Art for God's Sake

Song of the Week - In Christ Alone

 

Stuart Townend said the following when speaking about the role of music in worship:  “I think content is vitally important to our corporate worship.  Sometimes great melodies are let down by indifferent or clichéd words. It’s the writer’s job to dig deep into the meaning of Scripture and express in poetic and memorable ways the truth he or she finds there. Knowing the truth about God and who we are in Him is central to our lives as believers. Songs remain in the mind in a way sermons do not, so songwriters have an important role and a huge responsibility.”

 

It is for this very reason that we have embarked on a six month journey of memorizing songs that will do just that.  We will sing a song every week for a month, with the goal of having it memorized by the fourth week and singing it without projecting the words.  The  ideas is that these songs have truths and ideas that should permeate our whole lives and we should memorize them as we memorize scripture, so that we can recall them at any time we need some hope or encouragement.

 

For the first song we have chosen In Christ Alone by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty.  Both wonderful songwriters own their own, they came together to combine this haunting melody with words that seek to convey the the power that Christ has over all things and His central place in our lives as believers.

 

Townend continues, “The lyric [of this song] excites me because it places our hope, our assurance, our eternal destiny in the right place—on the solid foundation of Christ. I know in my own life I need reminding continually not to live by my feelings or my circumstances, but by the unchanging truth of the gospel.”

 

The central theme of this song can be found in this section of Paul’s letter to the Philippians:

 

Philippians 3:7-11  [7] But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. [8] Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—[10] that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

(ESV)

 

Here are the lyrics to help you get started memorizing:

 

In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,

firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

here in the love of Christ I stand.

 

In Christ alone! who took on flesh

Fulness of God in helpless babe!

This gift of love and righteousness

Scorned by the ones he came to save:

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied -

For every sin on Him was laid;

Here in the death of Christ I live.

 

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain:

Then bursting forth in glorious Day

Up from the grave he rose again!

And as He stands in victory

Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,

For I am His and He is mine -

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

 

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

This is the power of Christ in me;

From life’s first cry to final breath.

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand;

Till He returns or calls me home,

Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.

 

© 2001 Thankyou Music

(Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Keith Getty | Stuart Townend