Jesus I Come by Indelible Grace
Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night,
Jesus, I come; Jesus I come.
Into Thy freedom, gladness and light,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of my sickness into Thy health,
Out of my wanting and into Thy wealth,
Out of my sin and into Thyself,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of my shameful failure and loss,
Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.
Into the glorious gain of Thy cross,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of earth’s sorrows into Thy balm,
Out of life’s storms and into Thy calm,
Out of distress into jubilant psalm,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of unrest and arrogant pride,
Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.
Into Thy blessed will to abide,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of myself to dwell in Thy love,
Out of despair into raptures above,
Upward forever on wings like a dove,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of the fear and dread of the tomb,
Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.
Into the joy and light of Thy home,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of the depths of ruin untold,
Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold,
Ever Thy glorious face to behold,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Reflection
What is the Christian life but leaving and cleaving? We leave all that we were and cleave to Christ. Behind lies nothing but death. Bondage. Sorrow. Night. Sickness. Want. Sin. Shame. Failure. Loss. Earth’s sorrows. Life’s storms. Distress. Unrest. Arrogant pride. Self. Despair. Fear. Dread of the tomb. Depths of ruin untold. But before us, in Christ Himself, is life and all the blessings therein. Freedom. Gladness. Light. His health. His wealth. Glorious gain of His cross. Jubilant psalm. His blessed will. His love. Access to raptures above. Joy and light of Heaven. Peace. Glory.
I only recently discovered this song. It beautiful describes how every blessing is not divorced from Christ but actually possessed by all who are in Him. By coming to Christ Himself, we gain the treasure, namely Christ Himself. He is the one in whom all the fullness of deity dwells (Col 2:9), and He in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are stored (Col 2:3). He is our righteousness, freedom, justification, life, light, and love. All other blessings don’t just come through Him, as if He were a mere pipe or conduit for the blessings. Rather, all other blessings are wrapped up in His personhood; we gain only by imbibing of Him. After all, once we have tasted eternal life, we do not come preeminently for His gifts, but to the Giver Himself.
Look at how Paul belabors this point in Ephesians 1.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight
9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him
10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him
11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Jesus, we come. Jesus, we come to Thee — for blessing, for holiness, for love, for grace, for redemption, for forgiveness, for lavish grace, for inheritance, for hope, for glory, for truth, for promise, for assurance, for security, for joy, for love, yes. But most of all, Lord Jesus, we come for Thee.
You can view documents for the song at Indelible Grace’s hymn book.
Photo by Lili Popper on Unsplash