The Church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is His new creation,
By Spirit and the Word.
From heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her
And for her life He died.
’Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace forevermore;
Till with the vision glorious
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.
Magnificent! Ah, that’s God! Now our final triumph, the last stanza.
Yet she on earth hath union
With God, the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with Thee.
[“The Church’s One Foundation,” Samuel J. Stone, 1868]
That blesses your soul! We live in a dark time. Seemingly, there just never will be a dawn. We fall out of one turbulent, tumultuous, violent trial into another. But God has a purpose. God has got a reason. The Lord has a plan and a program. And someday even these vile, villainous, violent children of old man Adam, God is going to remake them, regenerate them [1 Corinthians 15:53-55]. And we are going to be citizens of a kingdom of life, and glory, and peace, and wonder, celestial, heavenly, reigning with our Lord out of the nature that God has to work with in us, this old body recreated, and this dark heart regenerated. That’s God’s purpose for us [1 John 3:2; Revelation 22:3-5].