Christ: Altogether Lovely!

Samuel Rutherford wrote:

If there were ten thousand thousand millions of worlds, and as many heavens full of men and angels, Christ would [be more than able] to supply all our wants, and to fill us all. Christ is a well of life, but who knows how deep it is to the bottom? 

This soul of ours has love, and cannot but love some fair one. And, O, what a fair One, what an only One, what an excellent, lovely, ravishing One is Jesus!   

Put the beauty of ten thousand thousand worlds of paradises like the garden of Eden in one.  Put all trees, all flowers, all smells, all colors, all tastes, all joys, all sweetness, all loveliness in one. O, what a fair and excellent thing that would be! And yet it would be less to that fair and dearest Well-Beloved Christ, than one drop of rain to the whole seas, rivers, lakes, and fountains of ten thousand earths. 

O, but Christ is heaven's wonder and earth's wonder! What marvel that His bride saith, "He is altogether lovely?" (Song. 5:16) O, that [sinful] souls [would] come and fetch all their love to this fair One! 

O, if I could invite and persuade thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand of Adam's sons, to flock about my Lord Jesus, and to come and take their fill of love! O, pity forevermore that there should be such a one as Christ Jesus, so boundless, so bottomless, and so incomparable in infinite excellency and sweetness, and so few to take Him. 

O, O, you poor dry and dead souls, why will you not come here with your empty vessels, and your empty souls to this huge, and fair, and deep, and sweet well of life and fill all your empty vessels. 

O, that Christ should be so large in sweetness and worth, and we so narrow, lacking, so weak, and so void of all happiness, and yet men will not take Him. They lose their love miserably, who will not bestow it upon this lovely One.

Samuel Rutherford, "Letter XXIX – To the Lady Kilconquilair" in The Letters of Rev. Samuel Rutherford, Ed. Andrew Bonar (London: Oliphant Anderson and Ferrier, 1891), 95. This letter was written from Aberdeen on August 8, 1637.

HT: Tolle Lege

"That's My King!" Who Above All Is The Greatest Dream, Won Civil Rights In The Supreme, And From All Racism Will Redeem To Grant Ethnic Peace In The Extreme!

A Dream: Anything extremely beautiful, excellent, fine, or pleasant; Something that fully satisfies.

Jesus alone is the Dream of dreams
He's glorious and beautiful in the extreme
In all excellence He's utterly supreme
He's more pleasant and sweet than the richest of cream
He's more pure and finer than any bright light gleam
He alone fully satisfies in His kingdom regime
Of all redemption He's the great theme
For He died and rose all peoples to redeem!

That's my King!

Martin Luther King had a dream he cried
His dream was great – we're on his side
Yet though he fought and bled and tried
In racist sin was shot and died
Thank you for the dream you cried
We need a King Who'll still provide
One Who died then rose wide eyed
To always rule as King preside
O'er all the earth He reigns as guide
To love His interethnic Bride
And cast all racism aside
So we could praise His name worldwide
And now in Him if we abide
There's no more race or hate divide
He made us one – His race allied
He took us all from the outside
To make us family by His side
So set your racial pride aside
For "Christ is all!" because He died!

That's my King! I wonder if you know Him today?!

He won for us our greatest civil right
By faith we're heaven's citizens outright
Where all tongues, tribes, and peoples will delight
In Christ Who's joy's everlasting height
Against all death and hate He won the fight
As heaven's King and holy-warrior Knight
His love and grace are truly out of sight
Of this broken world He is the Light
He bore God's wrath and died to make it right
And rose all your sadnesses to rewrite
And now to joy in Him He does invite
Regardless of your skin if black or white
For all are one in Him as their chief delight!

That's my King!

Christ alone brings ethnic peace to every nation
His own marriage is a beautiful demonstration
The God-Man Jew wed to an all ethnic combination
This – a glorious interethnic celebration
The Church from every tribe and tongue and nation
Is the Bride He bought through death and resurrection
And one amazing realization of His propitiation for our salvation
Is the total cessation of all ethnic segregation
For the glory of our King Who's the ethnic harmony causation
Worthy of all praise and adoration!

That's my King! That's my King!

"That's My King!" For Whom We Count All Things As Loss No Matter The Cost And Consider Them Dross Because He Died On That Cross!

Oh how often in our flesh we trust; Hoping in self and our goodness we must; Pride in our background and race can't be hushed; To free us from this Christ came to be crushed, and to turn us away from all worldly lust; When we stay near the cross our pride's brought to dust; And on Christ alone all our hopes are thrust; For He was made sin Who alone was just; True righteousness is ours in Christ robust; Our pride we then hate and renounce in disgust; May our passion for Christ in flames now combust!
This text was so hard for me to prepare; Because my heart with it's truth cannot compare; To lose husband, wife, or for what you most care;  Losing a child or great dreams my heart it would tear; But nothing we lose of all earthly fare can come close to our Christ or even compare; When you lose everything and your life is bare, you're tempted to cry out "That's just not fair!" But these feelings with the truth of God just don't square; To get what's fair would be hell in despair; But God is gracious – His mercy He'll share; If you trust in Christ that moment He'll spare; And promise you heaven to be with Him there; To do you good all your days with an oath He did swear; May more love to Christ be our constant prayer; So that "Christ is all!" we may truly declare!

That's my King!  Do you know Him?!

For Jesus our precious Savior and King; We'll count all things dung and lose everything; As our greatest treasure to Him alone cling because of the joy He'll forever bring to make us delight and in ecstasy sing; His praises from our hearts forever shall ring; Of true satisfaction He's the life spring!
All that we value that's close to our heart; For Christ we must willingly let it depart; He must be our first love right from the start; His love and His beauty are clear off the chart; He's the only One with Whom we can't be apart; All your sad pains He'll transform like fine art!
Jesus Himself is of surpassing worth; Alone in Himself He's the treasure of earth; Through Him all nations can have rebirth and live in harmony with unquenchable mirth!
Christ is greater than the racial pride chase; He died and rose to create one glorious race; Of all ethnic peoples one race by His grace; A people like family, but with a stronger embrace; For Christ's blood is thicker than biological base; In His church He came all racial strife to erase, and fill us with love leaving no racism trace; When we count everything loss and delight in His face!

That's my King!  That's my King!

"That's My King!" Who Causes Love To Abound, Righteousness To Surround, And Is Excellent All Around!

For you His child He has a tremendous affection; Before time He showed this in your loving election; Though there was nothing in you to cause your selection; He loved you the best despite your imperfection; His saying “You're mine!” means you'll never face rejection; Christ faced that on the cross, though He was all perfection; Then conquered death and hell in sovereign resurrection; If you trust in Him and lay down your insurrection; He'll live inside your heart and change your life's direction; So take less looks to self – this deadly introspection; And take more looks to Christ – His love is your protection; He'll make you look like Him – a glorious reflection!
May He cause our love more and more to abound; This happens when our joy in Him is found – when the Christ above all our treasure's crowned; All lesser lovers He'd confound, and all our idols flush till drowned; He did this on that cross was bound; God's wrath and judgment all He downed; He was buried dead, deep in the ground; He rose all powers to astound, and gain for God all praise renowned; His love for us is past profound; He pursues with mercy all around; He's like the heavenly, holy Hound; His praises ever will resound!

That's my King!  I wonder if you know Him today?!

Through Christ alone you're filled with the righteousness fruit; But first by faith put Him on like a suit; His righteousness to you He will impute; Through faith alone you'll receive God's salute so that then you can go and bear much fruit; Christ's life in you for good works is the root; His Spirit works a relentless pursuit of loving deeds towards all without dispute!
If we love with knowledge in all we do; We'll approve the excellent through and through; We should aim for God's best in all we pursue; For what glorifies Him and all that's true; And therefore the greatest One we go to; Is Christ Himself the most excellent Jew; He died to save and make all things new; And rose to give evil what it's due; To banish all bad and what's askew; Everything sad He will undo; With goodness and mercy He will pursue; He's the most excellent I can bring you to!
The glory of God is the prayer's main goal; That's God's first love in the Biblical whole; In all of life it's the heart and soul of all we do it must control; We were created Christ to extol; Above all our loves He is the goal!

That's my King!  That's my King!

Christ Is All In Scripture!

John Calvin, writing in the preface to Pierre-Robert Olivétan’s 1535 translation of the New Testament:

He [Christ] is Isaac, the beloved Son of the Father who was offered as a sacrifice, but nevertheless did not succumb to the power of death.

He is Jacob the watchful shepherd, who has such great care for the sheep which he guards.

He is the good and compassionate brother Joseph, who in his glory was not ashamed to acknowledge his brothers, however lowly and abject their condition.

He is the great sacrificer and bishop Melchizedek, who has offered an eternal sacrifice once for all.

He is the sovereign lawgiver Moses, writing his law on the tables of our hearts by his Spirit.

He is the faithful captain and guide Joshua, to lead us to the Promised Land.

He is the victorious and noble king David, bringing by his hand all rebellious power to subjection.

He is the magnificent and triumphant king Solomon, governing his kingdom in peace and prosperity.

He is the strong and powerful Samson, who by his death has overwhelmed all his enemies.

This is what we should in short seek in the whole of Scripture: truly to know Jesus Christ, and the infinite riches that are comprised in him and are offered to us by him from God the Father. If one were to sift thoroughly the Law and the Prophets, he would not find a single word which would not draw and bring us to him. . . . Therefore, rightly does Saint Paul say in another passage that he would know nothing except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

HT: Justin Taylor via Tim Keller via John Starke

"That's My King!" Who's The Word Exalted Above All Things, The King Above All Kings, And The Source From Which All Joy And True Life Springs!

God's greatest passion is for the fame of His name; Exalting this above all is His number one aim; Our joy in Him and this aim are the same, for as our delight in Him burns with white-hot flame; His value is shown through our praise and acclaim; We get the joy, and He gets the fame; And the number one place God exalted His name was when the Word made flesh our sin became; "Exalt Your Son to Exalt You!" His prayer came; On that cross He was made sin to take our blame, and rose from the dead to end our shame; This Word in the flesh we must proclaim, for He's exalted this Word above His name so that you will never be the same!
All the glory God's names contain, He sent His Son to make them plain; This Word o'er all it will attain; Of all attractions He's the main, for He's the Word we've read was slain; Who took away our guilty stain; And rose alive on high to reign; Through His most wretched pain we gain; The joyful life in God's domain!

That's My King!  Do you know Him?!

I AM, LORD, God, and Elohim; The sovereign God Whose names redeem; Honor, glory, love extreme; Beauty, strength, and might their theme; The self-sufficient God they scream; The Living Word came in this stream; The Christ our God revealed supreme; O'er all things the crème de la crème; Makes His Father's glory gleam; Fulfills the perfect ordained scheme; And far surpasses your greatest dream!
He's King of kings – first and the last; Who saves from all your sin and past; O'er all He's in another class; A sovereign, weighty glory mass; His love and mercy are so vast, our knowledge they, like Him, surpass!
We meet Him in the written Word; There pursue Him undeterred; In your Bible His Words are heard; Go there to get your heart so stirred; Neglecting this is clear absurd; Above all else it's Him preferred; Because to Him your sin conferred; God's wrath on Him judgment incurred; His righteousness to us transferred; And raised Him up on the day third; He's life and joy – the Living Word!

That's my King!  That's my King!

"That's My King!" Whose Years Have No End Though In Death He'd Condescend To Show A Love You Can't Comprehend!

Hebrews 1:12:  But you are the same, and your years will have no end.

2012 has come and ends, but from eternity past His life extends; And unlike your resolution that toward failure tends; He always accomplishes everything He intends; On Him your life and hope depends; On that cross He became what offends so that sinners to God through Christ commends and all their evil He suspends, for He rose up to make Divine amends; Against all your enemies He defends and for your faith always contends as your only Friend of friends Whose love and beauty all things transcends!
He's the same yesterday, today, and forever; He fulfills with perfection every endeavor; If you believe in Him, He'll save whosoever; For on that cross His Father did sever, but He rose from the tomb to die again never; In the new year may He be your greatest treasure!
Crown Him the LORD of all your years; He owns your past and future fears; He'll take away your lonely tears, turn them into praising cheers, and make sure sadness disappears; He reigns o'er all your earthly spheres, and every sin He paid and clears; His tender, loving, attentive ears, your cries for mercy always hears; He cares much more than all your peers; We hope and pray His coming nears; When He returns our joy appears; As we crown Him the LORD of years!

That's my King!  I wonder if you know Him in this new year?!

All your times are in His gracious, sovereign hand; Each event at His perfectly timed command, even when you don't fully understand; Nothing He does is done unplanned; We know His plans for you are grand – He's told us in His Book firsthand; "All things for good!" His Word will stand; His glory through your life expand; All your enemies He'll withstand, and hold you in His loving hand!
May delight in Him be your resolution; He's worthy for us to endure persecution; He's the only true solution to all earth's sin pollution, not the constitution or other government revolution; For on that cross He embraced execution and took our sinful, godless prostitution by enduring God's wrath by substitution where He took God's angry retribution in order to make full restitution to save us from all prosecution; He rose up from death and dissolution to establish His Bride – the Church institution!
He's the center of all joy and celebration; So stay up late and praise the Incarnation; Of His worship there shall be no cessation; For He's the Lamb Who was slain to save from damnation and grant us such a great salvation, winning for Himself everlasting admiration!

That's my King!  That's my King!

"That's My King!" Who Began The New Creation As The King Of Every Nation And Came To Grant Salvation To Our Most Evil Population!

We see the genesis of Jesus Christ in the beginning; He's the only one on this list Who didn't do any sinning; The wicked sin some of His ancestors did will leave your head spinning; This points to unfathomable mercy and grace that will only leave you grinning, for He's the God-Man Who died and rose to be forever winning!
He came to earth to make all things new; The mess Adam made He came to undo; Even in us who meet here at Chew, and all in the world who sit in the pew; No matter what happens, He'll bring you through, and work all for good – everything He'll renew; With goodness and mercy He'll pursue; One day He'll make every sadness untrue!
He's "Yahweh Saves" – the Messiah of all; This list will prove His phenomenal call; He removed God's wrath when He tasted the gall and rose up on high – the tallest of tall; Now He's King of kings with power not small; He takes a wicked Saul and makes him a Paul; If you trust in Him, you'll never fall!
He's both David and Abraham's greatest Son; Fulfilling the kingship and covenant done; In His death and resurrection New Creation's begun; His power and might are second to none; His glory and beauty shine like the sun!

That's my King!  Do you know Him?!

Jesus' family history includes an adulterer, murderer, and whore; His abundant love and mercy to richly underscore; To all types of sinners He's the saving open door; If you repent and believe, He won't ignore, but your hope and purity He'll restore; For He's the Dirty Rose Lover Who all our sins He bore, and conquered death and hell providing grace galore; To get this grace you cannot work like it's a chore; You must simply believe and then do nothing more; His Spirit will live in you to cause you to adore; Then you'll do good works for Him as you never did before; More and more all evil you'll begin to abhor, and against your own sin you'll wage an all-out holy war!
Wicked King Jechoniah is in His family line; None of his son's will be king as God's cursing sign; So Joseph's not the father in Jesus' bloodline; But he's the father for legal kingship in God's good design; And Mary's the source for the Davidic bloodline; Oh how great is the plan of the Divine; The things He assigns make His glory brightly shine, and His plans are all so gloriously fine!
Jesus has an amazing family tree; It shows God's compassion if you have eyes to see; His love and mercy are always free to all who trust and with His Gospel agree no matter their sin to the evilest degree; So come to Him by faith and make your plea; Beg Him for mercy on bended knee, and to this Mercy-Heart God may you quickly flee!

That's my King!  That's my King!

"That's My King!" Who's The Christmas Celebration, The Incarnation, And The Holy Causation Of Our Great Salvation!

He's the incarnation; The God on earth visitation; The God-Man summation without bifurcation; Savior of every nation; The "all-of-life" foundation; Without Whom there's no salvation; Who saves from condemnation and is worthy of our most faithful dedication, infinite admiration, and eternal appreciation!
Through the virgin birth He came down to earth; He fills with mirth by granting rebirth; Of joy in Him there's not the slightest dearth, for He Himself is of infinite worth!
He's fully God and fully man according to God's perfect plan; He saves sinners from every clan; His mercy has no bounds or span; From Bhutan to Japan, Iran to Sudan, or Kazakhstan – He's the only saving Man Who doing all things good – He can!
He humbled Himself to be born in a manger; Though all around He was surrounded by danger; To the likeness of sinful flesh He's no longer a stranger, but lived and died to be the sin for righteousness exchanger; He rose up from the grave to be the only great world changer; He'll live in you to be your whole life's rearranger!
Hark the herald angels sing; Glory to the newborn King Who comes with healing in His wing; All by Himself He's the greatest thing; He's the everlasting spring who alone can make your heart ring; To you salvation He will bring, if to Him by faith alone you'll cling!
Let every heart prepare Him room; He's God come from the virgin's womb; All sin and death He will consume; He saves from wrath and judgment doom; He died on Friday – there was gloom; But Sunday rose up from the tomb; Now He's our everlasting groom; If you trust in Him, He'll make you bloom!

That's my King!  I wonder if you know Him today?!

For unto us a child is born; Of true salvation, He's the horn; He'll make His people cease to mourn; Joy to the world He will adorn; He came to save from sin and porn by being Kinged  with crown of thorn; In His body our sins were borne; On that cross He was forlorn; He took on all our sin and scorn; At His death the curtain's torn; Yet He rose up just as was sworn; so those who trust could be reborn!
Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns; He came to save from all our pains; From every sin He'll break those chains if you'll seek to die like little grains; then you'll find your fruit remains; In holiness you'll make great gains!
He came to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found below; Though your sins are red you know; He died to make them white as snow; He took upon Himself your woe, and now your clean from head to toe; Behind His back your sins He'll throw; Just trust in Him nothing you owe; In your heart good things He'll sow; Through His Spirit you'll begin to grow!
He shall save His people from their sins; That's were Matthew's Gospel starts and ends; Trust in Him and there your life begins; He's the Warrior-King Who always wins; He came to make His enemies God's friends!
Immanuel is His glorious name; He's "God with us!" we must proclaim; In the manger our weakness He became; Go tell it on the mountain without shame; May this good news set our world aflame; On that cross He took our blame, forever banished all our shame, and rose from the grave all death to tame; The world will never be the same; All sadness for joy He will reclaim for the glorious fame of His beautiful name!

That's my King!  That's my King!

"That's My King!" Who's The Greatest Sign That Ever Came, All Leaven To Set Aflame, And Hard Hearts To Reclaim, Bringing Glory To His Most Precious Name!

A sign from heaven they wickedly sought

To test our LORD is all for naught

His Divine nature they never caught

The greatest sign is the Christ Who taught

He's the most brilliant sign ever wrought

Against all evil He victoriously fought 

To end all things making us distraught

For sinners He died and salvation brought

He rose to end every evil onslaught

He's more excellent than all you've ever thought

So trust in Him just as you ought!

He's the most excellent sign Who came down from heaven

Through His Person and Work He purifies all leaven

He showed His glory in the baskets left over – seven!

That's my King!

When you try to put God to the test

His reply will come back with zest

With Him they shouldn't have messed

Back against them with truth He pressed

He refused to grant their request 

Because He Himself is the sign they suppressed

With Him they should have been impressed

But instead they would eventually arrest

Have Him undressed and in His face spit and jest

Yet out of His mouth there would be no protest

And He would endure what most distressed 

As He died for the oppressed 

And was raised to give those rest

Who with Him alone would be obsessed!

That's my King! Do you know Him?!

He warned of the Pharisee and Herod yeast

It's unbelief, false teaching, and evil like the mark of the beast

It will cause your love and joy to cease

But in Christ we have the most satisfying feast

He's our sympathetic, great High Priest

Who on that cross gruesomely deceased

So that our joy in Him would forever increase

From all our sin we can be released

It's removed from us as far as west is from east

All who trust are forgiven from the greatest to the least!

That's my King!

The disciples seem clueless and unaware

Lack of physical bread had captured their care

Though Christ just made two feasts from thin air

Their hearts are hard and in need of repair

They lack contentment in the Christ Who's there

New hearts for His own He came to prepare

For a new heart you must bow to Him in prayer

He'll save you from all sin that might ensnare

By grace alone He won't give you what's fair

For in His Son, you're righteous He will declare

And your love for evil He'll slowly tear

As a son of the King, He numbers your hair

This world has nothing that with Him can compare!

That's my King!

He's the promised Messiah of every nation

And God's “Amen!” to all prophetic expectation

The disciples missing this is a baffling irritation

He came to let the nations be glad with joyous acclamation

As they glorify Him for His perfect death of consecration 

And His resurrection that ended His people's condemnation

To glorify His Father for purchasing such a great salvation!

That's my King! I wonder if you know Him today?!

Christ Jesus Is The Greatest Sign

He’s Sinless Man With Strong, Steel Spine

And God In Flesh Who Is Divine

There’s No One Like Him Who’s So Fine

All Beauty Does In Him Combine

Pure Perfection He’d Define

He Is Our All, Our Truth, Our Vine

Who Warns Of Wicked Teachers Swine

He Died For Sinners Who’d Malign

But Rose Alive To Death Consign

To Hell Forever There Confine

But We Are Free In His Bloodline

By Faith Alone He Does Assign

The Status “Righteous” God’s Design

Of His Love There’s No Coastline

He Sings O’er Us And Calls Us “Mine!”

So Praise His Name, Let Your Light Shine!

That's my King! That's my King!