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Not I, but Christ be honored, loved, exalted, Not I, but Christ be seen, be known and heard; Not I, but Christ in every look and action, Not I, but Christ in every thought and word. |
| Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord, Oh, to be lost in Thee, Oh, that it may be no more I, But Christ that lives in me. |
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Not I, but Christ to gently soothe in sorrow, Not I, but Christ to wipe the falling tear; Not I, but Christ to lift the weary burden, Not I, but Christ to hush away all fear. |
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Christ, only Christ, no idle word e’er falling, Christ, only Christ, no needless bustling sound; Christ, only Christ, no self-important bearing, Christ, only Christ, no trace of I be found. |
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Not I, but Christ my every need supplying, Not I, but Christ my strength and health to be; Christ, only Christ, for spirit, soul, and body, Christ, only Christ, live then Thy life in me. |
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Christ, only Christ, ere long will fill my vision, Glory excelling soon, full soon I’ll see; Christ, only Christ, my every wish fulfilling, Christ, only Christ, my all in all to be. |
To have the rings without the overlaying gold is to be poor in gold. It is to have the Triune God as the rings but not as the gold overlaying the boards. To be in such a condition is to be poor in God. We need to learn to confess that we sometimes are poor in God. We may be rich in the self but quite poor in God. Therefore, we need the initial Spirit to spread throughout our being; that is, the initial gold must spread out in order to overlay us. As we grow in the Lord, the Spirit spreads within us and overlays us with Himself.
The gold did not overlay some inferior or corrupt material; it overlaid acacia wood. Although the acacia wood was very good, it was not the purpose of the tabernacle to express the wood. This indicates that God does not want man to be expressed; rather, He wants to see the expression of Himself. God desires for Himself to be expressed upon man. This requires that man be covered with God, even overlaid completely with Him. In our hymnal there is a hymn entitled "Not I but Christ." The chorus goes like this:
Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,
Oh, to be lost in Thee,
Oh, that it may be no more I,
But Christ that lives in me.
To be lost in the Lord is to be overlaid with Him and to be hidden in Him. When we are concealed within the Lord Himself, He becomes the expression.
When the apostle Paul was Saul, he was a very aggressive young man. Everything with him was "I, me, my, and mine." With Saul it was "I first, my and mine in the middle, and me last." Everything was Saul of Tarsus. But the Lord Jesus knocked him down on the road to Damascus, and Saul asked, "Who are You, Lord?" (Acts 9:5). The Lord said, "I am Jesus" (v. 5). The Lord was saying, "I am the great I Am. I am the One that is. You must believe that I am and you are not." Eventually, Saul changed his name. Saul was over, and Paul came up (Acts 13:9 and note 1). This Paul was the one who told us, "It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me." This is to believe that God is.
Nothing can make the unique God happy except one thing. That is faith. Faith is to believe that God is. Then I would check with you, "If only God is, where are you?" The first stanza of Hymns, #483 says, "Buried with Christ, and raised with Him too;/What is there left for me to do?/Simply to cease from struggling and strife,/Simply to walk in newness of life./Glory be to God!" Where are you? You are in the tomb. Today who are you? You need to say, "It is no more I, but Christ." I would like again to refer to what Darby said: "O the joy of having nothing and being nothing, seeing nothing but a living Christ in glory, and being careful for nothing but His interests down here." This is faith. We care for nothing but His interest. We should always say, "Not I, not me, not my, not mine; but He, Him, His. He is the first and the last and everything in between." "Christ, only Christ" (see Hymns, #591—stanza 5).
Piano Hymns
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Irvine, California, United States
May Christ increase in all the members of His body!
Cagayan De Oro, Misamis Oriental, Philippines
The Lord says 'I am...' Christians should say 'Not I...'
New Zealand
Thank you! This is a hymn that means so much to me over many years. It is my Ernest prayer that Christ will be my all in all.
Puebla, Mexico
That the precious name of Christ be exalted in each of us. Amen.
Kampala, Uganda
I was in my devotion. And I heard the words "Not I but Christ" oh I love it.
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
I woke up thinking about this song. If only I can wake up to this song. Glorifying Him in my journey will be easier. Not I but Christ be loved honoured and cherished. The author does justice to the song. In a dying world with humankind destroying it. May the song be a blessing especially to those who take leadership positions. Christ only Christ live then Thy life in me.
United States
The experience of this Hymn is the definition of true emancipation. Praise My Dear Wonderful Savior now and forever!
Tema, Ghana
In my speaking, in my doing, in all things my prayer is for Christ to replace me. That not I but Christ will become my experience also, in reality. Amen.
Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia
It is very true of what is commented by Lisa Joy.
QueensVillage, NY, United States
I like this song because it defines the true walk that we are all supposed to be walking as Christians.
I want the Lord to be exalted through my daily life and interaction with friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, and the world.
I feel that the beauty of the song is in how simple it is. The statement of "NOT I" explains the love of the Lord and how it touches our soul and renews our spirit.