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 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;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!
After starting the new blog tonight, I was listening to my crazy mash up called my itunes and at first I was listening to Classical Music, but then I switched to Eric Whitacre and then I moved away from him after listening to the entire album and then landed on Travis Cottrell's version of "In Christ Alone" and I just couldn't stop listening to it. It is such a powerful song.
In his rendition they repeat "Till He returns or calls me home, Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!" I couldn't get over that statement. I started thinking earlier tonight about when Jesus does return, when He's going to come back and all those who believe will be set free from this earth and enter heaven, but Christians were the people who I was really thinking about, it was those who don't believe, who don't have a relationship with Jesus. It was after I heard about the earthquake in Taiwan that really got me thinking. I can't understand who wouldn't think about it, this is the 3rd major earthquake in 7 weeks. So, my curiosity really took off and I started looking at the Bible regarding earthquakes. Earthquakes occurred in the Old Testament as well as in the New. In the New King James version the first mention of an earthquake was in 1 Kings 19. Elijah is out in the wilderness and he sits under a tree and he wants to die. An angle appears to him and tells him to eat and drink because he needs strength for a journey. Elijah arrives at a cave and the Lord appears to him and asks him what he is doing there. God then sends a huge wind, an earthquake and finally a fire. God was not in any of these things, but when Elijah returns to the cave God asks him why he is there. Elijah says that Israel has forsaken their covenant and that he is alone and that they want to kill him. God tells Elijah to return to Damascus and to anoint Hazael as King of Syria, Jehu as King of Israel and Elisha as a prophet.
So, here is example #1 of God creating an earthquake. Another example is when Jesus is on the cross. Before Jesus dies there is a great quake and the tombs of those who were saints were opened and their bodies were raised. How, stinking amazing! Jesus did this because He loves us, He had to die because we needed someone to take our place. It was only once He died, that these bodies were raised! Can anyone else in the world say that they can do this? If you think you can, I want to talk to them!
In Acts there is another example where Paul and Silas were in prison and they were singing praises and all of a sudden there is an earthquake and the doors of the cells just open up. WHAT? The doors just open up? Are you serious? How does that happen? I'm sure there are plenty of people who wish that would happen to them, but look who it happened to Paul and Silas. They were jailed because they were speaking the good news to the people and welll the Saducces couldn't take it. They didn't want to believe that Jesus was the Messiah and that He really is the Way, the Truth and the Life. AHHHHHHHHH..........earthquakes look what they've done so far!
Now, I've come to Revelation and well, earthquakes show something entirely different. They show judgement, judgement on a world that didn't believe and now death is upon them.
So, now you know why I've been thinking about all of the earthquakes, and why those last two lines of "In Christ Alone" have been ringing so true in my heart. "Until He returns," He's coming, that's a sure fact in my mind. Is it in your's? Do you know who He is?
If you don't know Him, please talk to me! I'm more than happy to share with you!
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