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1.22.2013

Gadsby #18

18 L.M. Isaac Watts
Glory and Grace in the Person of Christ. 2 Cor. 4:6

1 Now to the Lord a noble song!
Awake, my soul; awake, my tongue!
Hosanna to the eternal name,
And all his boundless love proclaim!

2 See where it shines in Jesus’ face,
The brightest image of his grace!
God, in the person of his Son,
Has all his mightiest works outdone.

3 The spacious earth and spreading flood
Proclaim the wise, the powerful God;
And thy rich glories from afar
Sparkle in every rolling star.

4 But in his looks a glory stands,
The noblest labour of thy hands;
The pleasing lustre of his eyes
Outshines the wonders of the skies.

5 [Grace! ’tis a sweet, a charming theme!
My thoughts rejoice at Jesus’ name!
Ye angels, dwell upon the sound!
Ye heavens, reflect it to the ground!]

6 O may I live to reach the place
Where he unveils his lovely face,
Where all his beauties you behold,
And sing his name to harps of gold!

The fourth verse reminds me of a hymn by Anne Steele, "Thou Lovely Source Of True Delight", specifically, this verse:
Thy glory o'er creation shines,
But in thy sacred word,
I read in fairer, brighter lines,
My bleeding, dying Lord. 
We are spiritually dumb and blind if we cast a look on Christ and don't see the most beautiful thing (person) in the universe. True beauty is spiritual.

But what is there to say about the beauties of creation? Specifically, the heavens? I mean, have you seen images like this or this? I'm a self-confessed astronomy nerd, so perhaps I find such images of deep space more awe-inspiring than others. Anyways, my point is this: the entire universe, in all its beauty and complexity, is a sign. And what do signs do? They point to something greater.

An interesting thing to ponder is, "Are we humans really the only life in this universe? If so, why then is the universe so big?" (For the record, I believe that earth is the only place where life exists in this universe.) What is the point of the universe having no measurable limit, and being full of wonderful things, big and small? I proffer that all that exists, the universe in its mind-boggling scale, has been created to show how great God is (Ps. 19:1). If the universe is so magnificent, then what does that mean its Creator is like? I think it means that He is higher than our thoughts can reach.

All this is to say that Jesus "outshines the wonders of the skies".

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