Lyricist: E. Margaret Clarkson
Lyrics Date: 1957
Translator: N/A
Key: C
Theme: Jesus Christ: His Praise
Composer: John Darwall
Music Date: 1770
Tune Title: DARWALL'S 148TH
Meter: 6.6.6.6.8.8.
Scripture: John 14:6
Devotional:
"What’s in a name?" Shakespeare asks in his famous quote from "Romeo and Juliet." The answer: "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
Maybe for flowers, but not for humans. For a name often shapes how our life develops. A name often affects our chances for employment. Names are sometimes given to mark a special quality or event.
In the Old Testament, for example, Jacob, which means, "the grabber", was changed to "Israel", meaning "God’s prince." It reflected the character change for this man who would become the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.
What’s in a name? A great deal. There are almost 50 names or titles used for Jesus in the New Testament. Our hymnwriter for this week, Margaret Clarkson, uses 10 names for Christ in this text. (Can you locate all of them?) Foundational to the hymn is the question of Jesus’ disciple, Thomas, whose name by the way, means "twin". "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus replied, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (See John 14:6)
Finally, in stanza two of the hymn Ms. Clarkson writes:
"We face our Judge and Maker unafraid."
In the poem below, Martha Snell Nicholson deals with these two titles in a poignant way. Let the truth of the words warm your heart and stir you to gratitude as you read of this celestial conflict:
My Advocate
I sinned. And straightway, post-haste, Satan flew
Before the presence of the Most High God,
And made a railing accusation there.
He said, "This soul, this thing of clay and sod,
Has sinned. ‘Tis true that he has named Thy name,
But I demand his death, for Thou hast said,
‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die.’ Shall not
thy sentence be fulfilled? Is justice dead?
Send now this wretched sinner to his doom.
What other thing can a righteous ruler do?"
And thus he did accuse me day and night,
And every word he spoke, O God, was true!
Then quickly One rose up from God’s right hand,
Before whose glory angels veiled their eyes.
He spoke, "Each jot and tittle of the law
Must be fulfilled: the guilty sinner dies!
But wait…Suppose his guilt were all transferred
To ME and that I paid his penalty!
Behold My hands, My side, My feet! One day
I was made sin for him, and died that he
Might be presented faultless, at Thy throne!"
And Satan fled away. Full well he knew
That he could not prevail against such love,
For every word my dear Lord spoke was true!
Hymn Story:
Margaret Clarkson wrote "We Come O Christ to You" at the request of Stacey Woods, who was the general director of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in Canada and the United States. He asked her to write a hymn that might help to unify the scattered student groups of the young organization.
The hymn was sung at IVCF's first missionary convention, held in Toronto in 1946. Published in many modern hymnals and translated into several languages, "We Come O Christ to You" is the best known of Margaret Clarkson's hymns. She revised the hymn in 1955, substituting the informal "you" for the formal "thee" throughout the hymn.
Lyrics
We Come O Christ To You
You are the Way to God, your blood our ransom paid;
In you we face our Judge and Maker unafraid.
Before the throne absolved we stand, your love has met your law's demand.
You are the living Truth! All wisdom dwells in you,
the Source of every skill, the one eternal TRUE!
O great I AM! In you we rest, sure answer to our every quest.
You only are true Life, to know you is to live
The more abundant life that earth can never give:
O risen Lord! We live in you: in us each day your life renew!
We worship you, Lord Christ, our Savior and our King,
To you our youth and strength adoringly we bring:
So fill our hearts, that all may view your life in us, and turn to you.
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