Lyric analysis- Grace So Glorious

So we sang this song yesterday morning:

It's not a new song to Grace Life by any means.  But I realized that even though I've sang it many times, I could not 100% tell you what I sang.  It is easy to get caught up in the beauty of a song without recognizing what words are there.  I do it constantly, especially when it's a well written song that's enjoyable to sing (great key, great harmonies, interesting dynamic structure, etc... this is one of those songs).  And even when we look at lyrics, connected ideas are spaced out because they are written poetically, or if they are on a screen, they are spread out onto different slides.  So as I was driving yesterday after church, I was thinking to myself. . . what is in that song?  There are certainly pieces of it that are easy to connect to, good "holy words," but what's the whole message?

So I typed it out in more sentence form with some added punctuation:

Beneath the cross of Jesus Christ, no shadow remains for shame to hide.  Redemption shone for all to see perfection bore our penalty with a grace so glorious.

Immortal day, the veil was torn when mercy donned a crown of thorns: as law gave way to liberty and freedom for humanity with a grace so glorious.

Oh the glory of the Savior's love surrounding our surrender...
To know forever we are welcomed home...

Crowned in glory to glory; Worthy is the Lord of all the glory forever.  Holy is the Lord!

Triumphant praises without end, all hailing the King of righteousness.  And every eye beholds the One our hearts were undeserving of with a grace so glorious.

O wondrous day when I will see the face of Him who ransomed me.  I'll fall in worship at His feet and rise to reign eternally in a grace so glorious!

I love interpretation when it comes to lyrics, and there's a lot of good stuff here.  The first image, that the cross provides no place where our sin is not exposed, is powerful.  It completely reveals our inadequacy.  When we come before Jesus, we cannot hide anything.  And why are there no shadows? Because the source of light, the Redeemer, is there.  And He is there, taking on the death which we deserve.  He literally died in our stead.

That is a glorious grace.

Immortal day. . . I think there's several things here.  First, a day that would never be forgotten- the Church continually celebrates it, not just at Easter or during communion/Lord's supper, but hopefully weekly as we gather and daily as we struggle.  But also a day that would prove immortality- the necessary death but the great conquering of death by being alive again!  And God, being merciful, endured a literal crown of thorns as He hung there.  Not the crown the King deserves (but the imagery to come! so this is intentional).  Upon dying, we see a tear in not only the literal veil, but also that which denied access to God himself.  No longer would we have to rely on earthly priests to mediate our requests, prayers, offerings, whatever, to God, because Jesus grants us that.  And we are no longer bound to a system to try and earn perfection, no longer enslaved to follow a nature that goes against God.

That is a glorious grace.

When we come together here on earth to praise God, it is only a microcosm of the celebration that will be in heaven.  I would love to jump into the King of righteousness but this is already getting pretty long.  There's some really fascinating stuff there though.  And eventually, everyone will recognize Jesus. . . and what He has done for us, it's not because we are so great.  It is because God is great.

That is a glorious grace.

And then. . . the great hope that helps us to face the difficulties of this life. . . that we will eventually see Jesus face to face!  We will be with Him!  And we will work alongside Him, which should inspire and incite us to holy living (a living, by the way, that is not only about what we do but also what God does in us).  We aren't just left to our own devices, because if we were, we would be hopeless.

That is a glorious grace!!

And then, my favorite part to sing-
Oh the glory of the Savior's love surrounding our surrender...
To know forever we are welcomed home...

When we finally give up control, the freedom found in God's love. . . .  still something I am discovering and finding areas of life that I need to give over to God.  I think that's why Paul prays we would understand how great God's love is.  That we could say boldly, "It's not my life anymore, it is Christ's!"  That's what we strive for.  And even though we stray, we do dumb things, we mess up. . . God never gives up on us.

And then the chorus!  The part we sing over and over!

Crowned in glory to glory; Worthy is the Lord of all the glory forever.  Holy is the Lord!

Reminds me a lot of this scene from Revelation.  The lyrics here are pretty straightforward. . . but just love the throwback to being crowned in glory rather than with thorns, crowned to glory as King rather than to wrath.

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Part of why we sing in church is an emotional response; part of why we sing is an intellectual response.  For both the person who struggles in feeling the song and the one who gets caught up in the emotion but doesn't know why, it may be time to explore the deep truths that are embedded in the lyrics.



This went longer than I expected. . . but I need to do this more.