Lord of glory, we adore Thee

Date: September 7, 1947, Lord’s Day morning Place: Foochow, Fukien

The first stanza of hymn #144 in Hymns says,
Lord of glory, we adore Thee!
Christ of God, ascended high!
Heart and soul we bow before Thee,
Glorious now beyond the sky:
Thee we worship, Thee we praise—
Excellent in all Thy ways.

This hymn says “Christ of God. ” We are familiar with the term “Son of God, ” but we seldom say “the Christ of God. ” The Christ of God means the One anointed by God and sent by God to accomplish His work. In the original language, the word for Christ is Christos. The word for Christians is Christianos, which indicates that Christians are those who belong to Christ.

The first stanza of hymn #38 in Hymns says,
Of all the gifts Thy love bestows,
Thou Giver of all good!
E’en heav’n itself no richer knows
Than Jesus and His blood.

This hymn speaks of the vastness of God’s riches. We have to wait until that day before we can fully prove the value of God’s love. Some people think that it is good enough for God to give us heaven. However, heaven is not the best thing that a person can have. If a man is just satisfied with heaven, he is limiting God’s love. He is in reality limiting God’s love to heaven. Some people say that they will be satisfied with a small corner in heaven. These people are limiting God’s love to a small corner. However, our God is not stingy. His grace is abundant, both in the past and the present and in the future as well. God sends the rain and the wind in free and full measure. God does not mind giving us a little more than we need. If God were to exercise restriction, it would be a terrible thing for us. Miss M. E. Barber once wrote a hymn that says,

There is always something over,
When we taste our gracious Lord;
Every cup He fills o’erfloweth,
Rich supply He doth afford.
Nothing narrow, nothing stinted,
Ever issued from His store;
To His own He gives full measure,
Running over, evermore,
To His own He gives full measure,
Running over, evermore.
( Hymns, #595, stanza one)

The water that Christ gives is living water. Man only has well water. Well water can never be compared to living water. John 4 says that “the well is deep” and that there is “no bucket” (v. 11). Under these circumstances, man continues to be thirsty.

The Resumption of Watchman Nee's Ministry

Chapter 2 CWWN, vol. 57 (LSM)

“Richard Holden formerly an Anglican clergyman. He went out to Portugal in the Lord’s work. His letters to his mother giving reasons for leaving the Church of England, had in its time a wide circulation. And he wrote the hymn, ‘Lord of glory we adore Thee”.

“His departure to be with Christ is an example of the faithfulness and sustaining grace of God towards those who obey His call to serve Him in foreign lands, and of His presence with and rich blessings upon them. This is a quote verbatim from Napoleon Noel as there is no other data about Richard Holden ( ? -1886)

His wife wrote this letter after his departure in August 24, 1886.

“ Yes my dear husband is at home now with the One he loved so well waiting with Him till He come. It was at first a trial that my dear husband left me, this is almost the only time I can remember in all the happy years since the Lord gave us to each other, without ‘Good bye’. There was nothing of death or sadness in that sickroom, he was so happy, so cheerful. All who came to say goodbye— the dear saints and many others, — left thinking he would yet be among them; he looked so bright; the Doctor alone, gave me no hope, and oh, he was so kind. My dear husband was so fond of him. ‘Doctor, ’ he said, ‘A deathbed is not time to seek the Lord, what would I do if I had to come to Him is all this pain? No, thank God, it is all bright, all joy. 38 years I have known the Lord, and I have never had a doubt of my soul’s salvation. Now it is all joy to go. Not even my wife, dearly as I love her, or my boy hold me back. It is all bright, all joy. ”

Lord of glory, we adore Thee! Christ of God, ascended high!

This one is a hidden gem! The words, meter and emotion of the hymn all flow beautifully together.

What a delightful expression of the glories of the Son of God.