In Christ Alone – Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, Northern Ireland/England (2001)
How does this song help us to understand that Jesus Christ has been present in the lives of billions of people since the first century?
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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNRFumI2ch0
Pieta, Sculpture by Michelangelo (1499)
The hymn published in 2002 is based on a series of Bible verses relating to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Michelangelo carved this sculpture from one block of marble and it is the only sculpture he signed. It shows the mother of Jesus holding the crucified Jesus Christ, the Son of God and her natural born son. Jesus is at peace as His love for us is now complete in His sacrifice on the cross.
In Christ alone my hope is found; This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. 1 Timothy 4:9-10
He is my light, my strength, my song; Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD : The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. Exodus 15:2
This cornerstone, this solid ground, Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. Ephesians 2:19-21
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11
What heights of love, what depths of peace, This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease! There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18
My comforter, my all in all— Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Colossians 3:11
Here in the love of Christ I stand. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
Martin Luther’s comments on this Epistle are: “St. Paul teaches, first, what the Gospel is, telling how it was provided by God alone in eternity and earned and sent forth through Christ, so that all who believe on it become righteous, godly, living, saved men, and free from the law and sin and death. This he does in the first three chapters.
Then he teaches that different doctrines and the commandments of men are to be avoided, so that we may remain true to one Head and become sure and genuine and complete in Christ alone, in Whom we have everything, so that we need nothing beside Him.
Then he goes on to teach that we are to practice and prove our faith with good works, avoid sin, and fight with spiritual weapons against the devil, so that, through the Cross, we may be steadfast in hope.”
Comments: hbitten@optonline.net
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