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I
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n the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was
in the beginning with God. 3 All things
were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was
life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light
shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a
man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came
for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him
might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to
bear witness of that Light. 9 That was
the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the
world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto
his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on his name: 13 Which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God. 14 AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, and dwelt
among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father,) full of grace and truth. (John
1:1-14)
This
is a solemn hymn of reverence that reinforces in the hearts of the worshippers
the biblical doctrine of the Incarnation of Christ. The lyrics are the
composition of the Anglican priest, William How, in 1867, to which the favored
musical score is MUNICH by Felix Mendelssohn (1847) -
one of the last works of composition by that great composer who died shortly
after the writing of this piece. Alternate tunes are AURELIA (Samuel Wesley),
BERNO (Arthur H. Mann), and LANCASHIRE (Henry T. Smart).
O Word
of God Incarnate
O Word of God
incarnate, O Wisdom from on high,
O Truth unchanged,
unchanging, O Light of our dark sky:
We praise You for
the radiance that from the hallowed page,
A Lantern to our
footsteps, shines on from age to age.
The Church from You,
our Savior, received the Gift divine,
And still that Light
is lifted over all the earth to shine.
It is the sacred
Vessel where gems of truth are stored;
It is the heaven
drawn Picture of Christ, the living Word.
The Scripture is a
banner before God’s host unfurled;
It is a shining
Beacon above the darkling world.
It is the Chart and
Compass that over life’s surging tide,
Mid mists and rocks
and quicksands, to You, O Christ, will guide.
O make your Church,
dear Savior, a lamp of purest gold,
To bear before the
nations Your true light as of old.
O teach your
wandering pilgrims by this their path to trace,
Till, clouds and
darkness ended, they see You face to face.
O
Word of God incarnate, O Wisdom from on high, O Truth unchanged, unchanging, O
Light of our dark sky: We praise You for the radiance that from the hallowed
page, A Lantern to our footsteps, shines on from age to age. In order for us to know God, He must come to us and be with us in the same
human condition as we live. That is the Lord Emmanuel (God with Us) always. Our
Lord is both perfectly God, and perfectly Man. He is Omniscient in Wisdom, and
unchanging throughout all of eternity. He is the same Lord and Son of God that
stood with the Father ere the worlds were made (see Hebrews 13:8). There are
days when our skies seem to be made of brass and our prayers bounce back to us
even as we utter them. 23 And thy heaven
that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be
iron.” (Deut
28:23) It may be a result remission of faith in Bible study;
or some cherished wedge of gold we have yet to surrender to God. WE create our
own darkness by blocking the Light out when we allow worldly possessions to eclipse the Light
Source. But the Light is always within our grasp through the pages of Holy
Writ. It is our Lamp to guide our steps.
The
Church from You, our Savior, received the Gift divine, And still that Light is
lifted over all the earth to shine. It is the sacred Vessel where gems of truth
are stored; It is the heaven drawn Picture of Christ, the living Word. There is a great painting by Warner Sallman of Christ standing at
a door knocking. There is a warm light emanating from His Person – it is not a lamp, but the very Light of His presence. I have
seen less inspired artists duplicate the painting but, in order to help the
Lord out, they have transposed a lamp in to the hands of Christ. These latter
artists miss the whole point of Sallman’s painting – Christ IS
the Light and needs no artificial light source.
The Church is the
second entity instituted by Christ. The first was marriage which was to
foreshadow and stand as a model for that which was to come in the Church. The
Church should be the Beacon of Light to the world, but it has sorely failed in
our day. Yes, it is to be a sacred Vessel; but that Vessel has been emptied of
the “gems of truth” for which it was the guardian. I like
the term, “Living Word” for that best describes our Lord. There is
another stunning pencil drawing by the Korean Elder Gwang Hyuk Rhee entitled JESUS
CHRIST NEW TESTAMENT WORD PRINT (84"x59") Looking upon the drawing,
one would at first believe it was simply a charcoal line-drawing of Christ
surrounded by many angels; but on closer examination, one discovers that the
drawing is produced by the text of the entire New Testament in the Korean
alphabet. The lines and shades are produced by darker and lighter print of the
alphabet. It is the most inspiring of charcoal drawings I have ever witnessed.
The
Scripture is a banner before God’s host unfurled; It is a shining Beacon
above the darkling world. It is the Chart and Compass that over life’s surging
tide, Mid mists and rocks and quicksands, to You, O Christ, will
guide. The banner the Word represents is
the Ensign of our battle lines. 10 And in that
day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the
people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. (Isaiah
11:10) Need I say that the Ensign represents the Word of God
in Jesus Christ. He the rallying Guidon leading our embattled columns. That
shining Beacon is the Light of the World! I am the light of the world: he that followeth me
shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John
8:12) A Chart (map) and Compass will point the way in
perilous seas and reveal the shoals and reefs that our vessels must avoid. It
also points to the safe harbor of our souls, and we must heed the
readings if we will arrive safely. I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6) It is not enough to own the Chart and Compass (Bible) – we must
heed its directions to gain an intimate knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
O
make your Church, dear Savior, a lamp of purest gold, To bear before the
nations Your true light as of old. O teach your wandering pilgrims by this
their path to trace, Till, clouds and darkness ended, they see You face to face. Be not deceived, there is a proliferation of false churches in
our day. There are beacons of false light in the swamps of the southland that lead the lost
traveler hopelessly deeper into the swamp and pits of quicksand called
Will-o-the-Wisp. Today we have many such false lights that originate from the
voice of false prophets who claim extra-biblical revelations, or who deny the
power of God and His Word. They do not usually do so openly, but with subtle
subterfuge. There is a story from Arabian Nights entitled, Aladdin’s Wonderful Lamp. Aladdin had gained possession of a magic lamp
that contained a Genie who would grant anything Aladdin demanded. But there was a brigand and a
thief who sought to gain possession of the lamp. He pushed a cart before the
home of Aladdin and his beautiful princess wife who had no knowledge of the
lamp’s powers. He shouted out as he went, “New lamps for old! All who wish to trade old lamps for new please
come forth.” The princess traded the old magic lamp for a new and shiny lamp.
But it had not power at all.
Although
this is a fairy tale, it nonetheless expresses the sense of our modern day
spiritual depravity. We have traded the True Light of Christ for false lights
of the swamp. They are created by noxious sewer gases arising from the swamp
and they are but a mirage. We follow them at our own peril. Let our churches
once again become beacon lights of truth and salvation. Let us return to a
reliance on the Holy Gospel alone and reject the dimming and artificial lights
of man that are truly from the darkest chambers of the swamp of immorality.
