A Long Joy-Song or Before The World Began

John 17:1-5

“Father, the hour has come. 

Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 

2 For you granted him authority over all people 

that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 

3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, 

the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 

4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 

5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory 

I had with you before the world began...

***

Someday we will enter eternity,

where there will be no time constraints on our joy song!

where poetry won't be criticized for being 'too wordy' or long,

and where no words will be needed

to worship our Saviour!

Hallelujah!

ready? Set...Go!!

The past weekend had many 'glad' moments

but all pale in comparison to the reason for the Easter-season!

This was the Easter sunrise!

(I would have loved to do this post on Easter morning but

dinner-prep and early church service kept me hopping!)

He makes me glad; no eloquence of loving speech can tell

Salvation’s joy, blood-bought; enough to cheer my soul full-well

Wonder confounds thought’s finite scope; awe utters ‘what is man

That Triune God would anchor Hope before the world began?’

He makes me glad; praise He from whom redemption’s wellsprings roar

When I confess my sin, mercy remembers it no more

Though I have played the harlot and Judas, He loved me so

Though my sins were as scarlet; He has washed me white as snow

He makes me glad; I shall not want because at Calvary

He bore the cross, its gore and taunt and sword, to set me free

Obedient to death, to prove the power of His Name

He rose again; He overthrew death and hell’s hopeless claim

He makes me glad; joy bids me sing in awed humility

O death, where is thy sting, O grave, where is thy victory

Thanks be to God who gives us victory through Jesus Christ

Who saw beyond the agony of his Son, sacrificed

He makes me glad; God knew His will would prosper in His hand

And only Jesus could fulfill salvation’s grim demand

He saw the Light of life proclaimed through horrors humbly braved

The power of the only name whereby man can be saved

The Name above all names, the King of kings and Lord of lords

Jesus! Sin’s outpoured offering God’s gift of grace affords

He makes me glad; though oft we grieve this world’s darkness-filled boast

For all who repent and believe receive the Holy Ghost

He makes me glad for what eye has not glimpsed nor ear yet heard

Nor entered into human hearts the things God has prepared

For all who love Him, truly love with heart, soul, strength and mind

Whose affections are set above this world’s vain glory-grind

He makes me glad; though all else fails God is not overthrown

He is not mocked, His truth prevails; by fruit the tree is known

And though many are sick and weak, by His goodness unstirred

He looks with favour on the meek who tremble at His word

He makes me glad; though oft I rue the tempter’s cunning vice

Accomplishing mad blindness to salvation’s purchase price

Not of silver or gold but blood; the precious blood of He

Who satisfied the wrath of God through love’s divine decree

He makes me glad, though often love makes me too sad to laugh

He understands the tear-filled trove I lift on their behalf

So many Gospel-unshod feet, no faith to make them whole

Fearless, though unprepared to meet the Saviour of their soul

He makes me glad; goodness and mercy follow me always

His comfort strengthens tenderly and fills my heart with praise

For He has made me glad; my prayer, my joy cries ‘what is man

Oh God, You knew the cross was there before the world began’

© Janet Martin

Eph.1:3-6

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. 

4For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world

 to be holy and blameless in His presence. 

In love 5He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ,

 according to the good pleasure of His will, 

to the praise of His glorious grace,

 which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.

1 Pet.1:18-19

For you know that it was not with perishable things 

such as silver or gold that you were redeemed 

from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,

 but with the precious blood of Christ,

 a lamb without blemish or defect.

Jesus Paid It All 

Until The Resurrection...

(This song below is written from the perspective of the disciple Peter)

I wrote the poem below trying to imagine what it would have been like
as one of the Marys or one of the disciples...

They did not see it then…With hearts all sorrow-torn

They turned back to their homes again their precious Lord to mourn

And wonder at His words they did not understand

The King of kings and Lord of lords slain beneath evil’s hand

And how they must have cried as sight tested Belief

Their precious Jesus, crucified as if He were a thief

And then the tomb was sealed and roman guards stood watch

The object of their hope repealed in death upon a cross

The horror of the day replaying o’er and o’er

With broken hearts they turn away; their Master is no more

The Way, the Truth, The Life, A corpse behind a stone

No Overcomer of the World or army overthrown

Only the echo of His cry upon the hill

"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" ...then everything was still

How could He be a king?! No one could comprehend

The wonder they were witnessing as life came to an end

…and no one knew it then; what price had just been paid

Redemption for all sins of men on sinless Jesus laid

Nor how death became Life and broke its curs-ed power

How the Light of the World beamed brightest in His darkest hour

The peoples of the world seemed to have fought and won

With swords and insults boldly hurled at Jesus Christ, God’sSon

“Come down, come down” with jeers they spat upon His face

And laughed at He who commandeers the galaxies in space

(…no seed can save itself and still bud into tree

A soldier cannot save himself yet set his country free

Thus the Good Shepherd then If He would save his sheep

Knew love’s intense ultimatum; His life He could not keep)

“He said, I come to seek and save those who are lost

Though Lord, He came, humble and meek, knowing the price it cost

He came to give His life as ransom for mankind

Stepped from His throne to earthy strife; He left Heaven behind

But death could not prevail; No stone could seal the tomb

Of He who rent the temple’s veil and quelled the sinner’s doom

Love cannot be contained; on that bless-ed third Day

Victory could not be restrained but had its glorious say

'He is not here; He is ris’n', Are any words more dear?

Could any toll the bells of Heaven with greater joy or cheer?

Or dry the mourner’s tear or stop the scorner’s sneer

Or fill the heart of man with hope; than He is risen; He is not here?!

Once for all He died: the cross of shame Love braved

Jesus, the only name whereby the soul of man is saved

Then praise the King of Kings for joy His grace imparts

For our Redeemer lives on high and in believer’s hearts

So, when we weep our ‘why’ at heartache that must be

Or trouble raises its war-cry or grief its agony

Remember Sin’s Debt borne; and look to That Last Day

For on that Resurrection morn He’ll wipe all tears away

© Janet Martin

This is a universal joy, hope and peace, not to all, but to all who
' believe him and accept him'
 John 1:12-13

This poem is an accumulation of pondering the Easter Story and the book of Romans.
We are going through the book of Romans in our worship services for the next while.
This link will take you to the messages we have heard so far from Romans ch.1 to ch.5:1-11


Today's reading:
 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we^[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we^[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: 
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.