Scripture Verse

God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Introduction

portrait
William G. Fischer (1835–1912)

Words: Mar­tha M. Stock­ton, cir­ca 1871. Pub­lished in the Voice of Praise, ed­it­ed by Eb­en­ez­er T. Baird and Charles C. Con­verse (shown by his pseu­do­nym, Karl Re­dan), 1872. The words were re­port­ed­ly in­spired by an Am­er­ican In­di­an wo­man’s sto­ry of a Ca­na­di­an mis­sion­ary bring­ing the Gos­pel to her vil­lage.

Music: God Loved the World Will­iam G. Fisch­er (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Stock­ton (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

God loved the world of sinners lost,
And ruined by the fall;
Salvation full, at highest cost,
He offers free to all.

Refrain

O ’twas love, ’twas wondrous love,
The love of God to me;
It brought my Sav­ior from above,
To die on Cal­va­ry!

E’en now by faith I claim Him mine,
The ris­en Son of God;
Redemption by His death I find,
And cleansing through the blood.

Refrain

Love brings the glo­ri­ous fullness in,
And to His saints makes known
The blessèd rest from inbred sin,
Through faith in Christ alone.

Refrain

Believing souls, rejoicing go;
There shall to you be giv’n
A glo­ri­ous foretaste, here below,
Of endless life in Heav’n.

Refrain

Of vic­to­ry now o’er Satan’s power
Let all the ransomed sing,
And triumph in the dying hour
Through Christ, the Lord, our king.

Refrain