Scripture Verse

Christ Jesus…being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Philippians 2:5–7

Introduction

Words: Ben­ja­min Bed­dome (1717–1795). Pub­lished post­hu­mous­ly in Hymns Adapt­ed to Pub­lic Wor­ship (Lon­don: Bu­rton & Briggs, 1818), num­ber 65. Christ’s re­sur­rect­ion.

Music: Am­ster­dam James Nar­es, in The Foun­de­ry Col­lect­ion, 1742 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

portrait
James Nares (1715–1783)

Lyrics

Jesus leaves His throne on high,
To save a ru­ined race;
Lo, He con­des­cends to die,
And take the sin­ner’s place:
In deep slum­bers see Him borne
To the tomb, but soon He wakes;
On the third, the glo­ri­ous morn,
Death’s ir­on bands He breaks.

Soldiers at the en­try stand,
The sac­red place to guard;
But be­hold, the time’s at hand,
The tomb must be un­barred:
Angels roll the stone away,
While the watch­ers’ eyes are sealed,
Death re­luc­tant yields his prey,
And Je­sus stands re­vealed.

Raise, ye saints, your joy­ful eyes,
The vic­to­ry is yours;
Jesus now above the skies,
Your end­less bliss se­cures:
He the first-fruits from the grave,
Gives a pledge of all to come:
Trust in Him, whose pow­er to save
Shall bring you safe­ly home.