Twelfth Gift Of Advent: Rejoice In Hope

I believe that God really has dived down into the bottom of creation, and has come up bringing the whole redeemed nature on his shoulders. ~C.S. Lewis

Rejoice In Glorious Hope

Rejoice, the Lord is King! Your Lord and King adore;
Rejoice, give thanks and sing, and triumph evermore;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Jesus, the Savior, reigns, the God of truth and love
When He had purged our stains He took His seat above:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice:
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

His kingdom cannot fail, He rules o’er earth and heaven,
The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus given;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

He sits at God’s right hand till all His foes submit,
And bow to His command, and fall beneath His feet:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice:
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

He all His foes shall quell, shall all our sins destroy,
And every bosom swell with pure seraphic joy;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice,
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Rejoice in glorious hope! Jesus the Judge shall come,
And take His servants up to their eternal home.
We soon shall hear th’archangel’s voice;
The trump of God shall sound, rejoice!

~Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

Every Reason To Hope

The King becomes a pauper so he will know first-hand the hard paths we travel,

The Savior whose only weapon is self-giving love,

The Judge who lays down his life for the accused, has come.

Like a teacher handing us the answers to the test as we walk into class, like a doctor discovering the cure before revealing his diagnosis, Christ has defeated every reason for despair and now invites us to anchor our hope in him.

Lift up your heart. Lift up your voice. Join in the glad song of hope.

Which of Charles Wesley’s promises will you claim today?