Archives for April 3, 2016

Devotion

Awake, my heart, with gladness,
see what today is done;
now, after gloom and sadness,
comes forth the glorious sun.
My Savior there was laid
where our bed must be made
when, as on wings in flight,
we soar to realms of light.

Now hell, its prince, the devil,
of all their pow'r are shorn;
now I am safe from evil,
and sin I laugh to scorn.
For Christ again is free;
in glorious victory
he who is strong to save
has triumphed o'er the grave.

This is a sight that gladdens—
what peace it does impart!
Now nothing ever saddens
the joy within my heart.
No gloom shall ever shake,
no foe shall ever take,
the hope which God's own Son
in love for me has won.

Now I will cling forever,
to Christ, my Savior true;
my Lord will leave me never,
whate'er he passes through.
He rends death's iron chain;
he breaks through sin and pain;
he shatters hell's grim thrall;
I follow him through all.

Christ brings me to the portal
that leads to bliss untold,
whereon this rhyme immortal
is found in script of gold:
"Who there my cross has shared
finds here a crown prepared;
who there with me has died
shall here be glorified."

This hymn gathers the events of our week together. We are taken from the lament of Good Friday to the glorious light of the resurrection. The hymn guides us to experience a sense of peace where "now nothing ever saddens," for we can know this peace as given through the "hope which God's own son in love for me has won."

I love the way this hymn even has us laughing at sin (vs. 4) because we are "clinging forever to Christ, [our] true Savior." We are invited to laugh at what once held us bound, knowing that in Christ we are now set free. There is no longer any place for fear, because as alpha and omega "My Lord will leave me never" (vs. 5). Christ went through death into new life and so "whate'er he passes through. . . I follow him through all." Christ is the first fruit of the new creation to which we also belong through our baptisms.