When Christ shall come
With shout of acclamation
And take me home,
What joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow
In humble adoration
And there proclaim,
My God, how great Thou art!
How Great Thou Art, Carl Boberg
32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
Acts 2:32-33:
As Christians we seem to spend a lot of time thinking about, celebrating and waiting for the advent of Christ.
‘How Great Thou Art’ certainly explores the coming of Christ in great detail.
It starts with surveying Christ in nature – God revealed in the stars and rolling thunder, how His works declare His glory! And it absolutely is Christ – the Word through which all creation came into being made flesh – on display. As Paul writes in Colossians 1:16-17, in Him all things were created. The universe finds its being in Christ and continue to exist through and for Him.
Even the woods, the brooks and river streams, the birds singing sweetly in the trees and the mountains with their lofty grandeur proclaim the glory of Him who was the Word at the beginning, one with God – revealing and continuing to reveal His majesty.
Christ became flesh – as the only begotten Son of God – the face and embrace of God, the Righteous Right Hand of God reaching out to His people bearing our sins upon the Cross so that through His sacrifice we might find peace and reconciliation with Him who created us.
From here the author of the song jumps to the scene of Christ coming again – with shouts of acclamation and praise – to take him home. The author, here, in humble admiration describes himself falling on his knees to worship the King of kings with the resounding chorus of “My God, how great thou art!”
For me, there is something missing here. Somewhere between the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and the coming of Christ to take us home there is an often-neglected truth.
Christ is revealed to us in nature as the Word through which all things came into being, exist and continue to exist.
Christ is revealed to us in the flesh – being born in Bethlehem, His journey to the Cross and His sacrifice there-on.
And Christ will one day return to take us home.
But between His coming in the flesh and His coming to take us home there is the revelation of Christ in the Spirit.
The Kingdom of God, as revealed in Christ Jesus, is both come and coming. There is a portion of the Kingdom that is yet to come, that we wait for with great anticipation – but there is also a portion of the Kingdom that has already come. Jesus wants to establish His throne in our hearts right here and now. He wants us to experience and live the Kingdom here and now.
Many of us are waiting for Christ to come again hoping to be a part of that joyful chorus, the shouts of acclamation – but Christ wants to come in our lives right now.
He wants us to step into the Kingdom today and live a life of victory empowered by His Holy Spirit.
He wants us to experience that joy unspeakable and full of glory, that peace that surpasses all understanding, His grace and mercy that wipes away all tears, His great love that binds up the broken hearted, and the prosperity that comes with being planted by Living Waters.
Jesus wants to come in your life today. He wants to be enthroned in your praises. Enthroned in your worship. Enthroned in your heart.
Why would we wait any longer? Why would we waste another moment when we could worship Him now?
Let us not just wait for Him to come again – although we desire His return with great anticipation – let us worship Him now, with all that we’ve got. Let us seek God with all that is within us. Let us seek the Kingdom and see how He makes His promises come alive in our lives.
Prayer: Lord, I thank You for Your faithfulness. I thank you that there is no shadow of turning with You. Your promises are yes and amen. You promised that if we seek You we will find You. You promised that if we prioritize seeking the Kingdom, all these things – the things You have promised – would be added unto us. So Lord, as I seek You, as I prepare a way in the desert of my heart for You, as I build Your Throne through a lifestyle of worship in my life – come and flood my life! Come and shine Your face upon me! Come and restore and revive! Come and have Your way! In Jesus Name. Amen.