Creation--Death-- Destiny
I have just finished reading a book with the above title, authored by C.E. Lunden. It was a little bit of a struggle for me, but had some lovely thoughts and proved to be instructive at times. Personally I disagreed with some of his teaching, particularly in connection with prophetic events; he seemed to lurch to and from the Great Tribulation, the Millennial Scene and the Eternal State without any rhyme or reason; so it became dislocated, disjointed and difficult to follow. But nevertheless I am not sorry to have spent time in its pages. The book closes with a beautiful poem, I believe it must be his own composition, and worthy of a wider audience:
Creations, light and brightening hue,
Where all was fashioned for man anew,
Where each oncoming creature fills
The grassy land, the sea and rills;
There man upright, with God would see
Communion sweet on bended knee.
'Twas soon to change, because the foe
Would tempt the man all good to know,
Mistrust of his God, 'tis this we see
Has led to his sad destiny.
Then death its pall cast far and wide.
He forfeits life because of pride.
But in the purpose still I see
That God in love would rescue me,
A sacrifice, made in my stead,
Would cause my soul to look ahead;
And in His counsel long ago,
He made a plan and told me so.
The sin that once had led amiss
has caused instead to show me this:
That in a Man, the womans' Seed,
The One who on the cross did bleed,
The second Man, from heaven we know,
Has turned to bliss my doom of woe.
But, how, I pray, midst all this gloom
That gave the Son of God a tomb,
Could ever yet a path be known
That in its end would bring a throne?
'Tis only judgment here I see,
But in the end how rich 'twill be!
The curse remove, the heart renew,
Because a Man from heavens' blue,
Took up the wretched sinners' case
And died for mans' apostate race.
The thing required of you and me
Is only faith, Gods' gift, you see.
But shall my eyes as yet behold
A paradise on earth unfold?
Ah, no! Rejected here was He,
So where He's gone my place shall be.
In new creation life I'll prove
That God is just - that God is love.
The starry heaven I'll soon pass by
And reach my home beyond the sky;
The Fathers' house, 'twill soon be so,
The robe, the ring, the shoes to go;
The fatted calf He has set by
To swell the praise that fills the sky.
Then, deeply satisfied, He'll see
The fruit of all that set me free.
The hearts' deep longings, on my part,
Will soon be filled, and I will start
To learn, as endless ages roll,
The kindness great that saved my soul.
Then with the Bridegroom evermore,
As man, for ever to explore
The depths of love that made it so,
I'll share with those who're given to know
A brides' full part in wedded bliss,
Pity and grace, that led to this.
That God in love would rescue me,
A sacrifice, made in my stead,
Would cause my soul to look ahead;
And in His counsel long ago,
He made a plan and told me so.
The sin that once had led amiss
has caused instead to show me this:
That in a Man, the womans' Seed,
The One who on the cross did bleed,
The second Man, from heaven we know,
Has turned to bliss my doom of woe.
But, how, I pray, midst all this gloom
That gave the Son of God a tomb,
Could ever yet a path be known
That in its end would bring a throne?
'Tis only judgment here I see,
But in the end how rich 'twill be!
The curse remove, the heart renew,
Because a Man from heavens' blue,
Took up the wretched sinners' case
And died for mans' apostate race.
The thing required of you and me
Is only faith, Gods' gift, you see.
But shall my eyes as yet behold
A paradise on earth unfold?
Ah, no! Rejected here was He,
So where He's gone my place shall be.
In new creation life I'll prove
That God is just - that God is love.
The starry heaven I'll soon pass by
And reach my home beyond the sky;
The Fathers' house, 'twill soon be so,
The robe, the ring, the shoes to go;
The fatted calf He has set by
To swell the praise that fills the sky.
Then, deeply satisfied, He'll see
The fruit of all that set me free.
The hearts' deep longings, on my part,
Will soon be filled, and I will start
To learn, as endless ages roll,
The kindness great that saved my soul.
Then with the Bridegroom evermore,
As man, for ever to explore
The depths of love that made it so,
I'll share with those who're given to know
A brides' full part in wedded bliss,
Pity and grace, that led to this.
