ORSBORNAGAIN (28)
A devotional series by Major Rob Birks
ORSBORNAGAIN is meant to introduce the poetry of the first Poet General, Albert Orsborn (1886-1967) to a new audience and to reintroduce his works to dyed-in-the-(tropical)-wool Salvationists.
These are not new songs.
However, the lyrics are jam-packed with new life, which may be missed during corporate worship. Re-examined through scripture and experience, Rob Birks intends through an examination of these scared songs to renew the spiritual fervor of believers, and point seekers to their Savior.
Son of God! Thy cross beholding,
Hearing thy expiring cry,
All our guilt and shame unfolding,
Melt the heart and dim the eye.
King of Glory,
Camest thou to earth to die?
Is it thus, O Christ eternal,
Right shall reign and sin shall cease?
Come we to the joy supernal
By thy dying, Prince of Peace?
Matchless Jesus,
Break our bonds and give release.
Past the reach of all despising,
Past man’s puny judgment bar,
Now we see thy light arising,
Hope is singing from afar.
Hail Immanuel,
Brighter than the morning star!
Lo, we yield thee adoration;
Glory crowns thy sacred brow,
And the saints of every nation
At thy feet in reverence bow.
Hallelujah!
In thy cross we triumph now.
Albert Orsborn
185 The Lord Jesus Christ – Praise and Worship – not in 2015 edition of The Salvation Army Songbook
We’ve already seen that Orsborn’s work is Christ-centric and cross-centric. This song is a classic example. It begins with the poet wondering as he contemplates Christ on the cross. It ends with the poet, along with “saints of every nation,” worshiping and finding victory in the cross of Christ.
As I write this, Stacy and I are preparing to visit a Salvation Army corps (church) in the division where we currently serve. Truth be told, Stacy is preparing; I’m praying through and commenting on ORSBORNAGAIN (again)—this song in particular. This coming Sunday is the first Sunday of the Advent season. The theme for the advent material the corps is using is “Why the Nativity?” and this Sunday asks the question, “Why did Jesus become a man?” This Orsborn song asks the same question in a few different ways: “King of Glory, camest thou to earth to die?” and “Come we to the joy supernal / By thy dying, Prince of Peace?”
Christian theologians have asked and attempted to answer this question for over 2,000 years. The general consensus is that, while there are many reasons Jesus became a man—to fulfill prophecy, to identify with the human experience, to rule in the line of David, and to reveal the Father—there is no getting around the fact that his main mission was to save the world. These Christian authors concur: Oswald Chambers writes, “The Incarnation was not for the Self-realization of God, but for the purpose of removing sin and reinstating humanity into communion with God,” and C. S. Lewis states, “The Son of God became man to enable men to become sons of God.”
While there is no getting around the fact that Jesus came to save us, it is crucial to get our heads and our hearts around it, by faith. After all, we all need saving.
In 2006, Pulitzer Prize winning historian and biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, was published. It took me a while, but I read it, and was amazed at all that I never knew about the 16th President of the United States. As a kid in school, I was fascinated by how Abraham Lincoln died. Team of Rivals made me much more interested in how Lincoln lived.
For instance, after he won the presidency, Lincoln placed men in his cabinet who had previously shown nothing but disdain for him. Why? He believed they were the best men for the job, and for the country. The Steven Spielberg film, Lincoln, is based on the sections of Team of Rivals that deal with the last four months of Lincoln’s life, and his pursuit of the passage of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution. After reading the book, or viewing the film, one is left with the impression that abolishing slavery in the U.S. was the main mission of Lincoln’s life.
In an 1862 letter, Lincoln wrote, “Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did. On the contrary, if you falter, and give up, you will lose the power of keeping any resolution, and will regret it all your life.”
Abraham Lincoln adhered to his purpose. He kept his resolution. He proclaimed all slaves to be free, and then set out to make it happen. Many lives were lost in the process, and he paid the ultimate price in dying for his life’s purpose.
The “Son of God,” the “King of Glory,” the “Prince of Peace,” “Christ eternal,” our “Immanuel” also paid the ultimate price for his life’s purpose. From the cradle to the cross, the salvation of the world was first and foremost on his mind. Why did Jesus become a man? It was to free you, to free me, to free the world. Only the “matchless Jesus” can “break our bonds and give release.” Hallelujah!
So, what will you do with your freedom? We, all of us, would do well to take a cue from Orsborn, and live Christ- centric and cross-centric lives. If the cross of Christ doesn’t cause us to wonder and to worship, if contemplating the cross doesn’t bring us to tears and to triumph, we’ve missed the point and purpose of Christ’s life and our own.
He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing (1 Peter 2:24 MSG).