All Glory Be to Christ
By Jill Newman
Christmas is Over — Now What?
Wads of crumpled wrapping paper peek out from under the couch in my tousled living room — the norm after our traditional post-present-opening paper wad fight. New sweaters, books, puzzles and games lay haphazardly under the slightly tilted Christmas tree along with a few broken ornaments. Sighing, I scan the mess and head into the kitchen to rummage hopefully for some leftover turkey and stuffing as rain lashes the window in the growing darkness. Spotify is still crooning my Christmas playlist, but the music seems out of place and the joy I had just a few days ago listening to the carols is gone. Christmas is over and spring feels like years away.
Post-Christmas blues are real. In the weeks of Advent leading up to the celebration of Jesus’s birth, it’s easy to be filled with hope. We’re completely surrounded by joy-filled carols, beautiful decorations, and the happy faces of those around us. We read again the story of how God came down to save us. We look forward hopefully to the new year, that it will hold better things than the year we are letting go.
Then, the holidays are over like a candle being snuffed out. Reality looms before us — unresolved relationship issues, late nights finishing up overdue homework assignments, tedious or boring jobs waiting for us to punch in, exhausting sports practices to go to, and so on. In short, we have to get back to real life.
I wonder if the shepherds had a depressed feeling in the weeks and months following the angel’s revelation and seeing the Savior of the world lying in a manger. Jesus was, after all, still just a baby. It would be years and years before He could save them from anything. The sheep still needed to be tended, the children fed, the fences mended, the tunics washed and the money lender paid. Did they start to forget what they had heard and seen? Did their hope of salvation dim within the hard work and stress of life?
And, how do we find joy and hope when the excitement of our own Christmas celebration dies down?
There is a wonderful old song called Auld Lang Syne. You may have heard this song at the end of the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, starring Jimmy Stewart. It’s about nostalgia for days gone by and the friends we had then. In 2012, Dustin Kensrue wrote new lyrics to this beloved tune, called All Glory be to Christ. I love that he chose this melody for the lyrics because it invokes the same feeling of nostalgia, but for something we haven’t experienced yet.
Wait. What? How can we have nostalgia for something we’ve never known? Ecclesiastes 3:11 states “God has set eternity in the human heart.” In all of us there is a God-given longing and hope that there is something more lasting than this world. James 4:14 tells us that we are but a mist that appears and then vanishes. We know deep down that this isn’t all there is to life. In Hebrews 11, the author speaks of a Heavenly Country that awaits us. In other words, this world is not our home.
The question is: can we change the way we live now by keeping our focus on the new life to come? The song, All Glory be to Christ, is a great starting point to answering that question. Let’s check it out!
Should nothing of our efforts stand
No legacy survive
Unless the Lord does raise the house
In vain its builders strive
The first verse is taken almost verbatim from Psalm 127:1. It calls to mind the story Jesus told of the wise man who built his home on the rock. This is where we have to start. Jesus is the Rock of our foundation. What is the foundation you are building on? Have you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior? Is your life built on the solid rock of Jesus and His sacrifice for you?
To you who boast tomorrow’s gain
Tell me what is your life
A mist that vanishes at dawn
All glory be to Christ!
Again, the author pulls almost directly from God’s word in James 4:14. Our time here on earth is so much shorter than we think it is. What are you pursuing? What are you living for? This is a call to stop and evaluate your life, and hopefully make a perspective shift. Life is short. This isn’t all there is. Who is receiving the glory in your life?
His will be done, His kingdom come
On earth as is above
Who is Himself our daily bread
Praise Him the Lord of love
Pulled from Matthew 6:9-13, the words of Jesus remind us that He is sovereign over this world. His will WILL be done; we can count on it! Thankfully, we can trust Him in the meantime to meet all of our daily needs in this life from His unlimited provision. And, our response to His blessings should be gratefulness! He deserves the praise for all good things in our lives.
Let living water satisfy
The thirsty without price
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet
All glory be to Christ!
This song is such a wonderful walk through God’s Word! This verse draws from Revelation 21 where Jesus joyfully says, “It is done!” and “I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” This has already been completed in God’s view. Believers in Jesus will live forever with Him in paradise. Are you starting to feel the joy we have in this coming hope?
When on the day the great I Am
The faithful and the true
The Lamb who was for sinners slain
Is making all things new.
Again from Revelation 21, we’re reminded that this old world will one day end. But, take heart, He is making all things new! No more death, no more sin, no more grief, anxiety, depression, fear, anger, hatred, and suffering! Coming soon to a world near you — laughter, singing, feasting, love, peace, harmony and unending joy in His presence!
Behold our God shall live with us
And be our steadfast light
And we shall ere his people be
All glory be to Christ!
All glory be to Christ our king!
All glory be to Christ!
His rule and reign will ever sing,
All glory be to Christ!
God came down to earth as Immanuel, which means ‘God with us.’ One day soon, we will live and walk with Jesus, our Lord and King. We will come full circle back to the very beginning when God walked in the cool of the garden with Adam and Eve —only this time, there will be no more sin, no Enemy, no death. We will be full of joy in His presence! All the glory will be His and we will be His people, forever walking in His Light.
I love how C.S. Lewis described our future hope at the end of the Narnia series:
“But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page; now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read; which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.”
We can have hope in this world in spite of our current circumstances. Although we’ve never seen it, deep within us is a longing for our forever home with the Creator of the world. Creation is groaning and all of us with it, because this world is coming to an end.
Focusing on our future hope can encourage our hearts in the hard seasons of life. Yes, the fun, singing and feasting with friends during the Christmas season may have ended, but it pales in comparison to the joy that awaits all of us who believe in Jesus. All glory be to Christ!
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things that are seen, but at the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things which are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
REFLECTION:
Reflect on 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Our current struggles may not feel at all like a “light affliction’. How can we keep our focus on the permanent and eternal things when we can’t see them?
Read Isaiah 65:17-25 and Revelation 21 - 22. Close your eyes and imagine what living forever with Jesus in Paradise might look like. What do you most look forward to?
Listen to the song, All Glory be to Christ. Then, spend some time in prayer about the direction and focus of your life, and what things the Lord may be calling you to change.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: