants in your way
With God you know that anything’s possible
So step into the fight
He’s right there by your side
The stones inside your hand might be small
But watch the giants fall
Miracles can happen
Anything is possible
Watch the giants fall
Discussion
Okay, so from the outset it should be clear that the artist is pulling from the David and Goliath motif. Back in May 2014, we did a CTT post on that particular form of narcigesis (reading yourself into a passage) where we looked at the account of David defeating Goliath and how it points to Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil.
For those of you who want a quick summary rather than read the older CTT post, I’ll say that if we are looking at the account in 1 Samuel 16 from a historical perspective, King David is King David, Goliath is Goliath, and Israel is God’s chosen people whom God saves from the kingdom of the Philistines. We also see this as type and shadow of the once-for-all victory of Christ over sin, death, and the devil. King David foreshadows Christ (who sits on the Throne of David, born in the City of David, etc), Goliath stands in for sin/death/devil, and Israel is the Church, whom God saves from the kingdom of darkness. Goliath does NOT represent your day-to-day disappointments.
So that takes care of the song’s title and overall theme of the song. It’s based on an extremely popular form of narcigesis within the evangelical industrial complex. Back when I had written the CTT post, I could only speak for NAR circles, but I’ve seen this error nearly everywhere within “American Christianity” since. We love being the hero of our own story. Unfortunately, that isn’t the theology of the cross. Now, let’s look at some of the other issues with the lyric of this song.
Verse 1. Okay, so who’s the audience? What’s the dilemma? Apparently the dilemma is that everyone is telling the target audience to let go of what they’re holding onto. Is that a bad thing or a good thing? The song assumes it’s bad, but is it? Shouldn’t we let go of false teaching, idols, sinful desires, selfishness, greed? Yes, yes we should. What might we be holding onto that others will try to make us let go of? The Word of God? The confessions? the Creeds? Proclamation of Salvation by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ Alone, to the Glory of God alone, as revealed in Scripture alone? Well we cannot and will not let go of such things. My point here is the artist simply hasn’t defined the problem to which she’s going to cheer on the listener. This song has no footing, no anchor. That is a real problem for this song because the next verse builds onto this one without bringing any clarity. We have to assume that the listener is holding onto all of the right things and that everyone who is telling the listener to let go is wrong. That’s quite the stretch even before we get to the narcigetical treatment of David & Goliath.
Chorus. A blind approval and encouragement to “go, fight, win” without any discernment in the problem at hand. This happens a lot within charismatic circles, by the way, just showering name-it-and-claim-it positivism that whatever it is you want will be yours and they do it in Jesus’ name, blasphemy be damned. Since this chorus is being offered as an answer to the first verse, it is equally lacking in foundation or an anchor. The listener may be holding onto the wrong things, dangerous things, things God’s Word forbids, yet the listener is being encouraged to “go, fight, win” with whatever they’ve got on their minds. this is reckless and dangerous. This is what happens when you try to present promises of the Gospel without any mention of the Law.
Verse 2. We could really live like what? Are we doing a what-if the Word of Faith was a real thing? It isn’t. Also notice the implication that it is our fault that God isn’t able to work in our lives. A child-like faith accepts the Written Word of God as God-breathed. Spend less time chasing after your dream-destiny thingy and more time in the Word of God, rightly dividing Law and Gospel.
Okay, well I’m done with the song. So let’s look to what Scripture says, firstly let’s look at what it means to be saved by God and from where our good works flow.
Ephesians 2:1-10 (ESV) | By Grace Through Faith
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Paul clearly writes that our Salvation is completely apart from our works. We are saved for good works, not because of them. We are Christ’s workmanship, in that He has raised us from the dead. We were completely dead in sins and trespasses. Christ brought us back to life, granting us the very faith required to repent. Neither the grace nor the faith was our own doing, pure gift of God. Our justification exists purely in Christ’s finished work on the cross. As Christians, whom we must presume to be the target audience for the song, God’s Word does talk about letting go of fleshly desires and holding onto Christ. The context of this is by Faith, given to us by God.
Galatians 5:13-6:10 (ESV)
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load. Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
I shared this passage because I think the Apostle Paul covers both Law and Gospel and freedom in Christ and what our good works in the Gospel are aimed at, loving our neighbors. Your good works aren’t meritorious toward your relationship to God. God doesn’t need your good works, your neighbor does. And the good works you do aren’t yours, they are themselves gifts of faith from God. I know this doesn’t exactly coincide with the “go, fight, win” theme of the song, but I’m not interested in salvaging this song, I just want to make sure we are looking at this present life in light of the Gospel.
We don’t need to wish for the giants to fall, nor invent easy giants that can be felled by our will and determination, we need to trust that Christ has already felled the giant on our behalf, and that we are alive in Him. In closing, let us look to how Peter encouraged the church in his first letter.
1 Peter 1:3-9 (ESV) | Born Again to a Living Hope
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
From time to time there is a big to-do that pops up in modern-day evangelicalism regarding the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem in the modern-day nation-state of Israel (News: Sanhedrin Apppoints High Priest…). What are we, the Church, to think of such political endeavors? Does Scripture point to a third Temple as a physical place of worship where the presence of God will sit on His Mercy Seat? In short, “no”. We are not looking for another physical temple.
Rather than dig into one of the Apocalyptic texts for this discussion, I thought we’d take a moment to look at a wonderful passage of Scripture where Jesus most clearly identifies Himself as the “I AM”, and he does so to an adulterous, Samaritan woman.
John 4:1-30 (ESV) | Jesus and the Woman of Samaria
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.
I’ve highlighted the key point for our discussion of the earthly temple in Jerusalem. The Samaritans were the remnant of the Northern Kingdom of Israel who had fallen to Assyria and intermarried with gentiles and adopted their pagan worship practices and idols. To the Jews, they were worse than Gentiles, they were apostates descended from apostates. They worshiped on the high places where they also had idols. The Jews worshiped in the Temple in Jerusalem, that is where they were to go to keep the Mosaic Covenant, for the sacrifices and offerings according to the Law. This Samaritan woman points to her ancestors who worshiped God on this mountain, yet the Jews say that God is to be worshiped in Jerusalem. Notice how the LORD responds to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming,and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Christ is the substance to which the Tabernacle and the Temple foreshadowed. Notice He didn’t pick one or the other, but to something greater. And this Samaritan woman got it. She understood that He was pointing to the New Covenant, though she had no idea what it would entail. She knew that it would involve bringing all nations to God, for she included herself in its promise. “I know that Messiah is coming… when he comes, he will tell us all things”. And the LORD, being so loving and gracious, tells her, “I AM who speaks to you” (ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ λαλῶν σοι). In the Greek you can see the “I AM” being invoked better than in the ESV. Don’t just take my word for it, go to your Pastor who has been trained in Koine Greek and ask him.
Christ is the Temple.
John 2:18-22 (ESV) So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
He is the True temple. The previous earthly buildings were merely shadows of Him (Hebrews 9-10).
Hebrews 10:1-4 (ESV) | Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All
For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Hebrews 10:19-25 (ESV) | The Full Assurance of Faith
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Here, the author of Hebrews invokes the purpose of the Church until the Day of Christ’s return. There’s no emphasis on some new earthly temple, but an emphasis on Christ and His finished work on the cross.
Stop looking to the nation-state of Israel for a sign of our LORD’s return. Instead, hold fast the confession of our hope in Christ Jesus. Gather together around the Preached Word and consider how to stir one another to love and good works in the Gospel.
Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV) Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Today we will be pulling from the archives of IssuesETC, where we find Pr Todd Wilken interviewing Pr Bryan Woflmueller on the topic of the Conscience. If you only have time to listen to one of the parts, skip to part 2; however, I encourage you to listen to both parts of this topic.
If you are not familiar with IssuesETC, they are an online radio program that covers a wide range of topics from a decidedly Lutheran perspective.
Bryan Wolfmueller is a pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in Aurora, Colorado (www.hope-aurora.org).
He has a number of theological hobbies, including:
PODCAST: Co-host, Table Talk Radio podcast, the world’s most popular theological game-show, (www.tabletalkradio.org). (Subscribe)
Bryan, his wife and four children live in Aurora, Colorado.
Bryan has a pipe, and it trying to start smoking it, but just doesn’t have the discipline. He enjoys walking around outside, reading the first ten pages of all kinds of books. He has a curious interest in productivity blogs.
0115. The Conscience, Part 1: Three Pictures of the Conscience – Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller, 1/11/17 (link)
0243. The Conscience, Part 2: Four Things the Conscience Knows and Four Things that Inform the Conscience – Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller, 1/24/17 (link)
Jude 24-25 (ESV) Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Today we’re going to take a look at our first Hymn from the Lutheran Service Book (LSB), “544 – O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High”. We sang this song during Epiphany 2, where the Gospel text was John 1:29-42John 1:29-42, when John the Baptist announces Christ, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
I’ve been working on ways to complement our DiM series throughout the week. One way I thought would be helpful for me and for my readers is to take some time to examine the doctrine found in the traditional hymns. I will be pulling hymns from the LSB as these are what I’m engaging in on a regular basis. As with our DiM series, I’ll do my best to offer a good recording of the hymn as well as the lyrics. Regarding the audio recording, it can be quite a challenge to find good audio recordings that include the congregational singing. Sometimes choir recording are unintelligible due to the intense operatic mode of singing. Most of the time what I find online are accompaniment tracks of just the organs or various orchestra arrangements. There is a real need for recordings of these hymns for everyday listening. If your church has good recordings of the congregation singing these hymns, please send me a link via the Contact Us page.
1 O love, how deep, how broad, how high,
Beyond all thought and fantasy,
That God, the Son of God, should take
Our mortal form for mortals’ sake!
2 He sent no angel to our race,
Of higher or of lower place,
But wore the robe of human frame,
And to this world Himself He came.
3 For us baptized, for us He bore
His holy fast, and hungered sore;
For us temptation sharp He knew;
For us the tempter overthrew.
4 For us He prayed; for us He taught;
For us His daily works He wrought;
By words and signs and actions thus
Still seeking not Himself, but us.
5 For us by wicked men betrayed,
For us, in crown of thorns arrayed,
He bore the shameful cross and death;
For us He gave His dying breath.
6 For us He rose from death again;
For us He went on high to reign;
For us He sent His Spirit here
To guide, to strengthen, and to cheer.
7 All glory to our Lord and God
For love so deep, so high, so broad;
The Trinity whom we adore
Forever and forevermore.
Discussion
Unlike our modern-day songs, this hymn is written for congregational singing (as opposed to having a band perform the song in hopes the congregation might follow along) where the congregation sings the same tune through 7 verses (no chorus/bridge) confessing Christ. For all of its doctrinal content, the song doesn’t take longer to sing as a congregation than your typical 2 verses + Chorus + emotional refrain loop performed by a band.
The Tune/Accompaniment. We’ll eventually cover songs whose tunes I find absolutely impossible to enjoy, but this one isn’t one. The tune is smooth and easy to follow. Were it not for the congregation singing aloud with one voice, I would find the sound of that organ bothersome; however, with so many voices there needs to be a unifying accompaniment. The organ here is suitable for the task. If you don’t like the organ, you have a friend in me. However, the true value of our music is in the lyric, not in the instrumentation.
Lyric. One need only read through the lyric as though it were a poem to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ clearly proclaimed. Let’s move through the verses briefly to see how the theme of this hymn unfolds.
The Incarnation. God, God the Son took on human flesh for our sake. Emmanuel, God is with us.
Again, God Himself came to us, He didn’t send another. Emmanuel, God is with us.
FOR US: He was baptized for us, suffered hunger for us, tempted in the wilderness and defeated Satan in the wilderness for us.
FOR US: He prayed for us. He taught for us. He fulfilled the LAW for us. He fulfilled the Prophets for us.
FOR US: He was betrayed by wicked men for us. He bore the crown of thorns for us. He hung on a shameful cross for us. He gave His dying breath for us.
FOR US: He rose from the grave for us. He ascended into heaven for us. He sent God the Holy Spirit to us, for us.
and it was all out of His Great Love for us. All glory and honor be to God the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.
The hymnary website gives the following citations for the hymn: Ephesians 3:17-21; Philippians 2:6-9; Hebrews 2:9-18; John 1:1-14
In looking at these citations, I don’t like beginning or ending a reading of scripture with an incomplete thought. So I’ve made the following adjustments, and we’ll look at how these passages work together to teach us about the person and work of Jesus: Ephesians 3:14-21; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 2:9-18; John 1:1-14
John 1:1-14 (ESV) | The Word Became Flesh
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Hebrews 2:9-18 (ESV)
But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,
“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Philippians 2:5-11 (ESV)
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Ephesians 3:14-21 (ESV) | Prayer for Spiritual Strength
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
This is the rich theology we find in the great hymns. Such wonderful proclamation of Christ FOR US shouldn’t be so quickly dismissed by modernists with no appreciation for theology. Yes, seasons change and so do musical fads and trends, but the Word of God is timeless. I’m all for having new tunes written for these hymns. I’m in favor of having newer songs written in keeping with the rich theology found in these hymns. We haven’t been doing this. The evangelical industrial complex has been trading out spiritual meat for artificial sweetener completely lacking in substance.
Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV) Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Today, I’d like to take a look at the second hymn we sang during this past Sunday service. If you’re following from the Lutheran Service Book, it is hymn 842.
CCM Edition.
From time to time there is a big to-do that pops up in modern-day evangelicalism regarding the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem in the modern-day nation-state of Israel (
Faithful Stewardship 
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