Death once the ancient enemy
Hear now our Easter melody
O praise Him alleluia
You are the pathway home to God
Our door to life through Christ our Lord
O praise Him alleluia
All Creatures of Our God and King
By: St. Francis 1225, trans. William Henry Draper 1919
Listen to this modern version of this ancient hymn as you prepare to ponder the lyrics. Please make certain to enjoy the video below.
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Please enjoy this video and the transcript below.
Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.
As we continue our journey through this ancient hymn ask the Holy Spirit to help you issue this call to worship. Be sure to find your place in the praise. Let’s tune our hearts.
Maybe the Reaper is not so Grim
Long the symbol of death, the Grim Reaper is an ominous one that you do not want to come calling. When you see him standing in the shadows you know the end is near. For many that is a dreadful thing because they are not prepared for it.
How about you? Are you ready for his appearance? There is a way to remove the grimness of his presence, but more on that in a minute.
Death once the ancient enemy
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— Romans 5:12 ESV
We have two different perspectives on death in this stanza. The first one is that as a result of our sin, death has always been our enemy Death became the result of our sin. If it had not been for sin, death would never have been our future, only life.
From the garden, death has been our adversary. God warned Adam and Eve that if they ate from the tree they would die. Their disobedience ushered death into our story. But God made a way for death to have an entirely different role in our story.
RESONATE!
Take a few moments and consider death. Do you see it as an enemy? What informs your perspective? Make this your simple prayer “Father, thank You for changing our perspective on death.”
Especially in Light of Our Easter Song
So death was the enemy because he was bringing at end to life. But Jesus changed that role with His when He left the tomb empty. Death does not have to be the end of life in the same way as long imagined.
Hear now our Easter melody
Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 ESV
Jesus victory over death in His resurrection gives us a new perspective. Death longer needs to be the end. It was not the end for Jesus and if we confess and believe in Him, it need not be the end for us either. So we sing our Easter song “He is risen!”
Did you notice we are actually singing to death in this stanza? We are imploring death to hear our Easter song. That song changes the role of death in our story. Actually, the resurrection makes the change. Our song simply makes it known. Hallelujah!
RESONATE
Take a few moments and think about the abundance of growth God has written into His creation. Having been a recipient of it, do you quickly give praise to God like the vegetation, plants and trees do? Pray this simple prayer, “Jesus, thank You for Your resurrection.“
Jesus, thank You for growing things and the abundance they produce. May that abundance satisfy my appetite and fuel my adoration. Help me be as eager to praise as the Earth is to be fertile. In Jesus’ name.
Transformative Tuning!
Keep coming back, and we will work to 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 52.6 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.
Death once the ancient enemy
Hear now our Easter melody
O praise Him alleluia
You are the pathway home to God
Our door to life through Christ our Lord
From the garden, death has been our adversary. God warned Adam and Eve that if they ate from the tree they would die. Their disobedience ushered death into our story. But God made a way for death to have an entirely different rule in our story.
Father, thank You for changing our perspective on death.
Did you notice we are actually singing to death in this stanza? We are imploring death to hear our Easter song. That song changes the role of death in our story. Actually, the resurrection makes the change. Our song simply makes it known. Hallelujah!
Jesus, thank You for Your resurrection.
For those who do not know Jesus death remains their enemy. He marks the end of life. For us he has a very different role. Death becomes our pathway home to God. For the believer, it is simply the next part of the rest of our journey, not the end of it.
Spirit, guide me to that pathway.
For those who do not know Christ, death appears to be a door that is closed. For the believer, death is a doorway to life. A door versus a doorway. They seem so close, but could not be further apart, not only in concept, but in reality. This stanza helps us to reconcile our enmity with death.
Jesus, thank you for making death a doorway.
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.
Death once the ancient enemy
Hear now our Easter melody
O praise Him alleluia
You are the pathway home to God
Our door to life through Christ our Lord
O praise Him alleluia
Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time,
Be Resonant.
The post Removing Some the Reaper’s Grimness appeared first on Resonant 7.
Image Attribution
Death once the ancient enemy – https://pixabay.com/photos/ocean-rocks-moon-grim-reaper-bat-7065813/
Hear now our Easter melody – https://pixabay.com/photos/empty-tomb-nazareth-israel-3326100/
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