Scripture Verse

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

Introduction

Words: C. Bi­shop, in Great Go­spel Songs, ed­it­ed by Hal­dor Lil­le­nas et al. (Kan­sas Ci­ty, Mis­sou­ri: Na­za­rene Pub­lish­ing House, 1929), number 3.

Music: Ro­bert Hark­ness (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know B­ishop’s full name, or where to get a good pho­to of him (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Robert Harkness
(1880–1961)

Lyrics

illustration
Christ on the Cross
Léon J. F. Bonnat (1833–1922)

That God should love a sin­ner such as I,
Should yearn to change my sor­row in­to bliss,
Nor rest till He had planned to bring me nigh,
How won­derful is love like this!

Refrain

Such love, such won­drous love,
Such love (such love), such won­drous love,
That God should love a sin­ner such as I,
How won­der­ful is love like this!

That Christ should join so free­ly in the scheme,
Although it meant His death on Cal­va­ry,
Did ev­er human tongue find nob­ler theme
Than love di­vine that ran­somed me?

Refrain

That for a will­ful out­cast such as I,
The Fa­ther planned, the Sav­ior bled and died;
Redemption for a worth­less slave to buy,
Who long had law and grace de­fied.

Refrain

And now He takes me to His heart—a son,
He asks me not to fill a ser­vant’s place;
The Far off coun­try wan­d’rings are all done,
Wide op­en are His arms of grace.

Refrain