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 then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”
How Great Thou Art
By: Carl Gustaf Boberg (1859-1940)
Listen to this trumpet version as you read. Please check out the video log below which will guide you through a worshipful reflection of this stanza, often only available to Subscribers and Free Members.
If His work in creation and His re-creation of life on the cross were not enough to convince one of His greatness, our author turns the consummation of the ages in Christ’s return to make His final appeal. Are you ready for it? Take a few minutes today to prepare yourself for eternity, ushered in by the second coming of Jesus. Tune your heart to be ready to join the song of praise that will ring across all time and space.
When Christ Shall Come
We are His people between His advent’s. He came once. He will come again. And when He does He will take us to be with Him forever, never to be separated again. That after all is the definition of heaven, eternal bliss in the very presence of our Lord.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ESV
There is an interesting trinity here.
- A Cry of Command
- The Voice of An Archangel
- The Sound of the Trumpet
The latter two are more straightforward. An archangel will lift a voice to declare His return. The angel is not named but what a privilege that will be. Angel voices are often compared to trumpets in the Scripture. I believe this is because there are so powerful and unearthly, that the writers struggle to adequately describe them. This will be a heavenly trumpet blast announcing Christ’s return. Again every trumpeter of faith would love to have the privilege to sound that call.
This leaves “a cry of command”. I think it may be tied to the last part of the verse. Maybe it is Jesus’ call for the dead in Christ to rise, similar to the authority He demonstrated with Lazarus. After all, the old quip was that if Jesus had not said, “Lazarus, come out” that all the faithful who died in faith would have been resurrected then and there.
No matter how you look at it He is coming back. The writer says “When”, not”If”. Our confidence declares He is coming back.
Are you convinced He is coming back? Do you live like you are convinced, or is it just an idea? Take a few moments and ponder if you are truly ready to hear the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet blast. Ask Jesus to help you prepare for His cry of command.
With Shout of Acclamation
I think this is a great reference to the voice of the archangel. Actually I was fascinated as I was searching the Scriptures at how well these first two lines parallel these two verses from I Thessalonians 4. He is coming back, announced by the archangel voice, and we will be with Him forever. What joy!
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 ESV
Acclamation is an unusual word. Here it means loud and enthusiastic approval, welcoming and honoring Jesus. You probably knew that. What you may not have know, and I will be honest I did not, was that it can also mean “an overwhelming affirmative vote by cheers, shouts, or applause rather than by ballot.”
What struck me about that was the fact that there was no ballot. Though I understand that means that the approval is so significant a counting of ballots is unnecessary, I first read it to mean simply that there was no ballot. This made sense because it is not as if earth get a vote. While we long for His return since it will be such a wonderful day for people of faith, it will be a dreadful day for the faithless.
All the same, they do not get a vote.
We have the incredible privilege of being among those who will be joining that acclamation, but not because of anything we have done. It is a gift of grace. Thank Jesus that you can look forward to His return because it will be a joyful occasion for you.
Take Me Home
I think believers often imagine that when we get to our eternal home, heaven, we will sit around on clouds singing and and playing harps forever. That is actually not a very Biblical view. Though the Thessalonian passage says we will be caught up in the clouds and meet Him in the air, it does not say we will stay there.
It is clear in revelation there will be a wedding celebration, with feasting. We know that God will create a new heaven and new earth. I would contend why would we need a new earth if we are going to reside in heaven alone?
Do you see my point?
When Jesus takes us “home” I imagine there will be earthly qualities to that place, albeit perfect. That is why I chose the image which portrays heaven and earth because both will be a part of that existence. I have my own little, personal take that.
I am from West Virginia and we have a song that expresses what it feels like to have been away from home and be returning. If you are not familiar with it, it is called Take Me Home, Country Roads, by John Denver. Of course my capacity to understand heaven is limited by my experience of “Almost Heaven, West Virginia”, but it is also informed by it.
What I mean by that is as much as God will create a new earth, I believe the best of this one will be somehow present there. Or to say it another way, the very best of this life is a shadow of what it to come. You can not completely describe something if you have only seen its shadow, but you have some idea at the very least.
I am not encouraging you to fashion heaven entirely in your own mind, but use your sanctified imagination and let the Spirit lead you. I believe that is part of the joy that will fill our hearts, the fulfillment of our deepest longings, in terms of the place of our home, not to mention the company we will keep, which is ultimately what make it heaven in the first place.
Your sin has been taken away, but do you chase after it sometimes? You can die to sin and live righteousness, but you will need the help of the Holy Spirit to do so consistently. Ask Him for that help right now.
Jesus, thank You the promise that You will one day return and take us to be with You. Help me to long for that coming today. In Jesus name. Amen.
Joyful Tuning!
Keep coming back and we will work help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence. We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.
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Video 10.3 Transcript
Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.
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 then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”
He is coming back. Just as certainly as He came as the babe in the manger, He will come back as the Lord of all. And it will not only be angels expressing loud and enthusiastic approval, but all of creation. Will you tune your heart today in preparation for that day?
He is coming back, not to make His home in us, but to take us to our eternal home with Him. The joy that will fill our hearts that day as we realize in full the hope we have today is impossible to imagine. Ask Jesus to help you long for that day.
I like to imagine what that will be like when I am finally in the presence of my Savior and my God, including what my response will be. Bowing in humble adoration seems like an appropriate one. Humble yourself before Him today, so you are ready for that one.
But I will not only bow, I will also declare “My God how great You are!” amid many other expressions of praise and worship. I am so thankful I can practice for those moments by choosing to worship now. Are you regularly practicing your praise?
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.
Sing
Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, be Resonant.
Image Attributions
When Christ Shall Come – https://stephensizer.com/2016/01/speeding-christs-return/
With Shout of Acclamation – https://escapetoreality.org/2016/11/24/when-is-the-second-coming/
Take My Home – https://pixabay.com/photos/cliff-adventure-above-hiking-1822484/
What Joy Shall FIll My Heart – https://pixabay.com/photos/country-road-forest-road-country-1149667/
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