I don’t
know the statistics on this topic to know if I’m right, but if I had to guess I
would say that, second only to “Amazing Grace” by John Newton and “Joy to the
World” by Isaac Watts, the most well-known hymn in the world is probably “It Is
Well with My Soul” by Horatio Spafford.[1]
Written during a period of immense loss and grief in the author’s life, this theologically
rich hymn has been a comfort to many who are walking through sorrow or
difficulty, a reminder that “Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know; It
is well, it is well with my soul.”[2]
Although
some verses were added later, the original four are the ones most well-known
today. The first stanza speaks of the truth that, whether in good times or bad,
our souls can remain steady in their wellness. The second speaks of the assurance
that comes from knowing Jesus took our punishment and died in our place, thanks
to the great Plot Twist I wrote about last time. The hymn reminds us
that this assurance holds fast even in the face of attacks from our spiritual
enemy and various trials in life. The third stanza speaks of the “glorious”
truth that in light of what Jesus did for us, we can be free from the entire
burden of our sin.
All of this
is counter to what we might expect before coming to know God. To those who don’t
know Him, it can seem amazing that even the experience of great loss is not enough
to shake our security and confidence because of Christ. The fact that “Christ
has regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul,” and
that “I bear [my sin] no more” is mind-blowing, as we saw in the last post. But
what I want to focus on today is the last stanza, which contains a surprise in
and of itself.
The verse
begins, “And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight, The clouds be
rolled back as a scroll.” It speaks of Jesus’ return, the day when we will at
last see with our eyes what we believe with our minds and hearts. For a
follower of Jesus this is a day worth looking forward to, hence the prayer “haste
the day” in the hymn. But the day when “The trump shall resound, and the Lord
shall descend” will not be a joyous day for everyone. In fact, if it weren’t
for the great Plot Twist or if we didn’t know about that, we would expect the
arrival of the Righteous One to be dooming for us unrighteous ones. We have no
chance of standing before the Holy God on our own merit.
The apostle
Paul describes what the second-coming of Jesus means for those who are still trusting
in their own efforts at goodness to achieve salvation, speaking of the day “when
the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey
the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal
destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might”
(2 Thessalonians 1:7b-9, ESV). Simply put, the souls of those who do not have a
personal relationship with God the Father through God the Son are not well and
will not be well when Jesus returns or for the rest of eternity. They will be
afflicted with unending separation from the One who knows them best and loves
them most.
But that
love is what made possible a way out for anyone who will take it. Because of
Jesus’ sacrifice and ransom for us, those who trust in Him instead of in
themselves or in anyone else are able to say as the hymn does, “The trump shall
resound, and the Lord shall descend, even so it is well with my soul.”[3]
Even during the regal announcement of the return of the King of Kings, the
souls of those who are alive in Christ have no need to tremble with fear. Even when
the Lord of Lords descends to consummate His reign, the souls of those who follow
Him need not be anxious but can rest secure, peaceful, and confident in their
salvation. The Just Judge of all that exists is coming back, but even so, our
very souls are well.
As Paul
wrote to the Thessalonians, “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. 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. Therefore
encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, ESV).
For those
who are in Christ, the splitting clouds and resounding trumpet bring not
judgment but the fulfillment of a kind promise. Instead of being eternally “away
from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might,” “we will always be with
the Lord” our Maker. We will finally enter the perfect rest that He provides and
live forever in the place He has lovingly prepared for us (see Hebrew 4 and John
14).
[1] My friend Kim S. Kinney has written a wonderful chapter about Spafford’s story in her book Living for His Glory, available on Amazon.
[2] The word “know” was later changed to “say.” See a reproduction of the original manuscript, written in Spafford’s hand, at https://www.spaffordhymn.com/. (Incidentally, “know” has such a richer meaning to it, doesn’t it? It’s not just that we can say, “It is well with my soul” in any situation, it’s that we can know, i.e. be confident and sure that “it is well with my soul.”)
[3] The original line reads, “A song in the night, oh my soul!” but this has the same positive feeling to it, implying that Jesus’ return is one that brings security and joy for those whose sins are wiped away.
No comments:
Post a Comment