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Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, Autumn 1999-Volume 12:23
A Hymn of Grace
THE PASSION OF THE APOSTLE JOHN
A Hymn about God's Grace in Christ from The Gospel of John
BOB KENAGY
Chaplain
Word became the God-Man, in flesh, full of grace and truth from heaven;
Jesus dwelt among us, true light, we beheld His glory!
God so loved the whole world, He gave, His begotten Son to save us;
Those who only trust Him, He saves, when they trust Him only!
Love from Son and Father, grows deep, if we love our Savior deeply;
Christ is manifested, to us, if His words we're keeping!
Full joy comes from Jesus, true vine, if in Him we are abiding;
Jesus said He calls us, His friends, if we love each other!
Saying "It is finished," He died, making satisfact'ry payment;
Giving up His spirit, His life, took our place in judgment!
God the loving Father, looked down, separated from our Savior;
God the just Judge canceled, our debt, "paid in full" forever!
Death could not contain Him, He rose, proving He is the Messiah;
Son of God-the Savior, gives life, guaranteed by promise!
Life that's everlasting, God gave, in the moment we believed Him;
More grace after each grace, God gives, life that's more abundant!
Refrain
Jesus is the bread of life, the living water: gift of God;
We will never hunger, thirst, our destination-certain!
We have confidence in Jesus Christ our Savior;
Everlasting life was given to us, when persuaded that His guarantee is true!
Amen, Amen.
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The Passion of the Apostle John (alternate title: Confidence in Christ) seeks to highlight the apostle John's primary purpose in writing the Fourth Gospel. John wrote the only book of the Bible that has as its primary purpose that you may have eternal life through faith in Christ, the Guarantor of that life (John 20:31). It is not until John's other writings, The Epistles of John and Revelation, that Christian growth through fellowship and encouragement toward perseverance are primary themes.
Verse one of the hymn relates God's appearance on earth through the incarnation of Christ. God made Himself known as the loving God who provides eternal life and salvation as a gift received through faith in Christ. Verses three and four address the death and resurrection of Christ which provide satisfactory remedy for the sin of humanity, authenticate Jesus' role as Savior and Christ, and give us everlasting life the moment we believe Him.
Verse two of the hymn reflects a theme that is secondary to John's immediate
purpose. He writes that the experience of joy through growth in discipleship is
conditional upon our continued faith and participation in obedience and love.
John's secondary theme is especially evident in chapters 13-17 of his Gospel.
Our response as a child of God to this theme carries with it its own set of
consequences, good or bad. The result of a life of discipleship is joy,
fruitfulness, and friendship with God. The result of a life devoid of
discipleship is the loss of joy, fruitfulness, and friendship with God. John
records Jesus' pertinent principle in John 13:17. He said, "If you know
these things, blessed [happy] are you if you do them"
(italics added). The reverse is also true. We won't be happy, blessed, or
joyful if we don't obey Jesus' commands. But eternal condemnation is not one of
the consequences of mediocrity, apathy, or even rebellion. Eternal condemnation
results from not having believed the promise of everlasting life (John
Clarity of the relationship between John's primary and secondary themes in The Gospel of John is critical to personal stability and confidence in living the Christian life. Consequently, that relationship is being given disproportionate comment here. Some people think that John insists that the living out of this theme of discipleship is an automatic, supernatural outcome of the presence of eternal life, and necessary in order to authenticate the presence of eternal life. Others assert that discipleship is necessary even to maintain the continuance of eternal life. Rather, the apostle John maintains a distinction between birth through faith alone and growth through discipleship. This distinction is reflected particularly in the hymn's refrain. Though distinct, John's primary and secondary themes are related: we cannot grow in discipleship unless first we have been born from above.
The refrain of the hymn underscores and celebrates the possession of God's
gift of life through one moment of faith in Christ, emblematically portrayed,
in Christ's words, as one taste of the bread of life, or as one drink of the
living water. One taste or drink satisfies eternally (John
Even if one were in rebellion as a child of God, he or she could experience
underlying certainty about his or her eternal and heavenly destination. He
would be believing that the promised gift of everlasting life was already his
when he believed that Christ's guarantee is true. However, he would not be able
to enjoy confidence in Christ for daily living (John 15:5-6). Neither would he
anticipate with confidence Christ's evaluation of the quality of his life at
the believers' judgment (1 John
The hymn is set to the stately tune of St. Anthony Chorale, a piece
ascribed to Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), but more well known from a work by
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) entitled Variations On a Theme by Haydn. The
hymn is arranged by my son, Aaron Kenagy, a graduate of
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